Any info or thoughts on Randallstown ?
- Thread starter Tony54
- Start date
Talking with coworkers in the Baltimore area Randallstown is a lot like Dunbar. Very quick footed QB. They run a lot of slants, throw the ball up for grabs down the field.. Receivers are very fast with great hands. Big offensive and D line. Friend stated they have not really been tested with caliber and technique type team like FH. Basciacally wear them down, And defend the pass“Huge Task” rattle them early. I’m not a scout, just giving back some hear say from some conversations. Way it looks to me its the big play type team. According to CalPreps on Neutral Field has FH winning 34-19 for what its worth
Last edited:
Posted a similar question on the MOCO board. A poster I know who is familiar with Balto. County football feels FH will win comfortably. Head Coach is in his first year and he said they were not big along the line (I got the same impression looking at a couple of their videos) but the kids were tough.
Every offensive base scheme these days is spread and throw. Even when you have a run first approach. And if you are not using a spread as the prime base package, you are still using it 50% of the time at least.
With the exception of course being Fort Hill, Allegany and Southern. OK, and some Mountain Ridge. I don't know what it is about the far west mountain teams but that's the drill. It's probably because we lack speed up here. On the same token, it's not like the Brunswicks and Williamsports of the world are loaded with speed.
In short, every single team FH has played this year ran the spread, with the exception of the above mentioned local teams. Weird in a way. So if FH gets beaten with the spread, it's not because they are not familiar with it.
Teams facing the wing-T, now that is another story. I believe it is a huge advantage for FH.
With the exception of course being Fort Hill, Allegany and Southern. OK, and some Mountain Ridge. I don't know what it is about the far west mountain teams but that's the drill. It's probably because we lack speed up here. On the same token, it's not like the Brunswicks and Williamsports of the world are loaded with speed.
In short, every single team FH has played this year ran the spread, with the exception of the above mentioned local teams. Weird in a way. So if FH gets beaten with the spread, it's not because they are not familiar with it.
Teams facing the wing-T, now that is another story. I believe it is a huge advantage for FH.
I agree 100% with you TD on your post. The spread in some fashion is the scheme of choice these days. But as with any scheme execution is the key. Some do it well and some do not.
The wing-t is despised by most coaches who favor the spread. If you are not accustomed to it and it is executed well it can be tough to defend. FH always executes well so I feel as though it will be a big advantage for them.
The wing-t is despised by most coaches who favor the spread. If you are not accustomed to it and it is executed well it can be tough to defend. FH always executes well so I feel as though it will be a big advantage for them.
FH will put 35-40 up. Randallstown has some talent but they will make mistakes up here. If FH does it’s usual, no turnovers, minimal penalties, control clock, then this game will get away from Randallstown. If the rams can make some things happen early and FH is not on their best behavior then I believe that can hang. They can’t be one dimensional like Williamsport, if w-port used that big back more often early that game wouldn’t have gotten away from them so quick. I’ll say FH 38-16 this week, wth the game being close at the half.
I disagree that local schools lack speed to run the spread. FH and Alco always have had fast players. Overall team speed may lack if you line up squads man for man but starters one-by-one to teams elsewhere have been on par. Just last year FH had 2 d-linemen that were as fast as anyone on the field. On offense one was a TE and the other was a backup split end and tall. FH just does not want to diversify and when a team does defend well against the WingT run attack it’s a challenge as they have forgone most of the simple passing plays out of the formation to keep teams honest.
In 1998, the last time FH played Randallstown FH had a 1100 yard passing season out of the WingT. It can be done, has been done, without even spreading out the offense much and without outstanding QBs. What I have been seeing is that when FH does pass over the past few years, the QBs are so inexperienced and the drop backs are so slow that WRs are running free deep early in the play and/or completely wide open for the first 5-15 yards off the ball but are no longer open by the time the QB looks down the field. By that time there is no time to check down and the ball then is thrown deep into coverage that has caught up or the QB is scrambling. Defenses can almost leave the entire mid-level uncovered and focus on the run with enough time to recover for the deep ball or short outs.
FH has the players able to do it and the coaches have the ability to teach it, they have done it before, as coaches and/or former players. They have done it without getting away from the ground the pound and punishment of the WingT.
