The 1AA playoffs should be very entertaining right from the outset...23 of the 32 total 1AA playoff teams have winning records with both sides of the Brackets having their share of Heavyweights....
Looking at the East:
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There are some very interesting first round matchups, and here's a few that I'm interested in....
1).#6 Riverside-Martin hosting #11 Union--The Knights were clearly the 2nd best team from the Two Rivers Conference, while the Spartans play in the tough 1A/2A FCC, and have only lost to 1A schools Lakewood and Wallace Rose-Hill, this season...On paper, the Knights look to have the better offense, while the Spartans seem to be a little stronger on defense, so it'll be interesting to see which unit for both teams make the difference in the outcome of this first round matchup?
2).#9 Princeton at #8 Camden County---Clearly, the Bulldogs have improved since that terrible start to the season, and proved that in the season-ending win over Rosewood...Meanwhile, Camden was expected to challenge Plymouth for the C-10 Crown this year, and Plymouth is the only 1A school to beat the Bruins this year, but it just seemed as though the Bruins finished the season going thru the motions, while the Bulldogs were steadily improving....Just an opinion from the outside looking in, based on late season results?....I'll be interested to see which trend continues, and who moves on to the 2nd round matchup with the Top Dog( #1 Wallace Rose Hill) litteraly and figurably from the 1AA East?
3).#5 seed Granville Central will be at home this year for their first round matchup with #12 Gates County...The Panthers blitzed all the 1A schools in the Tar-Roanoke, and should be on a roll for their first round matchup and first meeting with the Red Barons, but a weak conference can sometimes balance the scales in these first round matchups....The wildcard is that Granville Central has one of the best QBs in the state in Jay Parker, so does that give the Panthers the edge over visiting Gates County?...A likely trip to Beaufort to face #4 seeded East Carteret looms for the winner in the 2nd round with the possibility of a great matchup between two of the best 1A QBs in the state as the Mariners have a great signal-caller themselves, in Sr. QB Brennan Lewis....
Don't think that the top 4 1A Eastern Heavyweights Tarboro,James Kenan,WRH or East Carteret will have any trouble with their first round opponents, but those possbile 3rd and 4th round games should be great if the favorites meet?
In the West
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13 of the 16 playoff qualifiers have a winning record, which should make for some very interesting matchups right from the outset, and here's a few first round games that I'm interested in?
1).Anytime that you have a matchup between 2 storied 1A Programs that have played and won state championships in the 1A class: There's going to be some intrigue, and that will be the case this friday night in Bryson City when the Maroondevils entertain the team that ended their season last year....Starmount lost a lot to graduation last year after finishing as the state 1AA runnerup, and that showed early in the season, but the Rams seemed to have found their rhythm just in time for the playoffs to start....Swain is coming off a brutal stretch of facing 3 straight physical SMC opponents that cost them a QB and a bunch of bumps and bruises to go with it, and left them with the bitter taste of watching Robbinsville celebrate another SMC Championship after losing to the Black Knights 22-7 last friday night at Big Oaks Stadium....I've given this game a bigger buildup than what was needed because really all that is needed to be said, is Rams vs the Maroondevils in Round #1!
2). Pine Lake Prep who was riding-high with a 10-game winning-streak before losing in the season finale at The Community School of Davidson had better right the ship in a hurry, or the Pride could be looking at an early exit and a streak of a different kind to close the season....Walkertown is poised to make some noise as they say, and have a veteran team full of atheletes that has played argubly one of the toughest 1A schedules in the state...A team's attitude heading into the playoffs often tells a lot about what's going to happen, but will that be the case this friday when the Pride face the Wolfpack?
3).As with game #2, can East Montgomery pick themselves back up after that emotional home loss to West Montgomery last friday for the YVC Title?....On the other side, how effective will Antonio Williams be after suffering the late season injury that sidelined him for a game or two?...Remember, East beat North earlier in the season with a healthy Williams, so who wins the playoff rematch between these two YVC foes?
4).Can Mount Airy rebound after back-to-back conference losses to Walkertown and East Surry, and what about Whiteville who was in control of the undisputed Three Rivers Title until losing to 2A South Columbus in the finale?...Both teams coming off losses to bitter rivals who dashed their championship hopes...Of course, Whiteville still got a piece of the TRC Title, and the Wolfpack got a home playoff game with it, so does that give the Wolfpack the edge over the Bears, in this matchup?
5). 4th seeded Mitchell County remembers that trip to Whiteville last year....It was their final game of the season....The team the Mountaineers host in the first round is a team similar to what the Mountaineers were last year...A team on the rise!....The difference is that this year Mitchell County is more experienced, and now has a proven dual-threat at QB in Sophomore Ben Young...Behind Young is argubly one of the deepest RB corps in the 1A class...The Mustangs have had a couple weeks to prepare for their playoff matchup with Mitchell County, but will that be enough time to prepare for one of the top offenses in the 1A Class?
I guess one of the biggest storylines heading into the playoffs is which of the 3 unbeaten teams will be first to lose their first and last game of the season, and will the West be represented in the Championship game by the the last undefeated 1A team left standing?....The possible 2nd round playoff matchups for all 3 unbeaten teams, should be very entertaining to say the least....
