Single Wing Lions NIP CYCLONES

August 30, 2008 12:17 am

BY TAFT COGHILL JR.

Louisa High School football coach Mark Fischer told anyone willing to listen that Eastern View isn't going to be a typical first-year football program.

Last night, he was proven correct.

The Lions held off Culpeper County's newest high school for a hard-fought 27-20 victory, but not before the Cyclones showed they may be a force to be reckoned with this season.

"I've been saying it all along: that's a ball club," Fischer said. "That ain't no start-up team, man. They are for real. We fought hard and we made a lot of mistakes and missed a ton of opportunities, but at the end, we got the breaks we needed and came through."

Louisa needed to recover an onside kick with 1:24 remaining to preserve the victory, and even that was an iffy proposition.

The ball squirted away from one Louisa player before senior running back Kendell Davidson secured it, leaving Fischer a nervous wreck.

"I can't do this much longer. I need another heart," Fischer said. "That's the first game and we faced every kind of situation we can face in a ball game."

Louisa's first touchdown came on a 57-yard pass from quarterback Dillon Hollins to 6-foot-4 tight end Kerry Wynn, who leaped over an Eastern View defensive back and outraced the Cyclones defense to the end zone.

Louisa's lead increased to 13-0 in the second quarter after running back Anthony Hunter scored on a 2-yard touchdown run.

But Eastern View responded with a 13-play, 65-yard drive that ended with the first touchdown in school history.

Quarterback Cody Whitlock (200 yards, one touchdown) found wide receiver DeShawn Robinson (seven catches, 81 yards) for the 15-yard scoring strike on a fourth-and-goal play, pulling the Cyclones within 13-7 with 2:07 remaining.

However, that was too much time for the Lions. They crisply moved down the field and Hollins--a first-year starting quarterback-completed the 57-yard march with a 14-yard touchdown pass to Davidson for a 19-7 lead seven seconds before halftime.

"That was a big drive for them," Eastern View head coach Greg Hatfield said. "We had a couple of chances to make some plays and we didn't make them, but that was a big-time drive on their part."

The Cyclones refused to go away quietly.

They opened the third quarter with a 70-yard march of their own that culminated with Whitlock's 2-yard touchdown run to close his team within 19-14 with 9:08 remaining.

The score stayed that way until Louisa's Hunter scored on a 5-yard run to make it 27-14 with 5:31 left in the game. The touchdown was set up by a 41-yard pass from Hollins to wide receiver Demetrius Johnson.

It was yet another big play in a sterling effort from Hollins, who finished the game 8-of-11 for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

"The first game starting at quarterback to throw two touchdowns, that's unbelievable," Hollins said. "That's every kid's dream to start at quarterback on varsity."

Following a Louisa botched punt, Eastern View standout senior running back Stevie Strother scored on a 34-yard touchdown run to provide the final margin and set the stage for the onside kick.

"I'm proud," Hatfield said. "I think this is a tough place to come in and play. So I was happy with the way we got better as the game went on against a good football team."

Louisa visits Powhatan next week. The Cyclones have a week off before they host William Monroe on Sept. 12.





Eastern View
0
7
7
6
--
20

Louisa County
7
12
0
8
--
27



First Quarter

Lo--K. Wynn 57-yard pass from D. Hollins (F. Ameling kick).

Second Quarter

Lo--A. Hunter 2-yard run (run failed).

--D. Robinson 15-yard pass from C. Whitlock (K. Schubert kick).

Lo--K. Davidson 15-yard pass from D. Hollins (run failed).

Third Quarter

--C. Whitlock 2-yard run (K. Schubert kick).

Fourth Quarter

Lo--A. Hunter 5-yard run (K. Wynn pass from D. Hollins).

--S. Strothers 34-yard run (kick failed).

