All-County Football

Hey there, Patriots!! It's been a while, but welcome back to the Blog!!!

Patriots take the field against St. Thomas Aquinas (Miami Herald)

The South Florida Sun-Sentinel has released their All-County teams for the fall season, and YOUR Miramar Patriots had a few players honored for their stellar play during the 2012 Football season.

Without any further ado, the All-County players are:

6A-8A Defensive Player of the Year
#2 Jermaine Grace - Senior Linebacker

First Team Offense
#72 Michael Miranda - Senior Offensive Lineman

First Team Defense
#50 Ja'Quan Smith - Senior Defensive Tackle

Second Team Offense
#8 Alex Lee - Senior Running Back

Second Team Defense
#53 Telvin Arnold - Senior Defensive Tackle
#58 Alex Trotman - Junior Defensive End
#1 Tyrek Cole - Sophomore Cornerback

Honorable Mention (Offense and Defense)
#4 Eric Pittman - Junior Running Back
#10 Andre Godfrey, Jr. - Junior Strong Safety
#15 Sean Avant - Senior Wide Receiver
#45 Shawn Stephens - Senior Defensive End
#55 Sanka Harris - Senior Linebacker
#71 Leeward Brown - Sophomore Offensive Lineman

Congratulations gentlemen!! You earned it!!


Until Next Time,


Cameron J. Underwood
Miramar Sports

2012 Game Recap #3 - @ Northeast

The Miramar Patriots continued their 2012 season with a trip to Oakland Park to play the Northeast Hurricanes. After a defensive struggle, the Patriots lost by a score of 13-5.

There’s plenty to talk about, so let’s get right to it:

Northeast:

The Hurricanes came out with a simple game plan: Hold the Miramar offense under 10 points, and let Stacy Coley make a couple plays to win the game. In the end, this plan worked to flawless perfection.

Leading the charge was Coley. The 6’2” WR didn’t do much on offense, but he still found a way to impact the game. On offense, he had 1 catch for -4 yards. Northeast tried to get Coley involved often, throwing the ball his direction 6 times on the night. Coley’s athleticism and talent were apparent, even without much on the stat sheet for his primary position. But, that wasn’t the only position Coley played.

Coley, who is CLEARLY Northeast’s best player (and one of the best in the State) had a 65 yard punt return early in the game to energize his team. He nearly broke this play for a touchdown, further proving the point that Special Teams are a major issue for this year’s Miramar team. His biggest play, however, came on defense.

Playing Free Safety the entire night, Coley came up with an interception on a ball that went through a Miramar Receiver’s hands. After catching the interception on his own 5 yard line,  Coley went into offensive mode, and made a highlight reel 95 yard return for a touchdown, weaving his way through, around, and past the entire Miramar Offense. This play, Northeast’s second Interception returned for a touchdown, put the Hurricanes up 13-0 late in the 2^nd quarter. On this night, that lead would prove to be insurmountable for the Patriots.

Other than Coley, who basically won the game by himself, Northeast got good pressure on the Miramar running game from their defense. Constantly stacking 8 men in the box, even with Miramar in their traditional spread formations, the Hurricanes blitzed up the middle and dared the Patriots to beat them by throwing the ball. This was something that worked well for Northeast.

The other play that turned the tide was Zeffery Clark’s interception return for a touchdown. Sitting in the flat, Clark under cut an out route, and caught the ball that seemed as though it was thrown directly to him. 27 yards later, the Hurricanes had a 7-0 lead, and all the momentum they needed.

Apart from those 2 plays, and the constant stuffing the middle to prevent Miramar from running the ball, the Hurricanes didn’t do much of anything. Their offense ended the night with -17 yards of total offense. RBs Jamal Wallace and Timonte King had a couple decent runs in the 6-8 yard range, but that’s it.

In the end, it was not a team but a singular player who won this game. With his passion (heard SCREAMING at team mates on a number of occasions), football knowledge (it was he who called the defensive coverages, not the middle linebacker), and physical skills (which I’ve already noted), Stacy Coley dominated this game from beginning to end. That Northeast as a team won is only a side note.

