So what game did ESL lose because of “Discipline”? Keep in mind this is your reason for ESL losing, not mine.
To be clear here is my point. LWE has lost to teams they were supposed to beat on paper just like ESL. What makes ESL lost any different than LWE?
East St. Louis’ Special Teams (minus KO and Punt return) are well known for being mediocre to a straight up liability. Some years they may find a kid to boot the ball straigt on a KO or, at best be able to actually punt the ball down field, but most years these things appear to be nothing more than an afterthought for the Flyers.
Why is this an issue? A roster full of athletes year in and year out but can’t find kids to kick, punt, etc etc.
Against Granite City, Collinsville, shoot, the whole conference minus Edwardsville some years, not having a kicking game does not effect them. But against quality teams that play them close, its almost always a glaring weakness for ESL and they have straight up lost playoff games because they cannot even make an extra point.
They lost a first round playoff game to Edwardsville 21-19. They matched Edwardsville TD for TD but couldn’t line up and get that free point after each score.
Call that what you will, undisciplined or maybe not being a complete team, I don’t know. Most of the time they out athlete their opponent and so maybe they don’t feel the need to concentrate on that phase of the game. It’s bitten them in big games against teams they cannot just out athlete.
I know kids do not gravitate to the K/P positions, but I have to believe that if any real time was spent, every year, on at least getting a solid Extra point unit and a punter that can consistently kick the ball downfield, they could be a heck of a lot better in those areas.
A team that can make ESL’s offense put together drives (even if they score) instead of feasting on big plays, as well as controlling the clock and having a solid special teams ie a complete team, can beat ESL, because if history has shown us anything, it’s that the Flyers won’t care/don’t care about those issues until it’s too late and they are in a dog fight against a quality opponent.
In said game, even if they are in fg range, down 2 with 10 secs left and a 15 td FG wins it for them, I cannot think of a year they would have even tried. They would be forced to try to score the TD instead.
There are other examples I can give. Penalties for cracking back on returns are a common sight at Flyers games. Again, against Alton or East up 35 in the 3rd quarter, three kids peeling back and laying the boom on their opponent and getting flagged doesn’t effect you much, and def gets the crowd hyped, but that is the definition of undisciplined play. Flipping, cartwheeling into the end zone is another thing I’ve seen quite often. I personally don’t care about celebrating, I say let them have fun and celebrate, but it’s well known hat in high school football you can’t do flips or cartwheels or backpedal while taunting your opponent or even spike the ball. It’s a penalty. And while I haven’t seen them effected by this too much when they play tougher opponents, I gotta think that smirking and strutting around while players are blatantly getting these types of penalties in blow outs can def hurt teams when they are actually in a tough game.