What it takes to defeat Pulaski Academy

[FD4]

An attacking defense: You cant play a 3 front, pinch or rush the corners and get it done. 
                                 For starters, I would get burned I know but I line up with a six front and bull rush.  I
                                 might even use 8 or 9 guys.

Disguise Coverage:    Make it look like my suicide by stupidity defense and fall back into coverage.
Attack the receivers:  Line up in their face and block the cleats off of them, dont let em off the line of
                                scrimmage. Maybe use rope to hog tie them to bus or something.

Sounds crazy I know, but you have to do something nobody has ever seen or tried before.  PA has proven the conventional simply will not work. 

Or there is always this one, boycott all district games and playoff games.  Just simply refuse to play them, unless your allowed to farm around and get all the 4 and 5 star players in your area.

In all fairness to CK and the Bruins, you just have to be better on that day. Hard to do, but they have been behind before, you simply have to have them behind when the time runs out. 

[mohawk]

WHAT?

[Maynard G Krebs]

Fireman in the firewater early today😉

[the voice]

To beat PA you have to score at least 50'and not give them any extra opportunities, on side kicks , turn over etc.

Anything short of that and you really don't have a chance. That's how we beat them , and were the last team in Arkansas to do so. Conventional ways won't work if you don't score every possession.  Average team gets 7 possessions a game. That's 49 points , gotta score 50 to have a chance. We won with three d lineman who did a fabulous job, when we did blitz it was a sack. Double digit sacks that game and they punted two or three times.

At the end it was still in doubt. Great ball game. They are tough to beat.

[Yellowcake]

To beat PA you have to score at least 50'and not give them any extra opportunities, on side kicks , turn over etc.

Anything short of that and you really don't have a chance. That's how we beat them , and were the last team in Arkansas to do so. Conventional ways won't work if you don't score every possession.  Average team gets 7 possessions a game. That's 49 points , gotta score 50 to have a chance. We won with three d lineman who did a fabulous job, when we did blitz it was a sack. Double digit sacks that game and they punted two or three times.

At the end it was still in doubt. Great ball game. They are tough to beat.

It was an awesome football game. Even though we lost. That was a very very gritty Morrilton team.
The game we lost to Batesville in the playoffs wasn't so awesome. They just lined up and whipped our butts. We were outmanned.

[RiverRunner02]

First of all there are 2 givens. You've got to recover the onside kicks and don't let them convert on 4th down. It's also important that you limit the big plays because they throw the ball down the field a ton. Win these battles and I'd say PA loses

[AT]

As Yellowcake alluded to, I think you just need the tape of that Batesville-PA playoff game. That was the most I've ever seen PA get "shut down". Not sure what all it entailed, but I would follow that tape.

[the voice]

As Yellowcake alluded to, I think you just need the tape of that Batesville-PA playoff game. That was the most I've ever seen PA get "shut down". Not sure what all it entailed, but I would follow that tape.

Good point trackster but let's be honest , who's likely to out man PA these days ?
Highly unlikely

[FD4]

the first half 0f the 2015 game in Wynne was like that, we had em down 21 to 7 and even had some of their guys fussing at each other.  But then the second half showed up and 3 captured onside kicks later, we were down for good.

[PA Dad]

the first half 0f the 2015 game in Wynne was like that, we had em down 21 to 7 and even had some of their guys fussing at each other.  But then the second half showed up and 3 captured onside kicks later, we were down for good.

Actually it was 21-0 at halftime.  Wynne just dominated the first half of that game.

[PA Dad]

A poster who knows better than me says the score at halftime was 21-7.  I stand corrected.

[walkingguy72396]

Im pretty sure PA took a 7-0, lead in that game, though I was still on my way to the game.

[The Future]

They can be beat. All great teams can be beat.
What you have listed is good, FD4. But you also need all the intangables. The lucky breaks. The momentum. The costly pentalty. All those things definitely help out in the long run

On a side note, I know you were probably just joking, but I could totally see the boycotting happening. People today aren't the brightest bulbs in the sockets.
Bunch of people ban together and protest this coming Friday's game because they are having to play a team who is better than them.
#wehavearighttobewinnerstoo #notmy5Astatechampion #allTrumpsfault #participationtrophies

I shudder just thinking about it.

