Things learned, observed in Pacific prep grid Week 2.1
Published: August 28, 2010
Musings, mutterings and the occasional schmahts as Ornauer peeks over the horizon at what might be the first typhoon to hit Okinawa in three years (check out Pacific Storm Tracker while you're here, y'all :) ).
-- Taking care of the football -- or rather not being very good at it -- appears to be a big issue for coaches to work on in practice this week.
-- In Seoul American's 12-0 home season-opening loss to defending DODDS Korea champion Daegu American, the Falcons lost the handle on the ball several times, one of which led to a Warriors score (to be fair, the conditions Saturday were wet and slippery, as has been the case all week in the Seoul area).
-- And in the first half of John F. Kennedy's 20-7 comeback win at Okkodo, each team lost the pumpkin twice in the game's first six minutes. The startup Bulldogs surprisingly led the established Islanders 7-0 at halftime.
-- But such things are part of the vagaries of building a winning football team. Every last team out there will improve in that aspect, or they won't win.
-- It's only a week, but Daegu apparently still rules the Korea roost, and defense rose up as the Warriors' backbone in Saturday's contest at SAHS' Sims Field. Jarel Connie and Ayrton Hilton each recorded two sacks and a fumble recovery and combined for seven tackles for losses.
-- On the offensive side of the ball, Connie, whose teammates call him "Tank," ran 5 yards for a touchdown and Tre Griffin, who finished 5-for-12 for 96 yards passing, ran 7 yards for a score. Hilton also caught three passes for 44 yards.
-- Still, the Warriors could use some work up front, coach Ken Walter says, trying to get to gel a line that lost three of five starters from last year.
-- Falcons coach Billy Ratcliff's line-building task appears to be much larger. "Our line was overwhelmed by their line," he said. "We didn't do anything to help ourselves, and we left the defense on the field too long. Daegu is a well-coached team."
-- At Okkodo High School in Dededo, once the teams quit playing giveaway, R.J. Rolinski was to the Islanders what Connie and Hilton were for the Warriors, a defensive force. Try nine tackles, four for losses, four quarterback hurries, including one that resulted in a fumble.
-- That helped get things revved up for JFK, which got strong running-back performances from Thomas Gutierrez; he scored twice and finished with 89 yards on 15 carries, while teammate Jade Blas added a score and 52 yards on 12 attempts.
183 days.
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