Air Raid Warning
Essex Loves To Pass
Posted: November 15, 2012
ELKTON – The East Rockingham High School football team’s secondary knows plenty about what it feels like to get burned, thanks to the Eagles’ quarterbacks coach.
Tierre McNair has been playing the role of scout-team quarterback this week, schooling his team’s defensive backs on a regular basis – and he’s not hesitant to rub it in.
“I let ’em know,” McNair said with a laugh Wednesday.
He’s doing it because East Rock’s Division 2 East semifinal opponent this week, Essex (10-0), will be coming at the Eagles (8-3) unlike any opponent they’ve seen this season.
The Trojans pass about 65 percent of the time, East Rock coach Donnie Coleman said Tuesday, while working out of the spread formation, often splitting out four wide receivers. Every other team the Eagles have played has been run-dominant.
“Obviously, we’re concerned about it,” Coleman said, “but I’m sure they’re concerned about our speed, too.”
Northern Neck District Co-Player of the Year Dominek Broaddus quarterbacks an Essex team that ranked No. 1 in the final Group A poll last week. East Rock’s coaches said they’ve been impressed with his poise and accuracy given that he’s only a sophomore, and that he’s also pretty mobile. They said Broaddus can spread the ball around and can throw both deep and underneath balls effectively.
It’s a challenge on several levels for East Rockingham, the most obvious being a lack of game experience against passing offenses. It will also increase the workload for an Eagles secondary that plays all four players on offense, too – including senior cornerback Sharif Price, East Rock’s workhorse at tailback.
“He [Price] does get pretty tired, you can definitely tell,” East Rock secondary coach Zach Mathias said. “I mean, he takes a beating, I don’t know how he does it. But he just plays hard the whole game.”
It also probably will put more pressure on East Rock’s safeties, junior Ryan Shepard and sophomore Raymond Simpson, in the form of increased coverage responsibilities. Rather than just providing help to Price and fellow corner John Wright – who’s also the Eagles’ top wideout – Shepard and Simpson will have to spend more time than ever covering a third or fourth receiver.
Of course, it’s not like the Eagles haven’t defended the pass at all this year – and when they have, they’ve generally met the challenge. The four starting DBs have combined for 11 interceptions (one per game), including a team-high five by Wright. Collectively, they’ve held teams to 549 passing yards (49.9 per game) and a completion percentage of 34.
But those statistics might be a bit misleading given the kinds of offenses they’ve played, where passing has not been the first priority.
“I obviously get a little bit worried because we haven’t seen somebody throw this much,” East Rock secondary coach Zach Mathias said. “But the kids are playing really well, they’re doing everything we ask of ’em.”
Plus, East Rock has McNair, and players say he makes the talented Broaddus look a bit more manageable.
“I think it’s safe to say I’d rather play against the guy [from Essex] than Coach McNair,” Price said.
McNair, who played quarterback at Division II Glenville State in the late 1990s, has had a few stints at scout-team QB in his three years on East Rock’s staff. He said he’s not necessarily trying to imitate Broaddus – McNair said he’s just trying to “do what I do,” which has apparently been challenging enough.
In the process of beating his DBs, McNair is also teaching them in preparation for the Eagles’ trip to Tappahannock on Friday.
“I tell ’em that they’re going to have to hold that guy a little bit longer, because the kid from Essex throws it a little bit deeper,” McNair said. “And they’ve got big receivers, so they’re going to be farther down the field than we normally see. We don’t normally see fade routes, but we’re going to probably see a couple.”
McNair said that Essex’s offense, like other spread schemes, makes calls at the line of scrimmage based on how the opposing defense is lined up. So the Eagle defense, he said, will counter by sometimes showing a false look late in the snap count.
East Rock’s DBs readily admit that this week presents a new challenge. Price even suggested that Essex might be “looking to exploit” the Eagles’ inexperience against the pass.
But, Price said, “That’s kind of what we’re hoping for, actually. If they don’t think that we can play like that, then we’ll just show ’em.”
Tierre McNair has been playing the role of scout-team quarterback this week, schooling his team’s defensive backs on a regular basis – and he’s not hesitant to rub it in.
“I let ’em know,” McNair said with a laugh Wednesday.
He’s doing it because East Rock’s Division 2 East semifinal opponent this week, Essex (10-0), will be coming at the Eagles (8-3) unlike any opponent they’ve seen this season.
The Trojans pass about 65 percent of the time, East Rock coach Donnie Coleman said Tuesday, while working out of the spread formation, often splitting out four wide receivers. Every other team the Eagles have played has been run-dominant.
“Obviously, we’re concerned about it,” Coleman said, “but I’m sure they’re concerned about our speed, too.”
Northern Neck District Co-Player of the Year Dominek Broaddus quarterbacks an Essex team that ranked No. 1 in the final Group A poll last week. East Rock’s coaches said they’ve been impressed with his poise and accuracy given that he’s only a sophomore, and that he’s also pretty mobile. They said Broaddus can spread the ball around and can throw both deep and underneath balls effectively.
It’s a challenge on several levels for East Rockingham, the most obvious being a lack of game experience against passing offenses. It will also increase the workload for an Eagles secondary that plays all four players on offense, too – including senior cornerback Sharif Price, East Rock’s workhorse at tailback.
“He [Price] does get pretty tired, you can definitely tell,” East Rock secondary coach Zach Mathias said. “I mean, he takes a beating, I don’t know how he does it. But he just plays hard the whole game.”
It also probably will put more pressure on East Rock’s safeties, junior Ryan Shepard and sophomore Raymond Simpson, in the form of increased coverage responsibilities. Rather than just providing help to Price and fellow corner John Wright – who’s also the Eagles’ top wideout – Shepard and Simpson will have to spend more time than ever covering a third or fourth receiver.
Of course, it’s not like the Eagles haven’t defended the pass at all this year – and when they have, they’ve generally met the challenge. The four starting DBs have combined for 11 interceptions (one per game), including a team-high five by Wright. Collectively, they’ve held teams to 549 passing yards (49.9 per game) and a completion percentage of 34.
But those statistics might be a bit misleading given the kinds of offenses they’ve played, where passing has not been the first priority.
“I obviously get a little bit worried because we haven’t seen somebody throw this much,” East Rock secondary coach Zach Mathias said. “But the kids are playing really well, they’re doing everything we ask of ’em.”
Plus, East Rock has McNair, and players say he makes the talented Broaddus look a bit more manageable.
“I think it’s safe to say I’d rather play against the guy [from Essex] than Coach McNair,” Price said.
McNair, who played quarterback at Division II Glenville State in the late 1990s, has had a few stints at scout-team QB in his three years on East Rock’s staff. He said he’s not necessarily trying to imitate Broaddus – McNair said he’s just trying to “do what I do,” which has apparently been challenging enough.
In the process of beating his DBs, McNair is also teaching them in preparation for the Eagles’ trip to Tappahannock on Friday.
“I tell ’em that they’re going to have to hold that guy a little bit longer, because the kid from Essex throws it a little bit deeper,” McNair said. “And they’ve got big receivers, so they’re going to be farther down the field than we normally see. We don’t normally see fade routes, but we’re going to probably see a couple.”
McNair said that Essex’s offense, like other spread schemes, makes calls at the line of scrimmage based on how the opposing defense is lined up. So the Eagle defense, he said, will counter by sometimes showing a false look late in the snap count.
East Rock’s DBs readily admit that this week presents a new challenge. Price even suggested that Essex might be “looking to exploit” the Eagles’ inexperience against the pass.
But, Price said, “That’s kind of what we’re hoping for, actually. If they don’t think that we can play like that, then we’ll just show ’em.”