2024 LUFKIN PANTHER VARSITY FOOTBALL DISCUSSION TOPIC

[PurpleNation]

13 minutes ago, haleyscomet said:

We might have ran a simple version of our playbook but we didn't hide anything from the lobos. We have ran the same stuff for 10 years nothing we can hide. Longview is a top tier program they aren't playing us Friday they are playing themselves to get better. Kind of like it was here years ago.

Also I understand having a emergency qb but if we don't have a backup qb that can do the basic like hand the ball off it will be a rough year. We looked like our wr playing qb had never took a snap at qb. And that's not his fault that's on the coaching staff. We looked like a team with their 3rd or 4th option at qb. That ain't gonna work. 

 

They definitely held back on some plays. We could have just kept feeding Gavin the ball but why do that in a scrimmage? Lufkin will be more than ready for Longview next week who has problems at QB and at offensive line. It's a scrimmage. I imagine in a real game Coutee would have more designed runs and more options. There gonna be ok. Just tune in Friday 

[LufkinPack]

I like the defense. They had their moments where I thought “oh boy” but it was a scrimmage and their first action besides against teammates. Plus like PN said, missing 3 key guys. Let’s not act like we were playing a team with no expectations and new faces on offense. Huntsville is an experienced and good offense. How about that goal line stand?? They are literally picked to win state in D2 from a couple of guys. I do agree our offense is concerning, but when is not with Green lol I just hope we get Johnson back so we can roll forward with the original plan. 

[Pack13]

Let’s not pretend Huntsville came out and ran the whole play book either. I know the team has had Longview on the mind for months but scrimmages show other things than the formations we run. We were not physical enough to be out there with them. That was obvious and something I hadn’t seen in those scrimmages in the past. We look no faster and strong which makes me wonder what has been going on the last off season. We looked beat up and tired. I want to hope plays and formations look different next week but history tells me otherwise. I’m not worried about Longview. I’m worried about the season as a whole. 

[LufkinPack]

3 minutes ago, Pack13 said:

Let’s not pretend Huntsville came out and ran the whole play book either. I know the team has had Longview on the mind for months but scrimmages show other things than the formations we run. We were not physical enough to be out there with them. That was obvious and something I hadn’t seen in those scrimmages in the past. We look no faster and strong which makes me wonder what has been going on the last off season. We looked beat up and tired. I want to hope plays and formations look different next week but history tells me otherwise. I’m not worried about Longview. I’m worried about the season as a whole. 

That was also Huntsvilles second scrimmage. So they weren’t near as sloppy. I get it though. I’m concerned too. Y’all know I’m always pretty negative about our football program but I’m not ready to throw in the towel after a scrimmage. I’ve seen us look really good in a scrimmage and thought to myself we were gonna be pretty good just to go lose to Tyler Lee week 1 

[PackAttack]

Had an opportunity to sleep on things. As I mentioned last night Huntsville is a really good team that Matt Stepp has picked to win the 5A DII title this year. They went to the State Semi Finals last year losing to PNG, they were playing at home in their 2nd scrimmage. This was Lufkin's one and only scrimmage before Longview, and us coming off three years of zero playoffs and losing to the Lobos 42-0 last year. What a deal, but it's not all doom and gloom.

Not sure what I expected, we have been talking the hype all off season, but I did expect more than I should have under the circumstances. We are not Huntsville and we are not Longview, no doubt this Panther team have a bunch of great and talented kids this year, but we are not Huntsville or Longview. Those two programs have built playoff platforms, the coaching is good, the kids know how they need to be, and most important they know the right attitude to win. To be brutally honest, Lufkin has gravitated the other way for several years now, those coaches can say whatever they want in the paper but they have not built the Lufkin program like Coach Southern and Coach King. Had our coaching staff been in Huntsville or Longview and pulled their results of the past 4 or 5 years there, they would have been long gone into never never land before now, because those two communities would not have put up with it.

We fans have been waiting on these 2024 Panthers, we have put a lot of high hopes on this bunch, they are talented and regardless of a less than stellar scrimmage last night still have a chance to have really decent year. The QB situation is a concern, hope the young man will heal quickly. To be honest, things never really got untracked for the Panthers until very late in the scrimmage, although there were glimpses of really good defensive play, the OL and running game showed good promise, there were also those glaring issues in the passing game, stopping the run and our secondary coverage. Then Johnson was hurt. It's my fault to have expected a shutdown D in a scrimmage anyway and frankly, didn't know what to expect from the offense. Think I came away a little more impressed with the OL and RBs than anything else. We'll see where this all goes, but we must remember it was just a scrimmage, we didn't lose anything. 

This is all going to be interesting moving forward. Get all the starters back out there, if Johnson is hurt, move the right person (Phillips) to QB. other RBs need to set up, and this group should be fine. Still work to do and it's all fixable. Going to file this scrimmage and move on.

 

[timeout!]

12 hours ago, PurpleNation said:

Yeah I saw some things I liked from the run game. I think Johnson had some nice intermediate and short throws in the controlled portion. Not surprised they looked that bad when he went out. You obviously are not trying to run your QB in a live scrimmage. As long as Johnson isn't out they will be ok next week. 