[Yellowcake]

Good stuff Future!

[wynnefootballfan]

A lot of good points mentioned and there all needed to win. I think the real secret that would pull it together for some teams against PA is one thing. Every single person on the team actually believing they can beat them, even when the chips are down.

[Jackets3]

This is really interesting. One thing I think that would help teams play not only us but all spread teams is to do more 7on7 in the summer.  Most people look at 7on7 for offense but it's a great way to work defensive backs.

Spot on!

[beach bum]

This is really interesting. One thing I think that would help teams play not only us but all spread teams is to do more 7on7 in the summer.  Most people look at 7on7 for offense but it's a great way to work defensive backs.

+1 to this.... Even in the higher classifications, but more so I am talking about the lower classifications I have seen DB's that literally look lost guarding deep balls. It even happens in the higher classes too though for sure. I don't know how many times I have seen that and said in my head "guarding the deep ball comes down to repetition and being comfortable". They must practice it in the offseason to feel comfortable guarding the deep ball. At some point speed and a nicely thrown deep ball just can't be stopped, but most of the time in small class games I see it is simply cause the DB looks like they never practiced guarding deep balls and can not locate the football well at all.

[Intelligentsia]

As Yellowcake alluded to, I think you just need the tape of that Batesville-PA playoff game. That was the most I've ever seen PA get "shut down". Not sure what all it entailed, but I would follow that tape.

The Batesville win at PA in the playoffs a few years ago was based on three components:. Dominant offensive line play, allowing the Pii eers to control the ball with sustained drives ending with points on the board, 2. Recovering on-side kicks, and 3. Pressure on the QB.  The poor QB was running for his life all night and did not handle the pressure nearly as well as did the young man in this years Pioneer-P.A. matchup.  Of those three, the most critical was long, sustained drives, IMO.

[makessense]

FD4 is on the right track.  The defense needs to be as unpredictable as possible and they need to be able to change at the line like the PA offense will.  It was fun watching the Sylvan Hills defense and the PA offense wait each other out before calling their formations.  This is very very hard to accomplish this as most defenses don't practice this.  As Coach T points out this would be a great use of 7-on-7 time during the summer.  This might be the year to outscore PA as the defense will be young and untested for the most part.         

[Red Devil Alum]

The Batesville win at PA in the playoffs a few years ago was based on three components:. Dominant offensive line play, allowing the Pii eers to control the ball with sustained drives ending with points on the board, 2. Recovering on-side kicks, and 3. Pressure on the QB.  The poor QB was running for his life all night and did not handle the pressure nearly as well as did the young man in this years Pioneer-P.A. matchup.  Of those three, the most critical was long, sustained drives, IMO.

I agree with all of this.

[JessieP]

PA is an exceptionally well coached team, they make few mistakes. For all the talk of the trickery and onside kicks the fact of the matter is they play good football. They very rarely have ESPN Top 100 type players yet every year they rule the roost. They run great routes, they gang tackle, the sustain their blocks and they play to the whistle. All the extra stuff makes for good human interest stories but it isn't why they win. Case in point, Batesville recovered every single onside kick and stopped them 4 times on 4th down, and still got whipped.

The thing that had me and most people scratching our heads this year was the way Wynne chose to play them in the finals. Wynne had some incredible athletes, a much more physical team. They chose to not pressure the qb and play prevent defense, bizarre! the PA qb is way too talented, he picked them apart like it was 7 on 7. Wynne's D-line was a non factor. The week before Batesville got a ton of pressure on the qb, they had him in the grasp a few times but he was athletic enough to get away. The qb was on the run all night, the problem was PA can play just as well when the qb is mobile. Wynne chose to play finesse football, with PA. In a million years no one thought they'd go that route. 4 years ago Batesville beat up PA, they physically whipped them. Kelly said after that game he vowed to never let that happen again. He made adjustments and they now can play smash mouth as well. Batesville players said to a man after the game this year that PA is not soft. Why Wynne chose to play PA football against PA is a question no one can answer.

