It's always fun to watch the Cougar football players make the transition to the hardwood. It takes about a month for most players to get re-acquainted with a round ball after dealing with a pigskin every day since the summer. Another transition players must make is to change from smashing their oppenent into the turf to guarding them without hardly touching on the court.
The Cougars lost their first round game in the Dad's Club Tournament 59-49 to Soquel High. The Cougars took an early lead, but could not hold it as Soquel's Sean Lopez got hot from the outside, knocking down five threes on his way to a game high 17 points.
There are a couple of pictures from Lucjan, the paper's expert photographer, with this article.
I was surprised by the play of junior gaurd Ryan Morse. Morse, listed at 5' 10," is a live-wire for the Cougars. Against Soquel, Morse was very active, tipping passes and knocking the ball away from offensive players while playing at the top of the Cougars 2-3 and 3-2 zone defenses. I didn't tally his steals, but Morse must have had at least 4 take-aways that resulted in at least a couple of easy Cougar baskets.
Senior forward Logan Thompson also looks comfortable at the high post and as the season moves along, Thompson's high-arching shot will begin to fall. He was not shy taking the shot which will be there all season if junior forward Robert Mullins can command a double team in the low post.
SLV plays league-favorite Aptos High in a tough matchup for the Cougars, today, Friday at 3:30 p.m.
December 12, 2008
November 11, 2008
October 27, 2008
Cardinals in the clutch
After battling back from a 10-point second-half deficit, the Cougars simply couldn't hold off Santa Cruz which scored the go-ahead touchdown with 45 seconds to play to defeat SLV 27-20 on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The loss was disappointing for the Cougars who battled back from 10 down in the second half, only to see Santa Cruz mount a game-winning drive.
A couple of observations:
Sean Conner is developing into a force on short yardage situation. Conner gets low and pumps his legs to blast through hole, even when it's not there.
Fourth down is Trevor Romele time. On fourth and short, a play-action quarterback keeper around one of the ends usually nets the Cougars the first down and much, much more. Romele is fast and seems to be a talented runner.
Zeke Sanders is really fast. On an 85-yard touchdown run, Sanders accelerated down the sideline and left everyone in the dust. The man has wheels. However, despite his size, he's not a tough runner and goes down on the first or second hit almost every time.
Homecoming next week against a scrappy Harbor team!
The loss was disappointing for the Cougars who battled back from 10 down in the second half, only to see Santa Cruz mount a game-winning drive.
A couple of observations:
Sean Conner is developing into a force on short yardage situation. Conner gets low and pumps his legs to blast through hole, even when it's not there.
Fourth down is Trevor Romele time. On fourth and short, a play-action quarterback keeper around one of the ends usually nets the Cougars the first down and much, much more. Romele is fast and seems to be a talented runner.
Zeke Sanders is really fast. On an 85-yard touchdown run, Sanders accelerated down the sideline and left everyone in the dust. The man has wheels. However, despite his size, he's not a tough runner and goes down on the first or second hit almost every time.
Homecoming next week against a scrappy Harbor team!
October 20, 2008
Shelled by the Falcons
It's in the past now - but it happened. Rival Scotts Valley High School demolished the Cougars 53-14 in a game that was only close in the opening minutes of the first half.
Not all is lost for SLV. In fact, instead of looking at what went wrong (The Falcons might simply be more experienced and more polished), this post will look at what went OK for SLV.
First Quarter: The Falcons recieved the opening kick and drove right down the field for a touchdown. SLV turned right around and mounted its own drive highlighted by a 41-yard over the shoulder grab by Patrick Salibi. Quarterback Trevor Romele delivered the ball in a spot where only Salibi could catch it, and Salibi hauled it in.
Not all is lost for SLV. In fact, instead of looking at what went wrong (The Falcons might simply be more experienced and more polished), this post will look at what went OK for SLV.
First Quarter: The Falcons recieved the opening kick and drove right down the field for a touchdown. SLV turned right around and mounted its own drive highlighted by a 41-yard over the shoulder grab by Patrick Salibi. Quarterback Trevor Romele delivered the ball in a spot where only Salibi could catch it, and Salibi hauled it in.
Second Quarter: Not much went the Cougars way. The Falcons scored three times in a matter of minutes and the game was decided by the halftime score of 34-7. The only question remaining was how many points SV could score.
Third Quarter: In the middle of the quarter the Cougars reeled off a 14 play drive spanning nearly seven minutes capped by Sean Conner's first touchdown of the year, a 4-yard run. Both teams scored only once and if it wasn't for a blocked punt that set up an 8-yard touchdown pass, Scotts Valley may not have scored in the third.
In the photo, Cameron Bruce prepares to tackle a Scotts Valley reciever. Photo by Lucjan Szewczyk/Press-Banner.
Fourth Quarter: Scotts Valley scored early in the quarter, but the Cougars Robert McKissock came up the middle and blocked the extra point. By the time the fourth quarter came around, both teams nearly emptied their sidelines and players that have not seen the field much of the year saw some live action with a chance to get their uniforms dirty.
Special teams was a mixed bag throughout the game. Kicker Alex Luera boomed two kickoffs and hit both extra points. However, two punts were blocked, including one for a touchdown. Luera was not at fault except he may need to speed up his punts when facing a fierce rush. Kickoff return continued to be a consistent strength for the Cougars as Beau Gregory's returns started the Cougars out past the 20 yard line on almost every possession.
September 29, 2008
A different animal
It's a clean slate for the 2-2 Cougars as they open Santa Cruz Coast Athletic League play with a with home game against the Aptos Mariners on Saturday at 2 p.m.
