SWBL Southwest Recap: Valley View rolls, so does Eaton
Written By Adam Adkins
Valley View 42
Milton-Union 20
Sorry Milton fans, but it wasn’t a pretty homecoming. Remember how I said Spartan QB Kyle Pohl was hyped a lot? Yeah, with good reason. Pohl is a marvelous passer, and worthy of some bullet-points:
• Very accurate arm with enough zip on his passes to make any throw
• Good footwork, both on rollouts and when stepping into throws
• Able to read the defense well and makes strong decisions
• Didn’t get flustered when the Bulldog defense got pressure.
I was very much impressed with Pohl, enough to say he’s the best player I’ve seen this year, with hat-tips to the Eaton duo. Pohl did absolutely everything well.
And he got off to a fast start. The first two Valley View drives lasted 2 plays: both ended in the endzone. The first a long TD pass – the wide out, Zach Cottingim burned his defender – and the second another long TD pass, both on post routes. Pohl drilled both men in stride, but special mention goes to Justin Griffiths for not being run down on the second TD pass. You get alone in open space, you need to score.
I liked that the Spartans use their strengths. Instead of trying to foolishly set up the run – don’t get me wrong, balance is great, but if you have a great QB, you let him work – they came out in Shotgun-Spread and started throwing. About 4 minutes in, they were up 14-0, and they went into the half up 28-7.
Another bit on Pohl. He showed toughness after coming out for a play with what appeared to be either a stinger or a case of “dead arm” (I’m referring to the sensation from landing right on the elbow, which tends to cause temporary numbness – not the overuse injury) in his left arm. In fact, his next play on the field, he took an end-around hand-off from the slot and threw a long pass that led to a Spartan TD
As for Milton, I was rather pleased to see the passing game start to develop. They were, in the flash of an eye, down by 21 points, so QB Chris McCoy had to start throwing, and he did. The issues with the Bulldogs play-calling continues – they seriously have like 8 plays – but McCoy showed improved accuracy on rollouts and made good decisions. The deep ball is still an issue – he kind of just heaves it downfield as opposed to trying to hit a target – and is clearly not something he’s comfortable doing. They did score on a Hail Mary right before the half ended, but it was purely luck. Those plays – you know the ones, with 7 WRs in the end zone plus the majority of the defense – fail 99% of the time. But, the one time it works still counts.
Back to the play-calling for a minute. I got some heat for my comments about Milton being very rudimentary on offense, but I stand by what I said. The Bulldog attack revolves around sweeps to the left and dives to the right, with the occasional right-sweep or left-dive, and on 3rd and long they have McCoy roll out – generally to his right – and throw to a slanting running back.
Don’t get me wrong, I like Coach Pearce. He’s successful, and, for lack of a better word, his stuff works. The Bulldogs are a very successful program. Please, don’t flame me for saying that the Bulldogs are vanilla on offense.
Bellbrook 21
Franklin 28
Man, 0-5 for the Golden Eagles. That ensures another year at 5-5 or worse, which is kind of bad in general, but even worse when you consider they are the biggest school in the conference. (They were D2 for two years before falling to D3.)
As for the Wildcats… I’m starting to think they’re a good team. They beat Milton, they’ll beat Brookville, and they might contend with the Spartans. Could this be my next pick as the #3 in the SWBL?
Brookville 41
Dixie 14
No surprises here. The Devils will continue to beat teams like Dixie and Preble Shawnee, and will continue to struggle against better talent. They might be able to beat Milton-Union, but Valley View is out of the question, and Franklin probably is too.
Oakwood 13
Eaton 45
The road to 0-10 pushes on for Oakwood. Eaton, meanwhile, continues to rock offensively. Anyone else officially jacked up for the Eagle-Spartan clash? I know I am. I think I can actually say POHL! FUDGE! IT’S THE SWBL ON WHIO! For such a matchup.
—
Because I’m nice, let’s go ahead and recap Carlisle, because if I don’t, the Indian fans will form outside my house, and no one wants that.
Carlisle 42
Northridge 28
Let’s look for a moment, at the Indians remaining schedule:
• @ Lemon Monroe (4-1)
• Vs Madison (2-3)
• @ Valley View (4-1)
• @ Preble Shawnee (2-3)
• Vs Dixie (3-2)
I count two potential losses, but they should beat Monroe. As for the View, I don’t know how they’ll handle a QB like Kyle Pohl. Even still, Carlisle is playoff bound. Rejoice, Indian fans.
—
One more thing. Next week, I’m throwing a Wandy Rodriguez curveball at you. The best SWBL games are Carlisle-Monroe or Milton-Eaton, so the pickings are a tad slim. I won’t be at either. I don’t want to give it away, but what the heck. I’m going to lose see some Lightning and some Swordsmen go to battle. At least, I think that’s their nicknames…
Adam writes for his blog, www.adamadkins.net and can be harassed via adamdadkins@gmail.com.
| 
