Normally us CVAC fellas stick to ourselves. But I was getting jealous of everyone else's individual threads. So why not!? What are the thoughts on this matchup?
#30 Mt. Pleasant @ #3 Maiden
- Thread starter GrizzlyDevil
- Start date
Maiden 42-7. Devils way to good
The best i can remember Maiden has always had a good team
They have a very good team. I was fortunate enough to see them play a couple weeks ago. Their qb is the best that I’ve seen this year.
I went and seen Maiden play at home against Mt Pleasant in the playoffs back in 2016 I think. Mt Pleasant won that game. But I don’t see that happen this time. I take Maiden in this one.
Good luck to Maiden…always respected the program Maiden/Thomasville had some epic battles.
whats Antwan Ikard doing these days,is he around the program? Sorry maybe I butchered his name
whats Antwan Ikard doing these days,is he around the program? Sorry maybe I butchered his name
Worked with him in Hickory about 15 years ago. He would still go to games then. Haven't seen him in a long time.
He’s…married…with children …that should sum it up!😁
He’s always at the game though….he’s from Maiden. 😜
Ben Gibbs has turned into a stud for us. He's a Junior, put on some muscle from last year, runs and plays like he's twice his size, always has an attitude and a bad taste in his mouth. Fits our RB history perfectly.
I remember listening to the thomasville and maiden game on the radio back in what i would say was around ‘87 or so, it was at Maiden and a heck of a game. You could hear the fans over the broadcast. Think Benjie Brown was the qb for the Red Dogs.
I remember Maiden had a RB Robbie Holloway back around ‘88 or so. He was a good one. I think he had over 4,000 yrds.rushing.
You know Mount Pleasant beat us in ‘16!
Woodshedded our arses! They were sooo nice too! Ran over us!…helped us up….then ran over us some more!
Truly!…a class act football program! Great Coach too!
I haven’t forgotten it! Boom Devils have not forgotten it either.
It’s on!…this Friday night!
Mt. Pleasant has fielded some good teams. Cabarrus county teams play tough football but the Tigers are up against just too much in this years edition of the Blue Devils.
I had the same thought process with the "Cabarrus county teams play tough" and almost circled this as an upset. However, after seeing they lost to Lake Norman by a lot, my choice has changed. Maiden 52-28. The only way a team beats Maiden is through the air and stopping the pass. If not, Maiden can score quick and often. Eager to see if they get over the playoff hump this year. And I agree with a previous poster, the QB is the key. He can throw it, but I think he learned last week that he can run it just as effectively. Good luck to Maiden and all teams.
For those that don't look at the CVAC thread...this is my outlook on this game:
#3 Maiden vs #30 Mount Pleasant
The cream of the CVAC crop has put together their second consecutive undefeated season and the third such season in Head Coach Will Byrne's 6 seasons here in Maiden. With an offense that averages 40 points per game and a starting defense that has only allowed 4 points per game (7 per game as a team) including keeping 6 offenses scoreless, they will be a tough draw for anyone. The story with Maiden is even if you can slow their offense down, their defense won't let you take advantage of it. Even with our offense at it's worst for several games this year, our defense has been a steady blockade against all offenses. Finishing 3rd in their conference, Mount Pleasant has outscored their opponents 25-12 on average. That being said, there are several outliers in Mount Pleasant's schedule in 1A competitors Union Academy/South Stanly/Albemarle (4-24 combined record) in which they outscored 142-0. Mount Pleasant's other competition outscored them 124-104 (average of 12-10). The 2nd place team in their conference North Stanly didn't qualify for the playoffs. Head Coach Will Byrne's first playoff game at Maiden was a 2016 1st round home game versus Mount Pleasant that Mount Pleasant won 35-21. Everyone in Maiden remembers how well their D-Line contained our scrambling QB and how well their offense grounded and pounded our defense...Revenge is a dish best served cold. Maiden is hungry for playoff success and we have the defense to make a statement. Maiden wins this matchup 35-0.
#3 Maiden vs #30 Mount Pleasant
The cream of the CVAC crop has put together their second consecutive undefeated season and the third such season in Head Coach Will Byrne's 6 seasons here in Maiden. With an offense that averages 40 points per game and a starting defense that has only allowed 4 points per game (7 per game as a team) including keeping 6 offenses scoreless, they will be a tough draw for anyone. The story with Maiden is even if you can slow their offense down, their defense won't let you take advantage of it. Even with our offense at it's worst for several games this year, our defense has been a steady blockade against all offenses. Finishing 3rd in their conference, Mount Pleasant has outscored their opponents 25-12 on average. That being said, there are several outliers in Mount Pleasant's schedule in 1A competitors Union Academy/South Stanly/Albemarle (4-24 combined record) in which they outscored 142-0. Mount Pleasant's other competition outscored them 124-104 (average of 12-10). The 2nd place team in their conference North Stanly didn't qualify for the playoffs. Head Coach Will Byrne's first playoff game at Maiden was a 2016 1st round home game versus Mount Pleasant that Mount Pleasant won 35-21. Everyone in Maiden remembers how well their D-Line contained our scrambling QB and how well their offense grounded and pounded our defense...Revenge is a dish best served cold. Maiden is hungry for playoff success and we have the defense to make a statement. Maiden wins this matchup 35-0.