At this point in the season its all about perfecting what they do best, and the next three weeks will prove the Cougars mettle.
This game opens a brutal four week stretch for SLV, a stretch that will surely define the Cougars season. On Saturday, Aptos (2-2 nonleague record, but with a two game winning streak) comes to town, followed by games at a very physical Soquel team (3-1) and at Scotts Valley (3-1) in a fierce rivalry game and then a home game against an underachieving Santa Cruz (1-3).
The Cougars match up well with Aptos and will focus on shutting down the Mariners running game.
The Cougars finished the preseason 2-2 and their offense is starting to round into shape (last weeks 26-7 win over Watsonville) after scoring a total of 23 points the teams first three games.
At this point in the season the team is relying on a running game by committee and big plays in the return game along with the occasional long pass play.At this point in the season its all about perfecting what they do best, and the next three weeks will prove the Cougars mettle.
Line 'em up
The San Lorenzo Valley offensive and defensive lines controlled the line of scrimmage in the Cougars 26-7 win at Watsonville on Sept. 26. Not only did the offensive line sustain scoring drives of 14 plays and 9 plays, the defensive line only allowed Watsonville to score once and that was on a 9 play, 32-yard drive after the 'Catz had recovered a fumble.In the photo Beau Gregory finds a hole that you could drive a Volkwagon through.
The 14 play drive was probably the best of the young season as the Cougars pounded the ball relentlessly, taking nearly 8 1/2 minutes to score. Thank you line.
Hit of the night: Outside linebacker Bryce Harbert sniffed out a screen pass to a Watsonville wide reciever and came flying up from his postion to make the tackle for a three-yard loss in the first quarter.
Sharing the rock: Beau Gregory led the way with 80 yards rushing on nine carries, but his mates Bradley Hill (15 carries, 65 yards), Kyle Todd (11 carries, 45 yards) and QB Trevor Romele (6 carries, 45 yards) all averaged over four yards per carry.
Knocked his socks off: Quarterbacks are not know for their big hits, but on a bootleg, Romele leveled the defensive back trying to tackle him on the sideline before falling out of bounds after a 12-yard gain in the third quarter.
Special teams? Watsonville excelled at one thing in this contest. Blocking extra points. Two chip shots off the foot of kicker Alex Luera were blocked after Cougar touchdowns. If SLV wants to win tight games, every point will count, even the extra ones.
Photo: Courtesy of Paul Firenzi.
September 24, 2008
Grass Attack!
The Cougars fell to 1-2 after being shutout 21-0 by Spanish Springs High School in Nevada last Friday.
Talking with players and coaches at practice the week after the game was interesting, as it turns out playing on an organic surface was a surprise.
Approaching the game, the 5,200 foot elevation difference between SLV (300 feet above sea level) and Spanish Springs High (5,500 feet above sea level) seemed like the natural stumbling point for the Cougars. But they literally stumbled on something else.
"It was grass more than the altitude," said one Cougar.
Why the grass? Because it was tall, green and REAL.
The Cougars practice and play on their state-of-the art rubberized turf field completed at the start of 2007. In fact, every contest before their trip to Nevada was played on a turf field: The Jamboree at Cabrillo College, at Alisal High in Salinas and at home against Hayward High.
In fact, Coach Morris said that every Cougar practice had been on turf up until the day before the game.
While it is great that many of the high schools have turf fields (Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz and Harbor are the exception in the SCCAL), the tall cut of a grassy field is different than turf. There is a little more give and it's possible to slip on grass for no good reason. It's also a little less consis
tent across the entire 5,000 square feet on a football field (not counting the endzone). There is usually a rough patch between both 35 yard lines at mid-field and if the lawn mower has missed a spot, watch out.
In the photo, you can see the Cougars old grassy field in 2006.
No one knows if playing on turf would have made a difference, but for all the old-timer football types, this seems like a "boohoo, deal with it" kind of thing. The Cougars did deal with it and came out on the losing end...was it the grass?
Photo: courtesy of http://www.mvp-photography.photoreflect.com/.
Talking with players and coaches at practice the week after the game was interesting, as it turns out playing on an organic surface was a surprise.
Approaching the game, the 5,200 foot elevation difference between SLV (300 feet above sea level) and Spanish Springs High (5,500 feet above sea level) seemed like the natural stumbling point for the Cougars. But they literally stumbled on something else.
"It was grass more than the altitude," said one Cougar.
Why the grass? Because it was tall, green and REAL.
The Cougars practice and play on their state-of-the art rubberized turf field completed at the start of 2007. In fact, every contest before their trip to Nevada was played on a turf field: The Jamboree at Cabrillo College, at Alisal High in Salinas and at home against Hayward High.
In fact, Coach Morris said that every Cougar practice had been on turf up until the day before the game.
While it is great that many of the high schools have turf fields (Scotts Valley, Santa Cruz and Harbor are the exception in the SCCAL), the tall cut of a grassy field is different than turf. There is a little more give and it's possible to slip on grass for no good reason. It's also a little less consis
tent across the entire 5,000 square feet on a football field (not counting the endzone). There is usually a rough patch between both 35 yard lines at mid-field and if the lawn mower has missed a spot, watch out.In the photo, you can see the Cougars old grassy field in 2006.
No one knows if playing on turf would have made a difference, but for all the old-timer football types, this seems like a "boohoo, deal with it" kind of thing. The Cougars did deal with it and came out on the losing end...was it the grass?
Photo: courtesy of http://www.mvp-photography.photoreflect.com/.
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