The Football Post

If you're curious about what really interests me, you are about to find out.

Football!

So here's my rundown of this season (so far).

High School
I continued to follow Columbus North again this year, since I still maintain their website.

But I just made it to their home games and the game at Columbus East. No away games this year. I did ask Tim if he wanted to go with me to one of the games in Indy, but he turned me down for some girl (just kidding, Stephanie).

North clearly wasn't as good this year as their record-setting team from last year. But they weren't bad either, and have several bright spots. If they can improve in some specific areas, they could be very good again, possibly as early as next year.

They have a very promising sophomore quarterback in Mikey Hladik, who is tall and has a very good arm. The passing game, at least to one wide-out, Brandon Butler (another soph), was looking pretty good until Mike broke his collarbone. That hurt them through the rest of the season, as Brayden Barthlow came in and did a very nice job, but they had to return to mostly a rushing offense from there on.

To become an elite 5A team next year, they need to get their sophomore running back, Alex Turner, stronger and able to withstand the pounding of a whole season and avoid injury. Alex is fast and talented, and is good when there's a big hole for him to run through, but he's too easy to tackle. He needs to add strength to his speed to allow him to break tackles and get more yards on his own. The team had to convert a fullback (Matt Garman) to tight end, and Matt made a few nice receptions but lacked the size to effectively help block for the running game.

The other area they need to improve offensively is to find another reliable receiver besides Brandon Butler. Brandon put up impressive stats, at least until Mike was injured. But the other wide receivers and tight end were all but missing from the stats sheet. If the team can find reliable receivers at the other wide receiver and/or tight end to take some attention away from Brandon, they have a chance to be one of the most potent passing offenses in the state next year.

Defensively, they have lots of holes to fill. Their defensive lineman were undersized or too slow this year. Their best athlete this year, Stephen Whited, was moved from defensive end to middle linebacker. Stephen was far and away the best member of an otherwise questionable defense, accounting for about two times the tackles of the next best defensive player (Eric Bell) this season. They also had to move their best senior safety, Chris Gerth, up to linebacker this year, which helped them against the run but hurt them against the pass. Just imagine if North had enough defensive talent this year to allow Stephen and Chris to play their natural positions; I think they might still be playing in the 5A state tournament right now.

For me, the defense is the biggest question mark for North next year. The offense is going to be better with the development of Mike, Brandon, and Alex. But can they find better size and speed on the defensive line, can they replace their 3 graduating senior linebackers, and can they improve speed at corner and strength at safety? The weight room is going to have to be an important factor there.

In the meantime, I kind of feel sorry for the cross-town rivals at Columbus East. They got Seymour for their first playoff game, and got crushed by their southern neighbors. That's unfortunate for the team that went undefeated in the regular season, had very few close games throughout the year, and was ranked #1 in 4A going into the post-season. Did they get caught taking Seymour for granted? Or did Seymour just play the best game of their lives on that particular night? Maybe a little of both. Too bad for East.

Next post I think I'll review College Football.