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#2 Stephenville(5-0) @ #8 La Vega(3-2)


regaleagle

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This is most probably the best game this week in 4A.  Both teams were off last week with their Bye Week.....so both teams are rested.  Neither team has played a district game yet, so this will be the District Opener for both teams and may be the game that decides the District Champ in 4A-5 D-1.   #9 Midlothian Heritage(4-1) is also in this district and in contention for the district title.  Their only loss was to #4 Melissa several weeks ago.  La Vega's two losses came against Austin LBJ and Argyle, both highly ranked teams in 4A-D1.  Looks like this game will be a good one, for sure.  LV's stingy D will attempt to limit Stephenville's high-octane offense.  But Stephenville has only given up an average of 15 pts/gm against their schedule this season while scoring an average of 43 pts/gm.  But this will be the toughest opponent Stephenville has faced thus far.  LV is improving each week. 

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Stephenville's QB this season #7 Ryder Lambert(6-1/180/Jr) has already thrown for 1575 yds and 19 TD's in only 5 games while rushing for 288 yds. and scoring 4 TDs.  While that looks very impressive for the Yellowjackets' passing game, they have managed to rack up a total of 988 yds rushing in 5 games......not too shabby for a team with a high-flying passing attack, Huh?  

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Total yards on offense for Stephenville so far adds up to just over 2550......or right at 510 yds/game.  That's a high-octane offense for sure......27 TD's in just 5 games so far.  Of course we don't know any stats about LV.......they don't divulge or track them.  It might be very difficult to track all of LV's stats on offense because they use so many RB's in each game, LOL.  OR......they just would rather make opponents do their own homework(probably the case).  Usually teams have a coach on the team assigned to keeping track of all the stats, but some teams don't release these numbers and some teams don't bother with all the details involved.  LV is one of those teams.

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In their most recent appearance a couple of weeks ago, La Vega put the whack attack on a very good CC Miller Bucs team down in Corpus Christi on a Saturday day game.  It was your typical very physical and stingy LV defense against a fairly prolific Miller Bucs passing attack.......LV won that game going away 48-14.  As I recall, I think La Vega's secondary intercepted 3 passes......returning one for TD about 90 yds.  LV also scored on several passing TD's.......so their offense this season is not strictly run, run, run.  

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But let's get real......LV is gonna run that rock against Stephenville as much as possible.......if the Stephenville D does not load the box and stop them.  LV has some very impressive RB's this season.....esp. a Freshman RB(his name and number escapes me now), but this guy is really special.  And you will undoubtedly see and hear about #0 for La Vega.....Jesse Majors-sterling(5-9/165/Sr/RB/S) the fastest guy on the field, but not without a little competition from a few other LV Rb's like that Freshman. Lots of their skill players have jets......so it will be interesting to see how Stephenville tries to contain them or even defend LV.   LV has a tall receiver Jamarryan Joiner(6-4/192/Sr/WR) that's got jets too......believe me, this big kid can run!!  They call it "deceptive speed" because his strides are so long and before you know it......he's open and gone.  The QB #12 Robert Prescott(6-1/175/Jr) just launches it up there and Joiner has no problem getting it.

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Apparently Stephenville must have a pretty decent defense this season to go with their offense......just look at the 15 pts/game stat.  But we all KNOW that La Vega has a very stingy defense.......against their schedule they are only allowing 16 pts/game.  I'm fairly certain LV will have Stephenville outmanned on the lines......at least outweighed!!  But Stephenville does have two RB's they use effectively and two very quality receivers they throw to every game.  Look out for # 2 Coy Eaken(6-3/190/Sr/WR/FS/QB)......this guy has great speed and will catch anything he can get his hands on.  They also use him in a multitude of different ways on offense.......he has 780 yds receiving so far and 12 TDs.  He's also their Free Safety.......so this guy is very athletic. They have another go-to guy #24 Reece Elston(6-0/175/Sr/WR/QB).......this guy is another speedy, athletic-type that is their #2 receiver. Stephenville has a couple of other receivers they use in their offensive attack also.......but these two seniors are their main targets.

