Seaholm overpowers Avondale 63-29

The Seaholm Maples defeated Avondale in an interesting OAA Gold vs. Blue matchup. These are two teams that I consider favorites to win their respective leagues, and this was a game that solidified that opinion. Even though the score depicts a blowout, this game was extremely competitive for most of the 1st-half. Today I'll recap the game and discuss what the outcome means for both teams.   Pregame Notes   Seaholm is my alma mater, and I coached at Avondale during the 2020 season. Therefore, it's safe to say my knowledge of both teams coming in was excellent.   On the Seaholm side, the thing that stood out most was their size and their sheer numbers. It was no surprise that Seaholm looked extremely strong and big, and they warmed up like they were getting ready for war. What I mean by this is the coaching staff was loud, and the practice was physical. The Seaholm warmups are run unlike any I've seen, in a good way.   I knew a lot about the Seaholm skill players, but after talking to a few members of the Maple coaching staff, it became apparent that they have an experienced offensive line. It would become more apparent throughout the game that both sides of the line are well prepared.   It was immediately obvious that Avondale was the smaller team both in physical size and team enrollment, but I know that their style of play doesn't command physicality as Seaholm does. [player_tooltip player_id='216986' first='Tyler' last='Herzog'] stood out to me during warmups as being confident and accurate, as he threw some good balls with textbook form. Warmup plays exhibited a typical pro-style offense.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/alex_pallone/status/1568363626179792897 </div></figure>   1st Half   After both teams traded possession, DeShawn Robinson and the Avondale defensive line stripped [player_tooltip player_id='252599' first='Colton' last='Kinnie'] at midfield and took the ball over. [player_tooltip player_id='216986' first='Tyler' last='Herzog'] then delivered a strike to WR Justin Skyes for a TD, giving Avondale an early 7-0 lead.   Shortly after, Seaholm ran their usual Veer offense. They pounded the ball up the middle for a few 1st-downs, then tossed it wide to [player_tooltip player_id='253291' first='Sean' last='Emerson'] for an easy 32-yard TD. The score was then tied at 7.   Seaholm then took the lead 14-7   With 12:00 to go in the 2nd, [player_tooltip player_id='216986' first='Tyler' last='Herzog'] continued slinging it and led Avondale to another TD. With the game tied at 14, Herzog was hyped up, and both teams looked confident and focused.   Then, a turning point.   Sloppy special teams play from Avondale quickly allowed Seaholm to score three touchdowns, and suddenly it was 35-14 with 5:12 to go in the 2nd.   <figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper"> https://twitter.com/alex_pallone/status/1568387303931875330 </div></figure>   Avondale showed a bit more life before the half with an 80-yard Noah Bates TD thrown by [player_tooltip player_id='216986' first='Tyler' last='Herzog'], then The Jackets stripped Seaholm of the ball, but couldn't make the most of the forced turnover. After a couple more Seaholm scores, both teams went into the locker room with the score reading 49-21.   2nd Half   Throughout the second half, Seaholm controlled the game and established dominance. Avondale looked tired on both sides of the ball, and they took the constant punishment of a well-run veer offense. Seaholm dominated the trenches against the tired Jacket Defense, and it just came down to the running clock. The second half was out of hand, and honestly, there was a bit of excessive trash talk from Seaholm and their student section that I've rarely seen from any other school.   All in all, Seaholm was undoubtedly the better team. They came in with better conditioning and more discipline, all with home-field advantage. Avondale has a few great pieces, namely [player_tooltip player_id='216986' first='Tyler' last='Herzog'] at QB, DeShawn Robinson at OL/DL, [player_tooltip player_id='216988' first='Myles' last='Moore'] at LB/RB, and others.   Looking Ahead   Avondale faces Berkley next week in a possible showdown for the OAA Gold. They must have a short memory after this one and focus on what they did well, and there's quite a lot that was impressive. Berkley has been less than impressive thus far, and they've underperformed my own expectations of them, while Avondale has been on-par. I expect Avondale to win at least 4 more games this season, and they could very well run the table.   Seaholm has an extremely favorable schedule ahead of them, and I expect them to run the table. Athens, next week's opponent, is 2-1 on the season with a great rushing attack, yet I expect the Maple front 7 to dominate. North Farmington is a wildly inconsistent team, Troy is underperforming, Berkley is underperforming, while Farmington and Groves may prove to be tough but surely winnable.

The Seaholm Maples defeated Avondale in an interesting OAA Gold vs. Blue matchup. These are two teams that I consider favorites to win their respective leagues, and this was a game that solidified that opinion. Even though the score depicts a blowout, this game was extremely competitive for most of the 1st-half. Today I'll recap the game and discuss what the outcome means for both teams.