This night, this game, and this victory belonged to one man.

Stacy Coley.

Miramar:

Let’s start with the good, before moving to the bad.

Jermaine Grace and the Darkside defense had another strong showing. They held Northeast to -17 yards of total offense, and limited Stacy Coley to 1 catch, and 1 run from the wildcat. All night long, the Hurricanes struggled to gain any traction on offense.

While Grace (8 tackles, 2 Tackles for Loss) had another strong game, the real stars were DTs Telvin Arnold and Ja’Quan Smith. Arnold (11 tackles,  3 TFL) provided constant pressure in the center of the defensive line. Smith chipped in with 6 tackles (1 TFL), and the two occupied the Northeast offensive line all night long.

With the line concerned with Arnold and Smith, the linebacking corps of Grace, Ryan Samuels (8 tackles, 2 TFL), and Sanka Harris (7 tackles, 2 TFL) were able to run free and find the ball, something they are obviously adept at doing.

The secondary stood up to the challenge of containing Coley. CB Tyrek Cole was primarily responsible for this task, as he shadowed Coley for most of the night. The Safties, Andre Godfrey and D’Kambui Graves, were good in both run support and deep coverage over the top of Coley.

When your defense pitches a shutout, holds the opposing team to -17 yards, and limits the touches of it’s All-American caliber player to 2 for the whole game, normally you expect to win.

That didn’t happen.

And now, for why that didn’t happen: the offense.

Northeast had a simple gameplan on defense: stack the middle, contain the lightning-squared running attack of Alex Lee and Cameron Rigby, and force Miramar to complete passes vertically. They accomplished the former, and with Miramar unable to do the latter, the Hurricanes looked like geniuses.

The running game, which had been the unquestioned strength of the Miramar offense, was subpar on this night. Alex Lee, who entered the game averaging 149.5 yards per game, was limited to 1 yard. He did lose 22 yards recovering a bad snap, which detracted from his total, but even still, he was not the electric player we had seen in the previous games.

Cameron Rigby found slightly more success. He finished with 67 yards on 11 carries, and had the biggest offensive play of the night: a 35 yard run shortly before halftime that put the Patriots at the Northeast 3 yard line. Inexplicably, the Patriots decided to throw the ball 3 times, and not run it, and were forced to settle for a 27 yard David Campbell FG.

Overall, Miramar could only muster 48 yards rushing on 32 carries. That number includes sacks and other losses, usually from recovering a bad snap. Whichever way you look at it, this level of production is not going to be good enough to win games.

While the running game had its struggles, the real issue facing the offense is the lack of a downfield passing game. QB Nick Jeanty’s numbers look fine on the surface (19/25, 167 yards), but upon further examination, they leave much to be desired.

There is an argument that there are issues beyond Jeanty’s control (more on this later), but there is no argument that his play can still improve. The first interception for a touchdown was just a bad read. Jeanty threw the ball to a defender who was in the flat playing cover 2 zone, and that was that. With the entire offense up the field, the Northeast defender had a clear path to the endzone, and a 7-0 lead. That throw was Jeanty’s fault. The other interception? Not so much.

Driving late in the 2^nd quarter, Jeanty looked to hit a receiver deep down the middle of the field on a post. The receiver (I forget which one) let the ball go through his hands, and the pass was intercepted by Stacy Coley at the 5 yard line. I’ve already detailed the rest of this play, so I don’t need to do that again. I will say that during this return, the offense did not hustle, did not chase Coley with any sense of urgency.  I know the pick wasn’t Jeanty’s fault, but somebody has to at least TRY to tackle Coley on that return.

Jeanty completed many passes (76%), but they were mainly underneath routes, and screens. You can’t run an effective passing offense with every throw being less than 15 yards from the line of scrimmage. Defenses are too good for that, even from a team like Northeast who, realistically, had no reason to be within 2 touchdowns of this Miramar team.

The offensive line could have been better. The bad snap was a scourge again, hindering the offense from getting or maintaining a rhythm.  The Tackles were repeatedly beaten in both running and passing situations, and the Patriots rotated 8 players up front. I know that having depth is key, but if we can’t find a consistent group of 5 linemen to rely on, this season may continue with problems and disappointment.

