MA at Surry Central
Props to the Golden Eagles for continuing to have this one on the schedule, they haven’t beaten MA more than close a handful of times and the last win 8 years ago came after a 17 year wait. They want that gate money as it brings a good chunk to their athletic purse, however it’s gonna be a long night in Dobson for the Golden Eagles. Their best hope is to surprise MA on a pass for a score as they did it at the MA 7 on 7. However it won’t happen this time, MA will be better prepared and focused. MA is two games away from completing the perfect Surry County series with no shutouts, I don’t think it’s happened before. At least not in the modern era so they do have a lot to play for. They can accomplish that in the fall when they play Elkin.
West Stokes at East Surry
The GOTW as far as the area is concerned, this one is a true tossup and a good representation of the rivalry between these two dating back 20 years. West has played up to the level so far despite a close loss last week as they went head to head with a very good Randleman squad. East meanwhile has struggled to put it nicely however they played two of the best 1A teams in the state in back to back weeks so it’s very misleading to say the Cards are terrible yet. We will see what they will have the next few weeks for sure, tonight will be a great indicator of what they will be though. On paper it looks like West should run away with this one but honestly I think it could be closer than what many expect. East badly wants to prove theirselves and West has got to show if they can handle the pressure or not. West also has one of East’s former players on their roster from that run and that will fire the Cards up more than many expect. In rivalry games sometimes that is all you need to wake up and play a thriller.
Whoever wins this one will get all the momentum. West I just think is better, but if East pulls this one out then all bets are off.
Starmount at Forbush
Unif Bowl time as the Rams head to East Bend to matchup with a struggling Forbush team. The Bush has very much had better days as of late for sure. Week 1 they struggled with a very big and athletic NF team and last week they just weren’t ready for McMichael who came out fired up and put the Falcons away early to a way bigger win than I was expecting. The Bush is struggling to keep up on both ends of the ball as the line is the youngest they’ve had in quite a few years and their backfield on offense is struggling. Their QB of recent years Taylor who is also their best athlete has been MIA so far this season. He played vs NF but didn’t do much at all, last week he didn’t play at all as they started their other QB. Either he’s hurt or just not working out but their offense is badly behind their standards of the past few years, and they got to find a way to improve it or they will struggle this year.
The Rams meanwhile have had a solid but not complete start to their season. Their defense isn’t fully there yet in terms of being conclusive and delivering to their potential. North Iredell hung in their much like I expected last week and it took 4 quarters for the Rams to put them away. Week 1 Trinity came back and scored several times in the 4th and that’s just not gonna work moving forward if they wanna hang with the top dogs. The Rams have got to find consistency on that side of the ball. Offensively the Rams are pretty much there as they can score well and have nice balance.
The next two weeks should be times to work the kinks out for them as they play Alleghany and MA in back to back weeks and if they aren’t on the same foot it’ll be a disappointing fortnight for the Rams. Forbush badly needs a life line moving forward but I don’t see it as they are in very deep water and it won’t get less deep tonight.
South Davidson at North Stokes
Last week the Vikings of Danbury were knocked to earth in a very disappointing outing in Kernersville vs Bishop McGuiness in a continuation of a long term rivalry after a couple of years. The Vikes are already suffering injuries at a time where they don’t need them due to their # struggles, their starting RB was out last week and it really hurt their offense. They gave it all to beat Chatham Central in the opener and time will tell if that was a wise move or not.
Tonight they host a very improved and on the rise South Davidson team who are undefeated and cruised over their past 2 non conference teams and should do so again tonight. This has always been a competitive series however it looks like SD has the edge.
McMichael at South Stokes
The opening 2 weeks haven’t been the least bit pretty for the Sauras as they have been outplayed in every level of the game by West Stokes and North Surry. Stopping the run has been a struggle for South as well as passing the ball which is what they are trying to establish their offense on this year. Time will tell if that works or not, but this week it sure will be another challenge as they are home for the first time with a new track as they host McMichael who despite their record are jamming right now. They played a good Rockingham County team awfully close and dominated in a surprising way Forbush last week. The Phoenix are very fast and have a good sized line, it’ll take a herculean effort for the Sauras to stay close here.
West Wilkes at Ashe County
A very important game for both of these programs, this series has always been a hard fought one to begin with dating back to the late 90’s. Both of these teams need a win here to help their momentum moving forward, however neither is going to give an inch to the other. Ashe has had a very solid start to the season. Week 1 they showed they can avoid collapses as they held off a more athletic WC squad while last week the QB showed up beyond motivated and dominated North Wilkes all over the field to a nasty 48-0 shutout. West meanwhile is struggling to handle their hype as they let a game they shoulda won in week 1 slide away and they almost choked on to Elkin last week as they had a horrific final quarter with Elkin scoring twice off WW’s mistakes. They can’t afford to do that moving forward if they wanna compete for the Foothills and a playoff spot.
Last year Ashe beat West with their own game as they couldn’t stop Ashe’s RB who ball controlled them a lot of the evening. This year the experience for Ashe is at the QB spot however their run game isn’t bad either. West meanwhile is a natural run team with passing aspirations. This one will come down to whoever can establish the run better and who makes the least mistakes. I just think Ashe is the more all around team right now. This week and next are good tests for West as they have a very improved West Iredell team next week.
Wilkes Central at Patton
The Eagles have been one of the hardest teams to figure in the area so far this year. They started off very sloppy with three awful quarters vs Ashe before waking up and making a thriller out of it in the opener. Last week they overplayed everyone’s expectations and had a lead going into the 4th before falling apart vs Alexander Central. Very hard to tell anything from that, either WC’s better than we figure or AC’s that down which is insane to consider as they beat a very solid and better than their record Statesville squad in the opener. But I digress.
This week the Eagles have a long haul as they travel a good while to Burke county to play Patton who to be nice is just flat out struggling this season, again they didn’t field a JV team and they are struggling to exist as a program moving forward. So this is a test that is going to be hard to judge in the long term because I expect WC to roll with ease in this one, they kept this game on the schedule to do that purpose. However if Patton against all odds makes this one somewhat close then they will be on the way up and WC again will be tougher to figure.
Next 2 weeks will show what the Eagles will have moving forward.
