Defense wins Championships

[mikesalem]

All 4 teams have very formidable defenses.

PF PA G PFA PAA
Salem 489 123 (12)* 41 10
Broad Run 415 129 (12)* 35 11
King's Fork 443 144 (12)* 37 12
Varina 389 145 (11)* 35 13

PF- pts for
PA- pts against
G- games
PFA- pts for avg
PAA- pts against avg

*Game Information from fourseasonsfootball.com

Recent champions compared:

Salem 2020 11 PAA
Lake Taylor 2019 27 PAA
Woodgrove 2018 16 PAA
Salem 2017 20 PAA
Salem 2016 16 PAA
Salem 2015 11 PAA
Lake Taylor 2014 9 PAA

 

[1MoreHokie]

That 2017 D, woof. Easily the worst D of any Salem state title team. Thankfully the O was just lethal that year. Once DeAngelo became the sole RB you'd see it was just over.

And yep, title is correct. I knew at the start of the year Salem would go 14-15 games deep this year just because of this defense. Has been a lot of fun to watch them play, just so fundamentally sound. Front seven has sort of been there from the get-go but the secondary has come a long way from getting burned by Mburg and Fleming to start the season (55 of the 123 points allowed from those two games, 68 for the next ten games).

 

[wolverinedad2018]

All 4 teams have very formidable defenses.

PF PA G PFA PAA
Salem 489 123 (12)* 41 10
Broad Run 415 129 (12)* 35 11
King's Fork 443 144 (12)* 37 12
Varina 389 145 (11)* 35 13

PF- pts for
PA- pts against
G- games
PFA- pts for avg
PAA- pts against avg

*Game Information from fourseasonsfootball.com

Recent champions compared:

Salem 2020 11 PAA
Lake Taylor 2019 27 PAA
Woodgrove 2018 16 PAA
Salem 2017 20 PAA
Salem 2016 16 PAA
Salem 2015 11 PAA
Lake Taylor 2014 9 PAA

Not necessarily. In 2018 Woodgrove’s balanced offense was its strength. Don’t get me wrong we had some great players on D, but it was more of a bend but not break D. Not dominating. Against strong offenses (Tuscarora, Broad Run, Massaponox, Loudoun County in good weather, Blacksburg, Lake Taylor) we let up an average of 33 PPG. They did dominate against average to weak teams. A big part of the overall low PPG was our domination of Time of Possession. Example: First half of Blacksburg game we had the ball 18:30 out of 24min. Bbrg drove but settled for field goals. As far as Championships Woodgrove’s Offense won that. IMO defenses and offenses are equally important in increasing your odds of winning a championship.

 

[mikesalem]

Not necessarily. In 2018 Woodgrove’s balanced offense was its strength. Don’t get me wrong we had some great players on D, but it was more of a bend but not break D. Not dominating. Against strong offenses (Tuscarora, Broad Run, Massaponox, Loudoun County in good weather, Blacksburg, Lake Taylor) we let up an average of 33 PPG. They did dominate against average to weak teams. A big part of the overall low PPG was our domination of Time of Possession. Example: First half of Blacksburg game we had the ball 18:30 out of 24min. Bbrg drove but settled for field goals. As far as Championships Woodgrove’s Offense won that. IMO defenses and offenses are equally important in increasing your odds of winning a championship.

If you have an offense that can control TOP, then that is certainly an effective way to limit the opponent's opportunities. Ideally, you would like to have a team that can do both.

 

[MaroonDude]

Salem O gave up a Tuddy last week.