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Football Scoreboard - December 6/7

Whether he’s up to the hype or not, cut the kid some slack as that’s what he is, a kid. He’s a junior in HS and talented but really not worthy of some of the criticisms here.

Enjoy watching him play and dislike Folsom all you’d like but keep it in perspective. If he ever plays on Sunday have at it, but until then the most you will pay to watch him is a $10 or $12 dollar ticket.
Jayden Daniels is doing just fine after Serra held him to 14 points in the State game his junior year, lots of development left still for the kid.
 
Let's stop pretending Serra and Pitt don't have good or great defenses. Because they do. They are coached up very very well.

Furthermore, let's also not pretend to understand that Folsom only lost to both teams by a single point. Games in which the Folsom coaching staff made decisions to go for 4th down inside their own 10 yard line (against Serra) then went for 2 with over 2 minutes remaining (Pitt) among many other questionable decisions/calls throughout the game that helped decide those games.

None of that is on Ryder Lyons. With better coaching and decision making, Folsom could easily be 15-0 right now and in a State Bowl game. With a Junior QB.

As for slighting Lyons for the St. Bonaventure game the season before, again, see the above. And also recognize that the kid was a freaking Sophomore.

I realize that you have a natural inclination to dislike or root against Folsom, I get it. But let's not go crazy here. The kid is a phenomenal young QB prospect and a couple of close losses largely due to an over-matched coaching staff do not diminish or change that.

Is he perfect? Of course not! I even detailed some tendencies that get him into trouble against good, fast, and disciplined defenses. But that's all part of the learning curve for talents like him. His coaching staff needs to be better in calling plays that don't always rely upon his legs or Houdini act. They have a ton of talent and could do a better job of spreading the wealth and keeping defenses off balance and not so solely focused on stopping #3.
Folsom went for it on 4th and 28 from their own 3 in the Serra game, awful coaching decision.

You are correct, they could be 15-0, but as I pointed out after the Serra loss, the video game coaching mentality will get you beat against good teams. They made some terrible decisions that game and I'm sure some more in the Pitt game other then going for 2
 
He’s a pull back 8th grader not a good look. Playing a year up will give you all the advantages you need in college.
Okay I agree it’s not a great look but maybe he was just young for his class? my son just turned 7 years old and he’s in 2nd grade yet 3/4 of his class are 8 or are about to be 8. My son is the youngest in his class and looking back I should have started him a year later so he’s closer to the same age as his peers. Just saying we don’t always know the full story and people saying he’s going to be 20 as a senior is a straight up lie lol.
 
Okay I agree it’s not a great look but maybe he was just young for his class? my son just turned 7 years old and he’s in 2nd grade yet 3/4 of his class are 8 or are about to be 8. My son is the youngest in his class and looking back I should have started him a year later so he’s closer to the same age as his peers. Just saying we don’t always know the full story and people saying he’s going to be 20 as a senior is a straight up lie lol.
Most of these kids playing varsity as freshmen and soph studs are in fact hold backs and older. Pitt's stud freshmen WR is already 16 in 9th grade.
 
I felt St. Francis was just as physical, maybe more. Close game that could have gone either way. Congrats to Grant keeping their composure on that final drive.
Did st Francis have their top
RB healthy??? DD he play ?. He has a younger brother, but this one is a senior.
 
Cmon Larry, you’re telling me Lyons’ favorite receiver and one of Folsoms best players wouldn’t have made a difference in a 1 point game? He may not make much noise in college but for HS, Powell is elite. Give me a break..
I'm telling you Pitt's DB's and Safety's are a lot better than anybody Powell has seen and a lot better than him. They lock him down either way.
 
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I could be wrong, but isn't he like a 19 year old jr? He mos def has skills.
lol no. 19?! Ryder Lyons is 17 years old which is normal for a junior .

I wouldn’t have been able to tell you either way.

I love HS football, and have been around it and following it since 1984. But I’ve never been involved or obsessed to a point where I’m tracking these HS kids birthdates.