Long story short, how do you beat PA ? try and enforce your will. Play PA style football and your toast, ask Wynne how that worked out.

[Intelligentsia]

Bottom line is as old as Football, it's about what happens in the trenches.  Control the O-Line and D-Line and you will win.  Control the O-Line you score and the other team is denied the ball.  Control the D-line and the other team will struggle moving the ball.  It happened this year that P.A. controlled the the line when they were playing defense and did well enough with their O-Line and a scrambling QB to dominate.

[CoachTaylorPA]

Another suggestion I would give is to be careful playing a lot of man coverage. Especially if you do not have the secondary to do it.  Batesville in 2012 defensively was extremely well coached in their techniques and disciplined in pass coverage. They got pressure up front but they also didn't give up easy plays in man.

[walkingguy72396]

I watched a few streams of PA games this season.  I think they lost to Utah not because of Utah's offense.  Its because Utah was able to get stops.

Stops is the key. 

In the Wynne game of the 2005 season.  One of the plays that allowed Wynne to have a half time lead was an interception that I think happened in side or near the Wynne 10 yard line.

[beach bum]

Another suggestion I would give is to be careful playing a lot of man coverage. Especially if you do not have the secondary to do it.  Batesville in 2012 defensively was extremely well coached in their techniques and disciplined in pass coverage. They got pressure up front but they also didn't give up easy plays.

Another great point.... Again more so in the lower classifications, but unless I am a top tier team there is no way I ever play man. You probably agree too in the smaller classes it would be really hard to find DB depth just as there are too many small schools trying to run spread on offense. I love the spread with talented teams or larger classification teams, but too many small schools run it that have no business running it with the card they are dealt with limited players. The same goes for defense. These small schools are running man when they don't have the DB depth and skill set to do so. It is so hard to find that WR/DB depth in 2A-4A unless you have a really good program.

[FD4]

Future, of course I was kidding about boycotting a game.  We all know no coach worth their salt would ever do that.  Likewise, any coach that has the game at hand early second half will play his entire roster, and the opposing coach should unload his bench as well.  That is how should be.  You cant help it if your #3's and 4's continue to score, or you could just take three knees, punt, and let the weaker offense get in some good reps.  It's all about sportsmanship in the end.  If you ask Coach Kelley right now, will he lose to an opponent in Arkansas this season, and he would tell you we could indeed, we will practice and play not to, but anything can happen on any Friday night.  If you as any of his opposing coaches if they will beat PA tonight, they would probably say we have a good chance of doing that.  This season will be a good one.

[The Future]

Future, of course I was kidding about boycotting a game.  We all know no coach worth their salt would ever do that.  Likewise, any coach that has the game at hand early second half will play his entire roster, and the opposing coach should unload his bench as well.  That is how should be.  You cant help it if your #3's and 4's continue to score, or you could just take three knees, punt, and let the weaker offense get in some good reps.  It's all about sportsmanship in the end.  If you ask Coach Kelley right now, will he lose to an opponent in Arkansas this season, and he would tell you we could indeed, we will practice and play not to, but anything can happen on any Friday night.  If you as any of his opposing coaches if they will beat PA tonight, they would probably say we have a good chance of doing that.  This season will be a good one.

I agree and have always agreed on that issue. Its one thing to keep your starters in and run up the score and pad stats, much like the Shiloh of old. But theres nothing wrong with 3rd or 4th stringers getting a chance to score a TD.
More often than not, if a team is able to hit the mercy rule on their opponent, its pretty safe to say that that team is obviously better. Keeping starters in won't give them any quality experience and the opponents aren't able to stay on the field long enough to get experience. So yea the team ahead should put in their backups but the other team should mainly keep their starters in I think. Putting your 3rd and 4th strings in and letting them play will give them experience and playtime as well as giving the opponent's starters a more even game and lets them get some quality experience. And Im sure for the most part, any team should be able to compete with or at least hang in there with any team's 3rd or 4th stringers.

