Celina at Melissa

[RedRed]

Just saw Melissa is ranked #10 in 4a Dl

[Texski]

On ‎10‎/‎13‎/‎2019 at 4:38 PM, d0tc0m said:

When you look at strength of schedule, it's practically a wash to me. Melissa's top opponent so far has been Trinity Christian Academy — a private school team that would easily make the postseason in any 4A district — and the Cardinals got throttled, 48-7. The Cardinals also have a "good" loss over an underrated Frisco team, and that's probably a game Melissa feels like they let get away. The signature win, so far, has been that thrilling 54-46 victory over Paris a couple weeks ago.

It's hard to compare that win to Celina's win over Paris, simply because Jackson didn't play against the Bobcats. He would have made a difference, certainly, but I'm not sure he would've made up a 34-point difference. I think the Bobcats still would've won by 2-3 possessions. I think Melissa's defense has been suspect this season, and I look for the Bobcats to utilize the legs of Point and Watson, just like they did against Paris, and test that defensive front of the Cardinals. If they're not up to the task, and if the Bobcats continually win on first down, they'll continue to feed the rock to Point and grind Melissa to death.

If Isaiah Martinez is healthy for Celina, that adds a whole new threat for the offense, as he is a more-than-capable backup RB, as well as a fast receiver option. Mix in senior Luke Addy and the super speedy Grayson Wester, and the Bobcats are not lacking on offensive weapons. We've just got to find a way to buy Watson time and let him get the ball to those targets. Having success running the ball like we did against Paris will certainly help.

Can't agree with the  strength of schedule at all. Any way you look at Melissa has played a stronger schedule.

Melissa's opponents records..26-14

Celina's opponents records..17-30

Celina losses were an undefeated elite state ranked private school and to very bad 5A team that has won no other games. Melissa's losses were to an elite state ranked private school and an undefeated state ranked 5A Frisco. Each team defeated a not very good Liberty Christian and Paris who is a good team but has some issues now. Celina's other wins were against a weak Dunbar team and Sanger and N. Lamar who are just awful and will battle for last place in district. Melissa's other wins were against 4-2 5A Whitehouse and 4-3 Anna who will likely finish 5th in district. Celina has only played 2 team with a winning record and all but one of Melissa's opponents have a winning record.

If you take away the 2 common opponents..

Melissa's non-common opponents records..20-6

Celina's non-common opponents records..11-22

Does this really give Melissa any advantage...not really, but just pointing out Melissa' schedule has been quite a bit stronger overall. This matchup really is a 50/50 toss-up to me and I will share more thoughts about the game later.

[Texski]

I just composed a really long post on my thoughts on the matchup but when I posted they disappeared so going with shorter version of same info..

Celina leads all-time series 5-3 but Melissa has won last 2 years

Melissa stats thru 6 games

Passing-

B Lewis 1477 yds 19TDs 2 Ints

Rushing-

X Posey 533 5 TD

B Lewis 503 7 TD

J Young 181 2 TD

Receiving-

Chase Mapps 401 4 TD

T Burton 385 6 TD

E Monroe 288 4 TD

A Turner 276 4TD

 

Matchups

QB- Big Advantage Melissa

RB- Slight Advantage Celina

WR- Advantage Melissa

OL- Even

DL- Slight Advantage Celina

LB- Big Advantage Celina

DB- Advantage Melissa

ST- Advantage Celina

Coaching- Advantage Celina

I attended approx. 25 live high school games last year and after North Shore- Duncanville this may have been the 2nd best. Neither team led by more than 7 and Melissa had a late 4th quarter red-zone stand to win 28-21. I think will be another very close game and anybody attending should get their money's worth. Celina fans get there early as our visitor side ####.

My prediction--- Melissa 40 Celina 35

 

 

[RedRed]

8 hours ago, Texski said:

I just composed a really long post on my thoughts on the matchup but when I posted they disappeared so going with shorter version of same info..

