Jon in Pasadena Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 (edited) Some may recall my LAMP post around this time last summer, about my son's first Football experiences. Recap: He joined his High School's varsity team as a Junior, having never played football before (but watched a lot, with me!) and went from zero to playing significant snaps by the second half of the season. They had a pretty good season last year, and made the playoffs for the first time in many years. Flash forward to this season, and he's now starting Linebacker and the centerpiece of our DC's scheme. We had our first game this week, and crushed 'em by 6 touchdowns. Shut them out the last 3 quarters. My little berserker led the team in tackles (10) and TFL (2), sacked the QB on a nice blitz, made the "Play of the 1st half" by blowing up a screen pass that would have gone for a huge gain, and generally wreaked havoc and destruction. It was crazy fun! Edited August 20, 2023 by Jon in Pasadena 10 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Your Brown Eye Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 1Good stuff! Make sure you push his academics too, if he's got a shot at College ball, he'll need the grades with his athletic talent! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted August 20, 2023 Author Share Posted August 20, 2023 3 minutes ago, Your Brown Eye said: 1Good stuff! Make sure you push his academics too, if he's got a shot at College ball, he'll need the grades with his athletic talent! Great advice, but it's 95% likely he won't ever have the frame to play high-level College ball (honestly even D III would take a miracle) but his grades are solid, so he should have a lot of good options. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr. WEO Posted August 20, 2023 Share Posted August 20, 2023 How did your HS find enough parents who would allow their boys to play tackle football?? I've been reading here for years that football was "dying" because kids weren't playing any more. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted August 20, 2023 Author Share Posted August 20, 2023 5 hours ago, Mr. WEO said: How did your HS find enough parents who would allow their boys to play tackle football?? I've been reading here for years that football was "dying" because kids weren't playing any more. Numbers are definitely down overall in California since 2015 when there were over 100,000 kids playing 11-man tackle HS football. Still, according to CIF there were > 84,000 last year in 1025 High Schools across the state. Our school is one of the top performing academic High Schools state-wide, nor really known for athletics per se (although we do have a few names out there in various sports). The last couple years we've been rebuilding the football program here, and have put together an excellent coaching staff, IMHO. The parents as a group are very supportive, donating time, $$ and even the use of their homes for after-parties, etc. We have a partnership with Children's Hospital of LA to ensure the safest possible environment, training staff, equipment, etc. We have > 100 kids in the program this year, and the JV squad is also looking strong (undefeated last year, 1-0 so far this year, looking good for the future.) 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 Just for laughs: Last week we had a comeback win for the ages in our second game. The opponent had legit NFL-sized players (265lb fullback, 310lb OG, 315lb OT, etc.) They run that nasty-ass old double wing offense. Boring but effective. They're used to just steamrolling smaller teams like us. We were down by 21 pts three different times in the 1st half, but then our D slammed the door, and we came back and outscored them 36-8 in the 2nd half. Craziest HS game I've ever watched. My kid had 18 tackles (2 TFL) and after two games he's ranked 2nd in league, 16th in California, and 79th nationally. I know that can't last, but we are enjoying the heck out of this season as long as we can. What a great sport! 🙂 3 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo716 Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 8 minutes ago, Jon in Pasadena said: Just for laughs: Last week we had a comeback win for the ages in our second game. The opponent had legit NFL-sized players (265lb fullback, 310lb OG, 315lb OT, etc.) They run that nasty-ass old double wing offense. Boring but effective. They're used to just steamrolling smaller teams like us. We were down by 21 pts three different times in the 1st half, but then our D slammed the door, and we came back and outscored them 36-8 in the 2nd half. Craziest HS game I've ever watched. My kid had 18 tackles (2 TFL) and after two games he's ranked 2nd in league, 16th in California, and 79th nationally. I know that can't last, but we are enjoying the heck out of this season as long as we can. What a great sport! 🙂 Congrats When I was at the HS level I ran the wing T for a decade 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 3 hours ago, Buffalo716 said: Congrats When I was at the HS level I ran the wing T for a decade If you have the personnel for it, it's brutal, but effective. When we looked at the film of our opponent's offense their last few games we calculated they ran like 92% of the time. Either power, counter, or toss/reverse over and over and over and over.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John from Riverside Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 Enjoy the ride it doesn’t last forever I lived vicariously through my son as he played multiple sports, started varsity immediately. All of that ended up playing semi pro ball and winning a couple of championships. Enjoyed the ride on all of it. I was just with him in Las Vegas as he was doing a powerlifting meet about a month ago 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 17 hours ago, John from Riverside said: Enjoy the ride it doesn’t last forever I lived vicariously through my son as he played multiple sports, started varsity immediately. All of that ended up playing semi pro ball and winning a couple of championships. Enjoyed the ride on all of it. I was just with him in Las Vegas as he was doing a powerlifting meet about a month ago I'm glad you can still spend get together from time to time. They grow up too fast! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ColoradoBills Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 Linebacker you say? How soon can you get him to OBD? Seriously, good luck to your son! 1 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted August 31, 2023 Author Share Posted August 31, 2023 8 minutes ago, ColoradoBills said: Linebacker you say? How soon can you get him to OBD? Seriously, good luck to your son! Thanks for the good wishes! Tomorrow night will be a good test. Our next opponent is ranked quite a bit higher than us, but we'll try to keep it rollin'... 