MR/FH

[beall02]

I had to work late this evening so I missed the entire first half and half of the third quarter. I listened to as much as I could on the radio, and watched a little on NFHS feed, but didn't get anything close to the full picture in those brief bits and pieces.

After having the opportunity to watch those parts of the game that I missed I am feeling much better than I was after watching from the middle of the third quarter on. Don't get me wrong. You have to play a full game against anyone, especially Fort Hill, but this was by far the worst game Mountain Ridge has played all year. And some credit has to be given to Fort Hill for that no doubt.

Mountain Ridge gets the ball at the FH 48 and their own 45 to start their first two drives and get ZERO points. That can't happen. Not when your defense played well and forced Fort Hill to punt twice. Not sure if Bryce and Jaden weren't on the same page on the interception that ended the first drive or not. But Bryce usually doesn't miss that badly. Credit Fort Hill for having a safety back and intercepting that ball. If he isn't there the ball just falls incomplete and MR has another shot on third down. Ashton had 11 yards and a first down when he fumbled the ball and that ended the second drive. Twice in Fort Hill territory and you get no points. Can't happen against good teams.

Fort Hill started to gain a little traction in the running game on their third possession. Aided by a missed pass interference call. They get the ball deep in MR territory and get a field goal out of the deal. Fort Hill WR made a great adjustment on the ball and made the catch. Both players were hand fighting down the field but in my opinion the FH WR pushed off as the ball go there and created the separation needed to make the catch. Not expecting anyone to agree with me. Just my opinion on what I saw.

The Miners' then got the ball back and after getting a first down Bryce was sacked on first down, had a WR drop a ball on second down, and threw another incompletion on third down. Mountain Ridge was called for holding on the third down play. FH declined and got the ball back. And in no way was that a holding penalty. You had a lineman blocking a DB who was a third of his size.

Both teams then exchanged bad possessions. FH had a drive stall due to a fumble on a third down play, MR had one stall due to a sack on first down, and Fort Hill came out of the deal with good field position to start their fifth offensive possession. This is where the Fort Hill line started to dominate. They went 47 yards on just 7 plays and took the 10-0 lead.

A mental mistake by Mountain Ridge led to bad field position to start their next drive. Low kickoff, punt returner goes to field it and has his knee hit the ground as he picks it up. Can't start at your own 7, down 10-0. To the offenses credit, they did manage to get one first down thanks to Snyder's arm, but had to punt it away after that and Fort Hill had another short field.

They began their sixth drive at the Mountain Ridge 36. The Miner defense played two runs very well and Fort Hill was faced with a fourth-and-9 at the 35. Mountain Ridge choose to call timeout before the fourth down play and I believe that was their fatal mistake on this drive. It gave Fort Hill a chance to think about it and a great individual effort by their QB got them their final score of the half. Now they were up 17-0.

Snyder gave Mountain Ridge hope with an incredible 68-yard run. He then threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 10 at half. And they get the ball to start the second half.

A botched snap on the first play from scrimmage of the second half put the MR offense behind the sticks and they couldn't recover. The defense played Fort Hill's first drive well and forced a punt. Snyder threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage following the punt and the game was over right there. Fort Hill imposed their will from the middle to end of the third quarter on. Impressive win by the Sentinels.

I look at all those mistakes by Mountain Ridge and it does give me hope for a rematch.

Proud of the effort the Miners' gave tonight.

 

[GenSneaky]

I had to work late this evening so I missed the entire first half and half of the third quarter. I listened to as much as I could on the radio, and watched a little on NFHS feed, but didn't get anything close to the full picture in those brief bits and pieces.

After having the opportunity to watch those parts of the game that I missed I am feeling much better than I was after watching from the middle of the third quarter on. Don't get me wrong. You have to play a full game against anyone, especially Fort Hill, but this was by far the worst game Mountain Ridge has played all year. And some credit has to be given to Fort Hill for that no doubt.

Mountain Ridge gets the ball at the FH 48 and their own 45 to start their first two drives and get ZERO points. That can't happen. Not when your defense played well and forced Fort Hill to punt twice. Not sure if Bryce and Jaden weren't on the same page on the interception that ended the first drive or not. But Bryce usually doesn't miss that badly. Credit Fort Hill for having a safety back and intercepting that ball. If he isn't there the ball just falls incomplete and MR has another shot on third down. Ashton had 11 yards and a first down when he fumbled the ball and that ended the second drive. Twice in Fort Hill territory and you get no points. Can't happen against good teams.

Fort Hill started to gain a little traction in the running game on their third possession. Aided by a missed pass interference call. They get the ball deep in MR territory and get a field goal out of the deal. Fort Hill WR made a great adjustment on the ball and made the catch. Both players were hand fighting down the field but in my opinion the FH WR pushed off as the ball go there and created the separation needed to make the catch. Not expecting anyone to agree with me. Just my opinion on what I saw.

