Predators 57 - Limhamn 0, Game Recap

From the beginning of my journey here in Sweden there has been one name that i have heard about more then any other, "Limhamn". Talk of both respect for their achievements and of a little dislike for their achievements. The Predators faced them 3 times last season winning the 1st but falling short the other two. The latter being in the semifinals of the playoffs. All 3 were close games. They were the team to beat going into this year and deservedly so. I watched their first game and they crushed their opponent 55-3. My first impression was that they were a team that we would have to play smart against but we matched up well with them athletically.

At the start of the week i felt that we had a very good game plan in all phases of the game. We made some adjustments defensively to counter Limhamns wide variety of offense. The #1 goal this week on defense was, "know your responsibility, play fast and don't stop hitting. Offensively i knew we would be facing the best defensive front that we might see all season. Their DLine is good but their LBs are very good. And they like to bring pressure so our goal this week was protection. I knew we had a significant advantage in the passing game if we could give time for our QB to find our WRs.

We had a good week of prep. Offensively we got back some of the starters we were missing the week before and defensively a couple new players came aboard and 1 came back from injury so we finally had a little bit of depth. Defensively we focused on being sound with our different responsibilities and offensively we focused on protection and added a couple new wrinkles. I felt very prepared for Limhamn and i knew that if I could help our coaches get our players close to the same level of comfort that i had about our opponent then we would be in good shape. I made the comment to Anders Klang before Thursday's practice that if the players could play with my knowledge about Limhamn we would blow them out. At that moment i thought it would be a close game though. After practice Thursday i felt much better. Our defensive coaches did an outstanding job installing the game plan and allowing our defensive guys to play fast. I knew Limhamn was in for a tough battle.

GAME DAY

The weather is exactly what i did not want for this game. Powerful gusts of wind swirling through the stadium with off and on rain. Our plan was to throw the ball and throw it often and i knew Limhamn was going to run it. Pregame starts and we are loose but a little flat. Phil our QB felt good the WRs were feeling good but i think we had 1 completion total in 7on7 and team during pregame. We were just a little off. But its pregame and i was not too worried.

Limhamn makes the same mistake each team before has made and wins the toss and chooses to defer and give us the ball first. We move the ball well on our first drive but the field is a bit slippery and we are having some troubles with our footing. We cross mid field and are getting close to the red zone and we throw an INT deep in Limhamn territory. A late throw that i know as soon as Phil threw it he wanted it back. No big deal though, We protected well and moved the ball well. I knew we were on  the right track.

Our defense marches out on the field and begins the complete and total destruction of the Limhamn offense. I don't think Limhamn had a positive yard on 1st down until the 4th quarter. We had a lot of tackles for losses and i am not sure how many sacks but it was around 7 or 8. We were in the backfield of Limhamn all day and the defense did exactly what i asked of them. 'Know your assignment, play fast, and don't stop hitting." We had 5 turn overs,  4 INTs, one for a TD, and a Safety. The offense did not score after the middle of the 3rd Quarter. The defense scored the last 9 points of the game.

Offensively we found our groove the next series and scored on a TD strike to Sorin Pandrea. Phil Juhlin threw for another outstanding performance with 5 more TDs. Sorin was awesome, a duel threat with another 4 TD game. 3 receiving and 1 on the ground. Ben Hornquist,  Mackan Johnsson and Calle Neilson all made big plays for scores. But with out a doubt our offensive line were the heroes this week. They had a tough task protecting against a very good pressure defensive front. They gave Phil time to find the open wrs and in the second half after we had the lead they opened huge holes and controlled the game. I am very proud of the entire team but special props go out to my Lineman for rising to the occasion and building a deserved reputation as the best OLine in Division 1.

I have not seen the film yet or done stats. as soon as i get a chance i will get those up asap.

Congratulations Predators!

Great Victory!