October 24, 2019
THURSDAY NIGHT LIGHTS
THE DENHAM SPRINGS HS VS LIVE OAK HS GAME HAS BEEN MOVED TO TONIGHT, THURSDAY NIGHT, 10/24
You can catch all the action on Family Radio, 91.9 FM, Baton Rouge and on the Internet at JonFineProductions.com. Air time is 6 PM with Sport N Center Jackets Warmup
Josh Ward, Andy Duckworth and Jon Fine are on the call.
DENHAM SPRINGS INTERVIEWS
Danny Tanner, Practice Supervisor, North Oaks Health Systems will be our guest tonight on Sport-N-Center Jackets Warmup. Ralph Sellers Chevrolet Sales Manager Ricky Foster will appear on the North Oaks Health Systems Half-Time Report.
GOLDEN TORS FOOTBALL
Sulphur plays host to Barbe HS tomorrow night. You can tune in at 6:45 pm on Sports Radio 1310-KEZM-Sulphur/Lake Charles or online at KEZMOnLine.com. Bruce Merchant and Patrick Frey are on the call.
LSU, SAINTS AND MUCH MORE
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THE WIZARDRY OF OS
Good or great? That is what will be decided in regards to how LSU’s football season will be measured this week when Tigers take on Plainsmen.
Auburn is the toughest challenge on LSU’s schedule to this point for a number of reasons. For one, this game is the end of a three game SEC swing. Second is that I think Auburn matches up with LSU better than Florida and Texas. Third is that Malzahan will make LSU play in space on defense with the ability to run right at LSU.
The depth of this team combined with the relative comfort of the Mississippi State game should have LSU in good shape for this game.
As for the matchup, Auburn’s strength is their offensive and defensive lines. On defense, we know Texas had to blitz to try and affect Burrow, which left the secondary vulnerable. Florida, without their top pass rushers could not pressure Burrow, and they were susceptible to the run as well. Auburn’s strength is in the middle of their defensive line. Brown and Davidson are the two best defensive linemen LSU will face this year and they are on the same team.
90 percent of LSU’s running game is between the tackles which is the strength of Auburn’s defense. Auburn’s secondary is a tick below Florida’s, but should get more help from the front seven. LSU’s passing game has been elite because Burrow has the ability and space to step up in the pocket. If Auburn can collapse the pocket from the inside, that is the recipe for disrupting any passing offense.
That doesn’t mean LSU won’t have methods to counter Auburn’s stout middle. Recently, LSU has slowed down the offense by choice, but I think they will speed up the tempo this week. Auburn has two defensive linemen that will be drafted in the top 15 so there is a clear dropoff behind them. Hopefully, LSU can play fast early, make the Auburn defensive line run sideline to sideline, and then LSU can take their chances down field when those two are out for a breather.
The best thing that could happen for the Tigers is for Terrace Marshall to be healthy. Marshall, Chase, and Jefferson are the matchup nightmare that allow Burrow to get rid of the ball quickly. Florida hit some big plays on Auburn because of the Gators depth at receiver which allowed them to get favorable matchups in pass coverage. LSU can do the same and most effectively if Marshall plays. This game I fully expect LSU to use the passing game early to set up the running game late.
As for playing in space, the LSU defense has good and bad playing in space this year. Fortunately, the offense has been so good, the defense just has to have one or two good stretches for the offense to take over the game.
I am concerned, though, that Auburn will be able to follow the same formula Florida almost pulled off in regards to time of possession, but in a different manner. Mullen was able to spread the field to throw the ball on the perimeter. Malzahan will spread the field to run the ball right at LSU. The last two years, he has had LSU on the ropes with that formula. Auburn has an experienced offensive line, and LSU’s defense has not been able to get off the field on third down against Texas or Florida.
For Florida and Texas, their playmakers were at receiver and they made more plays in space than LSU’s defensive backs. LSU’s defensive backs will need to tackle well and will need to make plays when the opportunities present themselves.
Overall, I think Auburn has to play with a lead to beat LSU like they did at Texas A&M. LSU, on the other hand, can win from ahead or behind in this game. I certainly like LSU’s chances better, though, if they get off to a fast start.
There are a couple of aspects of the Saints win this week over the Bears that have me more excited than the other wins.
Out of necessity, Payton had to use Latavius Murray and the production is there. He isn’t the same as Mark Ingram, but he can be just as effective. I have felt Payton has been relying on Kamara too much, and I hope Murray now has the trust for the offense to diversify when Kamara returns.
The other aspect is the Saints finally got the ball downfield. Ted Ginn should have had two explosive catches, but at least he got one. I still think there are more opportunities, especially if Taysom would be used as a dual threat quarterback instead of just a running quarterback, but maybe that is being kept in the super secret playbook.
I am pleasantly surprised the Saints have been able to go 5-0 with Brees. The reason is clearly because the defense has played like a top 10 defense while the offense has been just good enough. All of this has led to the dumbest discussion I have heard in the Payton/Brees era. So let me finish by clearing this up. If Brees is ready to play, he will play. PERIOD.
HEY REF
They say be careful what you ask for. The big question I keep being asked is do I think we’re seeing the last of the LHSAA as we’ve seen for so many years. That’s a very tough question for anyone to answer simply because we’re in unchartered waters. The principals seem to be very unhappy, at least those private school principals, with the way things are on Old Hammond Highway and voted to break from the crowd and will not be playing their football championships in the Superdome. Yes, I realize the vote was close to walk away from New Orleans in December but the fact that there was a vote at all says many things.
