Northshore Film Review Pleases Coaches

August 30th, 2010

The coaches obviously were pleased with the overall effort, and the fact the game was mostly clean aside from a few ball security issues (only one of which was lost- opening kick).

Goals & Awards

Offense - 7 goals accomplished
Defense - 8 goals accomplished
Kicking - 5 goals accomplished

Mr. Defense - John Sampa (extra effort vs multiple defenders who have him easily outweighed)
Mr. Offense - Donovonn Young (good tough downhill running)
Mr. Special Teams - Mikey Rodriguez (superb directional kicking)

Game Notes

In waching the game back on film, and the coaches made note of this, is that North Shore has good football players. This wasn't a case of beating the Weak Sisters. North Shore is going to cause a lot of people problems this year if they can find some special teams answers. They just weren't as organized or error free as they needed to be, and they were up against a team that wasn't going to beat itself.

Another highlight of seeing the game back was how well the Tigers adjusted to situational challenges throughout the game. The opening sequence was a perfect example. The Tiger defense all of a sudden finds itself backed up inside its own 10 after the fumbled kickoff. North Shore had a first and goal at the five, and the defense manages to keep them out. Katy adjusted to any successful thing North Shore did in the game, and that is encouraging. It is a credit to the players for doing as they are coached and translating that to the game. Live action football is systematic chaos, and the teams that can adjust on the fly will generally be most successful.

Katy managed the intangible side of the game very well, and that is a very encouraging prospect now in and in future games. I'm amazed at what teams can do when they do the little things right and have the intangible qualities to match. Katy did not execute a perfect game, which was evident live and on film, but they were still able to put distance on the scoreboard because they paid attention to details.

There were several impressive effort plays. Tyler Droog's play on the forced fumble was on such play. Droog went after the QB, but was picked up by North Shore's All-American OL at the last second. Flowers quickly reacted and dove at Droog for a cut block, but Droog still managed to get his arm in there and knock the ball loose for sophomore DE Matt Dimon to scoop.

I didn't realize Atwood turned himself completely around on that interception. He read the play so well he almost overran it all together and actually had to reach back for the ball. Ebrecht (OLB) made some extra effort plays. He chased down the NS QB after he's somehow escaped a safety and two Katy DL. Ebrecht came all the way across the field to halt the QB's progress on the scramble. He was also getting knocked around in the trenches by guys that have him outweight by a couple hundred pounds, but somehow still managed to get in on a tackle or two. Donovonn Young did very well to fall on a loose ball that could have set North Shore up in great field position. Again, just several guys making the kind of plays that coaches can't always coach and players aren't always willing to do.

The meeting concluded with the customary preview of the next oopponent. Alief Taylor returns 12 starters from last year's playoff team. The coaches want to make sure the players understand what they need to do preparation wise now that they've got the first experience under their belts and move forward. Katy understands better than most that week to week progression is the key.

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