Now, to address a real hot button issue: play calling.

Many people have been talking about it, and I can’t ignore it anymore. The offensive play calling has been bad. In the Manatee game, we went away from the run, even though we were gaining huge chunks of yards on every play. Against Ely, I thought it was marginally better, but still not great. We basically just outmatched the Tigers physically.

In this game, it was abundantly clear that if we couldn’t run the ball up the middle our offense would struggle to do anything. Once that was taken away, there was no wrinkle, or adjustment, or constraint play to counteract what the defense was doing.  Here is an analogy that you will understand: it was like we were playing NCAA on Heisman Difficulty and only running 3 plays. Not gonna get very far with that.

Special teams didn’t help any either. Kicker David Campbell went 1/3 on Field Goals, making from 27 yards, and missing from 37 and 44. His leg is big enough for those kicks, but his technique is not consistent in game action.

Kick coverage was once again an issue. Coley had a 65 yard punt return that he almost took to the house, and another Northeast player had a 30 yard return on a kickoff. Both players were steps away from breaking loose for touchdowns. Following Rashard Robinson’s 96 yard kickoff return in the Ely game, and the 2 blocked punts at Manatee, and we have PLENTY of hard evidence that the systems we are running on special teams are greatly flawed. If they’re not changed, they will continue to cost us ballgames, plain and simple.

When you have only 1 of your 3 phases (Offense, Defense, Special Teams) that is positive, you can’t win games. We have tried this experiment twice so far this year.

I’m not sure how many more times we need to do this before realizing that we need some MAJOR changes to get back to competing to win games, let alone challenge for championships.

Where do we go from here?

In my opinion, this game is more troublesome than the Manatee game. This was a team that is not as talented as we are, save for 1 player. They had no business being on the same field as us, and we still found a way to lose, and look BAD losing. It’s time for real concern.

Issues to address:

1. Offensive gameplans and efficiency. I go to practice almost every day. I see what we’re working on and installing every week. I will say that I’ve seen no less than 8 different offensive concepts practiced EXTENSIVELY through the week, and not run even one time in the games. There are others, like the triple stacked WR look from the first play of the Manatee game, that have only been run once or twice TOTAL this season.
   
   We have become far too predictable on offense. If we’re going to only run our “staples”, the basic plays that our offense can rely on depending on the situation, then why are we practicing these other concepts so much? If we’re practicing them as much as we are (which is a substantial amount) why are we not running them in games? I have more questions, but you get the idea. The offense needs a lot of work, from the playcalling, to the passing game, to the revival of the running game, and the consistency of offensive line play. Lots to address here.
   
2. Quarterback-Center exchange. Bad shotgun snaps came back to haunt this team yet again. Something has to change.
   
3. Details. The Offense tried to “go on 2” a couple of times. Having little or no experience with that, the younger offensive linemen jumped early. The wide receiver from the 2^nd interception didn’t look the ball into his hands. Players jogged on that return, and on the 65 yard punt return, and didn’t wrap up when they made contact. Alone, the issues aren’t the bad. Put together, and the details made the difference. Gotta fix that.
   
4. Protect the ball. 7 turnovers in 3 games. Do I really need to say anything else?

In my game preview I said that Northeast would try to let Stacy Coley win the game singlehandedly. He came through for them in a way that Denard Robinson, Patrick Peterson, Jeffery Godfrey and others could not. I had never seen a Miramar team lose to 1 man.

Until Friday.

This season is at a crossroads. This team has to dedicate itself to playing a complete game each and every time out, or run the risk of being in this same position, questioning what went wrong, more times than they’d like.

Miramar Football. 1-2.

I still can’t believe it.

Those are my thoughts. What are yours?

Until Next Time,

Cameron J. Underwood
Miramar Sports 

2012 Game #1 Recap - at Bradenton Manatee

The 2012 season opener featured the Miramar Patriots taking a trip to Bradenton to take on the Manatee Hurricanes on Labor Day Weekend.  After a hard fought first half, Manatee exploded in the 2^nd half for 35 points, and a 41-6 victory.