Celina leads all-time series 5-3 but Melissa has won last 2 years

Melissa stats thru 6 games

Passing-

B Lewis 1477 yds 19TDs 2 Ints

Rushing-

X Posey 533 5 TD

B Lewis 503 7 TD

J Young 181 2 TD

Receiving-

Chase Mapps 401 4 TD

T Burton 385 6 TD

E Monroe 288 4 TD

A Turner 276 4TD

 

Matchups

QB- Big Advantage Melissa

RB- Slight Advantage Celina

WR- Advantage Melissa

OL- Even

DL- Slight Advantage Celina

LB- Big Advantage Celina

DB- Advantage Melissa

ST- Advantage Celina

Coaching- Advantage Celina

I attended approx. 25 live high school games last year and after North Shore- Duncanville this may have been the 2nd best. Neither team led by more than 7 and Melissa had a late 4th quarter red-zone stand to win 28-21. I think will be another very close game and anybody attending should get their money's worth. Celina fans get there early as our visitor side ####.

My prediction--- Melissa 40 Celina 35

 

 

I would agree on all of that except runningback, I lean more toward a push/tie. All runningback in this one are legit. 

[d0tc0m]

15 hours ago, Texski said:

Can't agree with the  strength of schedule at all. Any way you look at Melissa has played a stronger schedule.

Melissa's opponents records..26-14

Celina's opponents records..17-30

Celina losses were an undefeated elite state ranked private school and to very bad 5A team that has won no other games. Melissa's losses were to an elite state ranked private school and an undefeated state ranked 5A Frisco. Each team defeated a not very good Liberty Christian and Paris who is a good team but has some issues now. Celina's other wins were against a weak Dunbar team and Sanger and N. Lamar who are just awful and will battle for last place in district. Melissa's other wins were against 4-2 5A Whitehouse and 4-3 Anna who will likely finish 5th in district. Celina has only played 2 team with a winning record and all but one of Melissa's opponents have a winning record.

If you take away the 2 common opponents..

Melissa's non-common opponents records..20-6

Celina's non-common opponents records..11-22

Does this really give Melissa any advantage...not really, but just pointing out Melissa' schedule has been quite a bit stronger overall. This matchup really is a 50/50 toss-up to me and I will share more thoughts about the game later.

I won't put up much of a fight here, but the problem with looking at opponent W-L record is sometimes, those records are in and of themselves deceiving. Whitehouse for example, 5A, sure, but are they any good? Not really. Not when you consider who their wins and losses are to. So, going by records, I'm fine with saying Melissa's strength of schedule is a little tougher, maybe it is slightly. But judging the teams themselves, not much difference to me. And Celina's loss to Memorial was a bad loss, but that game featured a litany of injuries that forced some really young guys into some new spots in their first ever varsity game. If the Bobcats played Memorial today, it'd be a four-possession game.

Either way, however you spin it, we agree that this should be a good game, a pick 'em and may not be decided until late in the fourth quarter again. Hope both teams stay healthy and play clean games. If they do, fans will be entertained for sure and proud of both sides, no doubt.

[d0tc0m]

5 hours ago, RedRed said:

I would agree on all of that except runningback, I lean more toward a push/tie. All runningback in this one are legit. 

I'm probably with you on this one. I thought Texski's breakdown was pretty good. This being the only place, like you Red, where I might say it's closer to dead even than advantage Celina. But whatever, it doesn't matter and we all know that. We all know fans will be treated to watching two VERY, VERY good running backs go head-to-head tonight.

[RedRed]

By the way just for information Frisco High is ranked #10 this week in 5A Dll

[RedRed]

28 minutes ago, d0tc0m said:

I'm probably with you on this one. I thought Texski's breakdown was pretty good. This being the only place, like you Red, where I might say it's closer to dead even than advantage Celina. But whatever, it doesn't matter and we all know that. We all know fans will be treated to watching two VERY, VERY good running backs go head-to-head tonight.

I would definitely take any of these running backs on my team. 

[d0tc0m]

12 minutes ago, RedRed said:

By the way just for information Frisco High is ranked #10 this week in 5A Dll

Frisco is a good team. I don't know that they're an actual top 10 team, but they're a good team. I think they'll beat Dennison tonight and maybe have a tough test against Lovejoy. But they've got a legit chance to head to the playoffs at 10-0. That loss, to me, was as impressive as any of Melissa's wins, save for maybe the Paris game.

[d0tc0m]

17 minutes ago, RedRed said:

I would definitely take any of these running backs on my team. 