And yes I know you were just joking. Was just poking fun because that truly is the mentality of plenty of people nowdays.

[Grond]

Some really good comments in this thread; well done, folks. 

Another factor in Pulaski Academy's success is the nature of football in our current era [2016].

It seems the typical high school strategy is to focus on talent, rather than team execution. Target a specific receiver, or give the ball to a specific runningback, and work on a relatively small number of plays (on offense and defense) that utilize your athletic advantage. Running less types of plays (or one formation) allows you to do a better job of running the plays you have; it is easier to coach.

The problem is that every play system has its strengths and weaknesses. PA is very good at having their players move to a formation that is MOST EFFECTIVE against your offense or defense. And most high school teams don't have another formation or set of plays to counter PA's moves.

PA is capable of this because of the detail of coaching. From o-line pass blocking technique to route running to defensive keying. PA players are carrying out details that are more college level than high school.

PA wins by playing CHESS while everyone else is playing CHECKERS. To beat them, you have to play chess, too.

[Chief_Osceola™]

I think this was discussed in another thread a year or two ago, but my conclusion was that to stop PA's offense you'd need your front 4 to control the line of scrimmage, have linebackers that can cover sideline to sideline, corners that can lock down in man coverage, and safeties that are fast enough for pass coverage and physical enough for run support.  In other words, Bama's front seven and FSU's DB's.

[CoachTaylorPA]

Grond, I think you bring up a good point. One thing that we try to do is spread the ball to all our receivers/ running backs in different ways. When calling plays Coach Kelley doesn't focus on getting certain players the ball. Our offense is built on running differing concepts out of different formations so the defense doesn't know what to expect or they cannot shut down a single player and stop our offense. This is also done to equalize athletic advantages.  In other words we would not be succesful lining up and trying to run over people or throwing the ball to one reciever.

Some really good comments in this thread; well done, folks. 

Another factor in Pulaski Academy's success is the nature of football in our current era [2016].

It seems the typical high school strategy is to focus on talent, rather than team execution. Target a specific receiver, or give the ball to a specific runningback, and work on a relatively small number of plays (on offense and defense) that utilize your athletic advantage. Running less types of plays (or one formation) allows you to do a better job of running the plays you have; it is easier to coach.

The problem is that every play system has its strengths and weaknesses. PA is very good at having their players move to a formation that is MOST EFFECTIVE against your offense or defense. And most high school teams don't have another formation or set of plays to counter PA's moves.

PA is capable of this because of the detail of coaching. From o-line pass blocking technique to route running to defensive keying. PA players are carrying out details that are more college level than high school.

PA wins by playing CHESS while everyone else is playing CHECKERS. To beat them, you have to play chess, too.

[CoachTaylorPA]

Interesting analysis beach bum.  Man has its place verse all teams but if your playing a spread team that means 5 guys eyes aren't on the football so if the qb takes off no one is their to stop him.  I think one reason smaller schools run spread now days is a lack of big lineman or TE's.  I think the quality of football in 4A is on the rise in a major way.  Honestly a lot of smaller schools don't do 7on7 which leads them to filling uncomfortable in playing zone.

Another great point.... Again more so in the lower classifications, but unless I am a top tier team there is no way I ever play man. You probably agree too in the smaller classes it would be really hard to find DB depth just as there are too many small schools trying to run spread on offense. I love the spread with talented teams or larger classification teams, but too many small schools run it that have no business running it with the card they are dealt with limited players. The same goes for defense. These small schools are running man when they don't have the DB depth and skill set to do so. It is so hard to find that WR/DB depth in 2A-4A unless you have a really good program.

