Ensworth vs. MBA

[BGAballer]

As my name shows (BGA) I don't have a dog in the hunt. But with the few Ensworth flamers on here it makes me hope MBA pulls out the win. I know this is not reflective of EHS....but it just sounds so bad.

[dunedin12]

if you look at every aspect of this game, E should win, unfortunately. they have had an extra week to prepare and rest up (some teams might lose focus during the 2 week break, but since big rick is their coach and since theyre playing MBA, i dont see that happening), they have bigger and faster athletes, and an unbelievable coaching staff. speaking of coaches, why does ricky make comments about his team like "we're really not that good" ??? Anyway, MBA is banged up from the extremely physical game they played vs. Maplewood, and it probably took their players a few days to get over their emotional win.

Having said all that, MBA can win this game if they can stop the E running attack. The E passing game is pretty unproven, it would appear. MBA will score points, but can they prevent points from being scored. MBA will obviously have the home field advantage, and you know their players want this win more than anything, which will be a factor.

 

Also, even if MBA were to lose friday, i think they will be a MUCH better team in two and a half or 3 months from now, which is when the goin gets tough and the tough get goin. Ensworth will have played a bunch of games in a row without an off week and a small amount of players, compared to other teams. Im not saying they will be a worse team, but look at what happened the past 2 years.

[KWoodroof]

if you look at every aspect of this game, E should win, unfortunately. they have had an extra week to prepare and rest up (some teams might lose focus during the 2 week break, but since big rick is their coach and since theyre playing MBA, i dont see that happening), they have bigger and faster athletes, and an unbelievable coaching staff. speaking of coaches, why does ricky make comments about his team like "we're really not that good" ??? Anyway, MBA is banged up from the extremely physical game they played vs. Maplewood, and it probably took their players a few days to get over their emotional win.

Having said all that, MBA can win this game if they can stop the E running attack. The E passing game is pretty unproven, it would appear. MBA will score points, but can they prevent points from being scored. MBA will obviously have the home field advantage, and you know their players want this win more than anything, which will be a factor.

 

Also, even if MBA were to lose friday, i think they will be a MUCH better team in two and a half or 3 months from now, which is when the goin gets tough and the tough get goin. Ensworth will have played a bunch of games in a row without an off week and a small amount of players, compared to other teams. Im not saying they will be a worse team, but look at what happened the past 2 years.

 

You make number of good points. MBA has been very careless with big plays, and Ensworth is a talented enough teams to make that very costly. I think MBA has some very talented players, but they may need a little more time to gel.

 

Ricky feigns confusion as to why people rate his team so highly because he's 48 years old, and grew up in an era where trash talking and self-aggrandizement did not happen and were highly frowned upon. He may be completely disingenuous, but he's said nothing that can be put on an opponent's bulletin board, nor can he be accused that gravest of sins, failure to respect.

 

I think depth will always be the achilles heel at Ensworth. Their planned enrollment limits the number of men from which they can build a team. Having said that, I admire and respect their plan to stay relatively small. MBA may have benefitted academically from the move from roughly 75 boys in a class to roughly 100, but I think there was a cost in terms of loss of class cohesion that I've never really embraced.

[graceseeker]

I agree with your comments regarding Ensworth's vulnerability from a depth perspective, but I would add that MBA has a unique vulnerability from the exact same perspective. I can't recall in recent years a situation where MBA is any more vulnerable from a depth perspective as they are this year. MBA does not have the flexibility of interchangeable parts as it has had in the past. I also believe this team has an unprecedented level of players going both ways. One key injury or even an extended period of leg cramps can change the outcome of this game for either team.

 

On a side note, I find the emotion behind some of these posts to be somewhat disappointing. I know some of the comments are in the spirit of jousting a bit but in the end, this is a game between two schools that hold a number of values much higher than anything that happens on a football field. From the player's perspective, I know that they deeply want to win for their school and their fans but for the most part the players have deep, close relationships with the guys they are competing with. Many of them have gone to school together. They have been teammates together. Some are still teammates in summer leagues and in other sports. When they shake hands it is not out of commitment but rather out of respect and friendship. One value I'm sure both schools hold dearly is honor and I hope everyone from players to coaches to students to parents to fans can remember that value so that we can all enjoy a wonderful and special moment in sports and life. It doesn't get any better than this.

[shakinthefat]

When the teams walk onto the field Friday night there will be no friends or summer league teammates.

The team that feels a friendly attachment to opponent will be defeated.

There are no friends in a WAR!!!

[KWoodroof]

When the teams walk onto the field Friday night there will be no friends or summer league teammates.

The team that feels a friendly attachment to opponent will be defeated.

There are no friends in a WAR!!!

