Paola can win with "One Dimensional" Football!

Originally Posted, Monday, October 18, 2010

    How many times do we watch and listen to football coaches preach about being a “balanced” football team?

    Every coach expounds on the merits of having balance between the run and the pass. He will quote statistics of how you must first establish the run and that will open up the passing game. How if you can’t at least present the “threat” of throwing passes down field, teams will “load the box” and stop the running game and then suddenly your “one dimensional” offense will be dead in the water.

    Well fans, I’m here today to tell you this, if the Paola Panthers are going to make a run deep in the playoffs, they will do it as a one dimensional team.

    Now, this next statement is an oversimplification of the facts, because more factors were involved in the Panthers season opening losses to Baldwin and DeSoto than a few forward passes, but for the sake of my arguments right now, I’m here to tell you, one of the big reasons why the Panthers started out 0-2 and stand at 5-2 instead of 7-0 and heading for a REALLY BIG game against Louisburg in 10 day or so is this. 

    The Panthers started out the season THINKING they could throw the football! Now, the Panthers didn’t change their offense and go to a full fledged spread, tossing it around 40 times a game like the Osawatomie Trojans. No, they were more conservative, with Seth Kern tossing 29 passes in the opening two games.

    For a Paola Panther offense, that IS a spread offense! And, there’s more to those stats, first, the Panthers completed just 10 of those 29 attempts, a woeful completion percentage, and they gained just 108 yards, that’s just not very good. 

    But, there’s more to those stats than meets the eye. It wasn’t necessarily bad for the Panthers to throw the ball that many times, but, it was more a product of when the passes were thrown. During the Baldwin game, a couple of times, the offense got down field, deep into Bulldog territory running the ball, and then all of a sudden, boom, three passes in a row, and the drive stalled. It just didn’t make sense.

    Luckily for the Paola faithful, after those first two games, cooler heads prevailed and the Panthers scrapped the passing game and went almost strictly with a running offense. In the last five games, all blow out wins I might add, the Panthers have attempted just 10 passes, with one completion for a whopping 14 yards.

    But the rushing attack, that has flourished! After running for 217 and 315 yard is each of the first two games, not bad for most programs, but anemic by Paola standards, the Panthers have ripped opposing defenses for 471, 386, 305, 541 and 544 yards. The last two represent new school records, and it doesn’t look like there’s any end in sight.

    In fact, I’ll make this argument right now, even though the Panthers are almost exclusively a running football team, I will say right now they are far from “one dimensional.” I say this because the Panthers have more than one person that can torch a defense on the ground.

    Look no further than this set of stats: Skylar Hawkins is getting the lions share of the carries and had 1171 yards so far this year on 138 carries. But, Tyler Henness has 811 yards on 67 carries and Seth Kern has added 406 yards on 67 carries, that’s 1217 yards on 134 carries -- nearly identical stats to Hawkins. When you add in Tanner Staats who’s picked up 266 yards on just 24 carries, it’s pretty easy to see why Paola can line up and beat most teams just running the ball.

    Plus, the Panthers have the ability to take the ball up the middle, hit a crease at the tackle/tight end spot, or get to the edge and go outside. Teams that put 8-9-10 in the “box” better make sure they make the tackle within five yards of the line of scrimmage, because if they don’t these guys are off to the races.

    In the Panthers latest record setting performance against Osawatomie last Friday night, Paola’s longest scoring drive was seven plays -- seven plays and it went for 46 yards and took 2:28 off the clock. Paola had THREE, one play drives, going for 35, 34 and 77 yards, they had FOUR more drives that lasted just three plays, the shortest at 11 yards and the longest at 49 yards. Those are possession numbers that most PASSING teams would envy!

    Now, I’m not here to say the Panthers and win a state championship running the ball 50 times a game and never passing it, but I will say that it’s my opinion that the Panthers can go a long way in the playoffs without needing to throw a single pass.

    Somebody out there might have the horses up front, the linebackers and the speed at corner and safety to contain the Panthers stable of running backs, who knows, it might be Louisburg in 10 days or so, but I know one thing, the Panthers have been fun to watch the last five games, and they’re going to be even more fun to watch in the next five games, and beyond, maybe all the way to a state championship!

Panthers, Wildcats on Collision Course

Originally Posted, Tuesday, October 12, 2010

    With the beginning games of the District Playoffs set to start on Friday Night, there’s one thing that is almost a certainty once again this year.

    When the Louisburg Wildcats come calling to Panther Stadium on Thursday, October 28, 2010, the game will determine the district championship, just as it has so many times before.    

    Now, before my friends in Osawatomie and Spring Hill get all upset with me, I know, both the Panthers and the Wildcats will have to face the Trojans and Broncos in the next two weeks, but the season so far has shown us the Panthers and Wildcats should get past their next two opponents to meet on the last Thursday of the month with the district championship on the line.

    The only thing that could have made this better would have been if the Panthers hadn’t decided to take the first two games of the season off, resulting in surprising losses at home to Baldwin and DeSoto. It would have been nice if the two teams would have come into the game unbeaten, with the Frontier League Championship on the line also.

    But the Wildcats will have that locked up by then, but the district championship will be another matter. Of course, it doesn’t really make a difference who wins or loses the district, with the Kansas High School Football Championship bracketing system, the only thing it means is the winner gets to play a second place district team. In theory, this makes the district champion’s next game easier, but in practice it really doesn’t make a whole lot of difference.

    But the records won’t matter either, as both teams are now playing at a very high level. In fact, they could meet again in the sub-state championship game to determine which will advance to the state championship game later in November.

    Now that would be a great thing!

I'm Baaaaaaaaaack!

Originally Posted, Thursday, September 30, 2010

    It’s going on Midnight on Thursday, and this is going to be brief. I’m just going to say I’m back, and I plan on writing something just about everyday, so check back often. It’s been quite hectic in my life, but I’ve had a great time this fall covering the local sports scene.

    Football has been interesting to say the least, Louisburg has gotten off the start I thought they would and are sitting at 4-0 on the season. The Panthers and Trojans did not get off to great starts, but the Panthers have righted the ship and look to be on the right track. The Trojans on the other hand have problems, but we’ll talk about that later.

    The local volleyball teams are all about where I through they’d be. The Panthers and Wildcats are playing well, and the Trojans are trying to learn how to win. The Panthers will play out and beat you with perseverance, they never let you rest. The Wildcats, well they can just line up and pound you, but they sometimes have problems with focus, and the Trojans, well, they are still learning to finish the game, when the do, they’re going to be tough.

    Soccer is another story, the Wildcats are one of the top teams in the Frontier League. The Panthers, well they can’t seem to figure out how to put the ball in the goal. The Panthers have scored four, count ‘em four, goals on the season. But, they’ve done more with four goals than most teams, as they are 2-1-1 in games they have scored in, not bad, but unfortunately, they’ve been shut out seven times this season.

    Finally the Cross Country teams have been running well. The Panther boys are again strong and solid top to bottom. The Panther girls have gotten surprising performances from some young runners, and are battling a few nagging injuries, but are placing well in their events. The Wildcats and Trojans all have quality runners, and are all improving week to week.

    That’s it, I’m out for tonight, I’ll try and examine the football games tomorrow morning.