[JessieP]

As a lifelong football purist the thing that impresses me is how PA is so good at the basic's. For a high powered offense they aren't very flashy. They just do it right. The o-line has great technique, they stay low and hit the correct assignments. They run tight precise routes. They are very rarely big up front, I though Wynne would push them around, what did they do ? they had the mindset "maybe one of us can't bring the power back down, but 4 of us can. Watch game films, and the end of almost every play every defensive players is near by. They play to the whistle, you break a tackle there are 4 more right there. Say what you want about PA, at the end of the day they win because they do all the little things. They are by far the most fundamentally sound high school team I've ever seen. I've seen Gorman in person, they go 6'4 and 6'5 up front, they overpower but they don't have PA's discipline. East Salt Lake, if you saw the 2 teams in warm-ups you'd say "PA is gonna get killed" they looked like a Jr. High team as far as size and athletic ability. The actual game was very competitive, remember East beat Mater Dei this past year. Mater Dei is consistently a Top 10 team Nationwide.

[PA Dad]

As a lifelong football purist the thing that impresses me is how PA is so good at the basic's. For a high powered offense they aren't very flashy. They just do it right. The o-line has great technique, they stay low and hit the correct assignments. They run tight precise routes. They are very rarely big up front, I though Wynne would push them around, what did they do ? they had the mindset "maybe one of us can't bring the power back down, but 4 of us can. Watch game films, and the end of almost every play every defensive players is near by. They play to the whistle, you break a tackle there are 4 more right there. Say what you want about PA, at the end of the day they win because they do all the little things. They are by far the most fundamentally sound high school team I've ever seen. I've seen Gorman in person, they go 6'4 and 6'5 up front, they overpower but they don't have PA's discipline. East Salt Lake, if you saw the 2 teams in warm-ups you'd say "PA is gonna get killed" they looked like a Jr. High team as far as size and athletic ability. The actual game was very competitive, remember East beat Mater Dei this past year. Mater Dei is consistently a Top 10 team Nationwide.

I am obviously biased since I'm a PA fan, but I think this analysis is spot on.  PA is nearly always smaller than its opponent.  PA rarely overpowers an opponent.  PA's advantage is speed, execution and scheme.

It will take a very disciplined, well coached team to beat PA.  That will happen.  The only question is when.

[nuttinbuthogs]

An attacking defense: You cant play a 3 front, pinch or rush the corners and get it done. 
                                 For starters, I would get burned I know but I line up with a six front and bull rush.  I
                                 might even use 8 or 9 guys.

Disguise Coverage:    Make it look like my suicide by stupidity defense and fall back into coverage.
Attack the receivers:  Line up in their face and block the cleats off of them, dont let em off the line of
                                scrimmage. Maybe use rope to hog tie them to bus or something.

In all fairness to CK and the Bruins, you just have to be better on that day. Hard to do, but they have been behind before, you simply have to have them behind when the time runs out. 

To beat PA you have to score at least 50'and not give them any extra opportunities, on side kicks , turn over etc.
At the end it was still in doubt. Great ball game. They are tough to beat.

In the past 7 seasons they have been beaten 8 times I think and in only 2 or 3 did the team that defeated them score 50 or more.  In several games the winning team scored less than 40 and in a couple of PA wins, PA score less than 35. 
So you don't have to score 50 to win,  also, I don't know what defense all the winners were running but I bet they were not all running the same defense.
To beat PA, you need to score 1 point more than they do.    To do that you have to have very good athletes, very well coached adn have to play good sound fundamental ball.  I do agree that you cannot give them extra possessions.

[the voice]

Well my point is simply this , you need to plan and play call to score every possession, because I guarantee you that Ck is playing that way.  Maybe neither team is successful at it but it has to be the plan.  You can't play keep away and play not to lose.  You have to play to win.  You only took part of what I wrote also. Matters not , I agree you only have to be one point better than them.  So there's no perfect plan because there are to many possibilities to affect the game.
  But I do believe you have to be aggressive on offense and one thing I didn't mention that another poster did was an unshakable belief that you will win.