As would any team in the state, I would think. And Argyle has a good one of their own in Tito Byce. No shortage of backfield talent in this district, that's for sure.

[CrankyOldMan]

On 10/18/2019 at 2:06 PM, d0tc0m said:

I'm probably with you on this one. I thought Texski's breakdown was pretty good. This being the only place, like you Red, where I might say it's closer to dead even than advantage Celina. But whatever, it doesn't matter and we all know that. We all know fans will be treated to watching two VERY, VERY good running backs go head-to-head tonight.

.

Edited September 26, 2022 by CrankyOldMan

[RedRed]

27 minutes ago, Footballalltheway said:

3 good running backs:

Point

Young

Posey

 

Posey for Melissa is probably a little more dangerous at this time then Young from what I’ve seen but he will lay it on the carpet pretty regularly.  Young will probably play more LB then RB because of their weakness at the LB level though.

Unfortunately Melissa is missing 3 starters on defense, two OLB and a DB  hence the reason Young is playing defense. 

[Texski]

I was told the two OLB may return tonight...if not tonight then likely back for Argyle game. DB out for season and it's a shame because he is very talented and getting some D1 looks.

The reasons I put Celina at slight advantage at RB is Young currently gets less than 10 carries a game at RB and as mentioned above Posey is a bit fumble prone. I think he lost 2 in the Frisco game.

 

[d0tc0m]

Hate to hear about the injuries. Sounds like both teams have been hit by it this year. Celina’s o-line has been plagued with the injury bug. And Celina’s Martinez could easily have his name on that RB list, and would, if he hadn’t been battling injury all season long. A dang good receiver too!

[regaleagle]

Good stuff here guys.......keep it rockin' and rollin' tonight for everybody on Smoaky.......me included.  I'm glad to see a few posters on board for these teams in the Metro Dallas area.  We need more of this from the Metroplex.......it does matter and Region 2 encompasses East Texas Beast teams. Over and out and welcome to the real deal of the best football forum in Texas.....for all levels.

[HGWar6]

Score I saw on my app was Melissa - 22, Celina - 17 at the start of the 4th.  Anybody with an update?

[RedRed]

1 hour ago, HGWar6 said:

Score I saw on my app was Melissa - 22, Celina - 17 at the start of the 4th.  Anybody with an update?

Melissa won 29 to 17

[HGWar6]

Thanks RedRed.

[Texski]

Game wasn’t deduced til final 3 min. Celina was down 22-17 and had 2nd goal from 3 and got stuffed on a run to right. Seconds later a ref falls flat on his back. Collapsed. Passed out. On site medics performed CPR then ambulance arrived. It was awful to witness and the stadium was silent and stunned for 25 min. When play resumed Celina got down to the 2 and on then on 4th & goal they went to Point again and he got stuffed. Next play Lewis runs for 96 yard TD. Game over. Heard ref expected to survive. Thank God.

[CrankyOldMan]

 .   

 

Edited September 26, 2022 by CrankyOldMan

[RedRed]

7 hours ago, Footballalltheway said:

Scary deal with the ref going down last night. Terrible situation but I heard he was doing okay.  If not for the Celina and Melissa training staffs working together he would have passed.  They used the defibrillator to revive him after CPR was unsuccessful I was told. Heard he did not breath for 3-4 minutes.  Just pray he is okay long term.

 

As far as the game it was pretty good.  Melissa’s QB was the best player on the field by a mile and it was the difference.  Melissa’s D was a little better then advertised but Celina’s offense might be more unimaginative then Paris’s.   Celina has one player that can do damage in Point and that was it.  Celina had a 6’ 6” WR with a 5’ 6” kid covering him a lot of the night and not once did they throw to that matchup.  

Celina has a lot of talent but the lack of the ability to complete a forward pass really limits their upside.  Melissa didn’t throw a great deal, they relied on their RB and especially their QB to run the ball last night.  Don’t know how may times it was 3rd and long and the Melissa QB would drop back then take off to convert a long 3rd down.  It would take 3-4 Celina defenders to get him down.  He is a full grown man.  Where ever he goes to college they are getting a superior athlete.  Argyle vs. Melissa next week is going to be a battle and a must watch 

I thought what was impressive is that Melissa didnt need to utilize the pass. They threw the ball enough to keep Celina's defense honest, but honestly Brendon looked like he was toying with Celina's defense. 

