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A few preseason dark horses in 4A

Chris_Hughes

Chris_Hughes

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Feb 13, 2004
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Who are a few teams that may be a bit off your radar that you should take note of before the start of the season? These are mine.

1. Northern Guilford: Few people probably anticipate much out of them coming up from 3A, but this may be one of the most talented teams I've seen, especially at the skill positions.

2. Asheville: Don't sleep on the Cougars, they could challenge A.C. Reynolds for the conference title. (Don't sleep on T.C. Roberson either, new offense, same speed.)

3. South Mecklenburg: They have won 4-straight games coming in from last year and I see them getting much better.

4. Sanderson: They are solid on both sides of the ball, if they can shore up the Offensive Line in a few spots, watch out in Raleigh.

5. Reagan: They are extremely talented but also very thin with not as much quality depth. If the Raiders stay healthy, they'll have a hand in who wins the CPC.

6. Independence: The Patriots have looked really good in the first few weeks, the defense is playing fast and I could see this team setting a good foundation for 2022.

7. Southern Alamance: They return 18 of 22 starters from the spring, while they graduated a stud quarterback, this is a team that could knock off a contender and hurt some feelings in a hurry.

8. Riverside: They were winless in the spring, but insert Corey Lea back in the picture and the Pirates will ascend quickly in the 4A East scene.

9. Page: I don't see the Pirates going winless again, slowly and steadily, they'll be back in the upper echelon of 4A programs.

10. Southeast Raleigh: It is only a matter of time before the Dogs are back in the mix in Raleigh. It may not come in 2021, but again, they may take a bite out of someone.
 
Northern - Lotta skill players, yes. Will they win games, yes. A threat in the playoffs? Doubt it. Only if their O-line gets better will they have a shot at a run in the playoffs.

Southern Alamance - This is a reach. Their entire offense was built around their QB last season. Also, they limit themselves with predictable play calling. They will beat teams that they are supposed to beat, but they won't have a shot against the better teams in 4A.

Page.............all I can say is they better at least look competitive because when you can't hang on to players and you don't seem to be getting better you are in trouble. They have a shot to win three games, possibly. They will have no shot in the other games. That is how I see it.
 
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justchilln said:
Page.............all I can say is they better at least look competitive because when you can't hang on to players and you don't seem to be getting better you are in trouble. They have a shot to win three games, possibly. They will have no shot in the other games. That is how I see it.
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Well they just beat a solid Davie bunch in a scrimmage, and only lost players last off season because of coaching turnover. No other players have left since then. In fact, a star runningback from NE Guilford has transferred in. Trevon Hester. From what we've seen, the Pirates are already looking a good bit better from last year. Your prediction about wins and losses is all fine and well, but at least have some information about what's going on when you say things like you did in your first sentence...... these new coaches are coaching their tail off, and the players have already responded very well. the culture at Page is already starting to look like it was when Coach G was here. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying they are going to win every game, Page is still building the dang thing back up, and it will take some more time for them to get back to where they should be, which is competing in the playoffs for championships. But, the bottom was last year and the upward trajectory has already started.
 
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NewBernBears said:
Chris can you give me your honest opinion about New Bern
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Well, New Bern isn't on this list because I don't feel that they are remotely a dark horse. They were incredible against Rolesville but to be fair, Rolesville's QB only played a few snaps, the starting guard wasn't there, and both safeties didn't play. Yet still, New Bern is very strong.
 
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Chris_Hughes said:
Who are a few teams that may be a bit off your radar that you should take note of before the start of the season? These are mine.

1. Northern Guilford: Few people probably anticipate much out of them coming up from 3A, but this may be one of the most talented teams I've seen, especially at the skill positions.

2. Asheville: Don't sleep on the Cougars, they could challenge A.C. Reynolds for the conference title. (Don't sleep on T.C. Roberson either, new offense, same speed.)

3. South Mecklenburg: They have won 4-straight games coming in from last year and I see them getting much better.

4. Sanderson: They are solid on both sides of the ball, if they can shore up the Offensive Line in a few spots, watch out in Raleigh.

5. Reagan: They are extremely talented but also very thin with not as much quality depth. If the Raiders stay healthy, they'll have a hand in who wins the CPC.

6. Independence: The Patriots have looked really good in the first few weeks, the defense is playing fast and I could see this team setting a good foundation for 2022.

7. Southern Alamance: They return 18 of 22 starters from the spring, while they graduated a stud quarterback, this is a team that could knock off a contender and hurt some feelings in a hurry.

8. Riverside: They were winless in the spring, but insert Corey Lea back in the picture and the Pirates will ascend quickly in the 4A East scene.

9. Page: I don't see the Pirates going winless again, slowly and steadily, they'll be back in the upper echelon of 4A programs.

10. Southeast Raleigh: It is only a matter of time before the Dogs are back in the mix in Raleigh. It may not come in 2021, but again, they may take a bite out of someone.
Click to expand...
Chris how are the playoffs working out this season? My Asheville cougars have 1,100 students roughly if I’m not mistaken. Is there a situation here where we could be 9-2, 10-1 and end up playing a game in the playoffs against a Ardrey kell or a Myers park with nearly triple the amount of students as us?
 
