Week 9

The Highlanders (1-6) are an experienced squad with the comish of the league at quarterback, so you know their going to get the calls. But the Predators (3-5) are used to getting shafted by calls so it shouldn't make a difference. Their QB is crafty like an experienced vet, but is banged up from injuries over the years. The rest of their team has some age to them but they do have some youth and speed. One thing that has been apparent is the Highlanders can catch the ball. We have seen some great catches by their receivers this season. Their defense is disciplined as well. They do not possess superior athleticism, but they play organized zone defense. They have even shown zone in the goal line. They've shown an almost bubble like goal line zone defense. Where they overload the flats with corner backs and the safeties play behind them, with the linebacker covering the deep middle. It is an interesting concept because most teams try to attack the sidelines in goal line situations. It does make the defense extremely vulnerable in the short middle, especially short catch and runs. Offensively they attack short like most teams and give their specialists the task of picking up the yardage they need to move the chains. If the effort in the flag pulling department isn't better than last week, then you can chalk up another loss for the Predators. A loss tonight will come with extra baggage, a losing season and practically certain playoff elimination.

Last week the Highlanders lost a tough 14-20 game against the Salvidors. It was tied at the half, but they couldn't muster enough up in the second half. The first half ended as a Highlander player caught a 3 yard pass, 60 yards from the end zone, just trying to wind down the clock, and he nearly took it all the way for the score, making several Salvidor players miss in the process. The Highlanders are smart and they appear to stick together even know their season isn't going as planned. The Predators need to be ready for this game and should expect a hungry Highlanders team that will scratch and claw for a win.

Last week the Predators were on a high coming off a bye and comfortably in 4th place. They played two games and lost both of them. The first against the Green Footballs who with the win leaped frogged the Predators in the standings. The second was a 0-35 beat down by the Gunners and put them in an even deeper hole. Overall last weekend the offense played extremely poor football. #7 Brown had his hand in much of it. He was short on his deep throws against the Green Footballs that prevented deep receptions of getting to the end zone. And against the Gunners his passes were high, wide or short. He did throw many good passes, but when he did the Predator receivers did a good job of dropping them. #2 Long, #11 Brown and #45 Price need to be accountable and finish off throws by catching them if the pass is in range. The defense also played way below expectations. #33 Price and #52 Oberhaus missed way too many flag pulls, giving opposing offenses bonus yards with the extra opportunity. #1 Clark also played his first couple of forgettable games by having a disappointing weekend with missed assignments in the secondary that hurt the defense. The lone bright spot last weekend was the play of #8 Wagar, who against the Green Footballs threw a TD, caught a TD and intercepted a pass.

Going forward if the Predators perform the fundamentals better then they will play much more effectively. If they make smarter decisions passing, not drop so many passes, make flag pulls quickly and knock down passes when the opportunity is there then they will win. It may sound like a broken record but when things start to go the wrong direction, go back and remind yourself the basic principles of the game and think about the core fundamentals of being successful. Let's see what the Predators can do tonight as they get back off the turf to play against the Highlanders at 9pm.