Sometimes you don’t learn the most about teams through wins. Sure, nobody likes to lose, but in a loss sometimes things get revealed. We found out a few things from Alcovy’s 32-13 loss to Meadowcreek Saturday night that could possibly bode well for the Tigers going forward.
1. It’s hard to beat 327 pounds. That’s the average size of the Meadowcreek offensive line. Three-hundred-twenty-seven pounds. There aren’t a lot of college football teams who have that kind of girth up front. Look, we already knew Alcovy is a bit undersized in the trenches on both sides of the ball. But I’m willing to bet that 99.9 percent of Meadowcreek’s opponents will be undersized against that bunch. The Mustangs have a very talented tailback in Chauncey Williams. But make no mistake. It was that Meadowcreek line that paved the way to victory Saturday night. That said…
2. Alcovy has to get better at the point of attack. Coach Chris Edgar’s words, not mine. There’s no way Edgar and his strength and conditioning staff can add 20 to 30 pounds to Alcovy’s trenchermen over the course of the season. So when asked how the Tigers would have to go about getting better, Edgar outlined a multilayered approach. Some of the miscues were due to scheme discernment. “We have to have better eye discipline,” Edgar said. “We were worried about (Meadowcreek) sending a guy in motion. We’re looking for the jet sweep, but (Williams) kept coming down on us straight up the middle. We can’t be worried about the window dressing on a play. We have to find the ball.”
Defensively, look for the Tigers to start getting creative with the way it disguises coverages and pressure. Defensive end Dee Fanning got home on several plays Saturday night that either ended in him sacking the quarterback or making a big tackle for loss. But the pressure on defense just didn’t come consistently enough to make the needed difference. On the offensive side, Edgar said it’s all about angles with his offensive linemen. He gave several examples of how certain plays could’ve broke for big yardage if a lineman wouldn’t have missed on an angled block. “If we’re gonna be undersized up front, we can’t be undisciplined,” he said.
3. Bad calls by referees matter. Look, I’m not saying the refs cost Alcovy the ballgame on Saturday. But there were a couple of head scratching calls that, you could tell took the wind out of Alcovy’s sails. One came earlier in the game when it looked like quarterback Cameron Anderson found Jairus Anthony in the corner of the end zone on a pretty fade route and pass. Anthony caught the ball and looked to have gotten the required one foot in bounds, but the referee on the play ruled him out of bounds. Edgar said when they looked at the play on their own replay screens, it was a clear touchdown. It also looked like a score from where I sat in the press box, and one of our photographers took a shot of the play that didn’t seem to show Anthony out of bounds.
The second tough call didn’t exactly take points off the board for Alcovy, but it did take the Tigers out of scoring position. It was a 3rd and long play. Anderson connected with Fanning for a 30-yard pickup that would’ve put Alcovy in a 1st and goal situation at Meadowcreek’s 5-yard line. As the Meadowcreek defender provided coverage, Fanning was fading backwards while reaching up to catch the ball. The officials called offensive pass interference on Fanning, though no major contact from him seemed to be made. The drive eventually stalled out without a score.
Make no mistake, those two calls didn’t lose the game for Alcovy. And if they would’ve went the other way, those calls don’t guarantee victory. But when you miss calls like that, momentum can be affected in a major, major way. High school football instant replay, anyone?
4. Cameron Anderson is still a work in progress as a QB. And that’s okay. He went from record setting quarterback last week to one who, at times, looked like he was in just his first full season as the full time starter. For every time Anderson tucked the ball and ran for positive yardage, there were moments when he probably could’ve dedicated himself to reading his progressions better and finding an open man. Then while some passes he hit dead on the money — like the fade pattern that probably should’ve went for a touchdown, there were other times where he just missed on wide open receivers. To his credit, though, some of that probably has to do with the fact that Alcovy’s offensive line, at times, was just as overmatched against Meadowcreek as its defensive line. Gotta like Edgar’s continued confidence in Anderson:
“He’s still progressing,” he said. “He’s a work in progress. To his defense, he felt the walls closing in on him out there, and that’s something we have to get better at. The line has to give him time for sure. But Cam’s still a great kid. He still has control of this offense and we still expect big things from him.”
5. Eastside vs. Alcovy should be a dog fight. Here’s why: Both of these teams are coming off tough losses where they feel like they got pushed around a bit by teams that are bigger and stronger in the places that really matter. So while nobody likes to lose, neither team really lost a lot by dropping those games. But both of these teams will have the bitter taste from losing in their mouths, which just adds to the already present intrigue of this being another in-county rivalry matchup.
