NorCalPreps.com - Fast start paces Mitty

October 31, 2009

Douglas Benton
NorCalPreps.com Analyst

Four possessions, four touchdowns and just like that Mitty was up 28-0 early in the second quarter en route to a 28-14 win over St. Francis (Mountain View) to move into the driver's seat in the WCAL race. The Monarchs were able to get the ground game rolling and played stout defense en route to staying unbeaten on the season and making its claim for the top Division II spot.

Photo Gallery by Brian Bartell

Mitty's offense is getting better with each week and the option game on Friday was superb. Quarterback Kyle Boehm looks like a natural for the system and was one of the differences in this game with his big gains on the outside. It is almost exclusively a quarterback keep once it gets to the outside and opposing defenses could start to force the pitch in this look. One area of the offense which helped complement the quarterback keeper plays was the dive play with Joey Walker, who had numerous big gains up the middle early in the game. Walker runs really hard and his running helps open up the outside for Boehm and D.J. Bush, Boehm said. The offensive line was very physical throughout the game and were dominant at the line of scrimmage. Mitty was able to hit passes when it had to and is something it can keep in the background as a threat to opposing defenses.

The defesne was pretty good on the night and continued to impress in its run defense. It starts with the play of defensive lineman Parker Smith. He was a disruptive force up front and was able to get into the backfield on numerous plays. Mitty head coach Matt Haniger said Smith's play helps free up the linebackers to make plays behind him. The linebackers did just that on Friday, led by Walker and senior Jack Herman. The duo really attacks the ball and do a good job of staying with their fundamentals through the tackle. Also, Brendan Manion and Sam Tomlitz were solid on the outside and make this defense very tough to turn the corner against. The one weakness for this unit is the pass defense as the Lancers had some second half success with its passing game. If the secondary can't get pressure from the front four, they can be suceptible.

Mitty is now 8-0 on the season and are building this confidence about them that they go in expecting to win every game. Boehm said afer the game that the team goal is to go undefeated and prove to people this is a great team.

St. Francis on the other hand was out of this game almost before it started. It looked like the team was just slow to get the energy going on Friday. The offense had its moments, but couldn't capitilize enough to overcome the early deficit. The Lancers were down 28-7 to start the second half and had an efficent drive down to the Mitty seven yard line to start the half, but threw a ball short of the goaline in a bad play call and were stopped short to turn the ball over on downs in a play that shifted the game. Quarterback Kyle Miller has a live arm and challenged the Mitty defense down the field. Wide receiver Poppy Livers is a playmaker and provided a deep threat on a number of plays off of the play action. However, the go to play for the Lancers was a play action seven to 10 yard out to tight end Chris Barrett. The play was very successful and opened up the middle of the field for the deep ball later in the game. The running game had its moments behind Nathan Morace, but the Lancers couldn't get it going enough to control the tempo of the game.

The defense did a poor job of playing the option and got beat physically up front. Gap responsibility was lacking at all levels as Boehm was able to get free runs around the corner and a number of Mitty runners went untouched for big gains early. One shining spot for the Lancers was the play of junior defensive end Chris Chang, who ran down plays well and seemed to live in the backfield at points. Also, junior safety Isaiah Lott did a nice job in pass coverage and came up and hit well. The defense settled into the game and held the Monarchs scoreless for the last 33 minutes of the game, but weren't able to overcome a very poor start.

St. Francis has to bounce back quickly for a game against Bellarmine Prep, which could look to take advantage of the run defense issues. However, the Lancers can build off some of the things it did on offense with Miller and the passing game and the defense in the second half, but this game showed St. Francis to be a notch below the top Division II teams in Northern California.

Player Reports

Kyle Boehm QB Mitty: The junior continues to impress with his command of the offense. He did a better job this week in making his reads and was a real threat with his running. The option game is almost strictly a quarterback keeper when it gets to the outside, but with his running ability to go with his arm, he is becoming a nightmare matchup for opposing defenses.

Parker Smith DL Mitty: The defensive effort started up front with Smith controlling the action at the line of scrimmage. He has the frame to anchor at the point of attack, but also the quickness and athleticism to get penetration and make plays. The junior is well on his way to being a top lineman in the class of 2011.

Kyle Miller QB St. Francis: Miller has a very live arm and can get the ball down the field with velocity and touch. He also does a good job with the play action game. One area he needs to work on is his footwork and pocket presence as he has a tendency to hop through his drops instead of striding back. He also has quick feet around a rush.

Nathan Morace RB St. Francis: He didn't have a great game, but Morace showed he runs with a great toughness. He hits the hole hard and delivers a blow to defenders. He has good quickness as well and showed he could be an every down back.

Poppy Livers WR St. Francis: Livers has the ability to be a dynamic player who can hurt you in many different ways. He runs solid routes and can get to top speed quickly. He can improve his hands though as he dropped two catchable balls on Friday.

Chris Chang DE St. Francis: Chang was the best player on defense for the Lancers and made all of the big plays at the line of scrimmage. The junior does a good job of crashing down on the play and showed good quickness in tracking down the play. He still has work to do to become a complete end who can become an anchor for his team.

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