While the final score may seem like this game was a blowout, the contest was actually much closer than the score may have indicated. Let’s take a look at what happened:

Bradenton Manatee:

Cord Sandberg played a good game. He’s not an explosive player who just does things you can’t comprehend (think Duke Johnson last year). What he is is a very good player, with above average skills across the board, and a phenomenal understanding of his abilities and the Manatee offense.

Sandberg’s performance was not flawless, however. He had 3 fumbles in the  game. He was ruled down on the last 2 (both recovered by Miramar) by what can only be classified as questionable calls.

Throughout the game Sandberg operated the Manatee offense with controlled excellence, making all the right reads in the option running game and the controlled passing game. And, in the end, he led his team to victory. Can’t ask for much more than that.

RB/WR Anthony Lauro was billed as the other top offensive playmaker for Manatee. He had a solid game and showcased good skills, but he wasn’t the player who really hurt the Patriots.

RB Trevon Walters made a name for himself based off his stellar performance. He ran for nearly 100 yards, showed good hands as a receiver (his wheel routes were positively destructive), and scored 2 touchdowns, 1 rushing and 1 receiving. Only a Junior, Walters is sure to garner many accolades and college attention. It was he, not Sandberg, who was the difference marker for the Hurricanes.

Apart from Sandberg, Lauro, and Walters on offense, the Manatee Defense made timely stops, and caused turnovers when they had the chance. Free Safety Willie Smith had 2 interceptions, and provided solid coverage in the secondary. The linebackers and defensive backs played solidly throughout the game, but left plenty of open space for Miramar Running Backs (more on this later).

The vaunted Manatee Defensive Line played well at times. Marquis Dawsey had a solid if unspectacular game. Derrick Calloway had ½ a sack, and made a few plays behind the line. DeMarcus Christmas had a sack, and disrupted a couple inside running plays. But nothing they did can compare to the game that Blake Keller had.

Keller, a 3 star recruit committed to UCF, was the best player on the field. He blocked 2 punts (returning the 2^nd for a touchdown), had 2.5 sacks, 8 tackles (4 for loss), and provided constant pressure when the Patriots looked to pass. Without a doubt, he was the MVP of this game. His big plays, especially the blocked punts, turned the momentum of the game, and gave Manatee short fields, which they converted into touchdowns in the 2^nd half.

Lastly, the wrinkles employed by Coach Joe Kinnan and his staff were great. Particularly, sending an outside receiver deep down the field, and replacing that open space on the field with Walters (and Lauro a couple of times) was something that gave Manatee an advantage on the edge of the Patriot defense. That one strategic move made the rest of the Manatee playbook come alive, and enabled them to put points on the board quickly, and repeatedly, in the second half of the game.

Miramar:

Even in the face of defeat, there were some bright spots for Miramar. The running game, led by Alex Lee and Cameron Rigby, continually gashed the Manatee defense. Lee finished with 133 yards on just 13 carries, and showcased his top level speed. Rigby had somewhere in the neighborhood of 85 yards, and routinely made guys miss with his open-field shiftiness.  Rigby was about 2 steps away from breaking a long touchdown in the first quarter, but stumbled as he crossed the Manatee 45. Huge opportunity missed there.

Alex Lee running away from Manatee's Derrick Calloway

In the past, Miramar has employed a running game we named “Thunder and Lightning”. This year, it’s more like Lightning-squared. And, when you add in Khalil Lewis and Alex Anderson,  you have a formidable group of running backs who will pose problems for every opponent Miramar faces this season.