TEAMSTATISTICS


Lo

First downs15
14

Rushing yardage26-78
39-119

Passing yardage200
179

Passes15-37-1
8-11-0

Punts-Avg.3-24
2-30

Fumbles-lost5-1
3-1

Penalties-yards 7-60
8-45



INDIVIDUALSTATISTICS

Rushing: Eastern View--Steve Strothers 12-63, TD; Cody Whitlock 12-13, TD; B.J. Minor 2-2. Louisa County--Anthony Hunter 17-63, 2TDs; Andre Hunter 6-30; Kendell Davidson 6-24; Rashawn Jackson 6-7; Dillon Hollins 4-(-5).
Passing: Eastern View--Cody Whitlock 15-37-1 200, TD. Louisa County--Dillon Hollins 8-11-0 179, 2TDs.

Receiving: Eastern View--DeShawn Robinson 7-81, TD; Matt Case 3-61; Kyle Schubert 2-31; Kevin Young 3-24; Conner Settle 1-3. Louisa County--Kerry Wynn 4-107, TD; Demetris Johnson 2-49; Kendell Davidson 1-14, TD; Rashawn Jackson 1-9.

========================================
The Free Lance-Star Publishing Company
=======================================
Louisa County High Schoo
757 Davis HwyMineral, VA 23117
=======================================

Single-Wing Lions brave storm

By Shane Mettlen
Published: August 29, 2008

MINERAL – With the stadium packed with fans, a live lion mascot on the sidelines, a fire-breathing lion statue near the end zone and fireworks shooting off in the distance, it was a wild night in Louisa County for Eastern View’s official football debut. And if the Cyclones had recovered a late-game onside kick it would have gotten even wilder.

Louisa County recovered the kick with 1:24 remaining after it squirted away from an Eastern View player and the Lions were able to kneel down and secure a 27-20 victory.

“We gave 100 percent effort on (the onside kick) and we didn’t quit,” EVHS coach Greg Hatfield said. “We played hard until the whistle and I thought that was two pretty good football teams.”

EVHS senior Cody Whitlock completed 15 of 36 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for another score to lead the Cyclones offense, but it was an efficient passing game combined with a single-wing rushing attack hat helped Louisa pick up the victory.

The Lions struck early. After opening the game with a couple of runs for moderate games, Louisa quarterback Dillon Hollins hit tight end Kerry Wynn for a 66-yard touchdown pass and the Lions led 7-0.

Eastern View had trouble getting its offense going in the first half and went into the locker room at halftime trailing 19-7, but Hatfield was able to fire up his team during the break and the Cyclones opened the second half with a 70-yard drive that took nearly three minutes and cut the lead to 19-14.

“We really challenged ourselves at halftime and talked about playing the way we play,” Hatfield said. “We put some pressure on them in the second half and we outscored them in the second half.”

EVHS looked poised to take the lead in the fourth quarter after a Whitlock completed an 18-yard pass to Matt Case, who hung on after taking a hard hit, and the Cyclones were in Lions’ territory.

But Eastern View lost the ball after Louisa recovered a fumble and took over on the Cyclones 48-yard line. The Lions drove 52 yards and with a two-point conversion extended the lead to 27-14.

The Cyclones got back with in a score after a 34-yard touchdown run by running back Stevie Strother, who was limited to 64 yards on 12 carries by a wet field and a stingy Louisa defense.

“I think the field might have hurt him a little bit,” Louisa coach Mark Fischer said of Strother. “But we had to try to keep him in front of us and try not to let him make us look silly and there at the end he made us look silly.”

Strother’s touchdown came with 1:24 remaining and cut the lead to seven points, but after EVHS failed to recover the onside kick it was essentially over.

“I think there’s a lot of positives,” Hatfield said. “We didn’t play very well in the first half and we made some mistakes offensively, but I was very happy with the way we played in the second half.”

