Great Game and atmosphere! Here are my takeaways.
Skilled Athletes - Milan. Milan had some threats that didn't even touch the Ball last night. 3 RB's that would start for most any team. The receivers will recover from the first game jitters and they will score some points.
QB - not a fair analysis. Trentons guys played with heart and they played hard. Milans QB played smart, was very accurate and protected the football.
Line play - Push - Peabody will dominate 1a when their line gets in just a little better shape. They did do fairly well, but were not the bulldozers we heard about prior to the game. Milan was a few shoestring tackles away from breaking several long runs, but got stuffed a few times as well. both will get better throughout the season.
Special Teams - Milan - the pooch kicks that were given up were the a major difference in the game. Even if you have a starting QB, if they miss out on two possessions it's hard to score. short punts for Peabody and an onside kick that didn't make it ten yards are hopefully correctible things as the season moves on.
Overall - Milan had two Big Redzone stops. One a defensive Stand, and another was a forced fumble. That was just as important as the pooch kicks. their defense failed to get off the field on some third and longs in the first half. that was concerning, But they stepped up where they needed to. IMO Milan was more physical but only by a little. both teams showed great toughness and i believe will have some fun games this season.
bunch of great kids playing hard and classy football.
I do not believe that the pass play was called by the coaches late in the game. But, you are free to believe it if you want to. emotions were high with the players and made some bad decisions. The QB running out of Bounds in the fourth was another poor decision that would have helped. At the end of the day these are kids out there.
Go Dogs