We enjoyed the reviews on the elite MC struggle at 2A Dillon.
Refs, hostile crowd, inexperienced offense.
Hilarious.
The best one is "MC schedules the toughest early season competition so it will expose weaknesses and make them better later in the season".
Like MC staff is ahead of everyone else on that.
News flash guys.
Shelby's schedule has been set up that way since the 60's and most knowledgeable folks have known that all along. Go back and check our results and our level of competition. Most of our losses have occurred in the first 5 games and almost all against higher classifications.
That plan has obviously worked and some other area coaches have followed suit while publicly acknowledging Shelby's lead there.
It's not rocket science and others sort that out, but it is certainly not new or profound as MC posters frame it.
MC will lose to Butler on Friday.
MC will beat Byrnes, who just lost to 3A Myrtle Beach.
Then MC will lose to 3A South Pointe (SC).
So, goodbye to National ranking, which now you say is unimportant. That was fast.
Now MC is ready "for the rest of the season" and defending it's three-peat state title.......against who?
You could say against teams all weaker than you just played. But what does that really say about NC 4A competition?
We are more convinced than ever that MC would not have three-peated against lower classification champs. Be glad you are where you are.
Now let's discuss your obsession with Shelby's schedule.
We will objectively show that not only does Shelby (play somebody?) currently play a MORE difficult schedule than MC, a matchup with MC would accomplish no more in preparing the Golden Lions to pursue a 16th championship ring for the program. In other words, playing MC would not be a step up.
2A Shelby has around 850 students. 4A MC has around 2600 students, or three times Shelby's size. 3A Crest has about 1250. As Dillon just proved, student populations do not always dictate competitiveness....but they should. So why have classifications? Consider Shelby merging with Crest, holding FIVE CONSECUTIVE CURRENT FOOTBALL TITLES between them. 2100 students.
But what a football power.
4A as a class should approach that strength. It is in other states. Not in NC. And certainly not in Meck Co. Fortunate for MC.
MC schedule difficulty vs Shelby;
4A MC vs 2A Dillon ( current 2A state champ SC)
2A Shelby vs 3A South Point (NC, current 3A state runner up)
Advantage - Shelby more difficult due to playing up, MC playing down.
MC should win. Shelby should lose.
(Curiously, Dillon, a four-peat 2A champ gets tons of respect from MC folks while Shelby a three-peat 2A champ gets little)
4A MC vs 3A South Pointe (current 3A state champ SC)
2A Shelby vs 3A Crest (current repeat 3A state champ NC)
Advantage Shelby more difficult due to playing up, MC playing down.
MC should win, Shelby should lose
4A MC vs 4A Byrnes
2A Shelby vs 3A AC Reynolds
Byrnes and Reynolds have both won multiple 4A state titles in the last 16 seasons, Byrnes last in 2011, Reynolds last in 2009.
Advantage Shelby more difficult due to playing up, MC playing down
MC should win, Shelby should lose.
MC vs 4A Butler
Shelby vs 3A Freedom or 3A Kings Mountain
Advantage MC more difficult.
Butler will beat MC this year.
Freedom and KM are down this year due to graduation and injuries. However, last year when Shelby defeated both teams, 3A KM only other loss was to 3AA champ Crest and KM got to the 3A Western Finals only to lose to South Point (did we mention their only two losses already? To Shelby and Crest).
Butler has not gotten out of the second round for the last two years.
3A Freedom was a #1 3A seed last fall ( lost to KM) and featured the #2 running back in the country in BJ Emmons, who is currently the 2nd team back for Saban at Alabama, as a freshman!
Did MC face a Bama level runner last year, and win ?
And Freedom and KM are 50 % bigger schools than Shelby.
The rest of both schedules are very winnable for both MC and Shelby. And don't spew crap about MC's conference. Who else has won anything? Shelby has had both Kannapolis and 4A North Meck on the schedule recently. Then 3A Kannapolis caught us in Coach Ware's first two years, installing a new offense. Not who we are now.
Shelby beat North Meck two years in a row when they were the third largest school in the state. During our series with Freedom, they were the largest school in the state.
We have no more to prove or prepare by playing MC, Dillon, Byrnes, or South Pointe. Besides, Dillon told you. It's all about the rings.
Why not have MC play 3900 student Mills Creek in Atlanta and taste what it is like to compete up a class or two for the very first time.
Shelby has done it forever.
Advantage Shelby.