My standard reply to that question has been “I don’t think anybody can answer that question and get the right answer even with the private schools forming their own organization within the LHSAA”. On the outside it looks like the “SPLIT” has widened from its earlier days. The private schools are still deciding on how, where and why to conduct their separate football championships. I can’t say this is a good day for the LHSAA or for the split simply because playing football championships in the Dome was supposed to be the trump card that would guarantee complete participation by the private and public schools. And “no” I don’t have an inside connection at the LHSAA and depend on coaches to let me know what’s really going on.
As we wait to see how this experiment plays out let’s go back to November 2015 and read once again some words of wisdom or as we like to call it “The Best of Hey Ref”. ENJOY…
The high school playoffs get into high gear this week as most teams in the “SELECT” divisions get down to business. As many know this writer has been a supporter of the split (Select and non-select) into two divisions, so to speak, simply because it levels the playing field between traditional public schools and private schools.
For too many years the private schools held a gigantic advantage over their public counterparts simply because as a “SELECT” school you are able to recruit players whereas the public schools must field teams from a small certain section of the parish commonly referred to as “attendance zones”. That leaves most schools in East Baton Rouge Parish and the surrounding area unable to consistently field good teams that can compete year in and year out with those private school teams.
As officials when given our assignments for the week we’d hold our breath hoping that we’d not have to work games between a private school and a public one. I’d have to say 90 percent of the time the private schools had their way with the opposition and could just about choose the number of points they were going to score that night. It wasn’t very often where the “SELECT” school would be tested that night and I’d have to say the so called split was needed and didn’t come too soon for this retired official.
High school sports are played to build character or at least that’s what I’ve always thought. In today’s “win at all costs” building character is probably the last thing anyone thinks about. I’ve been involved in many runaway games and it’s not a fun thing to witness. I can only hope that when the LHSAA gets down to planning the future of its playoff system they continue pitting public schools against public schools and the same in the so-called “SELECT” school brackets. In a perfect world someone would start a new organization to deal with the problems of PRIVATE schools in Louisiana. If nothing else the LHSAA should change the word “SELECT” when talking and/or describing PRIVATE schools.
Now onto a promise I made just a few weeks ago. In a three part series in which I discussed some of the problems I found with the caliber of those calling football games in Louisiana. Many have told me they agree things are not the way they should be and have seen the calls getting worse and worse on Friday nights. I’ll try to answer those questions you’ve felt needed answering and concerns you’ve had regarding the officiating problems in high school football here in south Louisiana. But how do I rank those questions? To someone each question has to be the most important one to the person doing the asking. I’ve no answer to that problem so I’ll start off with a couple easy questions. So let’s get started;
(1) You made a comparison of football officials to cannibals, what did you mean?
(A) I found massive amounts of tension among the members in the three associations. I’d hear too many talking about fellow officials and what was wrong with this individual or that individual. There was this unspoken dislike of others transferring from one association to another. I’d just made the switch to a new association, it was week #2 and a couple members of the crew pulled me to one side after our pre-game conference and told me “Nothing personal with you, we don’t really know you but we don’t want any more people from Baton Rouge transferring into our association”! I was in shock as I’ve never had that happen to me. Turned out there was bad blood between the two associations and nothing I had any connection to but they felt they needed to kinda put me in my place. As the season played out not once did this feeling change.
(2) What did the coaches say to you to make you want to try and call games after all those surgeries?
(A) That’s a hard one, I moved from West Monroe after graduation to Baton Rouge. I knew no one and wanted to get involved in officiating. I’d worked hard with many good officials that felt the kids and the game came first. There was respect between the coaches and officials. There was a “clik” so to speak but I worked hard on learning the rules and mechanics. After years of hard work and staying the course I advanced and was noticed by some college officials. They asked two separate years if I was interested in moving up. I turned them down because my job kept me away from my family much of the year and spending more time away just wasn’t anything I wanted a part of. I was doing what I wanted and enjoyed what I was doing so I stayed here and was a part of the best group of officials; hands down. We knew we were the best by the number of coaches that called wanting to book us to call their playoff games. But health problems put me on the sidelines and hearing from some of the coaches (Old and new) how far the association had slipped made me try to get back on the field. I mean there were lots of blood, sweat and tears I left on many Baton Rouge sidelines and I respected all the coaches. In the end I just wanted to see what had changed.
(3) What do you think was the biggest change when you went back to “reffing” football?
(A) That’s an easy one, attitude by all the parties. By that I mean coaches, principals, officials, the people in power at the LHSAA and even the assigning secretaries. There is this feeling of a constant pressure on all those I just mentioned. I understand jobs are on the line and all that but the sidelines have become brutal, very brutal for both the official on that side and all the staffs. Officials are talked down to; respect is something many coaches leave in the locker room. I’ve sat in on many conferences with officials and have never been exposed to the constant feeling these crews have and are dreading and some even hating what they’re about to go out to do for the next couple of hours. I’ve asked these officials why they are here and many say it’s purely economics. They need an infusion of cash because either they’ve lost a job or their bills aren’t getting paid and they think this will get them some easy money.
I want to close this week by saying if you want to make some easy cash, calling high school football games is NOT the answer!!! Till next week…
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