[OutlawJoseyWales]

Sounds like a lot of digs coming at the dl for Belfry. Can't believe Belfry fans starting to question Haywood? How many td's has Belfry got between the tackles this year versus backs hitting the corner and just out sprinting the defense? That's a serious question. Also, how many games did Belfry drop 7-8 in coverage and left 3 dl trying to put pressure and fill the gaps on the run?

If you know anything about Belfry Football....then you know that Haywood's Defense has historically taken great pride in shutting down the run game....and play bend but not break defense against the pass. Using a mixture of size and speed on the DL has served the Pirates well. While at times we've seen the Belfry Defense struggle in some years....since 2003.... More times than not that's been a successful recipe.

If you just base your judgement on scores....then there isn't much to disagree with. But....if you look a little closer....you begin to see real issues. In the PCB....Huntington was hell bent on trying to establish their passing game...that it actually kept Belfry in it. But....in the 4th qtr, when the game suddenly was in doubt, Huntington lined up, nose to nose and drove it right down the field, with a long sustained drive....on the GROUND. While Belfry held them to a FG....that was also in part, penalty aided.

Against Pikeville.....Belfry gave up over 400 yards in total offense, most of which came from the run game. Now granted, as I've watched the tape, I think and argument can be made that Haywood played it safe...and once we got up, he allowed Pikeville to run the ball, eat up clock....because Belfry did fairly well against the short passing game.

In watching the game film, its painfully evident that the Belfry DL is simply not large enough to control the LOS against good teams. Against average teams, our speed and technique far out weighs the opposition's abilities. But, against quality teams, the lack of size doesn't serve us well. Huntington was driving us 3-5 yrds off the ball. Pikeville was opening holes between the tackles in the run game. When that occurs, that makes it even more difficult on the LB's, because flow lanes are clogged. I'm afraid, and I know that others are as well, that once the playoffs begin, and the competition really spikes, that we're gonna find ourselves in a spot, much like last year against Central.

I think Haywood is a great coach. Fine man. Personally, I just wish we would at least entertain the idea of playing a few of our kids both ways. there are at least 6-7 Offensive lineman that have big frames that can eat up some space and provide some strength to the DLine on occasion. I'm not suggesting they play both ways the entire game. But, there is enough depth that a rotation should be possible