Post by SK80 on Oct 3, 2019 5:31:37 GMT -8
I meant to put this up last weekend as so much of what we have discussed, debated and many reminisce about over the past few years I thought Steve Fryer of OC Varsity wrote an exceptional take with his article about "community" and "sport". It seems in an ever changing environment there are still a few programs bucking the trend and successfully so.
Two nights, two games, four teams show why high school football is alive and well
By STEVE FRYER | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: September 28, 2019 at 1:51 am | UPDATED: September 28, 2019 at 1:51 am
Sometimes it seems that high school football is a dying sport.
The number of high school kids playing football has been dropping in California and elsewhere. Concussions are a concern. The growth of elite programs that are more like college teams than high school teams is not a great development, and neither is the number of high-profile transfers.
Then, on back-to-back nights in recent days, proof arrived that high school football is going to be OK.
Corona del Mar beat San Clemente 42-21 on Thursday at Newport Harbor High, Corona del Mar’s home field. Corona del Mar is like the San Diego Chargers of the early 1980s when the offense was called “Air Coryell,” named for Coach Don Coryell who installed an exciting and innovative passing game.
Corona del Mar’s smooth quarterback, Ethan Garbers, threw for 376 yards and four touchdowns. He has a great assortment of receivers, including John Humphreys, a Stanford commit, and the under-recruited Bradley Schlom (all he does is get open and catch the football … you know, maybe a couple of colleges can use a guy like that) and big, quick, sure-handed tight end Mark Redman.
Humphreys is the most un-coverable receiver in Orange County.
Mater Dei has a great group of defensive backs, but line any of them up against Humphreys and the big (6-5, 205), fast Humphreys is going to win the battle for the football. The way Humphreys uses his body to screen out a defensive back when the ball is in flight is reminiscent of how Tony Gonzalez did that when Gonzalez was a tight end at Huntington Beach in the early 1990s.
After the game, though, is when you can see how special the game is to the Corona del Mar and San Clemente players. They played for their team, their school and each other.
As good as their athletes are, the togetherness of the players might really be Corona del Mar’s strong suit. Those long postgame hugs only happen when all of the time in the weight room, in the film room and on the practice pays off with a big win like it Thursday.
If San Clemente’s players felt they were in over their heads trying to match touchdowns with Corona del Mar, they did not show it, as the Tritons’ pride would not allow quarterback Nick Billoups and his teammates to let up. That “one-town-one-team” mantra in San Clemente football is not fake.
I highlighted the sentence above because to me in this age or new era this is what still attracts me to high school sport.
Read the rest of the article which includes San Clemente, Cypress and Capo Valley. Fryer on football: Two nights, two games, four teams show why high school football is alive and well
Two nights, two games, four teams show why high school football is alive and well
By STEVE FRYER | sfryer@scng.com | Orange County Register
PUBLISHED: September 28, 2019 at 1:51 am | UPDATED: September 28, 2019 at 1:51 am
Sometimes it seems that high school football is a dying sport.
The number of high school kids playing football has been dropping in California and elsewhere. Concussions are a concern. The growth of elite programs that are more like college teams than high school teams is not a great development, and neither is the number of high-profile transfers.
Then, on back-to-back nights in recent days, proof arrived that high school football is going to be OK.
Corona del Mar beat San Clemente 42-21 on Thursday at Newport Harbor High, Corona del Mar’s home field. Corona del Mar is like the San Diego Chargers of the early 1980s when the offense was called “Air Coryell,” named for Coach Don Coryell who installed an exciting and innovative passing game.
Corona del Mar’s smooth quarterback, Ethan Garbers, threw for 376 yards and four touchdowns. He has a great assortment of receivers, including John Humphreys, a Stanford commit, and the under-recruited Bradley Schlom (all he does is get open and catch the football … you know, maybe a couple of colleges can use a guy like that) and big, quick, sure-handed tight end Mark Redman.
Humphreys is the most un-coverable receiver in Orange County.
Mater Dei has a great group of defensive backs, but line any of them up against Humphreys and the big (6-5, 205), fast Humphreys is going to win the battle for the football. The way Humphreys uses his body to screen out a defensive back when the ball is in flight is reminiscent of how Tony Gonzalez did that when Gonzalez was a tight end at Huntington Beach in the early 1990s.
After the game, though, is when you can see how special the game is to the Corona del Mar and San Clemente players. They played for their team, their school and each other.
As good as their athletes are, the togetherness of the players might really be Corona del Mar’s strong suit. Those long postgame hugs only happen when all of the time in the weight room, in the film room and on the practice pays off with a big win like it Thursday.
If San Clemente’s players felt they were in over their heads trying to match touchdowns with Corona del Mar, they did not show it, as the Tritons’ pride would not allow quarterback Nick Billoups and his teammates to let up. That “one-town-one-team” mantra in San Clemente football is not fake.
I highlighted the sentence above because to me in this age or new era this is what still attracts me to high school sport.
Read the rest of the article which includes San Clemente, Cypress and Capo Valley. Fryer on football: Two nights, two games, four teams show why high school football is alive and well