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LeGOATski Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thrivefourfive Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 If you’re in Pasadena Jon, Southern California HS football is ten hands full. Warm beautiful summer Friday night games.. right down to freezing games in November for the playoffs. Awesome, unforgettable stuff. Those Florida, southern, and Texas teams can pop on tv, but nothing is as deep as Southern California. Whichever top team is in Georgia, we have four or five of those, and one is actually public. I still go to a couple games a year, 30 years after my time in the east San Gabriel Valley. Enjoy the season, Jon!! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenorthremembers Posted August 31, 2023 Share Posted August 31, 2023 (edited) Very cool to hear about other people's kids football experiences. Congrats to your kid. My kid has played youth football for the last four years. Started as a tight end, linebacker, and safety. Moved to starting Quarterback in his 5th and 6th grade year. Played fantastic last year leading his team to an undefeated season. Moved to modified football this year as the high school is small and doesnt have a JV program. So essentially a group of 7th-9th graders. I didnt expect him to play Quarterback, and honestly didnt expect him to start this year. But the coach in his infinite wisdom moved him to starting left guard. My kid is 12 years old and is 5'5 110 lbs. This is where I could use advice. Some of the schools on their schedule send out their JV squads. I am trying to teach him to be resolute and just do what his coach tells him. However, the coach is doing things like making the principals son starting WR in 7th grade when the kid hasnt played a down of football in his life. That said, how long do I go on telling him to be resolute when I am going to have to watch him be manhandled most games? Doing my best at teaching him technique, stay low, wide base etc but at 110 lbs I am a little worried. Edited August 31, 2023 by thenorthremembers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo716 Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 30 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said: Very cool to hear about other people's kids football experiences. Congrats to your kid. My kid has played youth football for the last four years. Started as a tight end, linebacker, and safety. Moved to starting Quarterback in his 5th and 6th grade year. Played fantastic last year leading his team to an undefeated season. Moved to modified football this year as the high school is small and doesnt have a JV program. So essentially a group of 7th-9th graders. I didnt expect him to play Quarterback, and honestly didnt expect him to start this year. But the coach in his infinite wisdom moved him to starting left guard. My kid is 12 years old and is 5'5 110 lbs. This is where I could use advice. Some of the schools on their schedule send out their JV squads. I am trying to teach him to be resolute and just do what his coach tells him. However, the coach is doing things like making the principals son starting WR in 7th grade when the kid hasnt played a down of football in his life. That said, how long do I go on telling him to be resolute when I am going to have to watch him be manhandled most games? Doing my best at teaching him technique, stay low, wide base etc but at 110 lbs I am a little worried. One of the best football players ever at my school was a modified guard... Built like your kid Then a superstar QB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenorthremembers Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 (edited) 47 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said: One of the best football players ever at my school was a modified guard... Built like your kid Then a superstar QB Good to hear man. I honestly am a little heartbroken for the kid. He eats, sleeps and breathes football and basketball. He picked up a football at 3 years old and never looked back. I pick him up from practice now and the spark is kinda gone. He is a massive Michigan Wolverines fan, not sure where it came from because I am not. But tonight after practice I told him "who knows man, maybe when you hit your growth spurt you'll end up 6'3 310 and all of this experience will be amazing. Michigan is known for offensive lineman ya know!" This parenting thing is tough because I truthfully dont know what to tell him. Hard line to walk because I dont want him questioning his coach. Thank you for the positivity. Edited September 1, 2023 by thenorthremembers 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo716 Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 10 minutes ago, thenorthremembers said: Good to hear man. I honestly am a little heartbroken for the kid. He eats, sleeps and breathes football and basketball. He picked up a football at 3 years old and never looked back. I pick him up from practice now and the spark is kinda gone. He is a massive Michigan Wolverines fan, not sure where it came from because I am not. But tonight after practice I told him "who knows man, maybe when you hit your growth spurt you'll end up 6'3 310 and all of this experience will be amazing. Michigan is known for offensive lineman ya know!" This parenting thing is tough because I truthfully dont know what to tell him. Hard line to walk because I dont want him questioning his coach. Thank you for the positivity. Tell him he should be thankful that he's playing... Lots of kids don't get to play Then I would tell him what my high school coach told the kid that he made a guard in modified.... I put my best athletes on the line Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thenorthremembers Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 18 minutes ago, Buffalo716 said: Tell him he should be thankful that he's playing... Lots of kids don't get to play Then I would tell him what my high school coach told the kid that he made a guard in modified.... I put my best athletes on the line Makes complete sense. Thank you man! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riverboat Ritchie Posted September 1, 2023 Share Posted September 1, 2023 (edited) I am out here in CA too and still lots of kids playing in sac valley area. This is first year for two of my boys playing football and while I have gotten use to watching soccer and other sports, nothing is like football. Pretty cool moment last week, my older kid playing JV caught his first pass ever and took it 70 yards for a TD. He will be chasing that feeling for a while. Go Bills. Edited September 1, 2023 by Riverboat Ritchie 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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