[Daniel_BellCo]

Ryle 14

Highlands 31

[Stardust]

^ I could see that

[sstack]

Birds will have to continue to improve a lot from last week to this week if they want to win this game. I'm afraid some fellow Highlands fans are just a little bit tipsy and over confident from the win over Manual. Hate saying it, but Manual was not a very good football team. Manual's O line didn't play well or even use good technique. Play calling was a wreck. No continuity at all. I think they used 3 different QBs in a search to find someone to lead their team. Manual D, other than the secondary, was slow and appeared disorganized at times. It was apparent watching them on the field that they are still adjusting to and learning Lucas' new systems.

I've heard some Highlands fans talking about how good we are this year and pointing out that the win spread over Manual this year was bigger than last year's margin. Folks, this year's Manual team is now where near at this point as good as last year's team. So take the larger margin of victory with about 10 grains of salt.

This week's game against Ryle will provide a good barometer of where the Birds are at this point; much better than the Manual game. Hempel and Elliott are the real deal. No first year coach and new systems to learn. Solid surrounding players in a program that has been working very, very hard for several years. Warner had made some questionable coaching decisions in the past based on his almost fanatical desire to show confidence in his kids ability to beat the Birds. But he's a young coach still learning and I think he's learned from his past mistakes. It's great to show confidence, but you don't go for it on 4th and 1 at midfield in a close game against the Birds. If that scenario should occur this year, I think you'll see the Raiders punt the ball and play field position.

Bottom line for me: I think this will be a very, very close game. Homefield advantage will not be near the factor that it was in the Manual game as Ryle has plenty of experience at DCM, whereas Manual had none. Birds will have to gang tackle Elliott and Hempel (he will run the ball a lot in this game I think and will throw a bunch of short, West Coast style passes). Birds will have to wrap and hold on to both of them and wait for the cavalry to arrive to take the ball carrier down. Birds O line must continue to improve their footwork to maintain their blocks. The Raiders D will be much faster and quicker than Manual's. Towles throws a great deep ball, but the Birds O must improve it's short to middle passing game to be able to keep possession of the ball and keep the Ryle O off the field.

Should be a great one. Go Birds!

I agree that the Birds have to gang tackle Elliot and cause him to get frustrated, Improve their short passing game(should have some open WR's with their threat of the deep ball),and I also agree that this should be a great one. However, If HHS plays their game, I would not be surprised with them taking a sizable lead in the 4th.

[charlie22]

I agree that the Birds have to gang tackle Elliot and cause him to get frustrated, Improve their short passing game(should have some open WR's with their threat of the deep ball),and I also agree that this should be a great one. However, If HHS plays their game, I would not be surprised with them taking a sizable lead in the 4th.

I hope you are right. I just don't feel we have a good barometer to say how good we are quite yet. The Manual game didn't serve as one in my opinion. We have some very good players returning from last year so obviously I'm greatly encouraged. The Trinity game showed me some areas that we were weak on. I hope the big margin over Manual was a result of improvement in those areas. I'm just not sure yet if however the margin was due to improvement or a down Manual team. We'll find out this Friday. Don't forget, I'm a Lou Holtz type fan. Publicly: the other team is awesome and we don't have a chance. Privately: hh:

[Can you dig it?]

I hope you are right. I just don't feel we have a good barometer to say how good we are quite yet. The Manual game didn't serve as one in my opinion. We have some very good players returning from last year so obviously I'm greatly encouraged. The Trinity game showed me some areas that we were weak on. I hope the big margin over Manual was a result of improvement in those areas. I'm just not sure yet if however the margin was due to improvement or a down Manual team. We'll find out this Friday. Don't forget, I'm a Lou Holtz type fan. Publicly: the other team is awesome and we don't have a chance. Privately: hh:

I think the Ryle game will be the barometer. This is the week that we find out how capable the 2010 Birds are.

