Tampa Catholic 7-3 at Fort Meade 8-2

FORT MEADE OBSERVATIONS
OFFENSE

Very vanilla on offense. The Miners are a power run football team and only pass when they have to. Lots of lead, power and isolations trying to grind and wear down the opposition.

On film, there does not seem to be a standout, explosive stud. DeVonte Clark is their leading rusher with 725 yards. But junior QB, Jay Smith is the oil that runs the machine. The combination of Clark and Smith is solid and the Miners put together several time consuming drives. The offensive line is ok, but do not finish blocks the majority of the time. Clark is most dangerous with playaction plays when he can get out of the pocket.

DEFENSE

Ft. Meade showed an odd, double eagle front primarily and zone coverage behind. The most concerning observation is the lack of emotion. It does not seem like the players are itching to make a play or super excited to play football. They bring their fair share of pressures and run a few stunts. The defensive line does a good job shooting the gaps, but gets lost in the backfield when it’s time to make a play. LBs and secondary are athletic.

Overall, Fort Meade is well coached and did not win 8 games by accident. Tampa Catholic needs to work the secondary and beat on the defensive line. Miners don’t do a very good job on special teams and this could be an area that Tampa Catholic thrives. Tampa Catholic needs to continue to stay balanced on offense and bring pressure on defense on obvious passing downs.