I figured melissa would need to air it out to beat Celina, I never imagined Melissa would rush for 350+ yards. 

[d0tc0m]

Didn't get to post at all this weekend, but congrats on the win, Melissa! It was a hard-fought game with two pretty good teams, and the Cardinals won this round. Maybe we'll get to see them square off again, we'll see.

Before I comment on the game itself, just really glad the referee is alright. That was a scary, scary deal. If not for the speediness of the Celina/Melissa training staff, I believe that gentleman would have passed without question.

Now, as for the game, it was a slugfest, and it was won by one man and that's Brandon Lewis. That kid did it all by himself. I know Red says they didn't need the pass, but honestly, Lewis didn't have guys open very often. A couple of times he had guys running free and didn't hit them, but often times, Celina's secondary had Melissa's receivers covered up, which is why Lewis would run. And when he ran, he did damage. The Bobcats would hit Lewis in the backfield quite a few times, even wrapping him up a couple times, and he'd get away. I thought the Bobcat defense played pretty good overall, and did what they could to take away Melissa's balanced attack. The problem with that was, even when we knew what play Lewis was going to run, we couldn't stop him. He's BIG, and he runs BIG, and he's got some speed and agility to go along with it. If Melissa comes up against a team that doesn't let Lewis utilize his legs, I think it will be their undoing. Maybe there's not a team that will do that consistently, because he's that good. But if you find a way to take away his running ability, or at least limit it quite a bit, you've got a good chance of beating the Cardinals.

IF...

You also have a balanced offensive attack. Melissa's week of defensive preparation must have been the easiest thing, because all they did was bring the house every single play. And it worked. They keyed on Point all night, and they found success. Point still got his a few times, and if not for an extremely impressive Melissa sophomore safety (Youngblood?) Point would have gotten A LOT more, and honestly, if not for that kid, Celina might have outscored the Cardinals. But when it counted, Melissa got to Point in the backfield with multiple guys to stand him up.

Both teams had a good amount of crucial penalties, both teams gifted the opposing offense a free touchdown off turnovers. So it was basically even. It was extremely disappointing, to me, to see how uninventive Celina's offense was. I know the play calling is somewhat limited because of our banged up offensive line that's running on its third or fourth guy in spots. But, man, we attempted only ONE screen the whole night to Point. We ran ONE quick hit pass that worked. And then we refused to do it anymore. We didn't run any quick-hit play action. We didn't run any bootleg (the fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line would've been a nice time to try). We didn't throw ONE ball to DJ Dell'anno, who at 6'7 had about a FOOT on the defensive back covering him. I mean we didn't even look his way. Once. Not a jump ball, not a quick back-shoulder fade. Nothing. We lined up in full-house or two-back set and handed to Point and hoped he kept the chains moving. It was as hapless as I've seen Celina's play calling in a long time. There's got to be some more there. I know our offensive line can't sustain in pass pro long enough for deep-developing passes. But we've got the guys to make plays with quick catch and throws. Just something to force the defense to back off of that all-out attack. I have no doubts Argyle will watch the Melissa game and do the EXACT same thing against the Bobcats in a couple weeks. No doubts. No reason not to.

All in all, I was still proud of the Bobcats defense, as a whole, and still proud of how hard Point ran when he had the ball in his hands. The kid is as good a running back as there is in the district. I think there were good lessons to be learned from this loss, and I hope the Bobcats put it all together, because there's still a massive massive district game against Argyle coming up. And depending on what the Eagles do with the Cardinals this week, that one could cause even more flux in the district standings.

[RedRed]

Lewis was 7-12 for 115 yards and should have been 9-12 with wide receivers flat dropping the pass one of which was in the end zone that would have been a touchdown that hit the receiver right in the gut. In saying that Celina's defense for the most part played well in the secondary. 

As for Celina's offense what in the heck are they doing d0tc0m? Im with you, they have a kid 6'7 and never attempt to throw to him, makes no sense to me. Poor Logan Point had to have been exhausted and beat up.  

