DEFENSE is still the key to Championship

[toddg]

if you noticed..almost all the teams in the championship games had above avg to really good defenses..Whitehouse found out what happens when you have a great offense, and a not so great D..you get beat around the 3rd round...on the otherhand Aledo's Defense, overshadowed by their record breaking points scoring offense, was really quite dominating...when Aledo's offense ran into very good defenses late in the playoffs, their defense got the stops needed to give their offense time to hit their stride..
look at Argyle..they have an outstanding offense..and played a man to man press defense..putting enormous pressure on opposing offenses..worked like a charm

[Tejastrue]

Did you watch the Argyle/Fairfield game? If not for a Herculean effort by Ian Sadler, Fairfield wins this hands down. I think FF had close to 500 yards of offense.

[toddg]

Did you watch the Argyle/Fairfield game? If not for a Herculean effort by Ian Sadler, Fairfield wins this hands down. I think FF had close to 500 yards of offense. i saw Fairfield's best player playing both ways and run out of gas in the fourth..Sadler had just a bit more in the tank..it was a game of attrition for sure

[cowboyandchrist]

if you noticed..almost all the teams in the championship games had above avg to really good defenses..Whitehouse found out what happens when you have a great offense, and a not so great D..you get beat around the 3rd round...on the otherhand Aledo's Defense, overshadowed by their record breaking points scoring offense, was really quite dominating...when Aledo's offense ran into very good defenses late in the playoffs, their defense got the stops needed to give their offense time to hit their stride..
look at Argyle..they have an outstanding offense..and played a man to man press defense..putting enormous pressure on opposing offenses..worked like a charm

I agree with you, take the Dawgs as an example. great offense, but the defense was the fastest Carthage has ever had. They were a bit under sized, but they could fly to the football. They held some great offenses well below there average. The Katy loss was due to the defense they faced.

[Rabid Cougar]

Helps to have an offensive standout that puts the team on his shoulders and gets it done. They all got plaques at the end of the SC games. But yes, defense wins champships.

[Farmersfan]

Not sure I understand or agree with this. There was over 600 points scored in the 10 State Title games this season............... Only 3 of the 10 losers were held under 20 points!

[Old Tiger]

Offense wins championships, defense secures 'em!




The above statement is a registered trademark of Old Tiger Corp, permission to be used must be granted by Old Tiger.

[Aggie98]

The four 3A teams that made it to The Death Star all had top 10 offenses and defenses. Collectively, those 4 teams only scored about 60% of what they were averaging for the season...... so there was definitely some defense going on (in 3A anyway).


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[Tejastrue]

Not sure I understand or agree with this. There was over 600 points scored in the 10 State Title games this season............... Only 3 of the 10 losers were held under 20 points!

I sort of feel the same way. It makes me appreciate even more what Wimberley did in both of their SC wins. The two games combined the defense allowed a total of 21 points. I am kind of partial though.

[Aguilafanatico]

Did you watch the Argyle/Fairfield game? If not for a Herculean effort by Ian Sadler, Fairfield wins this hands down. I think FF had close to 500 yards of offense.

Great game by Ian for sure but he has been doing that all year long. Fairfield loaded up to stop the run so he was counted on even more heavily. That's the benefit of being multi dimensional. Argyles defensive alignment made it possible for Fairfield to get the big plays. There was only one long scoring drive by Fairfield-that I can remember, all other points were off big plays. When Argyle needed to come up with stops, they did. If they play a less aggressive style of D in this game, I'm not sure Fairfield puts up 33. Saying Fairifel wins "hands-down" if not for Sadler is like saying Argyle blows out Fairfield without the "Herculean" game by Rose.

[Tejastrue]

My thoughts about Sadler was that he was moved around so much I swear at one point I saw him dispensing the Gatorade bottles on the sidelines. This thread was about defense so my point there was that 500 yards of offense in most cases gets you a win and a defense that gives up that amount should normally expect to lose. Sadler just refused to let that happen.

[eagles_victory]

Great game by Ian for sure but he has been doing that all year long. Fairfield loaded up to stop the run so he was counted on even more heavily. That's the benefit of being multi dimensional. Argyles defensive alignment made it possible for Fairfield to get the big plays. There was only one long scoring drive by Fairfield-that I can remember, all other points were off big plays. When Argyle needed to come up with stops, they did. If they play a less aggressive style of D in this game, I'm not sure Fairfield puts up 33. Saying Fairifel wins "hands-down" if not for Sadler is like saying Argyle blows out Fairfield without the "Herculean" game by Rose.
Not sure that is a great argument for good defense we gave up 500 yards but only on big plays. Agryle won more because of their major advantage on special teams and depth than anything else. They basically had 2 special teams touchdowns.