AhsCougar1 said:
Chris how are the playoffs working out this season? My Asheville cougars have 1,100 students roughly if I’m not mistaken. Is there a situation here where we could be 9-2, 10-1 and end up playing a game in the playoffs against a Ardrey kell or a Myers park with nearly triple the amount of students as us?
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They are all together, but it's 6 rounds instead of 5.
 
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I was expecting AC to be little better then they were. Definitely they looked pretty good, offense they just didn't show me much.
Course it's early and only a scrimmage.
Asheville to me imo looks really good. Alot of skill players and athletes.
They should have great year
 
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PagePirates44 said:
Well they just beat a solid Davie bunch in a scrimmage, and only lost players last off season because of coaching turnover. No other players have left since then. In fact, a star runningback from NE Guilford has transferred in. Trevon Hester. From what we've seen, the Pirates are already looking a good bit better from last year. Your prediction about wins and losses is all fine and well, but at least have some information about what's going on when you say things like you did in your first sentence...... these new coaches are coaching their tail off, and the players have already responded very well. the culture at Page is already starting to look like it was when Coach G was here. Don't get me wrong though, I'm not saying they are going to win every game, Page is still building the dang thing back up, and it will take some more time for them to get back to where they should be, which is competing in the playoffs for championships. But, the bottom was last year and the upward trajectory has already started.
Click to expand...

If I'm not mistaken at least one other player transferred out of Page this season. Transfer or not Page isn't really a destination anymore. A kid transferring from NE isn't really a big coup. Not that the kid isn't good, but the NE program is not where it was when Bates was there. Even when he was there the numbers weren't anything to write home about. Will Page be better going forward, probably. Will they be playoff good? That is AT LEAST two seasons away. Will they be a state power...............I don't see that as of now. That is just MHO.

Either way, this will be an interesting season in 4A for sure.
 
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Chris_Hughes said:
Who are a few teams that may be a bit off your radar that you should take note of before the start of the season? These are mine.

1. Northern Guilford: Few people probably anticipate much out of them coming up from 3A, but this may be one of the most talented teams I've seen, especially at the skill positions.

2. Asheville: Don't sleep on the Cougars, they could challenge A.C. Reynolds for the conference title. (Don't sleep on T.C. Roberson either, new offense, same speed.)

3. South Mecklenburg: They have won 4-straight games coming in from last year and I see them getting much better.

4. Sanderson: They are solid on both sides of the ball, if they can shore up the Offensive Line in a few spots, watch out in Raleigh.

5. Reagan: They are extremely talented but also very thin with not as much quality depth. If the Raiders stay healthy, they'll have a hand in who wins the CPC.

6. Independence: The Patriots have looked really good in the first few weeks, the defense is playing fast and I could see this team setting a good foundation for 2022.

7. Southern Alamance: They return 18 of 22 starters from the spring, while they graduated a stud quarterback, this is a team that could knock off a contender and hurt some feelings in a hurry.

8. Riverside: They were winless in the spring, but insert Corey Lea back in the picture and the Pirates will ascend quickly in the 4A East scene.

9. Page: I don't see the Pirates going winless again, slowly and steadily, they'll be back in the upper echelon of 4A programs.

10. Southeast Raleigh: It is only a matter of time before the Dogs are back in the mix in Raleigh. It may not come in 2021, but again, they may take a bite out of someone.
Click to expand...
I love Evans and have always thought that S Meck had a chance to be a top 5 type of squad with the right coach. Now they are starting to pick up a couple transfers. Look out.
 
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justchilln said:
If I'm not mistaken at least one other player transferred out of Page this season. Transfer or not Page isn't really a destination anymore. A kid transferring from NE isn't really a big coup. Not that the kid isn't good, but the NE program is not where it was when Bates was there. Even when he was there the numbers weren't anything to write home about. Will Page be better going forward, probably. Will they be playoff good? That is AT LEAST two seasons away. Will they be a state power...............I don't see that as of now. That is just MHO.

Either way, this will be an interesting season in 4A for sure.
Click to expand...
That's the same thing people said when Gillespie took the job back in 2007. No one gave Page any shot of being a power, and they were again. It can, and will happen again, it will just take time for Robertson to build back up what Rolfes destroyed.
 
You'll find out how for real Asheville is and what their chances are right out of the gate. They play a 1a team first game of the season in Robbinsville. A Robbinsville team who graduated a lot of talent. If they cannot blow the doors off of them then I dont like their chances for the rest of the year. We'll see.
 
KnightInShiningArmor said:
You'll find out how for real Asheville is and what their chances are right out of the gate. They play a 1a team first game of the season in Robbinsville. A Robbinsville team who graduated a lot of talent. If they cannot blow the doors off of them then I dont like their chances for the rest of the year. We'll see.
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Knight,
To some degree, I agree with you, but even if the Cougars are head and shoulders better than the Knights in regards to talent, which I think they are, it'll still be a challenge playing at Big Oaks in front of that passionate crowd, and I don't know that Coach Radford would want to blow them out as you say. A 4A team gains nothing by totally dominating a 1A team, even if it is a powerhouse, as Robbinsville is.

