The Lee Ganders and Sterling Rangers met up at Stallworth field in Baytown to kick off the 2010 season for both. The Ganders are now 4A while Sterling remains a 5A team. Both squads really have 4A numbers in the program though as they each had a lot of kids going both ways.
Sterling won 28-20 in overtime. They tied the game up late on a Chance Nelson touchdown but their extra point missed. Lee came back down and had a chance to score, but they could not get the ball into fg range as time expired.
Sterling was a three man show. Chance Nelson, CJ Mixon and Jamar Gibson did virtually all of the damage on the night for the Rangers. Nelson and Mixon are both a bit undersized, but they are extremely elusive once you give them a crease. Nelson is probably a touch faster than Mixon, but both of them have really good speed. While Nelson and Mixon are seniors, Gibson is a sophomore. Gibson is over 6' and 200 pounds. He also has some pretty good speed. He was tough to cover when they decided to throw him the ball.
Sterling's offense consisted of mainly Nelson at qb and Mixon at running back with a version of the zone read. Occasionally Sterling would bring in another qb named McWhirter. McWhirter was a much better passer, but he could also run the ball pretty well himself. Nelson's passing abilities are really non-existent. He just keeps the defense honest occasionally by heaving it as far as he can and hoping Gibson can out-muscle the defense for the ball. It worked a time or two in this game. Sterling has a large offensive line which was able to mach on Lee a little bit as the game wore on.
Sterling's defense was pretty solid. Von Anderson playing safety really laid the wood to a few Gander receivers. Mixon would come in on key downs to play some pretty solid cornerback.
Lee's offense is a 4 receiver set with Malcolm Ruben taking the snaps. They occasionally have a little zone-read action themselves, however it is not nearly as effective with Ruben having minimal running ability. Ruben is tall and can sling the ball around the field though. Keith Johnson had a little over 100 yards on the ground for the Ganders playing running back. I was impressed with the Ganders ability to create some lanes for Johnson to run through.
Jaevon Richardson, the Ganders top receiver, was not a big part of the offense's gameplan. They threw his way a time or two, mostly when they got to a third down and wanted to hit him on a fade route. They only throw to him on screens and fades, nothing in between. Josh Zellars was hurt for the Ganders early in the game and never returned. He is probably Lee's second best weapon behind Richardson. Darrion Landry missed the game completely. He is also a starting receiver and defensive back for the Ganders.
Lee and Sterling were both plagued with turnovers in this one. Ruben threw two interceptions. One of them was basically as good as a punt, as it was third and long and the int was way down field. The other was deep in Lee's territory though. Lee also fumbled a ball deep in Sterling's territory as they were driving in for a score. Sterling had a fumble that was returned for a td by Lee, another fumble in their own half of the field and an interception on 4th down that would have been a turnover regardless.
Sterling and Lee were about as well matched as two teams could be. Sterling has the three headed monster and Lee has Keith Johnson and Jaevon Richardson leading the way. Once Lee gets Zellars and Landry back, they will be a tougher matchup for teams. I was surprised at how well Lee's defensive front held up for the most part. They ended up giving up a lot of yards, but they did quite well for a first game considering 5 sophomores started on the defense.
Saturday, August 28, 2010
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Lee varsity vs Angleton scrimmage
Angleton is ranked 6th in the state for 4A coming into the season. This is after they had a nice run through the playoffs last year. They lost Terrence Franks and Henry Josey off of that offense though.
Quandre Diggs, Texas commit, is back to lead the offense and defense for the Wildcats.
One could suspect that Lee was going to struggle a lot with Angleton.
This was not the case however.
Lee played without the services of receiver Josh Zellars as near as I could tell.
Darrion Landry, another receiver, was hurt early on in the scrimmage and did not return
Lee came out of the gate throwing the fade route to Jaevon Richardson. This was good to get them past midfield. They struggled running the ball after that though and were turned away. Throughout the scrimmage they were able to consistently get the ball to Richardson. The Angleton pressure style of defense was made for the fade pattern to Richardson. They also hit him across the middle a few times for first down conversions. If this were a real game, I am certain Lee would have continued to expose the Angleton defense with the fade route.
The running game had its struggles for the most part. Keith Johnson was able to pop a few past the initial Angleton blitz a few times, however Quandre Diggs is a really good safety. It is tough to get past that last line of defense.
Quarterback Malcolm Ruben kept the ball a couple of times and was able to get a few yards running the ball.
Myron O'neal, soph receiver/db, nearly had a couple of deep balls, but just could not come down with them. He will be able to make some of those plays as the season goes along.
The defense held up pretty well against an athlete like Diggs. Diggs cannot really pass the ball that well, so that helped the cause.
Diggs was easily the fastest and most athletic player on the field. This showed late in the scrimmage when he was able to break loose for a 60 yard td.
The first hour though Angleton could not move the ball well at all on the Ganders.
#55, defensive end, was impressive to me containing the edge and getting good pressure on the quarterback
#19, linebacker, also made some good plays. He believe he also played some with the JV. He deserves to be on varsity as he looked to have the most football smarts on the defense. He may be small, but he was always around the ball and a very good tackler.
I am not familiar with a lot of the players' names, but the defense played some pretty good ball.
All in all, Lee looked pretty good against a tough opponent. This was Angleton's second scrimmage and only the first for Lee, so we have to take that into account. Also, Josh Zellars was out and he is one of the more important players on the team. One other player I did not see was Anointe Franklin. He looked good as a freshman last year, but I have not see him yet this year for the Ganders.
Quandre Diggs, Texas commit, is back to lead the offense and defense for the Wildcats.
One could suspect that Lee was going to struggle a lot with Angleton.