The Miners' then got the ball back and after getting a first down Bryce was sacked on first down, had a WR drop a ball on second down, and threw another incompletion on third down. Mountain Ridge was called for holding on the third down play. FH declined and got the ball back. And in no way was that a holding penalty. You had a lineman blocking a DB who was a third of his size.

Both teams then exchanged bad possessions. FH had a drive stall due to a fumble on a third down play, MR had one stall due to a sack on first down, and Fort Hill came out of the deal with good field position to start their fifth offensive possession. This is where the Fort Hill line started to dominate. They went 47 yards on just 7 plays and took the 10-0 lead.

A mental mistake by Mountain Ridge led to bad field position to start their next drive. Low kickoff, punt returner goes to field it and has his knee hit the ground as he picks it up. Can't start at your own 7, down 10-0. To the offenses credit, they did manage to get one first down thanks to Snyder's arm, but had to punt it away after that and Fort Hill had another short field.

They began their sixth drive at the Mountain Ridge 36. The Miner defense played two runs very well and Fort Hill was faced with a fourth-and-9 at the 35. Mountain Ridge choose to call timeout before the fourth down play and I believe that was their fatal mistake on this drive. It gave Fort Hill a chance to think about it and a great individual effort by their QB got them their final score of the half. Now they were up 17-0.

Snyder gave Mountain Ridge hope with an incredible 68-yard run. He then threw a 9-yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 10 at half. And they get the ball to start the second half.

A botched snap on the first play from scrimmage of the second half put the MR offense behind the sticks and they couldn't recover. The defense played Fort Hill's first drive well and forced a punt. Snyder threw an interception on the first play from scrimmage following the punt and the game was over right there. Fort Hill imposed their will from the middle to end of the third quarter on. Impressive win by the Sentinels.

I look at all those mistakes by Mountain Ridge and it does give me hope for a rematch.

Proud of the effort the Miners' gave tonight.

Much different game (potentially) if Ridge doesn’t throw a pick, and fumble to start first couple drives.

BUT FH’s 1st touches wasn’t much to speak of as well

 

[theprocessworks]

Come on guys stop it…I could say the same about FH mistakes would have made it a running clock. FH is faster to the ball by far on D. Defense is about speed and intensity. FH is far better in that area. Do I believe FH is 35 points better? No but I do believe out of 10 games FH wins 9 maybe 10

 

[cumbfanatic]

FH makes teams look bad. It doesn’t just happen that every team plays a bad game against FH lol. If they play again FH will probably beat them by more. Don’t forget Brevan Stubbs didn’t even play. MR basically gained all their yardage on one play. The teams are in different levels. Alco/Ridge is closer than Ridge/FH

 

[TDHelmick]

Many times losses teach more than wins. Up to this point most everything MR tried to do was successful. All of the sudden those usual things aren't working and the Miners are inexperienced at knowing how to respond.

I've watched FH agonize with the same process when they draw Dunbar. All of the sudden that running game isn't working and Plan B hasn't been utilized with the game on the line.

So as crazy at it may sound, MR needs to be tested again before they possibly see FH. Beating the remaining opponents by 35 or more is not going to be helpful.

 

[cumbfanatic]

Total yardage FH 337 MR 132

 

[novaunicorn]

Many times losses teach more than wins. Up to this point most everything MR tried to do was successful. All of the sudden those usual things aren't working and the Miners are inexperienced at knowing how to respond.

I've watched FH agonize with the same process when they draw Dunbar. All of the sudden that running game isn't working and Plan B hasn't been utilized with the game on the line.

So as crazy at it may sound, MR needs to be tested again before they possibly see FH. Beating the remaining opponents by 35 or more is not going to be helpful.

You did mention recently fh needs to abandon the 40 yard passes and try to get the 5 or 6 ones down first, and I couldn't agree more. With what you are saying about no Plan B could have been worked on this first half of the season. but it doesn't seem anymore important now than it has in years past. Yes there will be those who say "we didn't need it" but then they wonder why we don't have a Plan B when we need it. Thru half a season we haven't seen a screen pass, a bubble screen, a wide receiver reverse, an end around...these are very basic simple plays that forces the defense to focus on something other than the run, thus enhancing the basic ground and pound running game. I don't think we should abandon the wing-t but just mixing in some easy high probability low risk short passes is a no brainer. If anybody caught the Oklahoma Texas game today the first play of the game the texas qb stands up, throws it straight down the line to his wide receiver, and 75 yards later td. Imagine if FH had done that the first play of the game last night instead of the predictable run up the middle.

 

[Tony54]

So true. One of the greatest Fort Hill games I ever witnessed was at Sherando during Fort Hills title run and I was so impressed with how Coach Apple managed that game. Fort Hill could not run the ball and was losing at the half. he came out passing in the second half and Fort Hill ended up winning that game. i’ve often wondered why they never went back to a more balanced approach. And don’t even get me started about BarryLattimore calling a run up the middle on every play even though it never worked in the playoffs.