Comments and Opinions are welcomed!
Roar Tigers Roar!
Looking at the East:
---------------------------
There are some very interesting first round matchups, and here's a few that I'm interested in....
1).#6 Riverside-Martin hosting #11 Union--The Knights were clearly the 2nd best team from the Two Rivers Conference, while the Spartans play in the tough 1A/2A FCC, and have only lost to 1A schools Lakewood and Wallace Rose-Hill, this season...On paper, the Knights look to have the better offense, while the Spartans seem to be a little stronger on defense, so it'll be interesting to see which unit for both teams make the difference in the outcome of this first round matchup?
2).#9 Princeton at #8 Camden County---Clearly, the Bulldogs have improved since that terrible start to the season, and proved that in the season-ending win over Rosewood...Meanwhile, Camden was expected to challenge Plymouth for the C-10 Crown this year, and Plymouth is the only 1A school to beat the Bruins this year, but it just seemed as though the Bruins finished the season going thru the motions, while the Bulldogs were steadily improving....Just an opinion from the outside looking in, based on late season results?....I'll be interested to see which trend continues, and who moves on to the 2nd round matchup with the Top Dog( #1 Wallace Rose Hill) litteraly and figurably from the 1AA East?
3).#5 seed Granville Central will be at home this year for their first round matchup with #12 Gates County...The Panthers blitzed all the 1A schools in the Tar-Roanoke, and should be on a roll for their first round matchup and first meeting with the Red Barons, but a weak conference can sometimes balance the scales in these first round matchups....The wildcard is that Granville Central has one of the best QBs in the state in Jay Parker, so does that give the Panthers the edge over visiting Gates County?...A likely trip to Beaufort to face #4 seeded East Carteret looms for the winner in the 2nd round with the possibility of a great matchup between two of the best 1A QBs in the state as the Mariners have a great signal-caller themselves, in Sr. QB Brennan Lewis....
Don't think that the top 4 1A Eastern Heavyweights Tarboro,James Kenan,WRH or East Carteret will have any trouble with their first round opponents, but those possbile 3rd and 4th round games should be great if the favorites meet?
In the West
----------------
13 of the 16 playoff qualifiers have a winning record, which should make for some very interesting matchups right from the outset, and here's a few first round games that I'm interested in?
1).Anytime that you have a matchup between 2 storied 1A Programs that have played and won state championships in the 1A class: There's going to be some intrigue, and that will be the case this friday night in Bryson City when the Maroondevils entertain the team that ended their season last year....Starmount lost a lot to graduation last year after finishing as the state 1AA runnerup, and that showed early in the season, but the Rams seemed to have found their rhythm just in time for the playoffs to start....Swain is coming off a brutal stretch of facing 3 straight physical SMC opponents that cost them a QB and a bunch of bumps and bruises to go with it, and left them with the bitter taste of watching Robbinsville celebrate another SMC Championship after losing to the Black Knights 22-7 last friday night at Big Oaks Stadium....I've given this game a bigger buildup than what was needed because really all that is needed to be said, is Rams vs the Maroondevils in Round #1!
2). Pine Lake Prep who was riding-high with a 10-game winning-streak before losing in the season finale at The Community School of Davidson had better right the ship in a hurry, or the Pride could be looking at an early exit and a streak of a different kind to close the season....Walkertown is poised to make some noise as they say, and have a veteran team full of atheletes that has played argubly one of the toughest 1A schedules in the state...A team's attitude heading into the playoffs often tells a lot about what's going to happen, but will that be the case this friday when the Pride face the Wolfpack?
3).As with game #2, can East Montgomery pick themselves back up after that emotional home loss to West Montgomery last friday for the YVC Title?....On the other side, how effective will Antonio Williams be after suffering the late season injury that sidelined him for a game or two?...Remember, East beat North earlier in the season with a healthy Williams, so who wins the playoff rematch between these two YVC foes?
4).Can Mount Airy rebound after back-to-back conference losses to Walkertown and East Surry, and what about Whiteville who was in control of the undisputed Three Rivers Title until losing to 2A South Columbus in the finale?...Both teams coming off losses to bitter rivals who dashed their championship hopes...Of course, Whiteville still got a piece of the TRC Title, and the Wolfpack got a home playoff game with it, so does that give the Wolfpack the edge over the Bears, in this matchup?
5). 4th seeded Mitchell County remembers that trip to Whiteville last year....It was their final game of the season....The team the Mountaineers host in the first round is a team similar to what the Mountaineers were last year...A team on the rise!....The difference is that this year Mitchell County is more experienced, and now has a proven dual-threat at QB in Sophomore Ben Young...Behind Young is argubly one of the deepest RB corps in the 1A class...The Mustangs have had a couple weeks to prepare for their playoff matchup with Mitchell County, but will that be enough time to prepare for one of the top offenses in the 1A Class?
I guess one of the biggest storylines heading into the playoffs is which of the 3 unbeaten teams will be first to lose their first and last game of the season, and will the West be represented in the Championship game by the the last undefeated 1A team left standing?....The possible 2nd round playoff matchups for all 3 unbeaten teams, should be very entertaining to say the least....
Comments and Opinions are welcomed!
Roar Tigers Roar!
