Another huge week. Sounds wild but a lot of teams will be pulling for Bunker this week.

Bandys (4-1, 1-1) at Lincolnton (1-4, 1-1)
East Burke (2-3, 0-2) vs Newton-Conover (2-3, 1-1)
Bunker Hill (5-0, 2-0) vs West Lincoln (5-0, 2-0)
Maiden (3-2, 1-1) vs West Caldwell (0-5, 0-2)




Bunker Hill 2-0
West Lincoln 2-0
Bandys 1-1
Lincolnton 1-1
Maiden 1-1
Newton Conover 1-1
East Burke 0-2
West Caldwell 0-2

Oh yeah......conference play starts this week.....

Those pesky Cougars come to Ramseur Friday. Luckily for them, there won't be a fancy Jumbotron to distract them. Just an Icee vendor on the South end. I wonder which version of SWR the Cats will see. The "Albemarle" version...........or the "Asheboro" version?

Big game in the Independent league. Looking forward to when Providence Day will play Ruben -Gap. Want be long.

1st conference game. Freedom looks to be down this year. Hopefully we get healthy and get in a rhythm.

Big game in conference play next Friday. Coach Williams has done a good job for Vikings but will face best test of season. Whiteville better not take them lightly.

I'll be at the Reagan vs Davie game Friday. Before last weekend, I would have rated this a toss up with R being a slight favorite due to it being a home game. After the pandemonium of last weekend, I'd say Davie by 1 score

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what is the team ejection rule where your team would be excluded from the playoffs..
I know there is a total if you meet for the year then you are excluded..

What is the current rule on player ejections and team eligibility for the football playoffs? I know some will be tempted to say, “depends on who your state senator is”, but I’m looking for the rulebook answer.

Last weeks games resulted in blowout wins for the top three teams Salisbury, N Rowan and Thomasville. Lexington was on bye lastweek but return to action this week. This weeks slate of games are pretty much snoozers again with an upset of the top three very unlikely.

Current standings: Salisbury 7-0, N Rowan 6-1, Lexington 4-2, Thomasville 4-3, East 2-4, South 3-4, West 0-6.

End of Regular season predictions based on matchups: Salisbury 10-0, N Rowan 8-2, Thomasville 7-3, Lexington 5-5, East Davidson 4-6, South Davidson 4-6, West Davidson 0-10. Salisbury #1 and top five 2A west seed. NR #1 1A seed and west 1A top 5. Thomasville 1A wildcard, Lexington 2A wildcard, South 1A wildcard, East needs a few more wins to get in and WD is done.

Lexington vs. West Davidson: Lexington is athletic and is currently 4-2 overall. The Jackets are having a good year and will go to 5-2 this week blowing out W Davidson as bad as they want. West has been blown out two straight weeks and their cryptonite is speed and Lexington has plenty of it. WD remains in an offense that does not move the chains and create much of a passing game. They really could use a change of philosophy down there. They have a big roster and some big lineman so something more along down hill power running might could save that program. The Yellow Jackets need a win because they then run the gauntlet of Salisbury, N Rowan and Thomasville three straight weeks to end the season and get a wildcard berth come playoff time.

Salisbury vs. E Davidson: East is on a three game skid backwards at 2-4 overall and 0-2 in the league. The Hornets are a top five 2A team 7-0 and will blow out the Eagles by the end of the 1st quarter. East is slow of foot on defense and anyone with speed has dismantled them so far and Salisbury is blazing fast. Eagles have SD and WD later in the season so they have a chance to get four wins.

Thomasville vs. S Davidson: Thomasville is 4-3 overall and 1-2 in the CCC. Dogs lost 12-6 and 16-12 to Salisbury and N Rowan. Dogs crushed WD last week while SD felt the old days losing by 50+ to Salisbury. South started out the year at 3-0, but is currently on a four game losing streak since beginning the season to be at 3-4. The Wildcats are much improved and the new HC and his staff have them believing that they can win in Denton. The Dogs outgained both Salisbury and N Rowan and could have won both games. South has a big line and likes to mix it up. The Dogs showed last week that they can throw it around a little but are still very reliant on #2. Dogs win big by halftime and continue to get better for the playoffs.

N Rowan 6-1 and ranked top 10 in the 1A polls is on a bye this week.

As I've said all year EW is very young all across the field. I think only 3-5 seniors on this team in which a team who doesn't have good numbers in general. They are playing decent ball for the experience they have. Unfortunately, a real slap in the face awaits this Friday night. I'm not sold on East getting inside the red zone this week barring a turnover or something by the Bears. I'm just hoping we get a good experience playing a team of this caliber and stay injury free for the remaining games of the season. Maybe after this Friday we can have a better idea of how the rest of the conference will finish. I'm dreading saying this but facts are facts, I'm saying MA by 40+.

Interesting fact EW new coach was one of JK's top assistants during his tenure at EW.

Who y’all got?
Franklin@Pisgah
North Hendo@Tuscola
West Hendo@Smoky
East Hendo-bye

I’ll go
Pisgah- bears have to take care of business and not over look Franklin for the next two big ones coming up. Bears run D has been pretty stout all year. I don’t think this Franklin team is as physical as some in the past. Tuscola may have done Pisgah a favor losing to Franklin last week. Should make sure they don’t sleep walk through this one.