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Just looking at some Livestream footage of Stephenville's Jr. QB Lambert.......and I checked him out closely in several different games......he tends to throw high floaters.  I did not see hardly any passes with what I would consider lots of zip on them.......even the shorter ones were just medium speed with a long release and some hang time on them. Lambert can throw on the run with above average accuracy throwing it on the run.......I think he will get more practice doing that this week against LV's pass rush, LOL.   IMO......LV's secondary should be licking their chops for some interceptions back there this week.  I've seen LV's secondary in action this season......they are very very good on coverages.  

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I would rate Sam Fennegan of Melissa with a much stronger arm and more accuracy. He can absolutely fire the ball with zip on time on target compared to Lambert, IMHO.  I would also rate Melissa's receiving corps as a whole as better than Stephenville's......but perhaps Eakin of Stephenville is the best of both groups.  Fennegan is also by far more of a threat running the ball on keepers......and has better vision of the field more quickly.  Lambert's release is much slower than Fennegan's also.

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Of course, Stephenville and Melissa are not in the same District.......so those comparisons will not apply until the playoffs.  LV has not played Melissa this season, but that Miller Bucs QB was a good comparison to Lambert.......and they handled him fairly well.  Both QB's are further along than Argyle's QB Robinson, but neither team stacks up as well on the offensive line compared to Argyle.  And certainly not defensively, either.

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So according to my analysis of this game.......it appears to me that La Vega should be able to cause Stephenville's high-octane offense to falter quite a bit.  I would forecast a couple of interceptions for LV, and definitely some breakaway runs by their speedy backs. I'm pretty sure Stephenville has not seen a team with as much speed or big boys on the lines as La Vega will present this week.  

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La Vega's freshman RB is #26 Bryson Roland(5-7/165/Fr.)......a jitterbug speedster that just hides behind those huge offensive linemen that push their blocks off the LOS.  He's able to pop out from behind these big guys and change directions on a dime with speed......the guy is really talented.  Mekhi Rice(5-7/135/Sr/WR/KR) is also very dangerous as their speedburner wideout/kick returner.  He's returned either 2 or maybe 3 kickoffs for TD's so far this season.  Once in the open field......you ain't gonna catch this guy.  They also use him on jet sweeps.....he'll cut upfield at anytime thru a small seam for big gains.  They will throw that sideline quickie to him 2 or 3 times a half......just to pull your dbacks in, then try to hit one over the top to one of their other speedy receivers.

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LV's offense uses about 5 different RB's during the game at different times, and two different QB's......but mainly #12 Prescott at QB.  He's the throwing QB back there, but he does run some keepers at times also. Prescott has a good throwing motion and can throw it accurately.  

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What a matchup.

District 5 and District 7 are both insane districts. I'd honestly say District 7 is the "District of Doom," as there is a ton of depth there. But District 5 has some serious contenders. If La Vega can get things figured out offensively, they're going to be a tough out. They've got the athletes, but the execution and consistency just hasn't been there yet. But ... the Pirates are trending the right way.

I think La Vega has the defense to slow down Stephenville's explosiveness, but I'm not sure they'll totally shut them down/out. I see this one going down to the wire, honestly. Hard to pick, but if I had to, I'd lean ever so slightly towards La Vega. Won't be surprised either way, unless this game turns into a blowout in either direction.

Should be a good one, and whoever wins this one controls their own destiny.

La Vega by 1.

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I jumped the gun on Lambert's running ability.......he's a big threat running the football.  He won't just sit back there waiting for a receiver to come open.  He will take off and absolutely outrun the defense for BIG gains.  He likes to head to the sidelines, but will cut back and cause defenders to miss him......use his blocks and sometimes score on long runs because he has excellent speed.  I noticed he does not usually throw very much on the run......once he takes off he might fake a throw, but he's gonna keep it and make the yards if he sees an opening.  I think this will cause a problem for the La Vega defense and secondary.  He looks too fast for the linebackers to keep up.