That said, wrt what Larry alleges about their youth program, when I coached a couple seasons of youth ball back in 2008/09, the very first scrimmage we had was against Folsom and we noticed that several of their kids seemed a tad older than our kids. They did have some freshman on the team. So did Oak Ridge, whose tailback destroyed us.

To be fair, back then at least, freshman could play down on the Midget program if they were still 14 years old. It was allowable by the rules. But really designed for those that couldn’t cut it playing on the freshman team, typically due to size or maturity reasons. But we all know when there’s a loophole, there are those that will look to exploit it. So I’m not surprised to hear that it happens.

Regardless, IDC enough to get more into it or dwell on it.
 
Okay I agree it’s not a great look but maybe he was just young for his class? my son just turned 7 years old and he’s in 2nd grade yet 3/4 of his class are 8 or are about to be 8. My son is the youngest in his class and looking back I should have started him a year later so he’s closer to the same age as his peers. Just saying we don’t always know the full story and people saying he’s going to be 20 as a senior is a straight up lie lol.
I really like your comment on this, This is something I have thought about as well…. My son just finished HS played FB and Baseball and Graduated at 17 and turned 18 when he started College….

He started working out a ton as a Sophmore and he is workout machine and now playing Baseball in JC…. I look at him now and think, man what if he was a Senior this year, he is a whole different level of player right now…. I should have held him back in 8th grade… 🤣

But I never would have done it, because there is also the Social aspect of it all and he has always had a big, tight nit group of friends that all grew up together and played sports together so holding him back would have been a mistake…. So it’s a tough decision, but I can see the benefit it if Sports is the end game….

And Also, I don’t think it’s even possible for a 19 year old kid to play sports in HS in CA…. I think there is a Rule where if you turn 19 Before May of your Senior year you are not eligible then play your senior year….

So my guess is Lyons will be 18 next year and turn 19 when he goes to college….
 
Folsom went for it on 4th and 28 from their own 3 in the Serra game, awful coaching decision.

You are correct, they could be 15-0, but as I pointed out after the Serra loss, the video game coaching mentality will get you beat against good teams. They made some terrible decisions that game and I'm sure some more in the Pitt game other then going for 2

I couldn’t agree more.

We actually had this same discussion (on this forum) about Folsom more than a decade ago. These same issues reared there head when Richardson and Taylor were coaching the team against De La Salle in 2012 and 2013, and then Bellarmine a few years later.

Going for 4th and 10 deep inside your own territory works more often than not against vastly outmatched opponents, but isn’t a great strategy against equal or superior teams. Folsom found that out first hand against DLS. Unfortunately, they’ve really not learned their lesson all these years later.
 
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I have no idea of his age. I do have a really good input on him doing 8th grade twice. It is my understanding that the other player from EDH also is a "super eight".

That one year doesn't make any difference when a man goes from 27 to 28 but when a teenager gets an extra year during his teen years.....It makes a huge difference in physical and mental maturity.....Why not let 20 year olds play in hs? That is really my point
 
I have no idea of his age. I do have a really good input on him doing 8th grade twice. It is my understanding that the other player from EDH also is a "super eight".

That one year doesn't make any difference when a man goes from 27 to 28 but when a teenager gets an extra year during his teen years.....It makes a huge difference in physical and mental maturity.....Why not let 20 year olds play in hs? That is really my point
Yeah its night and day. Friend of mine son plays JC and he's 19 and he looks like a man now compared to when he was 17 or 18 in hs. Not even the same kid. He joked it wouldn't even be fair if he was still in HS. I totally agree with you.
 
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Yeah its night and day. Friend of mine son plays JC and he's 19 and he looks like a man now compared to when he was 17 or 18 in hs. Not even the same kid. He joked it wouldn't even be fair if he was still in HS. I totally agree with you.

I also agree. But didn't someone confirm that Ryder Lyons is 17, not 19, and will graduate at 18?

Much ado about nothing, at least with regard to him.

I'll also add that while I agree with your example above, that isolated sample size doesn't apply to all kids. Many of them are monsters at 16 or 17 that others don't reach, if at all, until 19 or 20 (think D.J. Williams, among many others). People physically mature at different rates.