=======================
The Culpeper Star-Exponent
471 James Madison Highway,
Suite 201
Culpeper, VA 22701
======================
Louisa County High School

757 Davis HwyMineral, VA 23117
======================

Stopping the Single-Wing

By Shane Mettlen
Published: August 29, 2008

To some it’s a throwback to the days when football was played with leather helmets and the forward pass was a novelty. To others it’s the cutting edge, a way a sly young coach such as Florida’s Urban Meyer can take advantage of his most gifted athletes.

To Eastern View coach Greg Hatfield, the single-wing is the offense his Cyclones must figure out to beat Louisa.

“The thing that makes the single-wing difficult is obviously all the misdirection,” Hatfield said. “You have the spinner series where the quarterback is going to turn and you have one back go one way and one back go the other way and the quarterback goes a third way. So if you sit there and watch the paint dry on the fence, you’re going to get hit.”

The legendary coach Pop Warner invented the single-wing in the early 1900s because the formation — with its unbalanced line and “wing back” in position behind the tight end — helped him best utilize the speed of future Hall of Famer Jim Thorpe. A century later, Meyer was employing formations that resembled the single-wing at Florida, making quarterback Tim Tebow a household name before he even became the starter in Gainesville.

But in some corners of the football world the single-wing is neither a relic, nor a gimmick. It’s just the offense. So it is in Louisa, where the Lions lined up with a wingback and ran all the way to the state title game in 2006.

Louisa had a down year last year, going 3-7 and 3-3 in the Jefferson District, but this season is prepared to reload after the JV Lions went 11-0. Fortunately for Eastern View, Hatfield has a little previous experience at defending the single-wing.

Osbourn Senior High School in the Cedar Run District, where Hatfield coached Fauquier before taking the Eastern View job, employs the single-wing at times and used it to help win a state championship in 2006. Of course there are differences between what the Eagles have done in the past and what the Lions will do tonight.

“Osbourn did it on the goal line,” Hatfield said. “They just used it as a goal line package so they were a little more limited in what they did. Plus when they did it you knew who was going to get the ball. That’s why Louisa is so tough. They have a lot of guys that can run it.”

The Cyclone players studied the single-wing this week in practice and have a respect for the Lions and their running game.

“We’re looking forward to a good game with Louisa,” EVHS senior Blake Smith said. “They got a good program down there and this will be a hard fought game. Not last year, but the year before, they were in the states so we know they have a tough program.”

Despite the unique attack of the Lions, the Cyclones aren’t changing their basic approach and will play the modified 4-3 defense that limited Culpeper to 102 yards of total offense in their scrimmage last week. Hatfield said his team will have to be aggressive to limit the effectiveness of the Lions’ misdirection.

“We’ll keep our concepts on defense the same,” he said. “We put pressure on. We like to attack. We will play around with our alignments somewhat, but we won’t change the concepts. I think the worst thing you can do with a single-wing is just sit there and let it come to you.”

=======================

The Culpeper Star-Exponent

471 James Madison Highway,

Suite 201

Culpeper, VA 22701

======================

Louisa County High School
757 Davis HwyMineral, VA 23117

======================

Coldwater football team looks to make strides in '08

By Mike Clutter
The Daily Reporter
Tue Aug 26, 2008, 12:52 AM EDT

Coldwater, Mich. -
After a 2-7 record in 2007, Coldwater football coach Mark DeMeester looks to his Cardinal squad to make some improvements and become more competitive in the upcoming season.

"We want to keep making strides forward, our goal is to have a winning season," said DeMeester. "We have good team speed, more experience on offense and solid groups at outside linebacker and defensive backs."

The Cardinals will spread the offense out more and hope to become almost 60-40 run-to-pass ratio.

"We'd like to get the ball away quicker from our quarterbacks," said DeMeester of starter Josh Roddy, who started at the junior varsity level last season and part-time quarterback Cyle Herendeen. "We won't have a tight end most of the time in our spread single-wing offense; this is our second season running it, so we should be more familiar with it."

====================

The Daily Reporter, 15 W. Pearl St., Coldwater, MI 49036

====================

Coldwater High School

275 N Fremont St

Coldwater, MI

=================

.