[Cats02]

highlands hands down

[whackem'n'stackem']

I hope you are right. I just don't feel we have a good barometer to say how good we are quite yet. The Manual game didn't serve as one in my opinion. We have some very good players returning from last year so obviously I'm greatly encouraged. The Trinity game showed me some areas that we were weak on. I hope the big margin over Manual was a result of improvement in those areas. I'm just not sure yet if however the margin was due to improvement or a down Manual team. We'll find out this Friday. Don't forget, I'm a Lou Holtz type fan. Publicly: the other team is awesome and we don't have a chance. Privately: hh:

Come on, Chuck. What's wrong with praising the kids hard work on the field? They're not tender little shoots that need papa Bluebird protecting them. These Birds are the real deal and you know it. They're just as good off the field too. Thank God for that.:1:

[charlie22]

Come on, Chuck. What's wrong with praising the kids hard work on the field? They're not tender little shoots that need papa Bluebird protecting them. These Birds are the real deal and you know it. They're just as good off the field too. Thank God for that.:1:

Whacko, if you want to "praise them", by all means do so. I simply pointed out that the win over Manual, while impressive, isn't a strong barometer. The Ryle game will be. I think we have a very good team. I don't know it yet. Friday will go a long way to answering that question. If you can't comprehend that point, well I don't know what to say.

[whackem'n'stackem']

Whacko, if you want to "praise them", by all means do so. I simply pointed out that the win over Manual, while impressive, isn't a strong barometer. The Ryle game will be. I think we have a very good team. I don't know it yet. Friday will go a long way to answering that question. If you can't comprehend that point, well I don't know what to say.

I do understand this concept, but you cannot let your own personal fears become a basis to attack other's legitimate opinions about how good they think this team is. I do agree that we'll know more about Highlands friday night, but that is academic IMO. Highlands fans shouldn't FEAR THE BIRDS, they should ENJOY THEIR BIRDS.:redboxer:

[rebel 4 life]

i got a feeling last night talking to a close buddy of mine who play for highlands and he say that he thinks they are going to lose so with that i am going with ryle by 2

[whackem'n'stackem']

i got a feeling last night talking to a close buddy of mine who play for highlands and he say that he thinks they are going to lose so with that i am going with ryle by 2

Please tell me you're kidding. This post is hilarious.:thatsfunn

[Stardust]

Please tell me you're kidding. This post is hilarious.:thatsfunn

C'mon, you know that the kids from Ft. Thomas don't have a whole lot of confidence in themselves......:eyeroll:

:biggrin:

[NCC41]

i got a feeling last night talking to a close buddy of mine who play for highlands and he say that he thinks they are going to lose so with that i am going with ryle by 2

Was this the same guy who told you to go with the Rams over Highlands 21-17?

[charlie22]

I do understand this concept, but you cannot let your own personal fears become a basis to attack other's legitimate opinions about how good they think this team is. I do agree that we'll know more about Highlands friday night, but that is academic IMO. Highlands fans shouldn't FEAR THE BIRDS, they should ENJOY THEIR BIRDS.:redboxer:

My personal fears? :lmao: You are killing me.

My problem with some of my fellow Highlands fans is that they fool heartedly think that every year the Birds are going to just waltz to another state champhionship because they won it the prior year. They forget that despite winning championships in 98,99 and 00, we took our lumps in 01 and 02. Some Highlands fans were flabbergasted when that happened. How could we get beat by the likes of Rockcastle County? I shouldn't have said beat. We got our fannies whipped. Fans were talking about what went wrong and pointing fingers. Had Mueller lost his touch? Had the players quit? Truth is, it was none of those things. We just didn't have the talent to win those years. The same thing happened in 05 after the 04 championship team. It was ugly.

Blue tinted fans just think because we are Highlands we will win it. They think because we won it last year and have some starters returning, we are guaranteed to win it this year. I wish it was that easy. I know better.

[rebel 4 life]

Was this the same guy who told you to go with the Rams over Highlands 21-17?

yes that was just a joke i never been to ft thomas i was just messing with ya
and i was pulling for the rams but the better team won

[Stardust]

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2010/0...today-com/

Friday’s matchup between the top two football teams in Northern Kentucky will be broadcast on USAToday.com. The site, in an effort to enahnce its high school football coverage, is dispatching freelancers to cover some of the country’s top football programs with video webcasts.

[whackem'n'stackem']

http://cincinnati.com/blogs/preps/2010/0...today-com/

Friday’s matchup between the top two football teams in Northern Kentucky will be broadcast on USAToday.com. The site, in an effort to enahnce its high school football coverage, is dispatching freelancers to cover some of the country’s top football programs with video webcasts.

So, can we watch a taped replay of friday night's matchup online? By the way, gametime is 7:30

[tcb]

Ryle 28- 21 ot

[Bleacher_Creature_10]

Highlands by 14.