As an added note to this game...I only know of 2 times these schools have ever met, since 1972 at least:
1996 2A Playoff game at Maiden (Maiden 63 - Mount Pleasant 21)
2016 2AA Playoff game at Maiden (Mount Pleasant 35 - Maiden 21)
1996 2A Playoff game at Maiden (Maiden 63 - Mount Pleasant 21)
2016 2AA Playoff game at Maiden (Mount Pleasant 35 - Maiden 21)
I lived in Mt Pleasant for 15+ years. Coach Johns turned the program around. They were a bottom dweller for years. I’m not picking Mt pleasant to win this game. They are the only 2A school in Cabarrus Co. Maiden better not look past Mt. Mt will give it all they’ve got. Maiden is my pick to win it all in 2A this year.
I just saw where Coach Johns is retiring in January. He deserves a good retirement, but Mt. Pleasant will really miss him.
I saw it also. Mt Pleasant nation sure will miss Coach Johns. He definitely is a good coach.
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I hope Mt Pleasant can bring in a head coach that can continue what Coach Johns started. I was in a Bible study group with Coach Johns when I lived there. He is a better person than Coach. Other than a few Dad’s that wanted Jr. to start, everyone I know thinks the world of the man.
Grizz…the closest comparison game would have to be Mount Pleasants’ close loss to NW Cabarrus…28-26.
NWC played North Lincoln earlier in the year and lost in a shootout…54-40.
North Lincoln lost a heartbreaker to West Lincoln…14-7
Maiden won a nail biter over a West Lincoln 20-14.
I know! I know!….it’s all about matchups!
But…I’m thinking this game will be closer than most think. It’s a great 1st round matchup for Maiden!…one of the better matchups for the top 10 in 2a West.
That would be fun….picking who has the toughest game in the top 10 2a west in the first round.
NWC played North Lincoln earlier in the year and lost in a shootout…54-40.
North Lincoln lost a heartbreaker to West Lincoln…14-7
Maiden won a nail biter over a West Lincoln 20-14.
I know! I know!….it’s all about matchups!
But…I’m thinking this game will be closer than most think. It’s a great 1st round matchup for Maiden!…one of the better matchups for the top 10 in 2a West.
That would be fun….picking who has the toughest game in the top 10 2a west in the first round.
Hell that would make us a 21 point favorite Creek if we're adding it up haha! We just don't play West L well, haven't with Byrne, just something about that matchup. I hope for one hell of a game...but I just don't see our Defense relenting any, they may come out hot and trip up our offense, but that's all I'll change. If I were to change my prediction it would be to 28-0.
MP has two great big ole boys at their Tackle spots on offense...goodness gracious. Are they twins? 1st cousins? Daggum...they don't move much but they don't have to when your that big. You won't get bullrushed and they got to go nearly out of bounds to get around ya
Also looks like they run a zone scheme out of the pistol formation. Personally that's my favorite scheme to watch play and when done right it's perfection. I'm very excited to see it in action.
I see Maiden taking this game by a score of 48-13. The Blue Devils have shown that they can be dominate early offensively and then play solid defense to close out games.
I’m pulling for Maiden for the win. I’m waiting for that 3rd rd action. Good luck to Maiden. I will miss the 1st 2 rds due to work but planning on seeing the rest of the playoffs including a State Championship game.
5 things for each team from the game, as I saw it:
Mount Pleasant
1. Mt. Pleasant has some really big boys, like huge, at most of their positions. With that size I can see how a power run game is your default go to, and how good a run defense can be against other running teams. They were built like a mountain team if I've ever seen one.
2. Injuries for Mt. Pleasant started in the first half and got more frequent throughout the game, especially in the 4th quarter. Seems like there were 5or 6 total throughout the game. I couldn't tell if they were hurt physically or just hurt feelings. With kids you never can tell. They played a tough game, I just think we were too much throughout the game. We have much more strength than what we look like we have.
3. Maiden was too fast too early for the Tiger's defense. They played far enough off of our receivers (4 across the top with safeties and corners) that the 5-7 yard passes were open all night and with only 6 or 7 defenders in the box we ran well.
4. MTP offense didn't come as I have seen in the limited amount of film I was able to get my hands on. There was no pistol formation, just a double tight end offset eye ground and pound approach. It just doesn't work well against our defense.
