Week 8 Review: Legend Titans vs Pine Creek Eagles

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>A look at the three best performances from this interconference, 5A matchup.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Review</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In the week leading up to this game, there was plenty at stake for both teams, as the Legend Titans ranked number 21 and carried a 5-2 (2-0) record coming into the contest, while the Pine Creek Eagles came in ranked number 10 and carried a 5-2 (1-1) record. The result of this game had substantial implications for both teams in the closing weeks of the season, with playoff hopes on the line for both. This game appeared to be a defensive slug-fest early, as Legend held a tight 7-3 lead at the half. The 2nd half, however, was a completely different story as the Eagles almost looked like a completely different team; jumping out to a 24-7 lead in the 4th quarter and never looking back from there, earning the hard-fought 31-14 win. While both teams have several extremely talented players, these were the three who I felt were the biggest contributors.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Players of the Game</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='22783' first='Brett' last='Alvey'], Pine Creek Eagles (LB)(Jr.)(34) – Alvey was easily one of the bigger, if not the biggest, contributor defensively to the Eagles' 31-14 win over the Titans, with the box score reflecting it. Looking at the numbers from his night against the Legend defense, Alvey accounted for for an impressive 8 tackles, a tackle for a loss, a sack, a pass deflection, and a fumble recovery. 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. Smart, quick-thinking backer than quickly read-and-diagnose the development of the play and react accordingly filling the run or dropping into coverage. 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 finish his senior season strong before heading off somewhere in 2023 to play collegiately.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Jeff Baca, Legend Titans (DB)(Jr.)(25) - Despite being a fairly recent addition to the defensive side of the ball for the Titans, Baca has become one of the better additions in the last few weeks, with his night against the Pine Creek offense being his strongest showing yet. Baca played about as well as you could have asked a defender to play with the numbers reflecting that, as he accounted for an attention-grabbing 8 tackles, a tackle for a loss, a sack, a pass deflection, and a fumble recovery for a touchdown. Looking at the tape of Baca's night against the Eagles offense,  he displays outstanding physicality at the point-of-contact for a DB, showing a good, low pad level and bringing plenty of force when driving through the ball carrier. Savvy run defender when asked to play in the box that has a good understanding of how to attack the outside shoulder of a blocker when working play-side to set the edge and prevent the ball carrier from getting outside. Great athlete with excellent first-step acceleration out of his stance when crashing downhill out of his backpedal in both the defensives backfield and when lined up in the box. Displays a good awareness of run fits and maintaining his gap responsibilities as the play develops. Good overall athleticism and a nose for the ball allow him to play multiple roles on defense, whether as an in the box safety/backer hybrid or as a deep middle defender. Baca isn't currently ranked on any recruiting boards with his very recent transition to the defensive side of the ball probably being the reason. With that being said, the more he continues to show up on defense and the more tape he puts out from that side of the ball, he can definitely expect to see his recruiting profile grow before 2024 roles around.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>[player_tooltip player_id='251217' first='Mason' last='Miller'], Pine Creek Eagles (RB/LB)(Jr.)(13) – Miller might not have been the strongest individual player on either offense or defense for the Eagles, but his all around performance on both sides of the ball came at the biggest moments of the game. Diving into the numbers from Miller's night against the Titans, he accounted for 71 yards rushing 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 Titans defense on film, 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 Miller isn't currently ranked on any recruiting services, he has more than enough size, talent, and production to be a high-level player at the collegiate level.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->