I know if I were a coach in Asheville's situation, why yes I would want to win and win big, I would also treat it like a scrimmage and clear the bench and get a lot of guys playing time, maybe even outside of their primary position just to prepare for later in the season.

You never know when you need that backup, or even 3rd string quarterback to step up and be a leader, or when a lesser-known 3rd string running back becomes a killer at middle linebacker. Sometimes you never know these things until you try them in game situation.
 
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shelbyfan1 said:
I was expecting AC to be little better then they were. Definitely they looked pretty good, offense they just didn't show me much.
Course it's early and only a scrimmage.
Asheville to me imo looks really good. Alot of skill players and athletes.
They should have great year
Click to expand...
Our offense is still really young and will need to get better. Our defense will be okay I believe. Asheville has great athletes (including our top receiver from last year as he transferred). I expect ACR to take lumps early, but come conference time it's going to be Asheville and ACR battling for the top spot, and that game is at Asheville again this year so it's going to be tough! Best of luck to Shelby, see you guys in a couple weeks!
 
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Reynoldsrocks2 said:
Our offense is still really young and will need to get better. Our defense will be okay I believe. Asheville has great athletes (including our top receiver from last year as he transferred). I expect ACR to take lumps early, but come conference time it's going to be Asheville and ACR battling for the top spot, and that game is at Asheville again this year so it's going to be tough! Best of luck to Shelby, see you guys in a couple weeks!
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I briefly spoke with Coach Laws on Saturday and he said he feels the team is coming along really well, just stated that they are really young, but he thought they played well against Burns.

While I don't expect the Rockets to be Top-5 or maybe even Top-10 good in 4A this season, I do think they'll be really strong and are probably a year away from being even more spectacular.
 
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Reynoldsrocks2 said:
Our offense is still really young and will need to get better. Our defense will be okay I believe. Asheville has great athletes (including our top receiver from last year as he transferred). I expect ACR to take lumps early, but come conference time it's going to be Asheville and ACR battling for the top spot, and that game is at Asheville again this year so it's going to be tough! Best of luck to Shelby, see you guys in a couple weeks!
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Yes see u in 2 weeks, we love our Ac folks and enjoy our games, saw coach Ware at scrimmage and he was headed down to see yall coach.

My buddy is coach of Erwin they looked good in a 7 on7 few weeks back we had up there, but we see what they do in reg. Season
 
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Good list. I've watched Asheville practice and they have a bunch of speed athletes. No depth on D line.
 
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I'd like to add West Charlotte to this list. Think they take a good jump in Geiner's 2nd year. They have good speed, and more depth than years past. Can see them middle of the pack in the regular season in conference and then dominating 3A playoffs early.
 
bigdadd11103 said:
I'd like to add West Charlotte to this list. Think they take a good jump in Geiner's 2nd year. They have good speed, and more depth than years past. Can see them middle of the pack in the regular season in conference and then dominating 3A playoffs early.
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If you see this same thread that I started in the 3A forums, you'll see that I have West Charlotte very high on this list. But I agree with your thought process.
 
PagePirates44 said:
Why would EF be a dark horse?
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Because they went .500 last year. A lot of people in the area have been saying Glenn is now the team to beat. Heck even Chris said on Youtube the other night that West and Glenn were the 2 teams to beat. I'm just going off what others are saying.
 
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Southern Alamance could possibly knock someone off in a first round playoff game if they get the right draw. Lot of seniors.
 
Warhead1 said:
What are your thoughts on East Forsyth after seeing them live and in person?
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This could be one of the strongest East teams I’ve seen from them. We have some recent history of getting smoked by east in the playoffs as of late, i would say of all the teams we lined up against from EF, the team I saw at the jamboree looked the most complete.
 
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Ok guys. Take it easy on my Black Knights. We are small with 370 kids but we will play anybody even on a down year. Just look at who we've play the last 12 years. I know we are big underdogs this year but I bet that Robbinsville would've beat Asheville in 2019, and 2020. Every five years or so we have a very bad year.
2016
2011
2006
2021???

It's inevitable with such a small school.
I can promise you, no other traditional school with 370 kids will play you like Robbinsville even in a down year. Even though we've cancelled both scrimmages because of covid. Even though some had to quarantine. I'm not even sure all will be able to play. I hope this series is continued for four years. Robbinsville will get a win.
 
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Well Robbinsville was the team putting subs in.
Game was never in doubt. Asheville will probably do good vs teams that play that same style of football but they wasn't really for our style.
Asheville had coaches and players ejected at end of game. Could hurt next week.
 
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Sorry Chris but this list already looks pretty foolish. Watauga destroyed Roberson and Asheville stood no chance vs Robbinsville
 
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