Week 1: Salem Quakers at Liberty Leopards

• ts1227

  

  Salem heads up north for an old AAC rematch with Liberty.
  
  Liberty has been awful as of late, 0-10 last year. Have no idea what they have this year.
  
  Salem lost some decent talent and has a new coach, so they have an uphill battle as well, but if Liberty still stinks it may be a good way to go into the season.
  
  Anyone have more info on Liberty? What say you all about this game?
• reddevil90

  

  Don't know Much about Liberty. But Salem has a few good players. how far that takes them is up in the air. But Good luck to the 2012 Quakers. :thumbup:
• Ohio

  

  Big plays will win the game, both teams capable of doing so, both very young so long drives will be hard to come by imo
• QuakerOats

  Salem will need to limit the turnovers and hope the offensive line improves. They are lucky that the first half of the schedule is relatively easy; maybe they can win a couple and gain confidence for the second half of the season.
• southbender12

  Liberty played JFK tough in one of their scrimmages and they have more team speed then Salem. I think this is probably the most evenly matched game on Salem's schedule. New coach and some new energy at Liberty and the same could be said about Salem as well. I think Salem squeezes out a victory, but if they lose this game then they are in for one of the longest seasons in school history.
• ts1227

  

  southbender12;1250721 wrote:I think Salem squeezes out a victory, but if they lose this game then they are in for one of the longest seasons in school history.

  
  I don't think anything will ever be longer than the Miller years (2006-08), no matter how hard anyone tries.
• southbender12

  oh i am well aware of how bad they were during those years..especially Miller's last year in 2008, but they might be that bad again. I hope I am wrong but with a very young quarterback, no offensive line and no real breakaway skill players they will have a hard time scoring points. I saw Johnson's interview and he said they were going to try and run a very up tempo offense but he better be careful he doesnt have very quick 3 and outs and put even more pressure on his defense. I think their odd stack defense will keep them in some games but again they have to replace a lot of quality starters, especially linebackers and defensive linemen. I think that they could be as good as 3-7 and as bad as 0-10...the Liberty game will tell everybody a lot. If they beat Liberty then they are like a 3-4 win team but if they go down to Liberty the only game they will have a shot at winning is United. Last year's staff did a good job of preparing their kids for the NBC and they had more talent then this year's squad and ended up 5-5. You won't win the Niles game or the West Branch game this year either, which last year's team did.
• ts1227

  

  I feel like with Johnson that even if this year is a little rough with the drop off of talent and the late coaching change, it will actually improve in a year or two, leaving a light at the end of the tunnel.
  
  Under Miller, that tunnel was being dug straight into the center of the Earth.
  
  Like Oats said, if they take advantage of the somewhat weaker beginning of the schedule it may turn out decent. But a sluggish start could knock the wheels off fast
• QuakerOats

  I agree with both posts, #'s 7 and 8 above. And I was thinking about the same thing with the hurry up offense, if it is 3 quick plays and out, the defense will be on the field for much of the game. On the other hand, the hurry up might be our only hope to keep the other team's defense on its heels and unable to sub in during certain situations ----- who knows. I just hope they win a couple games early on because I think confidence is going to be a factor later.
• southbender12

  the key is keeping their head's above water through a couple down years...if they let the bottom fall out then kids will leave the program which is what you can't have happen. The successes of the Kopachy era have kept the numbers up but the talent is just down, which happens every where once in a while. This group of seniors has had a hard time winning in basketball, baseball and they will probably have a tough year in football as well.
  
  they need to be preparing for this first game like it was the state title game because their entire season may hinge on the outcome...you hate to look at any one game like that but thats where they are.
• QuakerOats

  The jury is out on football, but basketball will be good, and baseball should also be much improved.
• Spread All Day

  

  Interested to see how this plays out.
• ts1227

  

  Anyone going to be posting updates on the update forum for this game? I'm going to be in Portage County tonight so I won't be able to get anything except on my phone.
• QuakerOats

  Should be streaming live at: http://tunein.com/radio/WSOM-600-s22911/
• ts1227

  

  My phone can't hold a charge, so I was trying to avoid streaming it. We'll see. I've got the Tune In Radio app and it carries 600, so it's always a possibility
• QuakerOats

  Hopefully it's worth listening to
• GoPens

  

  7-0 Salem after 1
• ts1227

  

  And the feed for 600 is unavailable (they probably turn it off for live events)
  
  Any updates are appreciated
• GoPens

  

  I never realized how bad 600 is. Glad that it's rare I'm forced to listen. Wish I didn't have to tonight.
  
  7-7 at the half
• ts1227

  

  GoPens;1254223 wrote:I never realized how bad 600 is. Glad that it's rare I'm forced to listen. Wish I didn't have to tonight.
  
  7-7 at the half

  
  If it's the same guy, it's awful. I could do it better, and I would do it for a lot less money.
  
  The station itself is abysmal too. But what Cumulus station isn't?
• GoPens

  

  Don't get me started with Cumulus. Tightwads that specialize in ruining radio.
• GoPens

  

  7-7 after 3
• ts1227

  

  GoPens;1254242 wrote:Don't get me started with Cumulus. Tightwads that specialize in ruining radio.

  
  Yeah, you're probably the last person that needs to be told about how awesome Cumulus is...
• GoPens

  

  7 minutes left, Liberty 14-10
• GoPens

  

  5:42 left. Salem 17-14