Week 6 Review: Pine Creek Eagles vs Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans
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A look at the three best performances from this matchup of 5A teams. Review Coming into this matchup, like many other teams this weekend, both the Pine Creek Eagles and the Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans were hoping to begin conference play…
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Continue ReadingA look at the three best performances from this matchup of 5A teams.
Review
Coming into this matchup, like many other teams this weekend, both the Pine Creek Eagles and the Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans were hoping to begin conference play 1-0. This game took a step into the time-machine, as this contest played out like an old-school, three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust type of game that was reminiscent of a game fans would have seen decades ago, as both teams relied on strong defense and the ground game from start-to-finish. Unfortunately for the Trojans, Pine Creek was able to grind out the tough 14-0 win, relying on several key players on both sides of the ball. Fountain-Fort Carson came close on several occasions throughout the game to narrow the gap, but the Eagles defense bent but didn’t break and were able to stifle the Trojans offense when they needed the stops the most. While this game wasn’t exactly a shootout, it was none-the-less an exciting contest that showcased the hard-nosed style from both teams. With that being said and while there were several strong performances from a number of players, these were the three who I felt had the strongest showings.
Players of the Game
Brett Alvey Brett Alvey 6'1" | 220 lbs | LB Pine Creek | 2023 State CO , Pine Creek Eagles (LB)(Jr.)(34) – Alvey had himself quite a night in the Eagles’ shutout 14-0 win over the Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans. The Eagles played about as clean of a game defensively as you can ask against the Trojans offense, with Alvey being one of the bigger reasons that the Eagles defense was able to hold the Fountain-Fort Carson offense to a goose egg on the scoreboard. Looking at the numbers from his night, Alvey accounted for for an outstanding 10 tackles, 4 tackles for a loss, and a pass deflection. When you put on the film of Alvey’s performance, you can see he displays an extremely high motor that shows the most when pursuing the ball carrier or working to shed a block. Very physical tackler that brings a ton of pop/power to the point-of-contact with the ball carrier. Displays outstanding form when tackling, consistently getting his head across their core, wrapping up, and driving through contact. Downhill runner that fills his run fits hard and fast, often getting into the backfield off of first step explosiveness before the OL have time to react. Disciplined LB that doesn’t often bite on play action and doesn’t over-pursue the ball carrier/QB while consistently taking good angles in pursuit. Alvey is currently rated the number 5 LB and number 41 player overall in Colorado for the class of 2023. He’ll look to end the home stretch of his senior season strong before heading off to play college football in 2023.
Mathias Price, Fountain-Fort Carson Trojans (RB)(Jr.)(35) – While there weren’t many bright spots for this Trojans team last Friday, Price was certainly one of them. The junior tailback did everything in his power to keep the Fountain-Fort Carson offense in the game and get some points on the board; the offense as a whole came up just short, but regardless Price left it all on the field. Taking a glance at Price’s numbers against the Eagles defense, he accounted for 105 yards rushing on 21 carries (5.0 YPC), while also adding 10 yards receiving on top of his rushing performance. When you look at Price on tape, the first thing that jumps out is his incredible size (6’2, 220 lbs) for his position, standing head-and-shoulders taller than most other players on the field. Displays an extremely powerful and aggressive running style that shows up in just about any scenario or down and distance. Incredible strength and drive behind his pads whether in short yardage situations to move the chains, on the goal line, or at the point-of-attack when making and finishing through contact with the opposing defender. Deceptive top end foot speed allows him to pull away from slower 2nd and 3rd level defenders. Shows good balance and lateral agility, allowing him to be a deceptively elusive runner in the open field if given enough space in 1-on-1 situations. Shows good ability as a receiver out of the backfield, creating matchup problems when being covered by slower 2nd level defenders. Price isn’t currently ranked on any recruiting boards, but if he can continue to build on his strong showings with consistency, there’s no reason to believe he can’t play at the collegiate level.
Mason Miller Mason Miller 6'3" | 225 lbs | ATH Pine Creek | 2024 State CO , Pine Creek Eagles (RB/LB)(Jr.)(13) – Miller was, in my mind at least, was the most dominant player for either team in this game, making his presence felt on both sides of the ball. Miller was a key contributor offensively and defensively for the Eagles, as Fountain-Fort Carson had any type of answer for Miller in any facet of the game. Diving into the numbers from Miller’s lights-out performance, he accounted for 101 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown on 19 carries (5.3 YPC) while also adding 5 tackles, a pass deflection, and a forced fumble on the defensive side of the ball. While Miller had strong showings in all phases, for the sake of this article we’ll just focus on his traits from the offensive side. Watching Miller’s performance against the Trojans defense on film, much like Price for Fountain-Fort Carson, the first thing that leaps off the film is his size (6’2, 225 lbs), easily being the biggest player physically at the skill positions for the Eagles. His size compounding how incredibly physical he is as a ball carrier. Strong, powerful RB that often takes multiple defenders to bring him down, routinely pushing the pile for extra yards and being near impossible to tackle in 1-on-1 situations when he has a full head of steam. Strong lower body, core, upper body, and an ability to drive his legs through the run allow him to maintain force/momentum through the point-of-attack when making contact with the defender. Tough, downhill runner with a good, low pad level that gets the gotta-have-it plays in short yardage and goal line situations. Tenacious, high motor ball carrier that always seems to be falling forward after contact, showing outstanding balance and an ability to drive his legs to finish runs. Outstanding blocker out of the backfield in both pass and run blocking situations, consistently being able to anchor against blitzing LBs when protecting the QB and moving defenders off the ball when serving as a lead blocker in the run game. Displays adequate top end foot speed that allows him to outrun slower 2nd and 3rd level defenders. While Hill isn’t currently ranked on any recruiting services, he has more than enough size, talent, and production to play at the collegiate level on either side of the ball.