Dawgsdad and myself attended the Tuttle vs. Poteau game last night. A few observations:
Poteau has one the best defenses I've seen in 4A football in quite some time. They were able to stiffle the run game that I'm sure Tuttle normally relies on. Their pass defense was quite good and I think there would have been more picks than the 2 they caught had it not been for Tuttle's #80 (more on that momentarily). Just really solid D.
Poteau's offensive line was equally impressive. What little bit of offense they were able to muster last night was due primarily to excellent blocking.
Unfortunately Poteau's offense was disorganized at best due to, I'm sure, Pitchford not being at 100%. They would run the same direct snap play over and over and it wasn't particularly effective.
Tuttle also had a strong defense and were able to completely shut down any passing game Poteau thought they had. Really the only yards Poteau got all night were rush yards behind some stellar blocking.
Tuttle's #80 receiver was probably the most impressive player on the field last night. Not only did he come up with several catches, including a couple of really difficult ones, but he also played "defense" when the passes that were thrown were particularly bad and he was able to prevent at least 2 picks that I saw.
Tuttle was able to convert a couple of quick scores early in the first quarter and then the game slowed way down to a crawl until halfway through the fourth when Poteau attempted their final rally.
As for next week, after seeing both Tuttle and Bethany play, I'm predicting Tuttle will win by 3 touchdowns. Tuttle's run game will be a lot more effective against a defense other than Poteau's and their pass defense is good enough to keep Bethany's aerial assault honest.
Tuttle 35 - Bethany 14
Last Edit: Nov 24, 2018 21:49:54 GMT -6 by champkind
Dawgsdad and myself attended the Tuttle vs. Poteau game last night. A few observations:
Poteau has one the best defenses I've seen in 4A football in quite some time. They were able to stiffle the run game that I'm sure Tuttle normally relies on. Their pass defense was quite good and I think there would have been more picks than the 2 they caught had it not been for Tuttle's #80 (more on that momentarily). Just really solid D.
Poteau's offensive line was equally impressive. What little bit of offense they were able to muster last night was due primarily to excellent blocking.
Unfortunately Poteau's offense was disorganized at best due to, I'm sure, Pitchford not being at 100%. They would run the same direct snap play over and over and it wasn't particularly effective.
Tuttle also had a strong defense and were able to completely shut down any passing game Poteau thought they had. Really the only yards Poteau got all night were rush yards behind some stellar blocking.
Tuttle's #80 receiver was probably the most impressive player on the field last night. Not only did he come up with several catches, including a couple of really difficult ones, but he also played "defense" when the passes that were thrown were particularly bad and he was able to prevent at least 2 picks that I saw.
Tuttle was able to convert a couple of quick scores early in the first quarter and then the game slowed way down to a crawl until halfway through the fourth when Poteau attempted their final rally.
As for next week, after seeing both Tuttle and Bethany play, I'm predicting Tuttle will win by 3 touchdowns. Tuttle's run game will be a lot more effective against a defense other than Poteau's and their pass defense is good enough to keep Bethany's aerial assault honest.
Tuttle 35 - Bethany 14
I agree 100%! Very accurate observation of the game. It was unfortunate that the QB was hurt. I wish the would have let Francis attempt more passes but I do understand he hasn’t play QB since the beginning of the season last year. It was a great game. It was probably more of a championship game than the actual championship game will be. Great season for the Pirates. I enjoyed watching them this year.
I agree with your assessment of the Poteau D, the last time I saw a better 4A defense was the Anadarko team that beat Poteau in the finals a few years back. That was the best 4A D I have seen.