Hell, it's been well chronicled that Dennis Rodman was 5'9 at graduation then grew to 6'7 two years after HS. And the opposite often happens where a kid looks like a grown man at 13, 14, 15 then doesn't develop much after that. I've actually witnessed numerous cases of the latter throughout my own life experience.

Point is, many experience the transformation your friend's son experienced at younger ages. Some experience it even later.

There is no one size fits all here.

The above having been said, I believe most of us agree that 19 year olds in the Fall of their Senior seasons shouldn't be participating. And per the past and current rules, it sure sounds like it isn't a possibility.
 
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Then why do 8th grade twice when the kid is a 4.0 student? What is the end goal?

He is a great athlete and by all accounts a very good leader and student. Just wonder why all the hold backs is its not for sports?
 
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Then why do 8th grade twice when the kid is a 4.0 student? What is the end goal?

He is a great athlete and by all accounts a very good leader and student. Just wonder why all the hold backs is its not for sports?
Of course its for sports. It has nothing to do with education. Its keeping up with the latest trends. The elite ones it won't matter like Ryder. The other ones will game the system and get another year having a big advantage over grade appropriate kids. They did a big study on this. Read outliers by Malcolm Gladwell which he coined "relative age effect."
 
Then why do 8th grade twice when the kid is a 4.0 student? What is the end goal?

He is a great athlete and by all accounts a very good leader and student. Just wonder why all the hold backs is its not for sports?

Well, if the info about Ryder being 17 and set to graduate at 18 are true, my guess is that he was started in school at a younger age originally and perhaps his parents felt holding him back would put him in the right place? IDK.

What does it matter if he is the same age as his classmates?

When it comes to those held back just to give them an age advantage, we seem to all agree. But if the kid was held back and doesn't have an age advantage -- I again ask, what does it matter?
 
Of course its for sports. It has nothing to do with education. Its keeping up with the latest trends. The elite ones it won't matter like Ryder. The other ones will game the system and get another year having a big advantage over grade appropriate kids. They did a big study on this. Read outliers by Malcolm Gladwell which he coined "relative age effect."

I notice you dodged my reply. You do that a lot, LL.

I'll take it as acknowledgement that you guys are making a mountain out of a molehill wrt Ryder Lyons. Unless of course you guys have some sort of intel that he's going to graduate at 19? If so, then I stand corrected. IDK either way. I'm only going off what others have purported.

But if the kid is going to graduate at 18 like the majority of his class, this is all silly talk.

To be clear, if a kid is being held back for the explicit purpose of gaining an age advantage and that advantage isn't needed to compensate for some type of underdevelopment -- then I believe the majority agrees that it is unethical BS.

I thought it was bush league back when I was coaching 7th and 8th graders 15 years ago and I still believe so. But I have no issue with a kid being held back if that kid is still within the normal age range of his class.

One of my best friends graduated in my class, but he was 11 months younger than me. He turned 17 in March, just prior to our June graduation, while I turned 18 a month later in April. During our Fall football season, he was 16 and 1/2 but was a fair sized kid at 6-2 and well over 200 pounds.

Had he been held back a year at some point, he'd have been within the same age range as all the kids graduating a year behind him. And had that happened, I don't see what the problem would have been.
 
TR fully understand your point and agree if things are so....I seem to remember that his older brother was also a super 8 kid, I could be wrong. I also heard that the gifted lineman at that school is also a super eight EDH kid? Coincidence? Also I hear that a certain Jr. high school in EDH is willing to promote this activity. This is not the first year I have heard of this and it really seems to be happening allot at one school?
 
TR fully understand your point and agree if things are so....I seem to remember that his older brother was also a super 8 kid, I could be wrong. I also heard that the gifted lineman at that school is also a super eight EDH kid? Coincidence? Also I hear that a certain Jr. high school in EDH is willing to promote this activity. This is not the first year I have heard of this and it really seems to be happening allot at one school?
Walker Lyons was on the 2022 Folsom Team and Graduated in 2023….

On line it says he was born in 2004, I am not going to post his actual date of birth, but if the birthdate is true, he would have been 19 prior to HS graduation…. 🤣

I don’t always believe everything I read on line though, so there's that…. 🤣🤣
 
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