5. Post-game, Coach Johns spent a decent amount of time on the field surrounded by his kids and in prayer. What an awesome testament to who he is. It's obvious how close they all were and how the kids felt about him. Heck of a coach and heck of a team. I wish him nothing but the best, MTP will miss him immensely.
Maiden
1. Coaching! Congrats to the coaches for having a great game plan from the get go - and - our halftime adjustments were spot on and what we needed. The energy from the coaches was the highest I've seen all year. Everything starts there.
2. UN-special teams - we had problems with the snaps and with handling of those snaps for punts and XP/Field goals. Thank goodness our two-point attempts worked so well at the beginning of the game. This has to be addressed, and I'm positive it will be.
3. Offensive linemen depth has been great for us but it has finally reached it's breaking point. We had two lineman out last night. One of them will return this week, the other has been out for the season since the West Lincoln game earlier in the year. While our starting 5 played well...one went down for a few series and the 3rd string center was having problems snapping the ball. It slowed us down immensely. This is something we shouldn't have a problem with from now one, we've always adjust well to our injuries this year.
4. Our QB only played one half. He's gotten really comfortable holding the ball this year because of how well our linemen pass block. He finally took a shot from MTP for holding on too long...what turned out to just be a stout stinger from what I've been able to tell. He came out for halftime warmups and was throwing the ball well, but the coaches decided to sit him and our starting RB went to QB. Having a 24-point lead has it's perks. The RB played well and was composed...definitely added a new wrinkle to our offense with someone back there that will tuck and run if the first read isn't open. He lead 2 touchdown drives in the 3rd quarter before our backups/JVs played all of the 4th quarter.
5. Defense defense defense. Hot damn...another offense (now 7 this year) that was held to zero points by our starting defense. Our 2nd string defense almost held them out of the endzone too if it weren't for the 2nd string offense fumbling the ball on our own 30 at the very end of the 4th. Maiden has been playing football since 1955, this is the best defense we've ever had.
Mount Pleasant
1. Mt. Pleasant has some really big boys, like huge, at most of their positions. With that size I can see how a power run game is your default go to, and how good a run defense can be against other running teams. They were built like a mountain team if I've ever seen one.
2. Injuries for Mt. Pleasant started in the first half and got more frequent throughout the game, especially in the 4th quarter. Seems like there were 5or 6 total throughout the game. I couldn't tell if they were hurt physically or just hurt feelings. With kids you never can tell. They played a tough game, I just think we were too much throughout the game. We have much more strength than what we look like we have.
3. Maiden was too fast too early for the Tiger's defense. They played far enough off of our receivers (4 across the top with safeties and corners) that the 5-7 yard passes were open all night and with only 6 or 7 defenders in the box we ran well.
4. MTP offense didn't come as I have seen in the limited amount of film I was able to get my hands on. There was no pistol formation, just a double tight end offset eye ground and pound approach. It just doesn't work well against our defense.
5. Post-game, Coach Johns spent a decent amount of time on the field surrounded by his kids and in prayer. What an awesome testament to who he is. It's obvious how close they all were and how the kids felt about him. Heck of a coach and heck of a team. I wish him nothing but the best, MTP will miss him immensely.
Maiden
1. Coaching! Congrats to the coaches for having a great game plan from the get go - and - our halftime adjustments were spot on and what we needed. The energy from the coaches was the highest I've seen all year. Everything starts there.
2. UN-special teams - we had problems with the snaps and with handling of those snaps for punts and XP/Field goals. Thank goodness our two-point attempts worked so well at the beginning of the game. This has to be addressed, and I'm positive it will be.
3. Offensive linemen depth has been great for us but it has finally reached it's breaking point. We had two lineman out last night. One of them will return this week, the other has been out for the season since the West Lincoln game earlier in the year. While our starting 5 played well...one went down for a few series and the 3rd string center was having problems snapping the ball. It slowed us down immensely. This is something we shouldn't have a problem with from now one, we've always adjust well to our injuries this year.
4. Our QB only played one half. He's gotten really comfortable holding the ball this year because of how well our linemen pass block. He finally took a shot from MTP for holding on too long...what turned out to just be a stout stinger from what I've been able to tell. He came out for halftime warmups and was throwing the ball well, but the coaches decided to sit him and our starting RB went to QB. Having a 24-point lead has it's perks. The RB played well and was composed...definitely added a new wrinkle to our offense with someone back there that will tuck and run if the first read isn't open. He lead 2 touchdown drives in the 3rd quarter before our backups/JVs played all of the 4th quarter.
5. Defense defense defense. Hot damn...another offense (now 7 this year) that was held to zero points by our starting defense. Our 2nd string defense almost held them out of the endzone too if it weren't for the 2nd string offense fumbling the ball on our own 30 at the very end of the 4th. Maiden has been playing football since 1955, this is the best defense we've ever had.
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