It didn't look like anything serious. Just a little dinged up and removed for cautionary reasons. He appeared to be trying to go back, but the trainers and coaches said no. The kid is a warrior and showed me some things last year, with limited action against Forney. He just need to learn to pace himself, and avoid unnecessary contact. 

I hope he is ready to go Friday. The kid need as many live reps as possible before start of district. I have a feeling there will be one or two dark horses pushing for one of the playoff spots. So Lufkin will need to get something from the offense come district. 

[PurpleNation]

1 hour ago, timeout! said:

It didn't look like anything serious. Just a little dinged up and removed for cautionary reasons. He appeared to be trying to go back, but the trainers and coaches said no. The kid is a warrior and showed me some things last year, with limited action against Forney. He just need to learn to pace himself, and avoid unnecessary contact. 

I hope he is ready to go Friday. The kid need as many live reps as possible before start of district. I have a feeling there will be one or two dark horses pushing for one of the playoff spots. So Lufkin will need to get something from the offense come district. 

Initially from what I heard last night is that it's not good. 

[PurpleNation]

1 hour ago, PackAttack said:

Had an opportunity to sleep on things. As I mentioned last night Huntsville is a really good team that Matt Stepp has picked to win the 5A DII title this year. They went to the State Semi Finals last year losing to PNG, they were playing at home in their 2nd scrimmage. This was Lufkin's one and only scrimmage before Longview, and us coming off three years of zero playoffs and losing to the Lobos 42-0 last year. What a deal, but it's not all doom and gloom.

Not sure what I expected, we have been talking the hype all off season, but I did expect more than I should have under the circumstances. We are not Huntsville and we are not Longview, no doubt this Panther team have a bunch of great and talented kids this year, but we are not Huntsville or Longview. Those two programs have built playoff platforms, the coaching is good, the kids know how they need to be, and most important they know the right attitude to win. To be brutally honest, Lufkin has gravitated the other way for several years now, those coaches can say whatever they want in the paper but they have not built the Lufkin program like Coach Southern and Coach King. Had our coaching staff been in Huntsville or Longview and pulled their results of the past 4 or 5 years there, they would have been long gone into never never land before now, because those two communities would not have put up with it.

We fans have been waiting on these 2024 Panthers, we have put a lot of high hopes on this bunch, they are talented and regardless of a less than stellar scrimmage last night still have a chance to have really decent year. The QB situation is a concern, hope the young man will heal quickly. To be honest, things never really got untracked for the Panthers until very late in the scrimmage, although there were glimpses of really good defensive play, the OL and running game showed good promise, there were also those glaring issues in the passing game, stopping the run and our secondary coverage. Then Johnson was hurt. It's my fault to have expected a shutdown D in a scrimmage anyway and frankly, didn't know what to expect from the offense. Think I came away a little more impressed with the OL and RBs than anything else. We'll see where this all goes, but we must remember it was just a scrimmage, we didn't lose anything. 

This is all going to be interesting moving forward. Get all the starters back out there, if Johnson is hurt, move the right person (Phillips) to QB. other RBs need to set up, and this group should be fine. Still work to do and it's all fixable. Going to file this scrimmage and move on.

 

I went back and watched the scrimmage. Lufkin had a ton of subs in on defense throughout most of the scrimmage. Those passes caught down field where all on guys that won't be out there Friday night. Think about it Huntsville had 5 turnovers and short fields and came away with 10 points with a ton of subs getting action. Listen I know for a fact the Lufkin defense will have something a little different in store next Friday. 

[LufkinPack]

2 minutes ago, PurpleNation said:

went back and watched the scrimmage. Lufkin had a ton of subs in on defense throughout most of the scrimmage

I’m glad you clarified this man because when I was watching, at times I was thinking no way 🤣

[PurpleNation]

4 minutes ago, LufkinPack said:

I’m glad you clarified this man because when I was watching, at times I was thinking no way 🤣

I wouldn't put to much stock into last night. Friday will look very different from the defense. Offensively i expect they will lean on Gavin either at QB or RB. He looked good last night. I'm sure had they really wanted too. They could have just kept pounding him. Huntsville didn't seem to have an answer for him. We really didn't see any of the option or jet sweep game. They will be ready come Friday.

[LufkinPack]

1 minute ago, PurpleNation said:

I wouldn't put to much stock into last night. Friday will look very different from the defense. Offensively i expect they will lean on Gavin either at QB or RB. He looked good last night. I'm sure had they really wanted too. They could have just kept pounding him. Huntsville didn't seem to have an answer for him. We really didn't see any of the option or jet sweep game. They will be ready come Friday.

I’m ready. I definitely have faith in the defense, I’m just worried they are gonna be on the field too much 

[PurpleNation]

5 minutes ago, LufkinPack said:

I’m ready. I definitely have faith in the defense, I’m just worried they are gonna be on the field too much 

Probably going to see both offenses struggle. Might come down to turnovers. Can't do what we did last night. 

[LufkinPack]

2 minutes ago, PurpleNation said:

Probably going to see both offenses struggle. Might come down to turnovers. Can't do what we did last night. 