[MDXPHD]

As a lifelong football purist the thing that impresses me is how PA is so good at the basic's. For a high powered offense they aren't very flashy. They just do it right. The o-line has great technique, they stay low and hit the correct assignments. They run tight precise routes. They are very rarely big up front, I though Wynne would push them around, what did they do ? they had the mindset "maybe one of us can't bring the power back down, but 4 of us can. Watch game films, and the end of almost every play every defensive players is near by. They play to the whistle, you break a tackle there are 4 more right there. Say what you want about PA, at the end of the day they win because they do all the little things. They are by far the most fundamentally sound high school team I've ever seen. I've seen Gorman in person, they go 6'4 and 6'5 up front, they overpower but they don't have PA's discipline. East Salt Lake, if you saw the 2 teams in warm-ups you'd say "PA is gonna get killed" they looked like a Jr. High team as far as size and athletic ability. The actual game was very competitive, remember East beat Mater Dei this past year. Mater Dei is consistently a Top 10 team Nationwide.

It was 28-8 in the third. East had 8 sacks, 6 ints, and a safety in the game. The game wasn't competitive after the first quarter. Just clearing things up.

[CoachTaylorPA]

It was 28-8 in the third. East had 8 sacks, 6 ints, and a safety in the game. The game wasn't competitive after the first quarter. Just clearing things up.

So our two drives inside their 7 yard line in the second quarter and the four turnovers we forced after the first quarter were not competitive ?  On offense East was 3 of 8 on third down and 1 of 3 on 4th down after the first quarter. East beat us out right no excuses but I think the game was competitive past the first quarter.

[Grond]

I gave a comment, but I didn't really answer the question: What it takes to defeat PA.

There are different defenses and offenses, and I think those choices depend on the talent you have. But here are some general thoughts:

1) DISCIPLINE
- Everyone has to know their position and their responsibilities.
- Be ready for the onside kicks.
- Don't go for the big sack or big hit on defense; break down and make the play.
- Do NOT turn the ball over!!!!

2) SLOW THE GAME DOWN
- Go with a huddle. Try to keep PA from building momentum.

3) QUICK RESPONSE COACHING
- You can't "wait until halftime" to make adjustments. You must react to the situation immediately.
For example, in 2014 PA vs Wynne: Wynne waited until the 3rd quarter to go with a 4 man d-line, which turned out to be more effective.
Think Daytona chess.

4) CHAOS
- PA is excellent at observing your patterns, and coming up with a response.
- Turn your observations on yourself; give a standard play a new option.
- On defense, show different looks, and take some gambles. Let a DE cover a RB, and bring up a corner to blitz.

[MDXPHD]

So our two drives inside their 7 yard line in the second quarter and the four turnovers we forced after the first quarter were not competitive ?  On offense East was 3 of 8 on third down and 1 of 3 on 4th down after the first quarter. East beat us out right no excuses but I think the game was competitive past the first quarter.

It wasn't. But, of course, you're entitled to your opinion.

[Red Devil Alum]

It wasn't. But, of course, you're entitled to your opinion.

Should we take the opinion of a guy who was on the sideline, or of a guy who MAYBE watched it online? Tough call.

[JessieP]

28-8 against a team that beat a National powerhouse, had 7 players sign D1 LOI, 2 offensive lineman signed with UCLA, 1 with Washington and another player sign with USC and 2 with Utah. I'd say only being down by 3 scores is very competitive from 5A team from Arkansas. PA's running back is what, 5'5 ? he held his own while being chased down by 6'5 Samoans, I'd say that's pretty competitive. 

[MDXPHD]

You and I just have very different definitions of the word.

[FD4]

This has turned out to be a great thread with some very good points all the way around.  While I did not intend it to become a bashing of anything or for that matter a negativity platform, a bit of that will always creep in, its just the nature of FF forums.  I am how ever pleased to see Wynne mentioned by others with great observations and constructive criticism. 

