Kenard Burley Starting for North on THSAG

[Stallion]

right now on Fox Sports. Look for big bowel-legged kid wearing No. 77. On opening drive he had one pancake plus the key clearing block on James Battle's TD run.

[Mama Bouche]

I'm jealous! We're out of the area and without satelite. Keep us posted. Thank goodness football season is almost here.
By the way, Stallion, thanks for your insights and observations. You are usually right on. I hope I can get back for a game this fall. I will be at the two west coast games as always.
Regards.

[Stallion]

impressions from the First Half and I watched Burley on each play-he was matched up against OU-Blue Chipper Alonzo Dotson who didn't make many plays but the plays generally went to the right side. Just like you'd expect from most freshman lineman especially making the jump from 2A it appears that Burley is going to have to work on his quickness and footwork to retain his blocks on the quicker DEs. He has great size but he is sometimes left flat-footed by a good move by the DE. He has a tendency to just use his hands to push off and after he engages his man on the initial block he has trouble driving his man out of the play. A lot of that is footwork and conditioning. In 2A he was probably rarely matched up with the agile, hostile and mobile kids he's playing against tonite. Its like jumping from the Rookie leagues to the Majors in Baseball and for that reason I would think he is likely to be redshirt candidate-as 90% of all Lineman are. Also Blake Warren is No. 5 on the South squad but I don't think he's seen the ball yet. One of the most interesting battles seems to be among two SMU targets who went else- WR Dominique Zeigler(Baylor) has made some big and acrobatic plays and appears to be a big threat going up against Syndric Steptoe(Arizona) who although beaten on a couple of plays has knockdown at least a couple of balls. TCU recruit James Battle looks very dangerous ala Ramon Flanigan but made a big fumble trying to scramble.

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 07-29-2003).]

[This message has been edited by Stallion (edited 07-29-2003).]

[Stallion]

Blake Warren caught the only pass thrown to him for short yardage and had a 20 yard KO return. He earned good playing time(alternated in almost every series) but the South's QBs were looking for Zeigler and Texas super recruit Billy Pittman, both great looking players. Zeigler was MVP with 4 catches for 128 yards all in the first half-but he looked open all nite-I expect him to challenge for playing time at Baylor this year if he is eligible. TCU players accounted for 5 TDs.-QB James Battle threw 2 great TD bombs in the 2nd half and ran for 1 TD in the first half. TCU is loaded for at least 3 years to come with Tye Gunn and James Battle-that should be interesting. But Battle can run, throw and has good presence on the field-he looks every bit as good as advertised. The other two Frog TDs were by RB Tommy Blake a generally overlooked 6-4, 220 kid from a 3A school who may not have the speed or quickness to really be a superstar but played very well in the 4th quarter in driving the ball down the field ala Christian Okoye. If he has a defect its that he runs too upper right to really use his strength-he improved on that in the 2nd half and appeared to wear the North defense down. They should be able to find some place on the field for a guy like that-he might be a star at FB. NTSU appears to have come up with a gem in WR Alan Harrison who caught 3 long balls for 124 yards. Each was pretty outstanding. Kennard Burley played 3/4th of the game and his opponent was a non-factor with I think only one play made. I thought Burley showed slightly better mobility in the 2nd half but my previous assessment really is still applicable-the ball generally went to the right side of the field away from Burley. It would appear that he is stronger on straight ahead run blocking. Its his footwork on pass plays and away from the ball that I feel is going to need some work.

[PerunaPunch]

Excellent report Stallion. Many thanks!!

[Hilltopper]

Ditto!