[EKUAlum05]

Belfry is a great program and you are doing a lot right but be honest with me.
Do you think mountain teams work on the pass game as much as they should or could especially pass defense? To me it starts at youth league on up. If you dont work hard on something from the early stages and find and develop the kids to do it then its not going to just magically appear at the high school level. I would bet that the teams that you mentioned who try to pass are still one dimensional in the lower leagues. I just believe that you need a plan B when plan A is not working or being shut down. I believe that if teams in this area would bring in quality people to teach pass O and D and just spend maybey half the time that we do on the run and start it while the kids are young then I think you would be amazed at what we could find that people say we dont have.

By and large I see your points and agree with their merit.

BUT


As a fan of the HS Game, a one dimensional offense is not as uncommon as you think among elite teams. Camden County and Grasyon, GA would dominate possibly every team in KY not named Trinity. Colerain, OH just did dominate Trinity. All these teams run the ball 90% of the time and typically pass as a luxury. The key is execution, personnel, and a defense that gets you the ball back.

At the end of the day these are 15-18 year old HS kids and kids will make mistakes, kids will drop passes, kids will forget to look off their receivers, and kids will try to force a ball into double coverage to the WR they trust. A run offense, when executed to perfection, has the least likelihood for turnovers, least likelihood for mental errors, and allows you to control the tempo. A passing game is certainly better catered to coming from behind and exposing weaknesses, but it also is more prone to tiring your defense and creating a frenetic pace. You have three quick possessions where the clock stops and come up empty thanks to a key dropped pass, an overthrown pass, and a holding call on 3rd and 6... meanwhile you go down 14-0 on defense and see your guys spend 3/4 of the First Half on the field.. is there really a huge difference in your ability to come back come the 4th Quarter? Sure you may be able to score points better, but you are less likely to get your stops now.

Where the EKY teams need help is making sure that the 10% of the time they do attempt a pass is enough of a threat that the opposing defense has to view it as a 50/50 play every down and honor it with their LB's and DB's. Belfry has a great passing QB and a dangerous WR this year, but until the Pirates prove that a hitch on 2nd and 6 has the same likelihood or hurting the opposing defense as a counter, they will continue to see 10 in the box,