Portsmouth Trojans Football 2011

[LetsGoPSU]

Before you jump on the spread offense, Portsmouth averaged just over 22 pts a game without last years SEOAL offensive player of the year. With Josh in the lineup for ten games I have to assume they would have put up more points.
The problem was on the defensive side of the ball, giving up over 32 points a game. This team needs to hit the weights, as mentioned above, and grow a new mentality on the defensive side of the footblaa. Improve the defense and the offense will score,

[El Ray]

A solid strength program not only builds a bigger, stronger, and faster athlete but does wonders for self confidence and creates a mindset that would really benefit not only the defense but offense as well. Last years team was the weakest PHS teAm I have seen in a long time. Maybe they were just weak kids but I have seen Chad hammond and Dale King make chicken salad out of chicken poop when it comes to strength and conditioning...Chad needs to have bigger role and Dale needs to get involved in some way as well

[sider]

I just feel like the program overall has gotten a little soft. I think that the talent was there last year, but a number of things such as lack of discipline and caring on the players part, bad defensive player, and a few apples ruined the whole bunch. When all you have to do is win 5 games and you make the playoffs shouldn't you as a player (especially the seniors) say "lets win a couple and get this done?" Yes, tackling is something that must be practiced and preached, but if the players won't tackle then its on them.

Another thing I noticed was even though there was some talent, the players at Portsmouth didn't look as thick or muscle-bound as usual...obviously that has to with the weight program or lack thereof and the players not putting the time. The players also seemed out of shape at certain times (i.e. burgs last drive).

Schematically, I feel like in high school a two-gap scheme or a scheme that forces linemen to hit their man and control their gap is much more effective and creates much more disciplined defense that rushing upfield on slants and various stunts 90% of the time, however what I feel means very little and schemes don't matter if the players don't execute. Bottom line, Portsmouth needs more toughness/discipline and the team to feel like a family rather than work, this will lead them to lift and practice harder...hopefully they'll address it and I'm sure they know the problem and will address it, don't forget how successful they have been.

[trojandave]

Good points made......sider........and hopefully our kids will resolve to work harder than they ever have to make sure that the 2011 season will be much better.

[BigSlowWhiteGuy]

Portsmouth has had defensive issues since 2004. I'm not sure what the exact problem is but that was the year we made the transition from a more traditional 2 back set with the QB under Center to the currently traditional spread formation. I would hate to see the total points per game surrendered by PHS since 2004 but it is pretty awful, even in the playoff season of 2006. Obviously there was more overall talent from 97-04 but there have been a couple of teams that I felt should have been better defensively and were so thin by the end of the year that we couldn't stop anyone. Good Luck, but defense is the key to inprovement. Scoring 21 a game with the offense we currently run won't get the job done because there are too many quick three and outs. For the first time, this years BCS game matched two of the most modern offenses in college football, and ironically the game was decided by defense and special teams which are still the key to sucess.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Great post BigSlowWhiteGuy ,

Defense has definitely, been a huge problem for us the last 6 seasons. You are also right that the talent level is not what it was. However, in my opinion we have many problems with fundamentals, and technique. This is in no way a knock on the coaching staff, as these are things that should be learned long before they reach the high school leave, either in pee-wee or to a lesser extent junior high. I have watched repeated missed tackles, because we do not wrap up, defensive linemen who pop straight up, and catch blocks only to be drove 10 yards down the field. I have said this one before, but I don’t believe many of them spend the time studying their scouting reports, that needs to be put in to learn their assignments for each week. This is obvious when you see guys lining up out of position, and even 2 guys blitzing one gap only to leave another wide open. It is also common to see guys miss tackles, do to dropping their heads, this not only results in poor defense, but will eventually result in a young man getting injured.
These fundamental flaws are not just limited to the defense. I will admit that I am not an expert on the fundamentals of blocking in the spread offense, but we never fire out, our first step seems to always be straight up, catching blocks, not delivering the impact.
I wonder if the problem doesn’t stem from the pee-wee level up. Before boys in Portsmouth would play for either Rough Riders, Rams, or little Trojans at the pee-wee level. The Rams are now defunct, and now the vast majority of future Trojans, play for the little Trojans. This results in fewer young men seeing significant playing time at a young age when their skills technique and fundamentals are developing the most.
I would like to see us get away from the spread, and go back to our 2 back and ace sets. We were always a very good counter trapping teams, and in years we had a mobile QB bootleg. I think we need to get back to this style of play once again, it allows us to control the clock more and take pressure off of our defense. Many times our defense has looked bad because they were forced to be on the field for such extended periods of time. It is hard to be a good D, if you are always in bad field position and your offense goes 3 and out. In some years our D has looked worse than they actually were because the offense had so many 3 and outs, with many downs being lost on incomplete passes stopping the clock and prolonging games.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

