GAME DAY: PN-G Indians (12-1) vs Huntsville Hornets (8-5)

[NDNzeke]

I’m conflicted over how to feel about the penalties last night. On the one hand, that’s some of the worst officiating I’ve seen this season at any level - high school, college or professional - and I watched last week’s Iron Bowl. The refs gave Huntsville a touchdown on that drive with the three consecutive penalties. I thought two of those three were completely out of line. I don’t normally blame the refs. The last two games, though, they have been a factor.

On the other hand, I’m not happy with our false starts in key moments. Like I said last week, at this stage of the playoffs, mental errors are deadly.

Last night was the first time this season I really got concerned about conservative play-calling. That one drive where we kept digging a hole on the Huntsville side of the 50 and finally had to punt the ball away in their territory, I felt like play-calling was a factor. Nguyen running the reverse on third and long didn’t make sense to me. Having said that, I recognize that we were up by two or three possessions most of the night and trying to run the clock. In addition, I get the feeling the coaches are trying to make sure we still have plays in the playbook that nobody’s yet seen on film when we get to the championship. I respect that strategy.

We have a great defense and the coaches clearly have confidence in them. Joseph has no qualms hanging it all out on the D. The crowd also has confidence in that D, and isn’t afraid to show it. They say defense wins championships. It definitely won the regional championship for the Indians this year. That is a welcome change from prior seasons at PN-G.

I agree with both of your points regarding the penalties, as well as your concerns about the conservative play calling. However, as noted in my post above I also suspect (and hope) that the coaching staff would call the game differently if we did not have big leads. They probably feel like with the quality of our defense their is no reason to take any chances when you have a big lead. However, the risk with this strategy, particularly with better teams later in the playoffs, is that you might fail to adjust your offensive strategy quickly enough when the lead starts shrinking.

 

[Usedtocould]

I’m conflicted over how to feel about the penalties last night. On the one hand, that’s some of the worst officiating I’ve seen this season at any level - high school, college or professional - and I watched last week’s Iron Bowl. The refs gave Huntsville a touchdown on that drive with the three consecutive penalties. I thought two of those three were completely out of line. I don’t normally blame the refs. The last two games, though, they have been a factor.

On the other hand, I’m not happy with our false starts in key moments. Like I said last week, at this stage of the playoffs, mental errors are deadly.

Last night was the first time this season I really got concerned about conservative play-calling. That one drive where we kept digging a hole on the Huntsville side of the 50 and finally had to punt the ball away in their territory, I felt like play-calling was a factor. Nguyen running the reverse on third and long didn’t make sense to me. Having said that, I recognize that we were up by two or three possessions most of the night and trying to run the clock. In addition, I get the feeling the coaches are trying to make sure we still have plays in the playbook that nobody’s yet seen on film when we get to the championship. I respect that strategy.

We have a great defense and the coaches clearly have confidence in them. Joseph has no qualms hanging it all out on the D. The crowd also has confidence in that D, and isn’t afraid to show it. They say defense wins championships. It definitely won the regional championship for the Indians this year. That is a welcome change from prior seasons at PN-G.

I do believe the face mask on the one penalty was legit
At first “we” thought it was PI (20)
BUT what they actually called was face mask which did actually happen.
The one where an OL PUSHED 47 onto the pile (I believe) that was bogus trying to remember the third one
And the fake punt I believe the receiver stepped from out of bounds and may have even been out of bounds when the catch was made. Yes lots of holding
The thing I’ve realized about HSFB is you could potentially call holding on about half of the plays
The refs made some good calls that benefited us
(The onside kick fair catch call) and the sideline 28 catch could have been called incomplete but resulted in a 3rd down conversion and a score.) I was right in front of the catch and could have gone either way.

 

[bandkid]

I do believe the face mask on the one penalty was legit
At first “we” thought it was PI (20)
BUT what they actually called was face mask which did actually happen.
The one where an OL PUSHED 47 onto the pile (I believe) that was bogus trying to remember the third one
And the fake punt I believe the receiver stepped from out of bounds and may have even been out of bounds when the catch was made. Yes lots of holding
The thing I’ve realized about HSFB is you could potentially call holding on about half of the plays
The refs made some good calls that benefited us
(The onside kick fair catch call) and the sideline 28 catch could have been called incomplete but resulted in a 3rd down conversion and a score.) I was right in front of the catch and could have gone either way.

I take your point about holding and I get that we don’t want refs over-calling that penalty at the high school level. That being said, I saw Huntsville’s defense come up with a fistful of purple jersey and get a way with it a lot last night. That should always be called. It seemed to me Huntsville’s just figured out the upper limit of what they can get away with.

 

[NDNzeke]

Some penalties you can’t do much about because they are determined too much by how the refs call the game. That’s why it’s important to minimize the ones you can control, like false starts, offsides, and blatant unsportsmanlike conduct.

 

[PNG Proud]

It's debatable that he caught it, looked like he stepped out of bounds before he 'caught the ball' which may have touched the turf, and the ref moved the ball up. Indians 24, Huntsville 7, Refs 7

On the replay, he CLEARLY stepped out of bounds prior to the catch. I think the refs were trying to make a game of it for the Hornets

 

[Usedtocould]

I take your point about holding and I get that we don’t want refs over-calling that penalty at the high school level. That being said, I saw Huntsville’s defense come up with a fistful of purple jersey and get a way with it a lot last night. That should always be called. It seemed to me Huntsville’s just figured out the upper limit of what they can get away with.

100% maybe some of them live in Huntsville not by choice (joking)

 

[1970]

Last season there were very few flags thrown for holding during the games that I witnessed, and I commented on that all season long on the various forums. Our linebackers last season were basically being tackled much of the time. Last year's Nederland game was absolutely horrendous. Sometimes I wonder what exactly meets the requirements for a holding call.

 

[CS]

 

[HJJ97NDN]

View attachment 1131

Watching highlights, and the other foot went out of bounds also for a split second.

 

[IndianFan]

Yeah, that was not a good play call. The line judge on that side made at least a couple questionable calls on that drive. And missed some too like the blind side block on Fuentes on the same play. Almost like he was assisting Huntsville. It’s all good now. It’s all about Liberty Hill now.