[d0tc0m]

3 hours ago, RedRed said:

Lewis was 7-12 for 115 yards and should have been 9-12 with wide receivers flat dropping the pass one of which was in the end zone that would have been a touchdown that hit the receiver right in the gut. In saying that Celina's defense for the most part played well in the secondary. 

As for Celina's offense what in the heck are they doing d0tc0m? Im with you, they have a kid 6'7 and never attempt to throw to him, makes no sense to me. Poor Logan Point had to have been exhausted and beat up.  

The kid has a strong arm, I'll say that. Regardless of what Melissa does against Argyle this week, the Cardinals are going to make some noise in the postseason. I wouldn't count them out against anybody really.

Man, the big problem with the offense is just the inconsistency along the offensive line. So many injuries. So many moving pieces because of that, it's just hard to get consistency and cohesiveness. But you can alleviate some of that in a few different ways, one of which is getting the ball out quicker. Spread the field, catch the snap and throw. Run some bubbles screens, some hitches, some quick slants, some jail breaks. Force the defense to give you some breathing room in the box and relent on the pressure. Run some play-action, run some naked bootleg, utilize the gigantic sophomore (Cunningham) we have as the TE, utility guy, dragging across the field. Bring the option into the run game, utilize some speed from the receivers. Use motion. And for crying out loud, TAKE A SHOT, at the 6'7 kid who's not a bad athlete, who absolutely is going to be able to out-leap a 5'6 cornerback. And if it works, do it again. And again. And eventually the defense HAS to back off, giving your offensive line some reprieve, thus opening up the running game.

I can sit here and armchair quarterback all day long, and tell you every single thing that I think will work, and the hard truth remains that it doesn't matter, and that Coach Davis (our offensive coordinator) has forgotten a life's worth of football knowledge more than I'll ever know. Not to mention he's with the team every single day and knows the inner workings and all that jazz. But from the outside looking in, it seems painfully obvious that there's a lack of creativity in the play calling. I mean, Scott Linehan-lack of creativity. Yet, we have the athletes to be much more creative.

So, that's my long way of saying ... I don't have a clue what's going on, Red!

[RedRed]

9 minutes ago, d0tc0m said:

The kid has a strong arm, I'll say that. Regardless of what Melissa does against Argyle this week, the Cardinals are going to make some noise in the postseason. I wouldn't count them out against anybody really.

Man, the big problem with the offense is just the inconsistency along the offensive line. So many injuries. So many moving pieces because of that, it's just hard to get consistency and cohesiveness. But you can alleviate some of that in a few different ways, one of which is getting the ball out quicker. Spread the field, catch the snap and throw. Run some bubbles screens, some hitches, some quick slants, some jail breaks. Force the defense to give you some breathing room in the box and relent on the pressure. Run some play-action, run some naked bootleg, utilize the gigantic sophomore (Cunningham) we have as the TE, utility guy, dragging across the field. Bring the option into the run game, utilize some speed from the receivers. Use motion. And for crying out loud, TAKE A SHOT, at the 6'7 kid who's not a bad athlete, who absolutely is going to be able to out-leap a 5'6 cornerback. And if it works, do it again. And again. And eventually the defense HAS to back off, giving your offensive line some reprieve, thus opening up the running game.

I can sit here and armchair quarterback all day long, and tell you every single thing that I think will work, and the hard truth remains that it doesn't matter, and that Coach Davis (our offensive coordinator) has forgotten a life's worth of football knowledge more than I'll ever know. Not to mention he's with the team every single day and knows the inner workings and all that jazz. But from the outside looking in, it seems painfully obvious that there's a lack of creativity in the play calling. I mean, Scott Linehan-lack of creativity. Yet, we have the athletes to be much more creative.

So, that's my long way of saying ... I don't have a clue what's going on, Red!

Lol, good analysis though. I was completely shocked that they didn't throw the ball down the field at all and especially to the giant. I mean they could have thrown a few jump balls at least to the kid because Melissa left the db on an island just tempting Celina to pass it. At some point you think one of the coaches would say lets try to at least throw the ball even if your just snapping and throwing it up. Instead they let Point get beat on all night and the kid wont last much longer if they continue to run him into the ground i'm afraid. He held up well during the game, but you could tell by the 4th qt he was exhausted.