In 1998, the last time FH played Randallstown FH had a 1100 yard passing season out of the WingT. It can be done, has been done, without even spreading out the offense much and without outstanding QBs. What I have been seeing is that when FH does pass over the past few years, the QBs are so inexperienced and the drop backs are so slow that WRs are running free deep early in the play and/or completely wide open for the first 5-15 yards off the ball but are no longer open by the time the QB looks down the field. By that time there is no time to check down and the ball then is thrown deep into coverage that has caught up or the QB is scrambling. Defenses can almost leave the entire mid-level uncovered and focus on the run with enough time to recover for the deep ball or short outs.
FH has the players able to do it and the coaches have the ability to teach it, they have done it before, as coaches and/or former players. They have done it without getting away from the ground the pound and punishment of the WingT.
Last edited:
FH runs the football. It's what they have done for 80 years. The formation is irrelevant.
Everybody wants FH to at least pass a little more. Not gonna happen.
I agree the formation and scheme are overrated at the high school level. The Wing-T may give teams a slight advantage because they don't see it often, but the main factor is the OL play. FH's OL is usually bigger and better than other 1A schools and that's why they go deep in the playoffs every year. FH has trouble when the DL can match them in terms of size because when the run is stopped they won't beat the better teams with the pass. That's why Dunbar is a tough match-up for FH, Coach Smith is willing to sell out and stop the run. I've noticed a lot of high school coaches hate to come out of their base defense. Or when they finally adjust it's too late
I understand this. I have watched and/or played FH football for the past 3.5 decades. Just imagine, though, if FH did not come out differently against Sherando when down 14-0 at the half they would have lost that game and been shut out. If they opened the offense and let the kids sling If they would still have probably lost to FCA but it would been closer. I am not wanting to get away from the WingT but when you have 1-3 passes per game, sometimes zero against a team that is a sure win, the players are not getting experience running routes, pass blacking or checking down. You have said it yourself and left games because of it. I get it, don’t fix what isn’t broken, but when it breaks there are no other options except to leave the guys in a situation with minimal experience to overcome. At some point if FH continues to during the current playoffs, they will have to pass and pass effectively, not 1-3 times per game but maybe 7-10 with completions and first downs coming from them. It does not have to be from a spread formation.
I agree, Back in 98 Fort Hill Threw The Ball All Over The Field and Jared Fradiska as a TE/WR Was The Area Player of The Year.
When that class was sophomores they threw the ball even more often. I think it was Groves that had a nice arm.
True, Linemen.. but it could be done from a spread. Or, to your point, it could be done from a Wing-T set. Or both.
I've been hoping Alco would do that for years. Now that we've got to tear down and rebuild the program (CoachBrian with a slight chub there) I'd like to see FH do it and keep rolling. Just throwing in a few different formations and route combos would have every defense y'all are going to line up against for the next few weeks completely off balance. I haven't seen a lot of FH football except for occasionally streaming some of the reruns here and there, but have they lined up in anything other than a Wing-T set at all this year?
Keep the Wing-T tight, no doubt. But if y'all face someone soon who happens to both sell out to stop the run and has some legit guys on defense, it could be a problem. And Linemen is right that if FH does get into a dogfight where y'all do have to pass, it's not like the offense has 150-200 passing reps in games so far this season to pull from.
Now, just as crazy as it is to have a secondary with anything other than just 2 corners and 1 safety.... I'll take it a step further into oblivion and let everyone in on a major secret that's never even been heard of:
You can run the football out of passing sets.
Like if you're a Wing-T team that all of a sudden goes 10 or 11 personnel to catch another good team's D off guard, then they adjust to defend the pass, and then you still run a trap out of that set in the exact same cadence that you do the Wing-T?
And then maybe play-action the trap and have a dig/post combo route set up after that??
Impossible. Never been done before.
His senior year was ‘97. We did not throw often that year but we could whenever we wanted to. 97 team holds the state rushing record at 5000 plus yards. But it shows that FH has the diversity to go from an all-time state rushing record to having a team thrown for over 1000 yards the following year.
that's a record they shouldn't of just changed. The 97 Rushing Record was in 13 Games and then they added a game those years with more teams to 14 Games and now they will go back to 14 games again with the new playoff format.
They should of made them both a Record in different amount of games per season as the state mandates the amount of games. Should of been rushing yards avg per game which would of been still the 97 Team.