For sure. The intensity level alone next week oughta make a difference. Keep us posted on Johnson 

[PackAttack]

Johnson injury was not severe, updates later.

Still haven't heard about where was Chinn at RB?

[CardiacPack]

17 hours ago, PackAttack said:

Where was Chinn tonight? 

He was #27 out there playing mainly at FB/TE position and he ran the ball early in the scrimmage for like 7yd gain and first down. Right now until the other RBs get better at blocking and our OL strengthens, I believe he is going to be a key part in keeping our QB safe. We will see more running from him against Longview though. To prevent injuries I believe it was smart of them to not do too many reps with our key guys. I’m with PN, I think things will look a lot different against Longview. Also I hear that Johnson will be out for about 2 weeks and Gavin is going to be the back up for Coutee

[PackAttack]

4 minutes ago, CardiacPack said:

He was #27 out there playing mainly at FB/TE position and he ran the ball early in the scrimmage for like 7yd gain and first down. Right now until the other RBs get better at blocking and our OL strengthens, I believe he is going to be a key part in keeping our QB safe. We will see more running from him against Longview though. To prevent injuries I believe it was smart of them to not do too many reps with our key guys. I’m with PN, I think things will look a lot different against Longview. Also I hear that Johnson will be out for about 2 weeks and Gavin is going to be the back up for Coutee

Thanks. Chinn has the same number from last year. Sorry, I missed him out there. Those announcers knew nothing about Lufkin, yak yak yak about the Hornets. It was a scrimmage, so they didn't do any prep. One guy thought we were 6A until the other two corrected him. He was all giggly talking about his 5ADII Hornets looking good against a 6A team. They had no idea that Johnson was out, or Coutee was a WR playing QB. At least we were able to view the game in HD, they had some decent camera work too. Looking for something much different this Friday.

[PurpleNation]

2 hours ago, CardiacPack said:

He was #27 out there playing mainly at FB/TE position and he ran the ball early in the scrimmage for like 7yd gain and first down. Right now until the other RBs get better at blocking and our OL strengthens, I believe he is going to be a key part in keeping our QB safe. We will see more running from him against Longview though. To prevent injuries I believe it was smart of them to not do too many reps with our key guys. I’m with PN, I think things will look a lot different against Longview. Also I hear that Johnson will be out for about 2 weeks and Gavin is going to be the back up for Coutee

I'd be willing to bet that Gavin will end up taking the most snaps against Longview. He's more than capable. 

[CardiacPack]

1 hour ago, PurpleNation said:

I'd be willing to bet that Gavin will end up taking the most snaps against Longview. He's more than capable. 

Would certainly be interesting and I’m all for it!

[timeout!]

2 hours ago, PurpleNation said:

I'd be willing to bet that Gavin will end up taking the most snaps against Longview. He's more than capable. 

I know the coaches have their reasons for moving him. But I've always wanted to see him have a legitimate shot at playing Qb on varsity. He made some plays against Lancaster a couple of years ago late. I think we win that one if we had a few more minutes left on the clock. 

[PurpleNation]

10 hours ago, timeout! said:

I know the coaches have their reasons for moving him. But I've always wanted to see him have a legitimate shot at playing Qb on varsity. He made some plays against Lancaster a couple of years ago late. I think we win that one if we had a few more minutes left on the clock. 

I was going to bring that up too. He looked real good against Lancaster 2 years ago. He led a big TD drive and made some clutch throws late to give Lufkin a chance. Playing QB will not overwhelm him Friday night. It will be very natural and comfortable for him. I could see Lufkin lining up and going QB power with an extra blocker. 

[PackAttack]

Found an old drone photo taken about 8 years ago.  Right after the new turf was installed.

[PurpleNation]

So after watching the scrimmage a 3rd time with my son this time. I was able to piece everything together as far as who all is a starter and will play next week on the defense. Huntsville scored 1 legitimate TD all night versus the 1st team defense. The 2nd TD in the controlled portion came against 10 reserves with Zion being the only starter on the field on a 3rd and long. The reserves before the TD drive had gotten a interception. In the live portion Lufkin had 6 starters in on the lone TD from the live scrimmage. I think Huntsville played to win the scrimmage where as Lufkin played to get players more reps and played it very vanilla. The alignment and game plan for Longview will look totally different.

[PackAttack]

PN please pencil in the starters and position you think we will have on offense and defense. Thank you

[timeout!]

7 hours ago, PurpleNation said:

I was going to bring that up too. He looked real good against Lancaster 2 years ago. He led a big TD drive and made some clutch throws late to give Lufkin a chance. Playing QB will not overwhelm him Friday night. It will be very natural and comfortable for him. I could see Lufkin lining up and going QB power with an extra blocker. 

This one intangible that impressed me the most. And really had me looking forward to seeing what he could do his junior, before the position change. I honestly wouldn't worry a bit if he got the majority of snaps at Qb Friday.

Looks like he trimmed down a few pounds too.

[timeout!]

Just read Jorvorskie Lane Jr. has de committed from Texas A&M to explore other options. Not sure how good he is. But the talk is he will be drafted pretty high in the MLB draft and forgo college all together.