Apopka at Bartram Trail Thoughts and Observations

[DarterBlue2]

First off, Bartram Trail is a nice place to watch a game; and Bad Bird was right. Their field, though grass, is in tip top shape.

Looking at the score, you would think that this game was at least as much about defense as offense, as the final score 33-28 in favor of Apopka was not an especially high scoring game. It was not, for the two team combined for probably over 1,100 yards of total offense. I know that Apopka had around 650, and while I did not keep careful track of BT's yards, they had to be well over 400. 

Batram Trail's offense has not dropped off one bit. It is at least as good as it was last year. In fact, I would argue that their running game, which compliments their passing game, is improved from last year. It is not often that a back gets over 100 yards rushing against Apopka, but their Georgia Tech commit, no 22, kept gnashing us all night.

BT's weakness is their defense. They just were not able to stop Apopka's rushing attack. 

Apopka needs to reduce its penalty output significantly. Last night we must have had over 180 penalty yards. I know that some of these were questionable, but the point is the penalties need to be reduced. 

My favorite Apopka offensive weapon, Jecoryan Davis-Hamilton was injured late in the game. From a distance, the injury looked significant. I don't know how long he will be out, but he is going to miss a few games (I believe). I wish the kid a speedy recovery. He is a joy to watch carrying, catching or throwing the ball and as long as he has the desire and does not suffer career threatening injury, his future in football is bright. 

While Apopka had trouble with BT's offense most of the night, they made a few critical stops where it mattered, not least of which on BT's final possession, when they went 4 and out and gave us the ball deep in their own half. We drove well inside their five from there but took a knee to run out the clock with 21 seconds left on the clock. Personally given how the night had progressed, I would have punched it in. But that's me, a hood kid from Kingston, Jamaica who spent many of his early adult years in NY, NY. Perhaps I lack the sensibilities of polite society.

Again, from a distance, I don't think coach was very pleased with the performance. But I am more sanguine. BT is as good if not better than last year (don't let Columbia fan fool you), and it was  a quality win over a quality team at their place. 

Despite the final score, I would rate Apopka to be at least two scores better than BT. 

 

[DisabledAccount]

22 minutes ago, DarterBlue2 said:

First off, Bartram Trail is a nice place to watch a game; and Bad Bird was right. Their field, though grass, is in tip top shape.

Looking at the score, you would think that this game was at least as much about defense as offense, as the final score 33-28 in favor of Apopka was not an especially high scoring game. It was not, for the two team combined for probably over 1,100 yards of total offense. I know that Apopka had around 650, and while I did not keep careful track of BT's yards, they had to be well over 400. 

Batram Trail's offense has not dropped off one bit. It is at least as good as it was last year. In fact, I would argue that their running game, which compliments their passing game, is improved from last year. It is not often that a back gets over 100 yards rushing against Apopka, but their Georgia Tech commit, no 22, kept gnashing us all night.

BT's weakness is their defense. They just were not able to stop Apopka's rushing attack. 

Apopka needs to reduce its penalty output significantly. Last night we must have had over 180 penalty yards. I know that some of these were questionable, but the point is the penalties need to be reduced. 

My favorite Apopka offensive weapon, Jecoryan Davis-Hamilton was injured late in the game. From a distance, the injury looked significant. I don't know how long he will be out, but he is going to miss a few games (I believe). I wish the kid a speedy recovery. He is a joy to watch carrying, catching or throwing the ball and as long as he has the desire and does not suffer career threatening injury, his future in football is bright. 

While Apopka had trouble with BT's offense most of the night, they made a few critical stops where it mattered, not least of which on BT's final possession, when they went 4 and out and gave us the ball deep in their own half. We drove well inside their five from there but took a knee to run out the clock with 21 seconds left on the clock. Personally given how the night had progressed, I would have punched it in. But that's me, a hood kid from Kingston, Jamaica who spent many of his early adult years in NY, NY. Perhaps I lack the sensibilities of polite society.

Again, from a distance, I don't think coach was very pleased with the performance. But I am more sanguine. BT is as good if not better than last year (don't let Columbia fan fool you), and it was  a quality win over a quality team at their place. 

Despite the final score, I would rate Apopka to be at least two scores better than BT. 

 

To be fair I'm basing my opinion off Bartram Trail on how they looked when i saw them 

 

They must have gotten better since Spring bc their offense looked pretty bad in that game (or maybe our defense was just better than i expected at the time) 

 

Bartram probably wins their District, I'm looking forward to seeing buchholz this week so i have a idea if buchholz has any chance with BT 

 

If Bartram Trail is that good then i look forward to facing them in playoffs 

[DarterBlue2]

5 minutes ago, ColumbiaHighFan2017class said:

To be fair I'm basing my opinion off Bartram Trail on how they looked when i saw them 

 

They must have gotten better since Spring bc their offense looked pretty bad in that game (or maybe our defense was just better than i expected at the time) 

 

Bartram probably wins their District, I'm looking forward to seeing buchholz this week so i have a idea if buchholz has any chance with BT 

 

If Bartram Trail is that good then i look forward to facing them in playoffs 

If Columbia and BT meet in the playoffs, I expect it to be a shoot out. I think Columbia has the better defense (judging solely from the IMG game), so I would still favor Columbia.

But BT is not a team to sleep on. They are big, but well conditioned and not fat, and it's clear their coaching staff know what they are doing. 

[DisabledAccount]

Just now, DarterBlue2 said:

If Columbia and BT meet in the playoffs, I expect it to be a shoot out. I think Columbia has the better defense (judging solely from the IMG game), so I would still favor Columbia.

But BT is not a team to sleep on. They are big, but well conditioned and not fat, and it's clear their coaching staff know what they are doing. 

Both teams are very familiar with each other

 

Not only did we face off in spring but we played them like 4 times during the summer at various camps

 

It would be a interesting game just because we have so much familiarity on both sides

 

We need to get that one at home to have our best shot

[badbird]

That injury is big.  Apopka plays Lakeland this week, DP next followed by Boone.  I'm sure Apopka will be fine but now is not the time to be losing bullets on offense.  Hopefully he will be back soon.