Nick Jeanty started strong in his Patriot debut. He opened the game 5/5, and hit Sean Avant with a perfectly thrown fade for Miramar’s only touchdown on the opening drive of the game. After that strong start, Jeanty wasn’t as successful as he or the team, would have hoped. He threw 3 interceptions on the day, but let’s look at them each individually:

1. The first one was an under-thrown ball where his receiver, Tyler Williams, was open by 3 steps up the sideline. If properly thrown, Williams walks into the end zone. Since the ball was short, the defender was able to get a hand on it, and it was intercepted on the deflection.
2. The second one was a desperation heave on the last play of the first half, kind of a throw and pray play. No bearing on the outcome. Almost like a punt.
3. The third one came on a play with a low snap. Jeanty did well to get the ball off the ground, and throw cleanly. He threw to a spot, based on his pre-snap read, and didn’t see that the DBs all jumped their coverages once the ball was on the ground. Yes, he threw it, but the snap played heavily into that last pick.

Overall, I liked the poise and pocket presence I saw from Jeanty. He displayed good arm strength, and even overthrew a couple of open receivers. He showed flashes of greatness early, and also areas where he can improve. Let’s see what he does from here on out.

Gernald Hawkins got some quality work in this game, playing 3 complete drives. He was not able to put points on the board, but neither was Jeanty after the first drive of the game. Hawkins only completed one pass, a short completion to Khalil Webster. He showed good athleticism, and a live arm. I still like Jeanty as our starter, but am confident that Hawkins can be a valued asset to this team.

Wide receivers didn’t get to show too much in this game, as our passing attack is clearly still under construction. I did like what I saw from Sean Avant, who scored the only touchdown of the day for the Patriots. Additionally, Tyler Williams ran good routes and was open a few times (including on the first interception), and Dellano Whitehead also found open space in the Manatee defense. Overall, this group wasn’t really able to showcase their many talents, but they should be able to bounce back as this season progresses.

The offensive line was an ever-shifting unit, with 9 players getting snaps on the day. Guard Delvin Arnold missed a few series while icing an ankle, and others were shifted in his absence. Also, Mike Miranda and Devaughn Thomas had their struggles with shotgun snaps, especially in the second half. It’s hard to run our offense, or any offense, if you can’t get the quarterback-center exchange cleanly. This is something that will need to be worked on and fixed in practice.

Moving to defense, there were 4 players who really stood out for their stellar play: Linebackers Jermaine Grace, Ryan Samuels, and Sanka Harris, and Defensive End Shawn Stephens.

Grace, a 4 star recruit and the only returning starter on the Dark Side defense, played a great game. He had 11 tackles, 2 for loss, and was all over the field. He was a constant presence on defense, and will continue to be the leader of the team.

Samuels and Harris are both new starters, but played like veterans.  Samuels had 12 tackles, and Harris had 8, along with multiple pressures to Cord Sandberg, Manatee’s QB. While they had positives, Samuels and Harris were the particular victims exploited the aforementioned wheel route adjustment from the Manatee offense. Their run defense is incredible, but their pass coverage is not to the level where they, or the coaches, would like it to be.

Stephens supplied constant pressure from the edge, and was very disciplined when faced with the option game. He had some hard tackles, and was very consistent. I liked what I saw from the 6'1" Senior.

Up front, Telvin Arnold, Ja’Quan Smith, and Darius Young played well on the inside of the defensive line. They were able to get penetration and disrupt the Manatee offense early on. In the second half, they, like many, were unable to maintain their high level of play.

Andre Godfrey and D’Kambui Greaves played alright in the secondary. They blew a couple coverages, but weren’t hurt by them thanks to a dropped touchdown pass. Coaches told them they need to be leaders in the secondary, especially with the youth at corner. While they weren’t 100% lockdown, I liked what I saw from the G-unit (Godfrey and Greaves) at safety.

At corner, Terence Gaskins played a good game, while he was out there. Gaskins provided solid coverage, good speed, and recovered a Manatee Fumble in the 2^nd quarter. Gaskins was hurt on the play, unintentionally kicked in the mouth by a Manatee player during the scramble to recover the fumble. He stayed in Bradenton overnight before being able to have minor oral surgery. Administration and Coaches told me he’ll be fine, and should be returning to Miramar Monday or Tuesday. As for how long his injuries might keep him out, I have no new information as of the writing of this article.