I remember what Gus said about the national championship game (Auburn vs Oregon).  He said if he had to decide between bullets or bowling balls, he would take bowling balls every time.  I guess the meaning was power over fineness.  I have always contended that at the high school level, fineness keeps a defense on its heels, fast pace prevents change on defense, on side kicks and 4th down everytime creates anxiety in a players mind.  That stuff adds up over the course of a game.
 

[Bruin Backer]

If you reread the posts from Grond and CoachTaylorPA, and know enough about football to fill in the blanks, you will better understand how one might beat PA. Why is 7x7 so important? A defense has to learn how to defend against five receivers on every play. Do you play zone? If four of the receivers line up on the same side of the ball, there is no effective zone defense available. In a zone, one, or more, of the DBs will have responsibility for deep zones, with the others covering short zones. If two players are covering deep zones, then PA sends three receivers deep. Ooops. Plus, it leaves the off-side receiver man to man. Well, just play man to man all the time. Let a DB get too close to the line of scrimmage, and PA will check off and send a receiver on a fly pattern. Ooops. Okay, everyone plays loose. PA will run a bubble screen for ten yards per play. Ooops. In 7x7, you can practice on covering five receivers every play...from multiple formations.

The Wynne game plan was simple, and effective. Wynne thought they could disrupt the offense by rushing the QB like Batesville did. Knowing what to expect, PA had the QB roll to one side or the other after getting the snap, with the OL adjusting their blocking scheme accordingly. The result was that Hatcher gained just enough extra time to let the receivers get open. Next, the defensive ends focused on the QB on the option play, forcing him to pitch. Since Wynne couldn't pass the ball, the secondary was free to string out the pitch man...or recover the bad pitch by the QB.

Football is not that complicated. Every defensive formation is good against some things, but is weak against something else. If an offense can run the ball and pass the ball equally well, then they will move the ball by exploiting what the defense gives them on a given play. The same is true on defense. If the other team can run the ball well, but can't pass, or vice versa, the defense can focus on stopping what the other team does best. It all comes down to execution. PA plays to its strengths, and tries to minimize its weaknesses. To beat PA, or anyone else, teams must do the same thing.

[JessieP]

I think it goes a little deeper then that. Wynne can run the ball as good as anyone in the state, their passing game is mediocre at best. PA is better at running the ball then people give them credit for. Their passing game is as good as it gets. PA is a machine when it comes to passing, but they can run the ball. If you look at the last 2 games you'll see Batesville was able to get pressure on the qb, they 'had him' behind the line at least 9 times, the problem was as an all-state wrestler he was much more athletic and stronger then people realized. He was only sacked 2 times, he broke loose all night. He was running for his life, but still hit precision passes. I don't know if Wynne was unable to get pressure on him or chose not to. The end result was fatal, they laid back on were picked apart. Think about it, his first two passes should have been TD's, the receivers were plenty open he just over threw them. PA is a very balanced team, they do so many things well. Wynne is a tale of 2 teams, they are a dichotomy on both sides. They run the ball as good as anyone, great running backs and great o-line play. Their passing game is mediocre and maybe even bad. On defense their front 7 are studs, big and athletic. Their DB's are undersized and not very good. PA did what they do well and took full advantage of Wynne's weaknesses. If it weren't for missed throws, that one PA receiver could have had 500 receiving yards.

[FD4]

We all came away from that game thinking, why man coverage, why all the fumbles, why why why.  In fact, we should have been looking at the talent level of the many skilled positions PA had from Hatcher, Watkins, and so on.  A common goal is get your best players in position to make plays, PA did.  We missed having Jessup in that game, his presence would have made a difference, but I dont think in the long run it would have been enough. I have looked at a lot of PA game footage and have come to the conclusion that you must attack on defense, (I was always a fan of Joe Lee Dunn), play mistake free, get the onside kick and you have a very good chance at PA.