The Bengals and Bears are a little before my time, but I have heard that before too. As I said I believe the majority of the kids play for the little Trojans now. I assume this has to do with only one elementary now, and a misconception of the Rough Riders being Notre Dame which isn’t the case or at least at one time wasn’t. The Rough Riders were actually at one time the Roosevelt Rough Riders.
Former Trojans that I can think of that played Rough Riders, are Aaron Macdonald, Mo Clark, Akia Brown, Dale King, Dustin Pendleton Jason Fleming, Case Kegley, Craig Felts, Kyle Mitchell, Scott Arms, Andrew Newman, Mike Purdy, Jarrod Toppings, Tyler Clifford, Andy Click, Derek Wales, JR Glockner, Chris Chabot Jeff Pendleton.
Those guys senior football season span the year of 97-2004, the same time span that saw the Trojans only have one season with less than 7 or more wins. I’m sure I’m missing some guys as well, but there are at least 4 of those guys that are in the hall of fame, and I believe at least 17 of them started for 2 or more years, 6 started 3 years, I believe 5 of them were even 4 year letter winners, and 8 captains.
Now I know that all these guys more than likely would have seen significant time in pee wee if there was only one team, but that means someone else is losing a spot and not seeing time. Maybe that kid quits because he feels he didn’t get to play enough, or maybe he just never gets the chance to develop his skills. Then imagine the Rams have just as many good guys, and now they are all on the same team. There are a lot of guys that aren’t getting to play much and develop their skills, and I bet many decide to not play because of it. As for the Rams just off the top of my head I can think of Jeremy Mathis, Brad Porter, Kyle Porter, Gerald Cadogan, Dave Born, Zach Thompson, Dave Rammel, Billy Payne. That’s 5 captains, 3 four year letter winners, and I believe Mathis, Cadogan, and Born are all State winners so they are eligible for the hall of fame. I know I missed a bunch of guys here.
My point is with everyone playing on the same team, opportunities are cut down, at this level it is primarily about developing skills, and getting everyone as much time as possible. With more teams more guys get to play and we end up with more quality guys that have a stronger skill set by the time they reach the high school level. Although we are not as big as we once were, We are plenty big enough to support 3 teams, maybe even 4 or 5 if divided properly. That is where the problem starts though, with all students now located at one elementary it would be hard to divide them into separate teams, and if we used the old districts to do so it will not do any good, because you will have kids quitting because they don’t get to play with their friends.

[FarAwayFalcon]

Although we are not as big as we once were, We are plenty big enough to support 3 teams, maybe even 4 or 5 if divided properly. That is where the problem starts though, with all students now located at one elementary it would be hard to divide them into separate teams, and if we used the old districts to do so it will not do any good, because you will have kids quitting because they don’t get to play with their friends.

If Minford can do it Portsmouth can. I agree with everything in that post. Minford switched to the 3 or so team inter-league system years ago, and starting in 2007 those kids were seniors. It's no coincidence that Minford has made the playoffs every year since then and fielded much more consistently talented teams. You have to have guys stick to it through the end, I think since then Minford has had 12-14 seniors every year. With more guys playing at a young age, even if you lose some you still end up with good numbers at the high school level.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

Yeah I have to say I would really like to see us go to an inter league set up too. You said that Minford now does, and I believe Wheelersburg does as well. I would like to see Portsmouth do the same. I believe we could field 4 teams with both varsity and JV, with little to no problem. I know I have seen successful teams at the Pee Wee level with as few as 15 boys on a team. Ideally if we could get around 20 a team would be my goal.
Then since Burg and Minford each run their own league as well, take whatever team won their league and hopefully add another school too it as well, and have a 2 week playoff, so they can play against someone different, and still give them something to play for and an exciting situation to work for. (I remember being a pee wee player many years ago, and the super bowl was a big deal to me as an 8 year old)
Not only could the top teams be put in a bracket, but the lower teams in each individual league could be paired up for games as well

Name suggestions for Portsmouth teams Spartans, Generals, Rams and bring in the Rough Rider name ( and let Notre Dame field a Titians team for their league just was East is Tartans.
Make Spartans Red, and white, Generals Blue and White, then Rough Riders go back to their original white and Red, and Rams of course would be white and Blue.
I think this would really help our program, especially if we were able to start putting in our system and terminology in at this level. If we stay in the spread, it will be hard for a pee wee team to run that, and I would hope we wouldn’t even try it, but we should be able to put in a watered down playbook. This will cut down on mental mistakes, and make running these plays second nature by the time they are in a varsity game.

