Can someone tell me what's going on with Newton-Conover?

[notanyonesfan]

I'm absolutely shocked they have lost 4 straight after starting off 4-0.. Granted 3 of their first 4 games were against cupcakes, but they did have a very good win over Asheville, at Asheville, where it's almost impossible to beat them.. I really thought they had the talent to beat Maiden and West Caldwell, and honestly would have never thought West Lincoln would beat them... Is the SD7 as a whole just that strong?

What's going on?? Are they young and just haven't learned how to play and win in big/important games yet or what??

But with Matt Beam, I can't believe they went from 4-0 to 4-4... Help me out... At this point they are in danger of missing the playoffs...

 

[TVILLEDAWG2370]

I'll gladly trade our coach for newtons coach lol

 

[NCDevil94]

NC is very young with 6-7 sophomores playing and most of them playing both sides of the ball. There is also a freshman seeing playing time on both OL and DL. The JV team is still undefeated even though these guys are all moved up to Varsity. The middle school is also undefeated. The next several years could be special. Hope this team makes the playoffs to get the young kids that experience.

It doesnt get any easier this week against Lincolnton either. East Lincoln, Maiden, and West Caldwell have good teams with good athletes and will all be tough outs in the playoffs. NC played those teams tough and had chances in all 3 games. East Lincoln scored 28 points off of NC turnovers this past week. NC lost a fumble inside the 15 yard line that was returned 86 yards for 7 of those 28 points. NC dropped a pass on 4th and 2 inside the 20 with just over a minute left in first half to miss another opportunity. Just a few examples of what I mean by missed opportunities. Can't make these mistakes when you are facing good teams, they will take advantage. Kids are young, and they will learn. West Lincoln? Played in the rain and NC just looked flat and not ready to play. West Lincoln took advantage of field conditions, a flat NC team, and some ball spotting help all night to their advantage. This was the worst game played by NC this year and it resulted in a bad loss. Still have a chance at playoffs, but if they don't make it, the WL game is the one that will be the reason.

 

[zukeridr]

I have a question..... These 6-7 sophomores playing both ways now in conference play at 0-4 aren't they the same players that started 4-0...what changed?

 

[NCDevil94]

Zuke, like notanyonesfan was saying and as I was saying about our conference, is the level of competition changed. East Lincoln, West Caldwell, and Maiden are just better than those first 4 teams NC played. NC was flat and field conditions were in WL favor, however there is just no reason that loss should have happened. That was a bad night for this team. NC had chances in all 4 losses, but did not capitalize and those teams did. You hear college coaches talk about rebuilding a program and needing that one signature win? That is what this young group of kids need before they can take the next step.

 

[notanyonesfan]

Speaking of a signature win.. I know Asheville is down this year, but couldn't that be considered at signature win for NC? Especially beating Asheville on their home field

 

[NCDevil94]

Maybe....
At the time everybody considered it a signature win. Though I still feel it was solid winning at Asheville, not sure if I put in the signature catagory with Asheville being a bit down this year

 

[zukeridr]

Zuke, like notanyonesfan was saying and as I was saying about our conference, is the level of competition changed. East Lincoln, West Caldwell, and Maiden are just better than those first 4 teams NC played. NC was flat and field conditions were in WL favor, however there is just no reason that loss should have happened. That was a bad night for this team. NC had chances in all 4 losses, but did not capitalize and those teams did. You hear college coaches talk about rebuilding a program and needing that one signature win? That is what this young group of kids need before they can take the next step.

OK gotcha....

 

[Godevilsgo]

Middle school at Newton has not been an indicator of success as of late. Glad to see they are doing well though. I know a few of the coaches and one told me if they can keep them from smoking the good stuff it might be ok in high school.

Does N-C have athletes? No doubt about it. Are they playing football? Not as many. Lots of bad decisions over the years have sent the kids to other sports and it tremendously shows. Some will say those other kids were not football kids but that is a bogus statement and don't have one to one contact with the kids.

Look at the down turn in football in correlation to the other sports. 2010'ended an era of 9-2 and 10-1 s seasons except for one year when basically one QB helped them into the second round.

Wrestlling has since won 3 of 4 state championships and 12'straight years of final fours. Tennis won 2 state titles and at least three doubles titles. Soccer won 2 state titles. Golf won three straight titles. A bunch of fast and bigger kids only played those sports but started out young in football. They play for these other coaches and enjoy the game they play and play to succeed. I applaude those kids. Almost all of those stayed out of trouble and succeeded academically. Yes, the correlation is evident.

You take 5 wrestlers, a speedster on the golf team, two tall big state champion tennis players, two soccer kids and you can make a lot of two way kids who would have made big impacts. Again I applaud those kids who wear multiple championship rings. 2010 to 2015 has been very good in Newton and Conover. Football coaches need to take some notes from other sport coaches here.
#N-CisTitletown

 

[patsfball]

This one is a head scratcher for me. Beam has been there long
enough to start impacting things. Is he all in?? Maybe he is,
I'm just asking. To me, NC is pick of the litter for 2A football
in this area. I hope things turn around for them!

