Thursday Night Football Madness Postmortem
September 2nd, 2010, 11:30 pm · · posted by CARLOS ARIAS
Thursday Night Football Madness was alive and kicking live from the Servite-Oceanside game at Orange Coast College.
It was the first time two defending state champions met in a season opener. The O.C. came out on top as Servite handed Oceanside a 31-7 beatdown.
This game was all about Servite’s imposing defense, which forced six turnovers and completely dominated the Pirates. The Pirates put together one scoring drive in the fourth quarter, but that came against Servite’s backups. And those same backups came through with a goal-line stand in the closing minutes.
The defense’s dominance will give first-year starter Cody Pittman time to get his feet wet and find his rhythm on offense. I mean, this Servite D looks just as ruthless as last year’s D. Sean DeRosa and Jody Thomas as a 1-2 punch running behind that massive O-Line have a lot of potential.
Next up for Servite: A road trip to play at Kennedy of Granada Hills next Thursday.
AWARDS
Defensive Stud of the Game: Jody Thomas, a 5-10, 225-pound defensive lineman, terrorized Oceanside all night. The Pirates were calling Homeland Security, but there was no stopping Thomas. He had two interceptions, a sack, a tackle for a loss and he picked up a fumble in stride and returned it 10 yards for a TD late in the first half.
The Mr. Versatility Award: Servite coach Troy Thomas saw how effective Mission Viejo linebacker Tre Madden was as a quarterback in the Diablos’ Wildcat formation last season, so he decided to implement linebacker Butch Pauu in at quarterback in the Friars’ Wildcat formation as a change of pace. Pauu made Thomas look like a genius when he went in at quarterback in the Wildcat formation in the third quarter. Pauu broke a 17-yard run for a TD. He ran like a linebacker blasting three defenders on his way into the end zone. Later he added a 28-yard run.
Special Teams Hit of the Game: Connor Hoffman takes this one. It happened midway through the third quarter. Servite kicker Connor Loftus, who rarely allows anything returnable on kickoffs, allowed a returnable kickoff. Oceanside’s speedy kick returner Anthony Mount found out it’s probably better to take a touchback than to take on Servite’s special teams. Hoffman came flying down the field to execute a de-cleater on Mount. All of the judges gave Hoffman 10s for his ferocious hit except for the Mater Dei judge, who gave him a 9.8. Mater Dei judges are incapable of giving any Servite player a 10.
The Handling Massive Amounts of Pressure Award: Nobody has bigger shoes to fill this season than junior quarterback Cody Pittman, who is replacing Cody Fajardo. I mean, Pittman is only trying to replace one of the greatest players in Servite history who led the Friars to their first victory over Mater Dei in 20 years, a Trinity League championship, a Pac-5 title and a state championship last season. No problem. Geesh. That is one scary task, but the kid showed heart and promise in his first start. He was 6 of 10 for 64 yards and two TDs with no interceptions. He showed nice touch on a fade to Robert Abeyta that went for a TD in the first quarter and he hit Pauu on a play-action pass for a TD later in the game.
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Servite had a big night tonight. The first quarter both teams looked like they were running in mud. However, the Friars got the train moving and never looked back.
I gotta say though that the Pirates were down right awful. Their O and D-lines were slow, and their DB’s too small. Their Sophmore QB never took a snap at the Varsity level and faces the no. 1 team in the OC? He was horrible, he couldn’t run, he couldn’t throw. 5 interceptions is just too much, and two fumbles from snap. O’sides best player was their slotback and he’s 5’5″, 155 lbs. They are a shadow of last years team. A big disappointment. One of the parents told me that O’sides starting QB is out for 3 games due to disciplinary reasons. Greeeat.
O’sides next opponent is Chaparral HS, I sat with some of the Puma coaches, and they were shocked how bad O’side was, one of the coaches, shook his head and said “O’sides a mess.” The Pumas will pound them as well.
The Pirates were terrible, but they made the Friars look like world beaters. The Friars looked solid, even without their Stud TE Nikolas playing. Servite’s true test will be against the Highlanders.
With that said I was happy that Servite represented the OC well. The best football in So. Cal. is in the OC. Peace.
I didn”t think they were THAT bad, They have some big linemen, they’re physical, and they have speed and it looks like some capable receivers.. If they really were missing their 1st team QB they sould play a lot better next week. They are sort of where Poly was this time last year, but Poly improved each game and so wiil O’side, I bet they don’t lose again this year.
Servite still has its work cut out for sure but they displayed great team-work tonight and intensity and that is what wins high school football games, not all-stars
Niklas didn’t start, but he got in a lot of playing time. O’Side isn’t as good as they’ve been in recent seasons, but I don’ think they are as bad as you think. A lot of that had to do with Servite’s defense.
O’Side QB Ryan Lamb’s transfer was denied and he is in the process of appealing that decision. We’ll see if he ends up playing this season.
