Looking at 2017 .....
- Thread starter bareman
- Start date
I'd heard earlier this year Vining would be back this summer as well (moved to Woodstock Georgia after freshman year). I don't know if that's still the case but if it's true that's another big time athlete in the fold. Vining would be a starter in the secondary and another burner.
Well considering most of the 1, 2 and 3 win teams that were making the playoffs when it was a 64 team bracket were teams that are traditionally small 1A, that's going to push the cutoff up when it goes to 48 teams. So I expect Murphy will be small 1A for the foreseeable future.
Murphy went through some lean years between '03 and '07, but that was mostly a result of all time low participation numbers, none of the good athletes in the school were playing then except for the '05 seniors, for whatever reason.
Of course a lean year at Murphy (.500 record) would be considered a good year for a lot of schools.
They run into Plymouth every now and again Kevin. They are the Clemson of NC High School 1-A football. Lol It's been a pretty good championship series with Murphy leading 2-1. Each Bulldogs win by 1 point in 2013 & 2016 and the Viking's winning by 5 in 2012. Anytime you have every game decided by less than one score, it makes for a hell of a series. Small sample size, but still great games every time they meet!
If Murphy and Mt. Airy are both small 1-A, then that game is the western final. I have no idea what kind of talent the charters will bring into their programs. That leaves West Montgomery or North Rowan to oppose Edenton Holmes or Tarboro in the large 1-A.
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I agree with that. The 1A west got a lucky break last year when MA got barely in 1AA. This year they may not be that lucky. MA had the talent last year to at least make it to the western finals.
The only real charter that I think can contend right now is Mountain Island. They were a point from knocking off Murphy last year. They have some killer athletes for the small 1A level. IF MA goes small 1A solidly there could be some intresting matchups between them before too long. WS Prep and Bishop especially the former maybe can make some noise by the end of the alignment if their new coaches have proper sucess.
North Rowan's gonna be a contender this alignment as well as West. The move down may be what North needed.
Don't sleep on East Surry to contend for the 1AA west solid team last year returning all key skill guys and return 10 starters on Defense kids coming back are bigger faster and stronger than last year as well could be a force although West Montgomery should remain the favorite at this point
I don't think "lucky" is the right word, it certainly would've made the 1A bracket better, but that's about all.
If I had to take a wild guess at the western regional finals this year it would be Mitchell vs Murphy in small 1a and North Rowan/West Montgomery vs Mount Airy in big 1a, MIC, Robbinsville, Cherokee, TJ, Polk, Swain, East Wilkes and East Surry would be my sleepers.
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Mitchell should be very good again this year, only losing 2 starters and returning every single skill player. Also, a lot of senior leadership and some awesome talent as freshman last year, now sophomores with a western final game under their belt. The cutoff will be higher now, possibly around 550- 575. Also the typical east/West line should change dramatically. Murphy's and Mount Airy's defense will carry them again in 17, and no one should sleep on East Wilkes either. The cards return a bunch from a decent season, and the JV's have been undefeated for a couple years.
I agree mountie, and good to see you here the not much going on in the other site figured I'd try this one out lol
550-575 would put Mitchell firmly in the 1aa , but those days are long gone in Mitchell county. Look for our ADM's to drop steadily for sveral years. I'm working on a mock 1aa/1a bracket on the other forum. Its based off last years records and adm's, but gives pretty good insight to whose gonna be big and small and east and west. If this year shakes out identical to last year, West Montgomery would be playing in the east bracket...
You are welcome to post it here also, instead of just directing people to another website.
If this year's team had last year's o-line, 16-0 would be a foregone conclusion barring major injuries. It doesn't though and how well the o-line comes together early on will be the determining factor on whether or not they can run the table.
I'm not expecting 16-0, if only because Franklin always has a head start on everyone, tough to beat them at their place anyway. Plus it's hard for even great teams to not have at least one hiccup over the course of the season, case in point '87 Murphy.
In last years western final, I felt like Mitchell's and Murphy's skills matched up fairly well. How ever, Murphy's O-line made the difference, they out matched Mitchells line by a fair margin. We return all skill players from last year, and lose 2 linemen, who are both playing at WCU.
WCU, I don't like them playing there, would rather have seen a home and home.
This article will answer your question:
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/...day-night-lights-schedule-revealed/359789001/
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BK you would think as many times that Coach Gentry and the dogs as laid a whoopin on your knights you would shut your mouth.
Murphy went through one of their worst periods in program history when they were 1AA and it had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that they were 1AA. Look at Murphy's regular season records during the time they were 1AA: '01 to '09. The 'Dogs had exactly three good teams during that time frame: '01, '05 and '08, the rest (aside from '02 and '09) were pretty much garbage.
Had Murphy been 1AA the last seven seasons: '10 to '16, I can almost guarantee they would've had at least two title game appearances ('10 and '16) and one title ('10). So let's not pretend that Murphy has only been successful because they've been 1A.
Has Murphy benefited somewhat from being 1A? Sure, they certainly have more titles and more title game appearances than they would've at the 1AA level, but Murphy would've had success at the 1AA level the last few years too. No, not WRH level success, but certainly more than the vast vast majority of 1AA programs.
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2001.. That could've been a great Murphy team, but offseason defections and a ton of injuries during the season did them in in terms of reaching their potential.
The Cable company carries WLOS but not My40, which is weird b/c they are sister stations so you'd think they'd have both. And the dish companies give Cherokee Co. Chattanooga stations.
Well, we will try our best to show up and try to stop that from happening.... you know, just in case. Lol Good luck this season MBD and stay injury free.