 

[Lawn12Dog]

A speedster off the golf team ....thats a good one GDG. Lol

 

[zukeridr]

A speedster off the golf team ....thats a good one GDG. Lol

Lol....yeah I even chuckled on that one...but he's absolutely correct on what he said...some really good athletes have went to other sports to be WINNERS and successful...

 

[Lawn12Dog]

Hey Biff- get that Polo off and get these shoulder pads on ASAP.

 

[Godevilsgo]

Hey Biff- get that Polo off and get these shoulder pads on ASAP.

Funny lawndog. Not so funny when they treat you as a physician in the emergency room at $500 an hour.

 

[Godevilsgo]

I counted the number of champions Newton had in individual and team sports and it was six higher than all the SD7 other schools combined in the last 16 years. Bandys is second.

 

[Lawn12Dog]

I counted the number of champions Newton had in individual and team sports and it was six higher than all the SD7 other schools combined in the last 16 years. Bandys is second.

Well golf and rasslin dont run concurrent to football so why not do both?

 

[Godevilsgo]

Well golf and rasslin dont run concurrent to football so why not do both?

Did your son wrestle for Burns? Why not? Your coach was a poster here. Maybe he would have been a monster in the sport of no excuses. And he could have been like Nick C was or the kid that won a state championship in individuals three years ago for a poster here. Burns has all the kids necessary to be great in the truest of all sports that goes back to the first Olympics. Now Shelby- they fight like girls except for Key.

 

[Lawn12Dog]

Did your son wrestle for Burns? Why not? Your coach was a poster here. Maybe he would have been a monster in the sport of no excuses. And he could have been like Nick C was or the kid that won a state championship in individuals three years ago for a poster here. Burns has all the kids necessary to be great in the truest of all sports that goes back to the first Olympics. Now Shelby- they fight like girls except for Key.

Lol ....good point.

 

[Burkeforreal]

If middle school is undeafted then that's great but that's not an indicator of how a program will go into the high school level. I mean as much as I'd want it to it just don't seem to happen ha ha.

Heritage middle school that empties into Draughn, wins most of their games. Beating all schools that empty into Freedom. But they don't win much at the high school level. Same with middle school that goes into St Stephens.

 

[Lawn12Dog]

If middle school is undeafted then that's great but that's not an indicator of how a program will go into the high school level. I mean as much as I'd want it to it just don't seem to happen ha ha.

Heritage middle school that empties into Draughn, wins most of their games. Beating all schools that empty into Freedom. But they don't win much at the high school level. Same with middle school that goes into St Stephens.

I agree. This 7-1 group at burns only won a couple at the middle school level .

 

[patsfball]

If middle school is undeafted then that's great but that's not an indicator of how a program will go into the high school level. I mean as much as I'd want it to it just don't seem to happen ha ha.

Heritage middle school that empties into Draughn, wins most of their games. Beating all schools that empty into Freedom. But they don't win much at the high school level. Same with middle school that goes into St Stephens.

This is true. I've seen this at Heritage Middle many times.

 

[Godevilsgo]

Who cares if you win in middle school? That shouldn't be a high school coaches goal for his program. The goal should be to play as many kids as possible to keep the numbers up and provide the skills to take to high school. Play 14 or 15 kids in middle school both ways to win and I assure you numbers will begin to fall. This is where a high school coach should at the very least get involved. He should attend the game and be very close to the sidelines. Coordination between these two coaches and common goals should be established.

When Tom Brown coached many successful years he won tons of varsity games when the middle school and JV teams hardly ever had success. Both feeder programs rarely won. But look at his record at Maiden. Is that the indicator? Coaches were volunteering to give kids instruction on those lower levels, not win games. Some kid may be 5'7", 130 in middle school and 6'3' 220 by junior year but never played a down in middle school. That kid is not coming back. I've seen it many times. Then he takes up tennis and wears three state championship rings.

 

[beamer24]

Who cares if you win in middle school? That shouldn't be a high school coaches goal for his program. The goal should be to play as many kids as possible to keep the numbers up and provide the skills to take to high school. Play 14 or 15 kids in middle school both ways to win and I assure you numbers will begin to fall. This is where a high school coach should at the very least get involved. He should attend the game and be very close to the sidelines. Coordination between these two coaches and common goals should be established.

When Tom Brown coached many successful years he won tons of varsity games when the middle school and JV teams hardly ever had success. Both feeder programs rarely won. But look at his record at Maiden. Is that the indicator? Coaches were volunteering to give kids instruction on those lower levels, not win games. Some kid may be 5'7", 130 in middle school and 6'3' 220 by junior year but never played a down in middle school. That kid is not coming back. I've seen it many times. Then he takes up tennis and wears three state championship rings.

Spot on. Playing time is the most important thing at that grade level. Kids wont sit on the sidelines for 10 years waiting on there chance to shine on a varsity field.

 

[Lawn12Dog]

Cleveland county schools have one middle school that feeds the high school. I would imagine this could be a challenge with multiple middle schools feeding a high school.