Terrible decision with so much time left. The downside of not converting is too steep. And we saw exactly that by how much pressure was on Folsom once they forced the punt down 1.
If you just kick the damned XP that last Folsom drive has a completely different level of pressure to it. If there was under :30 seconds remaining in the game — the decision is much more understandable. Because outcome essentially comes down to that single play.
But scoring a 2 pt play with 2 minutes remaining causes your opponent to play aggressively on their next possession with plenty of time to get into scoring position. Meanwhile, not converting gives your opponent a huge advantage.
I’ve said it many times now, but practically every time Folsom faces an opponent that has comparable talent their coaching staff gets exposed. Doherty and his staff took over a ready-made program. They didn’t build it.
And you can see why they couldn’t build it up themselves in outcomes like tonight and in their loss to Serra-SM earlier in the season.
IMO, Folsom has a better all-around team than both Serra-SM and Pittsburg. They lost both games due to poor in-game coaching decisions.
IIRC, they went for 4th down inside their own 10 yard line (maybe inside their own 5) against Serra-SM handing them an easy score in a game ultimately decided by 1 point.
And tonight, let’s forget that they were up 21-0 early and all the mistakes that allowed Pitt to stay in the game, the wanton hubris to go for 2 with over 2 full minutes remaining did them in again.
I’ll also call out Ryder Lyons insistence on trying to play Superman far too much and overextending plays that result in huge negative losses. That $#/t works against vastly inferior opponents, but not against fast, disciplined defenses. That’s something he’s gonna get a crash course in once he gets to the next level.
Circling back to Folsom’s coaches, it’s as if they don’t know what to do offensively if it doesn’t involve Ryder Lyons legs. We’ve seen that multiple times now against DLS, Serra and now Pittsburg. The kid is no doubt very talented and good, but there are limitations to putting all your eggs into that proverbial basket.
Congrats to Pitt for the huge “W” tonight! They were ready for what Folsom had to throw at them and battled back from a huge early deficit that would have caused most teams to tap out. Their defense was flying all over the field and making big time plays. I really hope they find a way to bring home the title next week.