[Ptown Playmaker]

The current senior class had 35 kids in 8th grade football......the current junior class had 26 kids in 7th grade football......61 kids......you add those two grades up now.....27 players.......over 50% drop out rate......I don't believe the pee wee level is the problem....something is happening once they get into junior high or later. The previous two years (not including this year)......we've had no freshman team......for the most part, the current juniors and sophmores have had limited playing time on what few JV games they got a chance to play in....and I think that shows on the field. JMO

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

I have to disagree, the reason kids left the program prior to their junior and senior year is because of lack of wins. That is common with every school, if you don’t win they don’t come out. If you have that 50 percent dropout rate but you have more kids to chose from because you fielded more teams you still end up with more kids.
The class of 03 (football years 99-02) didn’t have enough to field a team as freshmen, however they finished as the class with the most wins in school history, and I believe had around 15 in the class playing by the time they were seniors. Because the program was successful at that time more guys wanted to be a part of it, so the class grew.
Losing will undoubtedly affect a programs numbers in a negative way. I still believe a properly run pee wee system will help remedy both problems. Having more guys coming out that have had a solid amount of experience at the pee wee leave can only be a plus to the program.

[noreply66]

sometimes kids do not go out is because they feel the kids coming up behind them are better and don't even try to compete

[LetsGoPSU]

If they dont have the desire to " try to compete" then I really dont want them in the first place

[West Side Pride]

TRUE !!!

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

That’s exactly what I’m talking about. If you have more kids that have been starters at one time they have been competitive, and have been taught a competitive nature. With only one pee wee team several boys have decided at an early age that they aren’t as good because they don’t get the playing time, or get to start. That’s the problem with all the boys playing on the same team from the 3rd grade on. In several cases everyone decides early who is a good ball player, and who is not as good. Again this leads to drop outs, or a lack of competitiveness if they do stay because in many cases guys have already accepted a role as a backup. I personally can think of several guys that were great players at the high school level that weren’t very good at the pee wee, and even jr. high level. What however if those guys are quitting because of only the one pee wee team, and lack of opportunity.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

I personally can think of several guys that were great players at the high school level that weren’t very good at the pee wee, and even jr. high level.

List 5 of them...

You're trying to get me in trouble Tobias, I'm sure everyone knows guys like that. No need to list names. 8)

Anyone that’s been around PHS sports has heard people say we normally have two teams walking the halls, the team on the fields, and courts that comes out and the team of good athletes walking the halls that don't. Why don’t these guys come out? In many cases its because it is too hard for them because they haven’t learned the value of hard work at a young age. Many probably played on a team, but didn’t get to play as much as they thought they should so they quit because they didn’t see any reason to put in the effort to not play.

[Charles Farquar]

I coached football for 32 years and saw some pretty good football players that didn't play until the 7th grade. One of the best was a kid that did not come out until he was a freshman, by the time he was a junior he had caught up with and surpassed most of the other players. People think that Pee Wee football has a bigger impact than it actually does on how varsity players and teams turn out. Pee Wee gives kids an advantage in junior high but by the time things are all said and done with the kid that didn't play until junior high, he will catch up around the 9th grade with the Pee Wee kids if he wants to. If a kid wants to play Pee Wee (OR RATHER HIS DAD WANTS HIM TO) thats fine, let the little kids have their fun if its done right. I'm just saying that Pee Wee success and Varsity success don't necessarily go together.

[Trojan_FB_Alum]

I totally agree that it is not a necessity to play at the pee wee level to be good, and of course a successful pee wee, or even junior high teams do not mean a successful varsity. Portsmouth knows that first hand, as some of our better junior high teams have turned out to be mediocre varsities.
It is more than possible for a kid to catch up who hasn’t played at the pee wee or even junior high level. What I was saying is that with only having one pee wee team, how many kids quit earlier now because they don’t get to play as much as they would with more teams? I also was saying that for many of these athletes pee wee football, can help to give them a good grasp of football fundamentals, but more importantly can teach them the value of hard work, and discipline that they will need to be successful at the high school level. I also still believe more pee wee teams will help with numbers.
Also although I agree that a few kids mixing into a system that haven’t played would not be a problem and those kids could even excel. However most kids won’t come out and even if they did it would be hard for a team to succeed. Not the best example, but look at Manchester for an example, they started their program playing at the junior high level, then moved to a jv then a varsity level. However all their kids only had football for a limited time compared to most the other schools that they compete against who’s kids have been playing in established pee wee systems, then advancing through their system. I know there are many other factors that affect Manchester that makes it hard for them, however if they had a strong group that had played since pee wee up when they started their program you can’t deny it would help.

[The Babe]

Its sad to see a team with so much talent year in an year out, to not win like they should.....portsmouth usually has more talent than any team in the area but fails to win games

[Ptown Playmaker]

Minford,Burg,Valley have there own Pee Wee and West,Oak Hill,Ironton travel its hard to say which one is better. If you are winning kids play. But when you get to be older and biggger, stronger , faster it is which kids will sacrifice the time to become better. Portsmouth has a great coaching staff and everyone has an opinion and heres mine wieghts after school not a 45 minute class during school and take it serious. Get bigger, stronger then everything else will fall into place. The same as it has done for Minford,Valley,Burg,Ironton,Oak Hill,West

agree.......if you look back the past several years......most of our losses come from being "pushed" around on both sides of the ball........