This is not a war, or combat of any sort. This is a game being played by children (albeit very big ones). It is an enjoyable activity for the participants, and a fun diversion for the spectators. Injuries are rare, and deaths almost unheard of. Most men who've played football have joyous memories of the experience.

 

Wars leave dead and maimed. Those with no physical injuries bear emotional scars that never fade. As this game, and thousands of others like it, are being played throughout the country, young men not much older than these players are fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq. You do a real disservice to equate a game of any sort at any level with what our soldiers and Marines do.

 

In a less enlightened time, we would have at least remembered them in a prayer before the game. Progress and improvement are not always synonymous.

[graceseeker]

Hopefully he is just joking around. Using the word "War" for an athletic contest being played on the Memorial Day weekend is more than a bit insensitive.

[shakinthefat]

When the teams walk onto the field Friday night there will be no friends or summer league teammates.

The team that feels a friendly attachment to opponent will be defeated.

There are no friends in a WAR!!!

This is not a war, or combat of any sort. This is a game being played by children (albeit very big ones). It is an enjoyable activity for the participants, and a fun diversion for the spectators. Injuries are rare, and deaths almost unheard of. Most men who've played football have joyous memories of the experience.

 

Wars leave dead and maimed. Those with no physical injuries bear emotional scars that never fade. As this game, and thousands of others like it, are being played throughout the country, young men not much older than these players are fighting in both Afghanistan and Iraq. You do a real disservice to equate a game of any sort at any level with what our soldiers and Marines do.

 

In a less enlightened time, we would have at least remembered them in a prayer before the game. Progress and improvement are not always synonymous.

 

***BEWARE***BEWARE***BEWARE

This thread will now go to slamming people who are unpatriotic and use the word "WAR"!

 

The term is also used as a metaphor for non-military conflict, most people reading the post understand.

A football war is an interaction in which two or more opposing forces (teams) that have a “struggle of wills”.

I meant no "disservice" to my military brethren.

I served 9 years in the military and I pray for their safety. I miss my buddies Pete and Leo who gave their lives for our freedom so we can have a "fun diversion" of HS football on friday night.

Lighten up folks, you guys can get way too serious sometimes!!!

By the way, football is not played on Memorial day.

 

Now can we get back to discussing HS football.

[KWoodroof]

No, I think sometimes we take our football too seriously, or think it's much more important than it actually is.

 

Perhaps if we weren't currently burying teenagers killed in battle, it might be more acceptable, though i think the use of that metaphor tends to trivialize the sacrfices and costs. I realize, however, that you probably meant no offense.

[VandyHoosiers]

can any team in the nation hold Ensworth or Orleans to 0 points

Yes. Hyperbole much? If St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) played their starters the whole game, they'd put up 60+ and Ensworth would probably have more negative plays than positive plays.

 

MBA is prone to giving up big plays. If #8 from MBA takes a poor angle (like he was doing last week vs Maplewood) on OD, he'll house it.

 

Colbert needs to be much more decisive in the pocket than he was last week. Yes, he possesses great athleticism and is able to evade pressure, but he needs to get rid of the ball quicker and just protect the heck out of the ball.

 

If MBA can avoid turning it over more than once and limit Ensworth to one or two big plays, they'll win. If Ensworth is given opportunities over and over again, they'll win. MBA's kicking situation is much better than Ensworth's. In a game where there is little excitement (few turnovers and few big plays), I'll take the team with better special teams and more depth more often than not.

[Chattcity]

Hard to believe this game is this early. I am going to pick the Big Red in a squeaker 17-16

[KWoodroof]

can any team in the nation hold Ensworth or Orleans to 0 points

Yes. Hyperbole much? If St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) played their starters the whole game, they'd put up 60+ and Ensworth would probably have more negative plays than positive plays.

 

MBA is prone to giving up big plays. If #8 from MBA takes a poor angle (like he was doing last week vs Maplewood) on OD, he'll house it.

 

Colbert needs to be much more decisive in the pocket than he was last week. Yes, he possesses great athleticism and is able to evade pressure, but he needs to get rid of the ball quicker and just protect the heck out of the ball.

 

If MBA can avoid turning it over more than once and limit Ensworth to one or two big plays, they'll win. If Ensworth is given opportunities over and over again, they'll win. MBA's kicking situation is much better than Ensworth's. In a game where there is little excitement (few turnovers and few big plays), I'll take the team with better special teams and more depth more often than not.

Careful, VH, I made a similar statement about Maryville last yearand caught no end of flame (suggested that they would get their "heads handed to them on a platter.")

 

MBA's proclivity for giving up big plays may haunt them. They do show a lot of resilience, though, given their disastrous performance last year against EHS, and yet they still stayed close.

 

Still, it'll be worth the price of admission. I'm looking forward to it.