Ridley West Catholic

[SPEED&JUMP DR.]

one word sums up this scrimmage -UGLY. It what may be a first in my life, I actually left just before halftime as I could not take watching it anymore.

At point I left , Ridley had completed 0 passes (in about 15 attempts ) and had 0 first downs. And most of the passes were not within 5 yards of the intended receiver, Not to be outdone , I think WC completed 2 passes but seemed to fumble every other center/QB exchange . WC had maybe 2 first downs but were unable to sustain anything due to the aforementioned fumbles I am sure Huck will have exact stats.

On a positive note, both D's looked solid , but it was really hard to tell considering the sorry state of both offenses. I think both teams might have been able to move the ball a little bit on the ground of they weren't so pass happy, but who knows. WC might be able to do more things against fellow AA teams , but I'm not sure about Ridley. They open up,with GMills, Springfield and GValley so they need to be ready early or else. They have to see that neither QB is capable now of engineering any kind of passing offense and maybe just ride the running game and D in the early part of the season.

 

[wcburrs87]

A lot of what Speed says is true, especially about the exact stats part

The varsity portion of the scrimmage went as follows: Each team did a set of ten plays. Then, they played a half of live action.

Ridley went first. Their first two plays were positive, as they gained 6 & 5 yards. All downhill from here, as they passed 1-3 for 1 yard, had a 6-yard sack, and four other runs netted zero yards. All total the first ten Ridley plays netted six yards.

West's first play was a 11-yard pass. Followed by two runs that netted just five yards. The fourth play was a nice 64-yard TD pass. The next running play lost three yards. This was followed by a 15-yard pass completion. Runs of -2 & 5 followed. The last two plays were an incompletion and a sack for a 5-yard loss. These ten plays netted 90 yards. Of course, 64 came on one big play.

Next, we moved onto the live scrimmage. Ridley went three-and-out on their first three possessions. Even had a 13-yard holding call in there. Total yards in the sequence was only six. They passed 1-6 for 0 yards and ran three times for 6 yards. Their fourth possession did net a first down on 3rd-2 went they drew WC offside. They ran for 6 yards after this, but an incompletion and an offside call followed. This series ended with a WC interception. Ridley's 5th series saw them get another first down as the first three plays were runs for 3, 5, & 6 yards. It stalled after this and a short punt ensued. Ridley's 6th and final possession of the live scrimmage produced a first down after runs of 4, 4, & 3 yards. With time running down they threw an incompletion, ran for 2 yards, lost 9 on a sack, and then gained 15 yards (Biggest play of day) on fourth down, but were short of the marker.

All total, Ridley's varsity ran 37 plays and netted 51 yards. They rushed 21 times for 30 yards and passed 6/16/21. 0 TDs

For West, their first two series also went 3-and-out. The first one ended with a 4-yard loss on a sack and the next one with poor center snap that lost 11 yards. WC's third possession started off good with a 20-yard pass play and a 19-yard run. The next three plays all lost two yards, with two sacks, and the last forcing a fumble at Ridley's 27-yard line. WC's fourth possession was also a three-and-out, but there were two dropped passes in the series, and the first one was a probable TD if caught. WC's 5th series started at the Ridley 30-yard line after a short 5-yard punt. A Wc hold did push the ball back to the forty. However, on 3rd down they gained 17 yards on a pass. Then, on 4th-and-5, they gained 20 yards down to the Ridley 5-yard line. Three plays later and after a WC offside call, they scored on a 7-yard run on third down. WC's 6th series came with just 8 seconds left and a hail Mary was picked-off by Ridley.

All total, WC ran 33 plays for 157 yards. They rushed 21 times for just ten yards and passed 6/12/147 yards. 2 TDs

The JV's went 15 plays each after this. A few highlights....

For Ridley, they had pass completions of 33 & 10 yards. However, they were called for three holds, fumbled, and the last two plays were both picked-off. The first one was a TD before they told whistled it dead.

For WC, they scored once on a 59-yard tipped pass down field. They had one other 10 yard completion.

Some general thoughts on Ridley....

I thought their line had good size. Their defense per usual had some tough kids on that side of the ball. They pretty much stacked the box with 8 guys and followed their responsibilities. sound tackling throughout. Their defense should be a solid unit in the Central League. One glaring weakness, at least on this day, was the absence of a single dynamic skill player. A whole lot of ordinary and that might be a stretch. Again, at least on this day. Not sure if the big play will be featured this year. Probably a lot of grinding it out. Most of their CL opponents won't have the team speed that WC has, so if they play smart, field position football, then their defense should keep them in games. I think....