Carlos- I respect your comments and analysis. But, O’side was a mess, to coin a phrase from a Chaparral coach. Their defense did put up a good fight in the first half. By the end of the third quarter they were spent, they were walking off the field with their heads down.
I actually, blame alot of the O’sides problems with the coaching staff. Poor play calling. Poor game preparation. Poor team conditioning. The Pirates had some success in running the ball early, and they should have stuck with it. Their Soph. QB was not a good runner or passer, I don’t know why the coaches continued to play him. Allowing him to take a beating at the hands of the Friars is not a confidence builder. In the second half there were times he didn’t look like he wanted to play anymore. After his 5th interception, even his own players were yelling at him on the sidelines.
I don’t know maybe you’re right Servite just got in O’sides heads and they couldn’t recover. I just expected more from a program that had a 39 game winning streak and were defending DIV 1 champs. Hey, I know it’s easy to criticize since I don’t play anymore, but that’s what game analysis is all about. Hopefully, O’side can fix these things. But to say they won’t lose another game?
The Pumas will pounce all over them next week.
Servite looked good and big, but unfortunately last night was not a good contest for showing if they will repeat as Champions. Servite will get 2 more weeks to get their offense together.
As UHW said, the sophomore QB just killed any chance of a scoring drive. Some of that was Servites D, but a lot of it was his mistakes and just not being ready for the speed of the varsity level.
It is one thing to have to put 2 back up running backs in the game, but when it is your 3rd string QB with no experience, that is another.
With all of the turnovers, and all the field position advantages Servite got, You could see either Oside D was not that bad, or the Servite offense still is trying to find itself. (it is just the first game)
There were only 2 good offensive drives in the game for Servite, and they should have put a lot more points on the board with 6 turnovers.
Even Osides putting game was horrible for this level of play. ( again giving Servite great field advantage that was not answered)
Carlos’s description of Jody Thomas terrorizing Osdite was almost an understatement. The offensive guard could not block him most of the time. Also, when Oside went for it at the goal line with 4th and 1, I think it was Jody who stuffed him, and who ever it was that made the tackle was untouched. The Oline left a down lineman unblocked, someone blew their blocking assignment.
Servites O Line has a little work to do as Pittman was sacked couple of times or was just harassed much of the time in drop back passing situations.
Like Carlos just said, it may not be that Oside was as bad as they looked because Servite made them look that bad. It was a solid performance over all for Servite. You cant make those kinds of mistakes against a quality team and have any difference in the score of the game.
Sunia and Torrant both played and are listed as starting RB’s. Who are the two starters at RB that were missing?
Unfortunately, next game for Servite will not be a test. Granada Hills Kennedy is not what they were in the 80′s when I went there. Good Luck to both teams and may they stay injury free. .
Just a few quick comments. O’side is in a reloading year and their schedule is just bad timing. Their transfer QB will not be granted eligibility, per Coach Carroll. Having been on the sideline, it was obvious very early that the Pirates were not in the same league athletically. The challenge for O’side’s staff was to minimize the negative effect to the psyche of a young untested, unproven team that was defending a 39 game winning streak.
Servite has a decision to make, in my humble opinion. They have a young and inexperienced QB that would be adequate if they kept DeRosa in at rb more than last night. Pauu is head and shoulders more qualified in every way to lead this team at QB. The Friars have enough depth to relieve him of his duties at LB and allow him to put this offense on his back and into the same realm that Fajardo accomplished. The use of offensive personnel last night was bewildering to some of us and if Thomas had chose to do so, the score could easily have been run up. Not his nature.
Chaparral WILL run up the score, as their coach believes that it carries much weight with the folks at CalHi & ESPN Rise (who don’t watch much) in regards to determining state playoff consideration.
Servite will get better and eliminate costly mistakes and gain valuable confidence and playing time that will serve well down the road.
It will be a long season, I’m afraid, for O’side but don’t count them out or discount the quality of their coaching staff…..it’s early!
That Servite defense…WOW. I think Oceanside is talented. I think it was Servite’s defense that made them look the way they did.
Scary defense…..scary. They could still improve though…hahaha
Good job men
HI guild, I think it may have also been Coach Thomas just trying different combinations and seeing how different players will do as the preseason is for getting a team ready for the next 3 months, not just what has been happening in the last 2 weeks of pads.
I am sure the men of Servite will get better each week and figure out who will do what in each of their roles.
Gotta agree with 2002tony. Coach Thomas was experminenting with different combinations almost all night long. The defense was very, very good. They were in the backfield most of the night and harried Osides QB all night long. What really impressed me the most was Servite’s 2nd team Defense. They stopped Oside twice in the last 5 minutes of the game. One was a 4th and goal, the other was the last play of the game when they nailed the QB close to the goal line. When your 2nd team is playing their hearts out, it’s gotta feel good for the coaching staff. The O needs work but they have all the tools; they need more game reps. Kudos to Cody Pittman. He’s under an unbelievable amount of pressure, and he did a great job for his first start. He will get better with experience.