[YTBulldogs]

Not sure that is a great argument for good defense we gave up 500 yards but only on big plays. Agryle won more because of their major advantage on special teams and depth than anything else. They basically had 2 special teams touchdowns.

:ditto: Sadler's ability to play all over was the key. Even the threat of running it on 4th, when he soccer styled punted, was a big key.

[Tejastrue]

Not sure that is a great argument for good defense we gave up 500 yards but only on big plays. Agryle won more because of their major advantage on special teams and depth than anything else. They basically had 2 special teams touchdowns.


:ditto: Sadler's ability to play all over was the key. Even the threat of running it on 4th, when he soccer styled punted, was a big key.

This and this.

[Manso/V8]

Yep, Ian Sadler won that game, the rest of the Argyle Eagles were just along for the ride.

[regaleagle]

Allow me to put in my 2 cents worth please. You have to have an intricate knowledge of what Coach Rodgers and the rest of the Argyle staff did to make up for the loss of Hackney and Sizelove at the LB spots. Early on it was determined that a press defense with man/man coverages for the secondary would be the best medicine for dealing with those losses. It is not a perfect football world, but in the case of Argyle, the strength of this team was the secondary and the speed on the line without Sizelove and Hackney to do their deal. When Fairfield came along, it was the ability of Larry Rose to adjiust his speed and his direction to break thru the line into the secondary that caused so many breakaeways. No other RB or team had done that all season long to this defense, but the FF Oline was big, beefy, and hard to move. Larry Rose was basically a speedy scatback with lots of talent that had expertise in cutting thru small openings and turning upfield with the jets. Had Coach Rodgers and his Staff changed the D to play a traditional coverage....Rose may not have gotten the big runs. But at the same time, you have trust what got your there, and what the guys know how to play the best. Changing the D in midstream may have caused some confusion...so the coaches probably went with what the players felt most comfortable with. And they did a pretty darn good job of it...considering the circumstances. Most viewers didn't see the game like the Argyllians, the Gilmerites, the Celinacats, and those in the know. We knew already what Sadler and Ralston and Boyzuick could do....so it was just a matter of what FF was willing to give up. As it played out, they gave up the edges, and kept Ralston and the middle bottled up. Boyzuick actually threw some great passes, albeit not very many. And a few were right on target that were not caught...one that would have been a TD for sure. So Sadler took the ball and did his deal because it was there. Not too many other players could have done what he did, but that's what the Argyle coaches decided to allow. Otherwise, Brandon would have been under center more snaps and thrown more passes, and gave it to Ralston more often. To say that if this or if that ....or that FF was better because....shows that your take on the Argyle Eagles was not deep enough to understand what kind of real athletic team they really had. That's the best way I can explain what ended up happening from what I know about this team. You can believe what you want...but if you study the games and how the Staff adjusted thru the season with the different offensive attacks....you'd see they had flexibility to work the plays in many different ways. Thanks mainly to Ian Sadler, the offense was diverse enough to cause great defenses like Gilmer, Graham, and FF to have to cover so many possibilities that it gave a star player like Sadler an advantage. Boyzuick, Wilson, or Ralston could burn you too. That's just how good this team was...overall. That's my best synopsis for those that didn't really know the total capabilities of this team. And actually, Argyle did not play their best game by far in the SC game, but still won it anyways.

[regaleagle]

But let's also give much credit to the kicking game and special teams play of the Argyle Eagles. When you have a player with the credentials of a Cole Hedlund...that's a weapon. And when you have a player like Sadler back there punting it(with the threat to run it) and also fielding the kicks, along with speedsters Reese Thompson and Hunter Treadwell, not to mention Connor Wilson....well those plays will always make a big difference in just about any game. Field position goes your way almost every series, and then combine that with a very diverse, capable offense and a very good defense and you have a State Championship caliber team. That's what the Fairfield Eagles, the Gilmer Buckeyes, the Graham Steers, and every other team or ANY other team would be up against with this particular Argyle Eagles team this season. YES, in my estimation every team in 3A this season would have been challenged to get a win against these Argyle Eagles....even Carthage and Kilgore, Stephenville, or some other teams that didn't make the finals. Great season for a great team that lost some key players and still had a perfect record. They did it with class and earned it. Congrats to them all, and to Coach Rodgers and his staff for putting the players in a position to accomplish what they did.