The sounds of Fall that temporarily come to the Spring have returned and here are some of the things we learned from action involving Countryside, Ridgewood, Admiral Farragut and Berkeley Prep from this past weekend. Oh, and a kudos to the one person with the best fashion sense in the game as well.
The Cougars were who we thought they were…and we are NOT letting them off the hook…
Friday night’s performance was as about as impressive as they come if your looking at it in a one-game sample for the Cougars. Pretty much anything they wanted to do on offense or defense was accomplished in all three phases of the game. Chunk plays on offense? Check. Constant disruption and turnovers-forced on defense? Check. Scoring on special teams? Check not once, but twice. Things are looking pretty sublime for the garnet and gold right now, but if you subscribe to the approach that perspective-rules-premise, then the realization that it IS just one game and that it was against an opponent that was (minus their excellent QB play) completely overmatched versus their own talent at every position is reason to pump the brakes ever-so-slightly before getting bonkers about this team. The Cougars made some fairly avoidable mistakes that cost them quite a bit of yardage. Something that will come back to haunt them as well as a few miscommunications on defensive assignments pre-snap. For now, let’s just say the expectations we HAD (going into Friday) and have (going into the summer) are well in-line with what it takes to make this an even more successful season than last. All those involved should be satisfied with their Spring.
The “Kee” to a successful recipe is…
More Whetzel, please. What’s not to like about what this young man is bringing to the table at the moment? A 6-foot-3, 190-pound frame with natural instincts of a safety and a budding skill-set at the wide receiver position. Whatever magic ingredient it takes to keep this young man healthy the entire season then throw it in the stew, because his culinary skills are gonna be needed on every play (or every dish-plated) by the Cougars which might help them reach some pretty high-company at the dinner table this Fall.
Trust in Trent…
Chmelik may cause temporary insanity for older versions of the iPhone’s auto-correct feature with the spelling of his last name, but let us spell out something another sage signal-caller told us to recently do with regards to whether or not Countryside’s in great hands with this young man. R-E-L-A-X. The accurate throws into open and tight spaces, the ability to make the defense pay with his running ability, plus the added variable that his older brother Jimbo is on staff to provide even better tutelage and communication is nothing short of win-win for Countryside. As long as the focus is there and the efficiency that was witnessed stays consistent, this team will look to Chmelik to be the glue that holds it all in-place.
Well…that (de)escalated quickly (re: Ridgewood)…
Going out on a limb and guessing it did not go according to plan for the Rams on Friday night up in Crystal River. Not scoring a point is never a good thing, but the hopes on campus were fairly high for Ridgewood this season and struggling to get something going on offense bears a bad omen come this Fall. The perspective in this however is similar to Countryide’s. It’s a one-game sample and Crystal River may be THAT much more improved from last season. Nobody is going to write the Rams off just yet. At least not where we are concerned as long as the cuts from the blades of the Pirates are healed in a positive fashion and that Friday is in the past. It will be a long and brutally hot summer for sure, but that wasn’t going to change regardless of their outcome last week. Mother Nature always wins in Florida, so don’t “sweat” this ‘L’ any longer than it is necessary.
Buy stock in both Berkeley Prep and Admiral Farragut before the price goes up…
We here at BCP aren’t going to claim we’ve passed the Series 7, or throw little cushion-y things at the camera while hitting sound effect buttons that recreate your local morning drive zoo-crew, but we can firmly say that we feel this is a wise investment that you “share” in the feeling with us that regardless of the two quarters of play, regardless of all of the questions about who could replace Brad Mayes’ aura of leadership on the field, and so on and so forth that both of these teams are certainly more-than-willing to try and answer them even if they don’t get it right the first time. Sure, there were some game-changing plays left on the field, but if a four-quarter game is a small sample size, what do you think a two-quarter game is? The plays themselves were just a microcosm of what we feel is the most critical part of this entire process during a period of change; the ability to absorb information, process it and make the best choice possible. Take the scoreline out, because both feel like they provided lucrative dividends Spring.
Admiral Farragut’s HC Ryan Hearn dresses better than all of us…
This is not even a joke; in fact, it’s outright envy that Hearn can pull off looking fresh from Tommy Brady’s G-VI from Churchill Downs and onto the field to coach a game that transitions to a rooftop somewhere overlooking ICW in Ponte Vedra Beach. We can confirm that he is not the only one in this town that wears this kind of suit during functions (because a certain author of this piece owns a strikingly similar one), but this perfectly recreated Atticus Finch 3.0 style is what should be the trend, not the fad when it comes to throwing some fashion diversity into the Spring games. Now, we’ve seen what happens to guys like Coach Golden at Miami who appears to have taken a shower by the end of the first series that the whole, tie and long-sleeved shirt thing just isn’t functional for some, but much like the players on the field always appear to be focused on which is look-good/feel-good/play-good, then the same can be said for Coach Hearn; or anyone else with the cojones to rock this combo on the sidelines. Good on ya, coach! Much appreciated.