Vernon over Decatur?

[Stangster]

I think Vernoon may surprise Decatur. They have the secondary to defend against Decatur's passing attack. Decatur seems to win by outscoring their oppontents not by their defensive strength. If Vernon can limit Decatur's scoring ability, I think they have the offense to make it tough for Decatur. If Vernon comes to play I favor them over Decatur by 7. Just my onion.

[Catfan]

well my "onion" thinks as yours does

[repeat2002]

I think your "onions" are just hoping that happens so that neither of you have to defend that offense, "cause you both know that you can't defend that offens this year if they all stay healthy. Just my "onion".

[CatWoman]

I feel that Vernon will take this one also. They are better than some think.

[vet93]

I think that the key to the game will be Vernon's ability to play ball control. If they can establish the running game, grind out long drives for scores and effectively shorten the game then Vernon has a very good chance of winning. If they cannot do this then Decatur's Skill position people are too talented and will score enough to win. These games are hard to pick because there are so many variables. Decatur can be so explosive with their offense that if you have a letdown, then you will find yourself 3 scores down. On the other hand, sometimes when these teams are met with a good defense and are kept off of the field and it comes down to a 4th quarter game then anybody could win.

[Chief Woodman]

Time will tell. One thing that intrigues me is that Vernon's 2 leading tacklers are the safeties. Usually this means one of three things, two of which plays into Decaturs favor.
1st possibility: The line and linebackers cannot stop the running game, forcing the safties to lead in tackles. Usually if the the line and backers are good they lead the team in tackles. If this 1st scenario is the case then the 5'6" 135 lb saftey will be introduced to the 6'4" 235 lb 4.5 speed McKinney really quick.
2nd possibility: The safties overcommit to the run. Look for a lot of passing yards and scores if this is the case. It is true that Vernon has the best secondary that Decatur has faced this year, but Decatur is also the best passing team that Vernon has seen. IMHO, it is the best passing team they will see all year except maybe Gilmer.
3rd possibility: They are superhunman, being able to cover the deep route and yet have enough speed to cover the 10-15 yards to the line before their linebackers can run 3-5 yards to the line. This is not probable that they run the 40 in half the time the linebackers do, but if they are that good then any team in 3A will have trouble with the Lion Defense.

Most probably, the game will come down to the ability of Vernon to conrol the clock with long time consuming drives. If they can do this, then it is anybody's game. Decatur is playing the best defense of the year thanks to some personnel changes and the increased intensity. 1st string has only given up 10 points in the last 10 quarters. When including the JV and Freshman players who played the 4th qtr last week, the D has given up 24 points in 10 quarters (that comes to less than 12 points a game).
BTW...Decatur is 0-5 in the playoffs when playing in WF. They are 0-2 VS Vernon in the last 3 years.

[Chief Woodman]

Game day...finally.....

[Stangster]

Congratulations Vernon Lions! See ya next week in Lubbock.

[Z motion 10 out on 2]

Chief:

Nice to meet you at the game. Your son played very well. The entire line played well for Decatur. Your son is a big ol' boy too!

In response to your previous posting about Vernon's secondary. They must fall into that third catergory of the super-humans! They made lots of tackles and covered the deep ball too!

Ok to the game. Vernon's best friend was that strong South Wind. That can't be said enough. Vernon's secondary picked Decatur four times with some nice returns on those picks. It was very hard to throw the ball into the wind. Decatur had a great passing game but it was too windy to really be effective. Vernon had just enough pass defense when Decatur had the wind to their back to win the game. Vernon totally shut down Decatur's running back. He was, big, tall, and fast but he didn't get much against Vernon's defense. I would be suprised if he had 45 yards of rushing.

Vernon was somewhat able to move the ball against Decatur and had one long time consuming drive drive in the 4th that really was the drive that won the game. Vernon used 5 different backs tonight in that effort.

Vernon played a good game and so did Decatur. This one came right down to the last seconds. I must admit that I wasn't so sure that Vernon could hang with Decatur, but they did.

It was a very exciting game with very few penalties. Not a pass interference penalty on the night.

Chief you will have to give me your thoughts.

[Chief Woodman]

Congrats to Vernon on a great win for you guys. It was very nice to meet Z. Your son played really good. My son of course is heartbroken, but things can't go well when an Offensive Tackle make two tackles during the game. As for the game....

Boy that wind from the front really made things hard for the Eagles. At leat two of the interceptions came off tips from our recievers right into the defenders hands. Balls that should not have been intercepted but caught by our guys since they were to the ball first. One interception was held by the wind for what seeemed like forever. But you have to play in whatever conditions are there. The one play with the latteral remined me of Sweetwater game last year. We made the same mistake last year by calling that play in high wind conditions. In fact several of us dads had commented before the game they we hoped that play would not be called because with that strong of a wind because it can change a forward pass to the flat into a mishandled latteral and that is just what happened. That play let Vernon get the ball inside our 10 and they scored 3 plays later making it 21-7 with barely any time off the clock in the 3rd quarter. After a Decatur drive against the wind during the 3rd quarter against the wind for a TD, the game was 21-14, and it was nearing the 4th quarter when Decatur would have that wind. First drive in the 4th with the score 21-14 Decatur has a 4th and 1 near the Vernon 30 yardline. But a delay in getting the call in causes a delay of game. I sure wish Chandler had looked at the play clock and called timeout. That is the play that probably won the game for Vernon. With a 1st down there, it looked like with the momentum and a short field Decaur would have tied the game. But it did not happen. Decatur still has one last chance even though the onside kick bounced out of bounds. The defense holds Vernon for three plays. On fourth down they stuff the ball carrier behind the line but fail to wrap him up. He puts in a great second effort and gets the first down. Overall our Defense did a great job, although by lookiing at the score you would not think so. But truth is, Vernon offense only had one drive for more than 30 yards for a score. Hard to win a game when you give the ball away 4-5 times and give your opponet an averge scoring drive of about 20 yards.

Hats off to Vernon. You made the best of the Decatur mitakes and did what it took to win the game. GOOD LUCK!

[Stangster]

I'm sure the wind was a factor, but only one of many factors. When you boil it down, Vernon got it done, as I suspected they would. I am looking forward to the game on Saturday! Go Mustangs!

[slpybear the bullfan]

Chief,

Congrats on a great season to the Eagles. Sorry it didn't turn out as ya'll would have liked.

Well... here comes basketball season... I have NO CLUE how the Bulls look..

[Z motion 10 out on 2]

I watched the game tape yesterday and all four of those interceptions were clean. Not one was tipped. The first one was thrown to the wrong place--right to #5 and the second one #35 out played the receiver over the top, the third one was thrown too shallow and #5 grabbed it and the last one was a hail mary that #35 out jumped the rest for. Vernon also dropped two passes that could have been picked, #2 dropped one over the middle and #5 one hit him in his legs after bouncing off a Decatur receiver.

I was curious about this because of Chief's posting and didn't notice the tips during the game. Not that it really matters, but those interceptions were big for Vernon and it was either the play of those backs that caused it or bad throws into the wind. No doubt that the Decatur QB was the best one that I have seen all year. The receivers did have a few drops but they were getting hit when they dropped it. Really the wind played such a role in this game.

Also on the film I noticed that #23 the 5'5" 135 lbs corner made a great open field tackle on the Decatur Rb that went 6'4" 235 lbs with 4.5 speed. Our corner hit him low -- go figure~

One more thing about this game, several players said that Decatur talked more trash than they have heard all year. I was wondering if I was just getting the Vernon side of that or if it was just a nasty game out there?