Smith Wrote:
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> Smith special teams vs Westfield. Having a great
> kicker can definitely be an advantage and flip the
> field. I cannot dispute that point. But here is an
> example of the Tiger's Beamer Ball this year.
> Against Ocean Lakes, they not only methodically
> found the weak spots in their zone defense,
> stopped them on four 4th down conversions, but
> they also had 3 major special teams plays that
> made a very close game not so close.
>
> With the score 20-19 and Ocean Lakes gaining the
> momentum late in the game and kicking the game
> tying extra point, 3 rushers converged on their
> holder & kicker which forced them to rush the
> place kick. The ball hit the uprights.
>
> With the kick-off Ocean Lakes tried an onsides
> kick but Smith caught the ball off the bounce and
> ran the ball down to the 2 yard line and then
> scored quickly.
>
> The Smith Kick-off, from the 45 due to a penalty,
> to Lakes was placed perfectly deep in the right
> corner at the 2 yard line. Ocean Lakes was severly
> harassed but the player got away by running back
> into the endzone and tried to get to the edge. But
> Smith was relentless and converged on him. The
> Lakes player tried a forward pass for the penalty
> & 2 point safety.
>
> Game over... Ocean Lakes had the momentum in the
> game and was about to tie the score with about 3
> 1/2 min left. Their defense was beginning to hold
> Smith better and a deep kick-off along with a
> defensive stand vs an onsides kick was what had
> been expected but Smith planned for the onsides
> kick and was ready. On the kick off from the 45,
> if that kick was through the end zone, Lakes would
> have had the ball at the 20 and could have been
> prepared to try to march down the field with a
> full 2 minutes left to do so. They never had their
> offense back on the field after that 20-19
> score!!!
>
> Ocean Lakes lost 29-19 and didn't know what hit
> them. (#6 National team ranking in the country
> sitting at home with about a dozen Div 1 recruits
> including at least 2 that had transferred from
> Smith too!)
>
> Again, I think we are in for a great game in
> Charlottesville. Special Teams will likely play a
> part Saturday. Westfield's kicking game vs Oscar
> Smith trying to score off every punt to block,
> every extra point to block, run backs, etc.
>
> Someone asked what to expect from Oscar Smith.
> This is not the team of 2013 that relied on a
> couple of 5 Star recuits. That team would get
> caught up watching those players make great plays.
> So, when they played Centerville, they weren't
> prepared to play sound defense. This team is more
> like the 2011 team with everyone playing at an
> exceptionally high level of focus and and
> execution.
>
> Again, I suspect Westfield to be very similar to
> Smith which will make for a great game. You won't
> get any hate from me about Westfield. Y'all have a
> great program that deserves respect too.
>
> I just hope your fans are better than what I had
> seen from Centerville over the years. Just please
> try to act like the fans that attend the typical
> UVA football games on Saturday in Scott Stadium
> and keep the jouvenile taunting to your friends
> and siblings.
I don't think you will see much in the way of trick plays/onside kicks from Westfield. They are usually very conservative. The only thing OS will need to worry about is honestly I don't think anyone knows who will start and play at QB for most of the game. I assume now it will #17 but who knows? I just question whether Westfield will be able to run at all on OS. South County defense was a bit over-rated all year it seems and I guarantee #24 is not getting 250 yards on OS.
Re: K/P #5 - he actually is rated #1 in his class in some rankings.
http://kohlskicking.com/recruiting/national-rating-system/kickers/2017
"Brian showed once again that he is the top combo prospect in the country at the 2015 National Scholarship Camp."
From the games I was at this year he gave Westfield a huge field position edge in the kicking and punting game. His play against SoCo was as good as I have seen from him. He definitely rose to the occasion.
Every team has obnoxious fans but I find Westfield crowds are usually very sporting and gentleman-like. Except for a few. Don't really pay attention to the kids.
Curious why you think kids transferred away from Oscar Smith? This is their 4 title appearance in 8 years - you would think that would attract players.