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Stephenville will spread out the LV defense on almost every offensive series and use their QB to control the action. They will try to create openings using the edges to attack the defense.  IF the ends and LB's try to crash the edges or contain, then Lambert will either take off and outrun them, hand it off thru the middle, or simply throw it to some open spots the LB's have abandoned. So Stephenville will definitely pass the ball to set up the run......the running game plays second fiddle in their offensive scheme.  As Lambert goes so goes this offense for Stephenville.  Cause Lambert problems and you cause Stephenville's offense HUGE problems.  Lambert is the key......the ONLY key to their offense.......he's their main running threat as well. Oh they have a couple of backs that can run the ball and will, but those guys should not be a huge threat to a good defense like LV has.  Stephenville does have good size at most every position as a team.....on both sides of the ball.......bigger size than LV at the skill positions and in the secondary.  Pretty good size at the RB position also.....as far as RB's go.  Overall Stephenville's team "looks" imposing sizewise, but LV has already matched up with LBJ and Argyle earlier this season.......and have improved since then.  This should be a very good game to watch.  

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When Argyle travelled to La Vega earlier this season, there was a Livestream by LV on Modoc......LV's livestream channel.  There was not a play by play audio with the Livestream.......just the Livestream.  Maybe you can find Stephenville's broadcast and coordinate it as much as possible to the LV Livestream......that's what I did when Argyle played LV........I tuned into the Argyle play by play broadcast while watching the LV Livestream and finally got the broadcast within a second of the Livestream.

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2 hours ago, d0tc0m said:

What a matchup.

District 5 and District 7 are both insane districts. I'd honestly say District 7 is the "District of Doom," as there is a ton of depth there. But District 5 has some serious contenders. If La Vega can get things figured out offensively, they're going to be a tough out. They've got the athletes, but the execution and consistency just hasn't been there yet. But ... the Pirates are trending the right way.

I think La Vega has the defense to slow down Stephenville's explosiveness, but I'm not sure they'll totally shut them down/out. I see this one going down to the wire, honestly. Hard to pick, but if I had to, I'd lean ever so slightly towards La Vega. Won't be surprised either way, unless this game turns into a blowout in either direction.

Should be a good one, and whoever wins this one controls their own destiny.

La Vega by 1.

Nah.......LV will not totally shut down Lambert and the Stephenville attack, but they should be able to cut it back considerably.  LV's offense has improved by measures since earlier in the season also........I think the Pirates are just now starting to really click offensively.  Stephenville does have a darn good defense, but will be seriously tested this week by an offense that has tons of speed, athletic ability, and huge offensive linemen that block downfield better than any other team in 4A D-1.  This will most definitely cause some serious problems for the Yellowjackets defense to get off the field.......and to keep the scoring down.  And now LV is developing their passing game with Prescott at the helm.......and he has speed on the keepers too!  Give me LV in this one.......maybe by as much as 2 TD's when the clock finally hits zeros.

I just don't see this game going Stephenville's way.......LV's speed, athleticism, and defense is the best Stephenville will face until the playoffs.....or perhaps all season.  Stephenville has been the benefactor of lots of turnovers this season, but LV does an excellent job protecting the football.  Stephenville's D does like to "rip the ball out" if they can, but it won't take long for LV to be alerted to this situation.

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On 10/7/2021 at 12:52 PM, regaleagle said:

Nah.......LV will not totally shut down Lambert and the Stephenville attack, but they should be able to cut it back considerably.  LV's offense has improved by measures since earlier in the season also........I think the Pirates are just now starting to really click offensively.  Stephenville does have a darn good defense, but will be seriously tested this week by an offense that has tons of speed, athletic ability, and huge offensive linemen that block downfield better than any other team in 4A D-1.  This will most definitely cause some serious problems for the Yellowjackets defense to get off the field.......and to keep the scoring down.  And now LV is developing their passing game with Prescott at the helm.......and he has speed on the keepers too!  Give me LV in this one.......maybe by as much as 2 TD's when the clock finally hits zeros.

I just don't see this game going Stephenville's way.......LV's speed, athleticism, and defense is the best Stephenville will face until the playoffs.....or perhaps all season.  Stephenville has been the benefactor of lots of turnovers this season, but LV does an excellent job protecting the football.  Stephenville's D does like to "rip the ball out" if they can, but it won't take long for LV to be alerted to this situation.

Regale you sure. 

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