This was not the case however.
Lee played without the services of receiver Josh Zellars as near as I could tell.
Darrion Landry, another receiver, was hurt early on in the scrimmage and did not return
Lee came out of the gate throwing the fade route to Jaevon Richardson. This was good to get them past midfield. They struggled running the ball after that though and were turned away. Throughout the scrimmage they were able to consistently get the ball to Richardson. The Angleton pressure style of defense was made for the fade pattern to Richardson. They also hit him across the middle a few times for first down conversions. If this were a real game, I am certain Lee would have continued to expose the Angleton defense with the fade route.
The running game had its struggles for the most part. Keith Johnson was able to pop a few past the initial Angleton blitz a few times, however Quandre Diggs is a really good safety. It is tough to get past that last line of defense.
Quarterback Malcolm Ruben kept the ball a couple of times and was able to get a few yards running the ball.
Myron O'neal, soph receiver/db, nearly had a couple of deep balls, but just could not come down with them. He will be able to make some of those plays as the season goes along.
The defense held up pretty well against an athlete like Diggs. Diggs cannot really pass the ball that well, so that helped the cause.
Diggs was easily the fastest and most athletic player on the field. This showed late in the scrimmage when he was able to break loose for a 60 yard td.
The first hour though Angleton could not move the ball well at all on the Ganders.
#55, defensive end, was impressive to me containing the edge and getting good pressure on the quarterback
#19, linebacker, also made some good plays. He believe he also played some with the JV. He deserves to be on varsity as he looked to have the most football smarts on the defense. He may be small, but he was always around the ball and a very good tackler.
I am not familiar with a lot of the players' names, but the defense played some pretty good ball.
All in all, Lee looked pretty good against a tough opponent. This was Angleton's second scrimmage and only the first for Lee, so we have to take that into account. Also, Josh Zellars was out and he is one of the more important players on the team. One other player I did not see was Anointe Franklin. He looked good as a freshman last year, but I have not see him yet this year for the Ganders.
Lee JV vs Angleton scrimmage
The Lee JV team was able to give Angleton a better test.
Angleton ran the same exact defense, however Lee was able to crease the pressure defense with some runs a few times.
The Lee defense held Angleton scoreless until the very end of the JV scrimmage when Angleton broke loose on a couple of long td runs to tie the scrimmage at 2-2.
The Lee offense and defense was led by #42.
This guy will not be on JV very long. He looks, acts and plays like a varsity player. He took two runs for about 40 yards each for touchdowns. He roamed the defense as a safety laying licks all over the field. There is no doubt that he can play on varsity right now. He played a little bit in the varsity scrimmage but seemed to get injured. I hope for his sake that it was nothing too serious.
Angleton ran the same exact defense, however Lee was able to crease the pressure defense with some runs a few times.
The Lee defense held Angleton scoreless until the very end of the JV scrimmage when Angleton broke loose on a couple of long td runs to tie the scrimmage at 2-2.
The Lee offense and defense was led by #42.
This guy will not be on JV very long. He looks, acts and plays like a varsity player. He took two runs for about 40 yards each for touchdowns. He roamed the defense as a safety laying licks all over the field. There is no doubt that he can play on varsity right now. He played a little bit in the varsity scrimmage but seemed to get injured. I hope for his sake that it was nothing too serious.
Freshman Lee vs. Angleton scrimmage
The Lee Ganders freshman team looked like a bunch that had only been practicing together for a few weeks against Angleton. Angleton runs the same system from 7th grade on up from what I am told, so this would lend towards the Wildcats looking more sure of what they were doing.
Angleton plays a high pressure style of defense. They blitz every single play off of the corners. They play bump and run on all four receivers.
There was a party in the Lee backfield on every offensive play and all of the Angleton defenders were invited.
The Lee defense had minimal success. Angleton's offense was able to execute much better than Lee's offense. Again, this goes back to Angleton running the same offense in junior high while Lee does not have that luxury really.
The players that impressed me most for Lee were #13, #14, #20 and #8.
#13 was the first team quarterback. The few times he was able to get past the initial swarming Angleton defense, he had a little bit of speed and athleticism to him. He was also able to throw the ball with some zip on it.
#14 was a tall rangy receiver/safety. He ended up playing some for the JV and the varsity as well. He has some speed and height to him. They just didn't give the quarterback enough time to find him.
#20 was a rb/lb. He never really had the room to run, but he was tough to tackle.
#8 was the backup running back and he was also pretty shifty.
I think if Lee were to play Angleton in about 5 weeks, they would have a much better chance to hang with them. Right now, Lee was just too rusty and could not execute well enough to give Angleton much competition.
Angleton plays a high pressure style of defense. They blitz every single play off of the corners. They play bump and run on all four receivers.
There was a party in the Lee backfield on every offensive play and all of the Angleton defenders were invited.
The Lee defense had minimal success. Angleton's offense was able to execute much better than Lee's offense. Again, this goes back to Angleton running the same offense in junior high while Lee does not have that luxury really.
The players that impressed me most for Lee were #13, #14, #20 and #8.
#13 was the first team quarterback. The few times he was able to get past the initial swarming Angleton defense, he had a little bit of speed and athleticism to him. He was also able to throw the ball with some zip on it.
#14 was a tall rangy receiver/safety. He ended up playing some for the JV and the varsity as well. He has some speed and height to him. They just didn't give the quarterback enough time to find him.
#20 was a rb/lb. He never really had the room to run, but he was tough to tackle.
#8 was the backup running back and he was also pretty shifty.
I think if Lee were to play Angleton in about 5 weeks, they would have a much better chance to hang with them. Right now, Lee was just too rusty and could not execute well enough to give Angleton much competition.
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