TDA: Rough Friday Night in Ross

So ... it was an interesting night in Ross Friday night to be sure.

I have to say it's the first time I've broadcast a game from the top of the bleachers. It actually turned out better for us (with the exception of the times our extension cord got unplugged). It was pretty hot in their press box, and we had the benefit of a nice breeze. Thanks to everyone at Ross for rigging up a setup so we could do the game, and thanks as always to Dorsey for hanging out in the elements with me.

As for what we saw out there ...

Again, it wasn't all bad Friday night, despite the 40-14 final score. It was 26-14 at one point. A couple late touchdowns made the score look much worse than it actually was. But a loss is a loss. Here are my takes on week 2:

Positives:

• It was good to get the offense in the endzone. Nate Perriman throws a nice ball. The Goshen passing attack will give some teams trouble in the SBC.
• Special teams were a little hit-and-miss, but Jaimie Ashcraft's 76-yard punt return for touchdown was a thing of beauty.

Questions:

• You can question the on-sides kicks, but Goshen should have recovered one and was close to recovering another. Give them two more possessions in the game (and Ross two less), and it is a much different outcome. It did put a young defense in a tough position to defend a short field a couple of times. However, in the high school game, with the kickoff coming from the 40 instead of the 30 in college and the NFL, the on-sides kick at odd times of the game makes more sense than it does at higher levels of football.
• It was the second week in a row that the opposing quarterback had a big night. Mark Baughman (who played at Clinton-Massie in the 1960s and coached at Blanchester in the 1980s) has always said that an efficient passing game can be so effective at this level of high school football. He was proved right again Friday night.

Time for the good news: the SBC schedule is upcoming. All of this team's possible preseason goals (SBC title and playoffs) are still there. Yes - even the playoffs. Here's why: They lost to LM last year, and the difference between losing to Ross and beating Williamsburg (who was dropped this year from the schedule by the SBC) wouldn't be much different. Williamsburg is 0-2 and coming off of a 47-point loss to East Clinton. The odds of them picking up a win or two aren't very good at this point.

So, while it won't be easy, if this Goshen team can get on a winning streak, a repeat SBC title isn't the only goal still out there. Not that I'm suggesting that is going to happen ... just stating that is a possibility.

Other notes from week 2:

• Watch out for East Clinton in the SBC National. I thought after a 14-0 loss to Waynesville that this may be a team worth keeping an eye on. A 47-0 win over Williamsburg has done nothing to change my mind. They are now officially my "sleeper" pick to win the National Division.
• Watch out for New Richmond in the SBC American. I had heard from many of my sources about the impressive preseason they had put together. They've done nothing in the first two weeks to make you think that was a fluke. 28-0 over Deer Park, 34-0 over Mariemont - both on the road in the first two weeks. The only thing that keeps me from picking them as my sleeper pick in the American Division: They play Goshen (week 8) and Western Brown (week 9) in back-to-back weeks and both games are on the road. The schedule makers were not kind. But I will predict a trip to the playoffs this year for the Lions.
• Keep an eye on Blanchester the next few weeks. I know they are 0-2. But a 14-0 loss to Reading is certainly an improvement over their week 1 loss to Massie. It won't be easy for them (Western Brown this week and Goshen in two weeks), but Blan fans could see signs of a turnaround, even if they don't win either of the next two games.
• SBC fans: Remember the change in the way the league titles are decided this year. Only games against your own division opponents count towards the division standings. So while Blanchester has a couple tough games coming up with Western Brown and Goshen, neither will count towards the division standings. Goshen will open division play this Friday against Clermont NE. Of course, the KOR will have that game live Friday night.

Some other random thoughts on this Labor Day weekend:

• I really can't thank our listeners and readers enough for their feedback the last two years. The people in and around Goshen have been so great to us. We really feel like a part of the community. Please keep tuning in and checking out our page. And tune in sometime Monday afternoon for some live radio with John and I.
• Speaking of our website and live stream ... what would you like to see/hear from us? A nightly sports show? We would love to do a morning show at some point ... but we're not in position to do that currently. Let us know what would get you coming back to our page more often. We're trying to improve our product. Please let us know ... and tell your friends about us. Word of mouth is the best form of advertising!
• On a personal sports note ... not a great start to the football season for my "teams". Goshen and Blanchester are off to 0-2 starts. Michigan looked terrible yesterday in a loss to Utah. In fact ... if Michigan plays that way next week they'll lose to Miami U. Not the one with all the troublemakers, the one in Oxford. Ohio U (where I attended school for a while) also lost, by a single point, and now has to go to OSU next weekend. Only UC saved my weekend, and they've got a date on ABC next Saturday at Oklahoma. When does hockey season start again ...?
• And of course, the NFL season starts this week. And as you might have guessed, I'm a Bengals fan. I've been one through the bad times, and the bad times. And this year ... yeah ... it's going to be bad. Of course, probably not 3-13 bad. Probably 7-9 bad. This is worse for many reasons. It means they'll likely be in most games, and lose. They'll be 6-6 or something like that and give false hopes of a playoff run, before a 1-3 December. And worst of all, they'll have the 14th pick or so in the draft which they'll probably waste again anyway. When does hockey season start again ... ?

That's all for this week's The Day After (or, in this case, the day after The Day After - we'll call it a "holiday-related" delay, ok?). Thanks for all your support!