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Post by pez on Nov 30, 2013 2:03:38 GMT -5
Miramonte 44 - Clayton Valley 38.....WOW!
Clayton Valley was outplayed and out coached by Miramonte all night! The fans for Miramonte really came out and I think intensity of the players and fans really caught the Ugly Eagles off guard. Frankly, at halftime, down by a TD, Clayton Valley looked somewhat deflated. If not for an awesome effort by #3, Clayton Valley would have been out of the game by halftime. With #3, Clayton Valley is a devastating force on offense. He's a junior?? But even he by the end of the game was half the back he was at the beginning of the game; Miramonte gave up lots of yards but no long runs. And at the end of every running play was a nasty hit and tackle that took some life out of him.
Greatest win for Miramonte in over a decade and against a great team. Thinking about it, the only three teams that have beaten Clayton Valley in the last two years before tonight are Pitt, Oakdale (in the regional bowl game) and De La Salle. Also, consider that Miramonte dropped 44 points on Clayton Valley. Pitt got 40, De La Salle 34 and Oakdale 27.
Once again, Coach Schram does a great job. With a roster of 30 kids and a couple of 160 pound starting linemen against the 67-man roster and size of Clayton Valley. Recovering an onside kick, passing underneath to great effect instead of trying to go deep running and screen passes when they rushed. It was a work of art!
I'll be seeing you North Bay folk at Rancho Cotate next week (most likley)!
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Post by penguin on Nov 30, 2013 11:46:34 GMT -5
Don't let the score fool you, El Cerrito dominated Campolindo last night. It was only as close as it was due to some late "oh by the way" TD's by Campo and a ton of penalties by El Cerrito. Outside two long passes by Campolindo, they couldn't do much on offense as El Cerrito D was just flying around the field (when they weren't holding the receivers, jumping offsides or hitting players out of bounds). Whomever gets EC next week, will have their work cut out for them.
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Post by Ben Herrington on Dec 1, 2013 15:45:38 GMT -5
I'm really impressed after El Cerrito beat on Campolindo the way they last night. This Championship vs. Marin Catholic is going to be an even closer game than last season. I don't think it really matters who wins, this game IS the Nor-Cal Div. III Regional game. There is no Div. III team in CA that the CIF can put against Marin Catholic or El Cerrito that will win.
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Post by pez on Dec 9, 2013 1:21:35 GMT -5
Miramonte 41 - Casa Grande 28...looks like no bowl bid for Miramonte, but what an awesome season. They finish 12-2 with a NCS D2 title and huge wins over Northgate, Clayton Valley and Casa Grande to close out the campaign.
I had to make some postscript comments on the Miramonte-Casa Grande game.
Miramonte-Casa Grande game was one of the best football games I've ever seen. Q1 featured a nice drive by Casa Grande only to fumble on the 1 yd line and have Miramonte recover. Q2 saw a see-saw battle with Miramonte scoring, then Casa Grande, then Miramonte again. Mira's style all night was long-pass heavy mixed in with very effective 5-10 running plays. When it looked like Casa would push it in again before half time, Ray Clark comes up with a interception at the 5 yard line to perserve the 14-7 Mira lead going into the half. Q3 had Casa scoring twice and taking a 21-14 lead, first on a brutal run-heavy drive and next, after a batted-pass interception, on a pass-heavy drive. But in the late-3rd and 4th quarter, Miramonte goes back to work with long pass after long pass that burns Casa Grandes DBs leading to a Mira 28-21 lead. Casa responds to tie it at 28, but then Mira comes right back to put it 35-28. Then on the insuring drive with 3 minutes left, Casa fumbles effectively ending the game.
Casa Grande was the best team Miramonte saw all year. Big, strong, great athletes, well coached. It was sad that either team had to lose and the game could have gone either way. Certainly Casa Grande had to many penalties early and a couple of unusual turnovers that effected the outcome. But it was Miramonte's night and they deserved the victory. By the way, I think Casa Grande would have schooled Clayton Valley. Their size would have killed Clayton Valley's running game and without it Clayton Valley would have crumbled.
Finally, some notes on Miramonte:
Drew Anderson is THE BEST QB in NCS! Did you see his throws, his movement in the pocket, throwing on the run, clutch 4th down conversions? And most important, keeping his cool under pressure and managing the team. How many times this year did a team start a comeback only to have Miramonte settle into a nice long drive in the second half and make a statement that Miramonte wasn't going to fade. He did it again on the biggest stage when Casa Grande came back from a 14-7 halftime deficit to take a 21-14 lead. Even die-hards like me were thinking "Here we go, now they use that big line and running game to grind us down." But Miramonte, with Anderson at the helm, just drove back down field to score time and time again.
The O-line has provided Anderson with the time all year long. In the Clayton Valley game and the Casa Grande game, the O-line only gave up one sack in each game. And that with two 160 pound guys and no one over 220! Amazing.
Miramonte's defense was really underrated all year. All year Miramonte's defense was doing a pretty good job limiting points, but with kick-off returns, pick 6's and late-game who-cares points, opponents appeared to score a lot against Miramonte's defense. Certainly some teams gave Miramonte trouble. But consider that in the Northgate, Clayton Valley and Casa Grande games, the scoring decreased from 48 to 38 to 28 against an increasing level of competition. I think it shows the Miramonte was adapting to the run-heavy style that these teams favor. The other thing I saw is that even though the top play makers for those teams had big statistical nights, they got beat-up by the fourth quarter! I mean Harrison (Clayton Valley) and Porchivena (Casa Grande) were hurting by the 4th quarter due to the hard hits and gang tackling. I'm so proud they got to show what they can do!
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