15yds4gibberish Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 First, congratulations Grid on setting up these great new digs... While all the attention in CA is rightfully focused on that fantastic re-match down south, there are 3 very competitive games scheduled up north that should prove entertaining. Freedom vs DLS Important caveat: I've not seen Freedom this year, only read, and talked with others, about them, so my opinions should be taken with a big grain of salt, and other opinions are not only welcome, but necessary. The best way to go after a DLS defense is with a balanced attack, which Freedom brings. Their running back, Ronnie Rivers, son of former Detroit Lion - Atlanta Falcon -- Pittsburgh Steeler etc. Ron Rivers, is supposed to be the best player on the field. When DLS played Antioch, DLS 'contained' Najee Harris pretty well, bit it did allow Antioch's QB to have a pretty good night. I'm told the Freedom QB is better. What I think this means is if the Freedom O-Line can find moderate success, and buy a little time, Freedom should be able to move the ball and score. As always, it comes down to the line. Freedom is better coached than Antioch (Freedom did beat Antioch 65-28 -- By comparison DLS beat Antioch 28-21). DLS (Eidson) typically runs a bend but don't break type defense, subscribing to the notion that it is challenging for most HS football teams to sustain drives. This is not one of DLS's more talented defenses so I do think it provides an opportunity to see what the coaching staff has accomplished with what they have. By analogy, one of the myriad reasons why the NE Patriots are the best franchise in the NFL right now is that if you watch on every play just about every player on the Pats is moving, trying to do something until the whistle - while on many other teams (almost all actually), players not really involved in the play tend to stop doing anything. DLS hyper improvement theory hinges on the notion that more guys on each play know and are attempting to carry out their assignments - with the percentage increasing as the season wears on. We all know the one-dimensional offense DLS runs. I haven't watched them play since about late Sept/early Oct. When I last saw them, they were in need of a credible passing attack to keep 9 out of the box...again, we'll see how they've developed. One of the key guys for Freedom on D is LB Kyle Harmon (he also plays receiver). All the playoff changes this year are a bit of a head scratcher to me. I think if whoever wins this game is selected to go to the Open, they will have played 2 games in 35 days by the time the game rolls around. Not conducive to good football...I have heard 19th hand that the DLS staff is not in favor of this format. Two other competitive games in NorCal of some note include: SJS Open: Folsom vs. St Mary's - Woe to SM if they win this game and SJB wins down south. Don't really see how they would be the norcal rep in that one. NCS D1: Monte Vista vs. Antioch - Will Najee run all over them (probably), or will the more balanced attack of MV prevail? 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ATLien12x Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Welcome, friend. Glad to have you on here! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammyswordsman Posted November 28, 2016 Report Share Posted November 28, 2016 Excellent Post 15yards DLS still has the Nor cal streak to protect Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLS350 Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 I'm actually kind of torn on the DLS/Freedom game. Been following DLS for over 30 years and rooting for them but I live in Oakley and about a 1/2 mile from Freedom, want the local kids to win too. No win situation for me really.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ECHS05 Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 History & mystique says DLS will win. The name of the team DLS is playing hints that NorCal will finally be "Free'd" of the Spartans quarter plus century of unblemished dominance. Not counting DLS in the equation... who do you NorCal guys feel to be the best team in NorCal? Freedom, Folsom, or St. Mary's? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AztecPadre Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 Freedom does not have the discipline to beat DLS. Earlier in the year Freedom would out athlete DLS but by now its too late. Although their RB is pretty legit too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wosinc Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 1 hour ago, DLS350 said: I'm actually kind of torn on the DLS/Freedom game. Been following DLS for over 30 years and rooting for them but I live in Oakley and about a 1/2 mile from Freedom, want the local kids to win too. No win situation for me really.. Glass half full guy might say no-lose situation for you ... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DLS350 Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 20 minutes ago, Wosinc said: Glass half full guy might say no-lose situation for you ... Very true!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cossacks Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 1 hour ago, ECHS05 said: History & mystique says DLS will win. The name of the team DLS is playing hints that NorCal will finally be "Free'd" of the Spartans quarter plus century of unblemished dominance. Not counting DLS in the equation... who do you NorCal guys feel to be the best team in NorCal? Freedom, Folsom, or St. Mary's? 1. St. Mary's 2. Folsom 3. ? Of course SM still needs to beat the Devil this week, which I think they just might. For awhile was I thinking Freedom had a chance and was maybe going to go win. More and more I think about it, I see a DLS 42-21 type game. Would like to see someone beat Sparty just to mix things up (I've actually witnessed their last 3 NorCal loses MV, SF and Pitt) and for a brief period thought this weekend would end that streak. Now I just don't think this Freedom team is the one to do it. I will say "hyper improvement bullshit" aside this years DLS coaching staff has done a great job developing the youth and they are much better than they were a month ago. That aside if they get MD or SJB I'd put them at 14-17 point dogs. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrepGridiron Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 DLS has just had too much time to teach for Freedom to win Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 1 hour ago, PrepGridiron said: DLS has just had too much time to teach for Freedom to win I like Hartwig, really nice guy. He's not beating DLS, couldn't even keep it competitive last time he had superb talent. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Citizen Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 6 hours ago, ECHS05 said: History & mystique says DLS will win. The name of the team DLS is playing hints that NorCal will finally be "Free'd" of the Spartans quarter plus century of unblemished dominance. Not counting DLS in the equation... who do you NorCal guys feel to be the best team in NorCal? Freedom, Folsom, or St. Mary's? 1) St. Mary's 2) Devil (they should be challenging themselves) 3) DLS/Freedom I think Pittsburg would have matched up well against DLS. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderRam Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 The worst thing for Freedom going into this game is the 2 week prep time. That extra week certainly benefits DLS more than Freedom. I agree with World Citizen that Pitt might have matched up better against DLS. In fact, I thought DLS caught a break getting matched up with Clayton Valley rather than Pitt in the 1st round. I would have liked to have seen them have to go through both Pitt and Freedom to win the NCS. CVC just wasn't a good matchup at all. Not sure who is better between St. Mary's and Folsom. We'll find out this week. I think St. Mary's could really give the DLS defense problems but I don't know that the Rams defense could contain the veer enough to outscore them. Sad thing is we likely won't get to see DLS v. St.Mary's or Folsom because of the elimination of the Open Regional game. The Freedom/DLS winner is likely to get the Open bid with the Folsom/St.Mary's winner having to play the loser in the D1 Regional game. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammyswordsman Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 10 hours ago, GloryDays said: I like Hartwig, really nice guy. He's not beating DLS, couldn't even keep it competitive last time he had superb talent. Agreed. Who is Freedom? Never heard of them DLS rolls. The only real mystery is will the Spartans get the nod for the open. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammyswordsman Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 The devil will have to earn it this year by running projected path of St. Marys Freedom Narbonne i guarantee that Narbonne will mud stomp their Nor Cal opponent worse than Sponge Bob did last year 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
15yds4gibberish Posted November 29, 2016 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 1 hour ago, Sammyswordsman said: ...Who is Freedom? Never heard of them ... They are part of a very patriotic set of schools...Freedom, Liberty, Heritage...It's all very American... Actually, Grid is the first guy I know who called it as an up and coming Bay Area HS football fertile crescent (Pittsburg, Antioch, Brentwood, Oakley) a couple years back. Fair point about never having heard of Freedom...Some nice talent coming from those towns, but it hasn't yet translated into a great team. That may change in the coming years. We'll have to wait and see. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AztecPadre Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 Does any body know why in the NCS they have that extra week this year before the final? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GloryDays Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 13 minutes ago, AztecPadre said: Does any body know why in the NCS they have that extra week this year before the final? I'm guessing it made more sense than making the winner of the Open sit for 3 weeks before the State games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
World Citizen Posted November 29, 2016 Report Share Posted November 29, 2016 5 hours ago, Sammyswordsman said: The devil will have to earn it this year by running projected path of St. Marys Freedom Narbonne i guarantee that Narbonne will mud stomp their Nor Cal opponent worse than Sponge Bob did last year It would be hard to duplicate the level of ineptitude (sp?) that the Bells showed last year. But I agree that Narbonne will win. Hope not but I can see a So Cal sweep this year. At least in the Open, div 1, 2, 3. The other 6 or however many games is a big ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderRam Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 12 hours ago, Sammyswordsman said: Agreed. Who is Freedom? Never heard of them Sammy needs to get out more. Freedom produced Oklahoma's stud RB Joe Mixon and has another in the stable in Ronnie Rivers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sammyswordsman Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 Actually I learned about two new teams this year. San Angelo Freedom other teams I have learned about via the boards Collquitt CHill Something something Valleys PC Colerain come to think of it, my National awareness has broadened considerably over the past few years ??? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bormio Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 NorCal gets competitive this week - as opposed to the other 12 weeks of the season. BIWISI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AztecPadre Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 8 hours ago, GloryDays said: I'm guessing it made more sense than making the winner of the Open sit for 3 weeks before the State games. Has it always been like this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThunderRam Posted November 30, 2016 Report Share Posted November 30, 2016 49 minutes ago, AztecPadre said: Has it always been like this? No, this is the first year of the NCS Open. Under the old format, DLS would typically play 3 playoff games w/ a BYE in the 1st round. Now there are only 4 teams involved in the Open and 2 total games. So they have a BYE after the last regular season game and a BYE after the first round game. Pencil me in as someone that doesn't like it either. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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