Game of the week
Tuscola-(I think) not even trolling here this one is a toss up imo, let me be clear a toss up if West plays. If he doesn’t my pick instantly changes to NH.I think some people jumped the gun early when Tuscola stayed close to Asheville I’m not sure that was the accomplishment we all thought at the time. They are a late comeback away from being a one win team. That said they need this one and they are at home. NH is still a mystery to me at this point but I still see them as a finesse type team, I think Tuscola can get a few stops against that type of team. Physical teams are were they are struggling. I think if West plays Tuscola wins a shoot out something like 42-38. If he’s out it gets ugly and Tuscolas season is basically over.

Man I feel dirty after that….go Knights..

West Henderson-Best team in conference by far and maybe in WNC to this point. Not much needs to be said here. Biggest thing for WH at this point is to stay healthy. I look for SM to try and 3-4 yard WH to death to keep the ball away from WH. Maybe it works for a quarter? But West wins this one with a similar score to what they had last week 42-14ish.

Hopefully East Hendo gets the win against the bye but I’m not sure at this point

*Southern Carolina 4A*
4A Sun Valley 7-0 1-0
4A Porter Ridge 5-1 1-0
4A Weddington 5-1 0-0
4A Cuthbertson 5-2 0-1
4A Marvin Ridge 3-3 0-1

*Rocky River 3A/2A*
2A Monroe 5-1 1-0
2A West Stanly 4-2 1-0
2A Anson Co. 3-3 1-0
2A Forest Hills 5-1 0-1
3A Piedmont 1-5 0-1
3A Parkwood 1-5 0-1

1A Union Academy 1-5

NCISAA Metrolina Christian 5-1

*Top games for October 6, 2023*
Weddington 5-1 @ Porter Ridge 5-1
Marvin Ridge 3-3 @ Cuthbertson 5-2
West Stanly 4-2 @ Forest Hills 5-1
Metrolina Chr. 5-1 @ Rabun Gap(Ga.) 7-0

Another big matchup as 6-0 ( 2-0) Lake Norman takes on 2-5 ( 2-1) Hickory Ridge. Hickory Ridge is better than their record. Game being at Lake Norman will make it interesting. Will Lake Norman pull magic out of their hat or will HR spoil LN undefeated season. Should be a good game.

Sneaky good game here potentially. Providence has a very good QB…. That made his varsity debut against us last year and proceeded to light us up. They seem to be an improved team on the defensive side for them this year.

Mooresville is a little Jekyll and Hyde. When switched on, they can be dominant. But if they switch off… it’s can be a nightmare lol. For 3 quarters last night… we looked as good as any MV team I’ve seen since I’ve lived here (2003). But my word when we switched off and got complacent…. We couldn’t stop anything. And we continue to be super undisciplined picking up.. well frankly pointless… unsportsmanlike flags for no reason.

Not really sure what to make here, but just a quick opinion without any study… Mooresville by 14?

Panthers travel to Canton to face the Bears. Pisgah is playing very well and this game should be over early. Gametime: 7:30 (Limited updates)

Who is everybody picking to win….homecoming game for the Vikings !!

After two long weeks of not playing…It’s back to business! Home coming week also! Tarboro by 21 or better. Looking forward to hearing Bertie band though… RUDEBOYZZ

Interesting matchup, one that SWE should win. SHOULD. The Cougar offense seems to have found their grove, even though the run defense is still a major problem. NP, on the other hand, came out of the gates on fire, doing just enough to win their first 3 games, including a shocker at Edenton Holmes. Since then, they've lost 2 straight, including a road loss to Greene Central, a team SWE just beat by 31. I don't expect this one to be much of a problem for SWE, but that odd shaped ball has a funny way of bouncing sometimes. 48-20 is my guess. Updates during the game if signal allows.

Top 4 out of the West!

Southern Lee @ Pinecrest, P, 56-6
Union Pines @ Scotland, S, 49-14
Richmond @ Hoke County, R, 20-13
Lee County, BYE

KM needs to kept IMPROVING and needs to get HEALTHY.

JM Robinson 5-0 ( 3-0)
NW Cab 5-0 ( 3-0)
West Rowan 2-3 ( 2-0)
Concord 4-1 ( 2-1)
Carson 1-4 ( 0-2)
Central Cabarrus 1-4 (0-2)
South Rowan 1-4 ( 0-2)
East Rowan 0-5 ( 0-2)

East Rowan vs JM Robinson
West Rowan vs NW Cabarrus
Carson vs Concord
South Rowan vs Central Cabarrus

My picks
JM Robinson
NW Cabarrus
Concord
Central Cabarrus

Hickory 5-0 ( 2-0)
West Iredell 5-0 (2-0)
Statesville 3-2 (2-0)
North Iredell 3-2 (2-0)
East Lincoln 3-2 ( 0-2)
North Lincoln 3-2 ( 2-3)
St Stephens 0-5 (0-2)
Foard 0-5 ( 0-2)

Statesville vs Foard
St Stephens vs Hickory
West Iredell vs East Lincoln
North Lincoln vs North Iredell

My picks
Statesville
Hickory
East Lincoln
Tossup with North Lincoln vs North Iredell