Then, I also revert back to a statement Don Campbell said to me one time.  If you cant run the football, your not going to win games.  Lot to be said there.  If I were coaching, you could bet one thing.  Your gonna have to load the box, and hope my timing and double team blocking gets countered by your equally aggressive front seven or eight.  You see, the Diamond-T is not a cure all, but an antidote.  It will make you sick at first, then cure what ails you.  I know, next your gonna say that offense had its chance in 06.  It did, had we converted that first turn over to a score, we win.  As it was, CK burned the clock out by downing the ball, thanks by the way.  Our defense was tired.  With only seconds left, we did get one last good run out of TP Garrett.  Now, you can run over the Packers all night, but sooner or later you have to open it up.  We have got to get better at that.  Our QB did not run the ball enough to suite me in championship game either. 

Folks around here are already talking about a rematch, and word has it, Van will dedicate a portion of practice everyday just for the PA's of this world.  Good stuff.

[JessieP]

Great analysis FD4. I think everyone in the state was wondering why Wynne chose to not pin their ears back and get after it on defense, still doesn't make any sense. Wynne's 2 corners are pretty weak but it wasn't an issue all year, except for PA. When your front 7 is bull rushing and controlling the line you can hide weak DB play.

At the end of the day we all need to accept one irrefutable fact, PA is simply very good. All this talk about "we should have" or "next time we'll" makes for fun threads but at the end of the day it's glorified wishful thinking. While we're here discussing what if's PA is polishing trophy's. I didn't want to accept it until I saw it first hand, it was a bitter pill to swallow. If you look at who lost who and who's returning, 2017 is playing out the same way. I've seen both Batesville and Wynne fans talk about a rematch next year, sorry folks. A rematch usually entails the first meeting being close. PA went through Batesville and Wynne like a hot knife through soft butter, they barely broke a sweat. As a Batesville fan the fact we have beaten PA recently is all the more impressive since I've seen them play. PA is very very good.

[CoachTaylorPA]

MDXPHD, I'm basing my observation of the game on facts and statistics.  However my definition of competitive may be different from yours. The Super Bowl this year was 28-6 early in the third.  I thought the Patriots were going to make it competitive the rest of the way and they ended up winning. One of the reasons I thought they had a chance is the Falcons were 1-5 when scoring under 30 this year. .


link=topic=151020.msg3457897#msg3457897 date=1487650597]
It wasn't. But, of course, you're entitled to your opinion.

[RZback]

A few things to think about.
Playing man vs zone.  If a team is a really good passing team, zone will get you killed because a good team will take the 5-10 yard throw all night if you give it.  You lay back and waste a defender in deep coverage and are playing 10 on 11, yes now the QB is free.  To play man you better work on it at all levels of your program and play it often. You have to get pressure as many have said, or the QB just stands and waits for a receiver to eventually come open, and good offenses work on their pass scramble game to counter pressure. So you have to get to the QB quickly, another thing you have to work on all the time not for a week or two. 
Prevent the successful onside and poouch kicks. YOu cannot give away possessions time and time again.
I think a real key is unfortunately, depth on defense.  The game is lengthened by the passing attack and going on 4th down.  Any defense will give up points, and the spread style is good at making this happen anyway.  So you need to  be two deep to keep a defense fresh late in the game.  Going huddle on offense helps some becuase your D is resting, maybe!  But, you have to keep the ball for a while on offense or it doesn't really matter.
Bottom line, its about really good athletes, offense or defense and execution. There are some good coaches in Arkansas but not always a lot of talent and depth in all the teams out there.

[MDXPHD]

MDXPHD, I'm basing my observation of the game on facts and statistics.  However my definition of competitive may be different from yours. The Super Bowl this year was 28-6 early in the third.  I thought the Patriots were going to make it competitive the rest of the way and they ended up winning. One of the reasons I thought they had a chance is the Falcons were 1-5 when scoring under 30 this year. .

Ahhh. I think I've discovered the problem. You see, when the falcons were dominating that game, it wasn't competitive at all. Now, the Patriots came back, made it competitive, and won. The difference between that example and the PA-East game is that PA didn't come back. They were outmatched. They were not competitive. It's not an insult. PA was easily the best in 5A last season, but they were not close to the level East was. We do seem to have very different understandings of the word "competitive" though, I agree.