The other corners, Darren Wilcox, Tyrek Cole, and Jeff Hill played average at best. Wilcox got caught peeking in the backfield and was beat for a 52 yard touchdown on the first play of the 4^th quarter. Cole, who replaced Gaskins after his injury, played well, only allowing 2 completions to his side. He also came up to make a couple tackles in run support. Hill got good reps in the game, and should continue to play a large role this year.

And now, the pink elephant in the room.

Special Teams.

When you miss an extra point, and have 2 punts blocked, and 2 more ALMOST blocked, there are obviously problems. I know there are a lot of new players on the special teams units, but I would like to see more starters playing in this vital 3^rd phase of the game.

Little details, single plays/calls/non-calls in a game like this, against a top opponent, can turn the tide of the game. In this game, there was 1 call that I look to as being THE MOMENT the game turned from being a tough, tightly contested game into Manatee’s favor.

Tied as 6 to start the 2^nd half, Manatee was facing 3^rd and 6 on their own 45. Sanka Harris tackled Trevon Walters  for a short gain, and was called for a personal foul for a “late hit”, although he was already bringing Walters to the ground before crossing the sideline. That call allowed Manatee’s offense to stay on the field, and that drive resulted in the first touchdown Manatee scored on the day.

While that call was not the reason Manatee won, or Miramar lost, it was a huge turning point in the game. 

Take that for what you will.

Where do we go from here?

Last year, when I started this blog, we won every game until the State Championship game. I wrote recaps for all games but the State Championship game. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it with all the emotions I felt. 

But now, after a loss, we have to look at what we can do to change the game, and return to the winning side of things.

1. Address special teams. 1 missed Extra point. 1 Kickoff out of bounds. 2 blocked punts. 2 more punts that were THISCLOSE to being blocked. This MUST be priority #1 for Coach Cogdell and the staff.
2. Center-Quarterback exchange. Under center, we’re fine. Shotgun or Pistol formations? Not so much. Can’t run offense if you can’t start the play properly.
3. Consistency and execution. Jermaine Grace said it best when interviewed by Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald: “We’re a first- and second-quarter team right now. We have to focus on learning how to finish all four quarters.”  Couldn’t have said it better myself.
4. Stay with the Run Game. Look. We have 5 quality running backs (Alex Lee, Cameron Rigby, Khalil Lewis, Alex Anderson, and #32 E [don’t know his full name….they just call him E]). 6 if you count FB Malik Mapps. Our running game gashed Manatee’s defense time and time again. Running the ball has many ancillary benefits for the team. What's that mean? RUN. THE. BALL.
5. Stop cheating on Defense. Every team has tendencies that you can start to identify. If you OVERREACT (or cheat) to stop something, that leaves you vulnerable for a counter or constraint play (plays that are designed to work when the defense cheats). We got caught cheating on the last 3 Manatee touchdowns. I think that says it all.

Obviously, nobody likes to lose. It highlights your errors, and puts pressure on your team to recover. Manatee is the first team to score 40+ points against the Patriots since DeSoto (TX) in the 2010 season opener, a game Miramar lost on the road 42-41. 

This game is very similar to games we've played recently vs. St. Thomas Aquinas. Once you make a mistake, the opposition is deadly at making you play. If you spoke to me about the game, then you know that's what I'd been saying for the longest time. And, true to form, we made mistakes and Manatee made us pay. 

I know the final score is ugly. I know that there are a lot of people (Miramar fans, Miramar haters, and journalists) who are writing us off, and have only negative things to say. Multiple journalists (who shall remain nameless) made snarky comments to what I'm about to say: 

This game was not as lopsided as the score indicated. 

After that personal foul call which led to Manatee's first touchdown, every single Miramar mistake ended with the same 2 words: Touchdown Manatee. They only drove the field on our defense 2 times. They hit a long pass when the DB was caught cheating. They had multiple short fields to drive for points. When you put it together, this game was really only a few plays from being a very different one than it ended up being.

Overall, there were positives and negatives. And while we may be left looking at all the negatives (of which, there are plenty), I believe that with a little focused attention in the 5 areas I outlined above, we'll be just fine.

Those are my (long-winded) thoughts. What are yours?

Until Next Time,

Cameron J. Underwood
Miramar Sports