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MAC 2016.....

BD Warrior

BD Warrior

Well-Known Member
Sep 20, 2006
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Well it is almost that time again. A little over a month from now and it is go time. The MAC is intriguing this season. You have the top 3 fighting it out once again. Roberson, Asheville, and McDowell all have new coaches. Enka and NB will try to be in the mix but they have a uphill climb as always. I get burnt out on here sometimes but I thought I would give it a go and see what you guys think. Lets hear your thoughts. Here are mine.


1. Erwin - Yes I am bias but I think the Warriors have a very good shot at the conference championship this season. They return some major playmakers and possibly WNC's all time leading passer. They looked very good in 7 on 7 so far vs much bigger schools like Byrnes SC, who they almost beat. I know 7 on 7 means little but its all I got right now .If they can overcome the loss of their biggest and best lineman who was tragically murdered this summer and replace Chase Austin they should be good. Defense and schedule will be their biggest question marks this year as it has been in the past


2. Asheville - It is hard not to put the Cougars in the #1 spot because of tradition alone. I have had many words over the years with Cougar fans but I have a lot of respect for the program. This season will be interesting because of the new coach and offense. Personally I think what made Asheville such a dangerous team was their ability to run the ball so well. I think they will eventually pick up on the spread and put up big numbers. Asheville will always have more athletes than the rest of wnc so I expect it to be another big year for them.

3. Reynolds - The Rockets have to replace one of the best players I have seen in WNC in a long time. Rico Dowdle made a good team look like a great team at times. If I know the Rockets they will be just fine by seasons end. They looked pretty rough at the 7 on 7 at Erwin, but I have a feeling once the new qb settles in they will be a good team and challenge Asheville and Erwin once again for the top spot in the conference.

4. Roberson - The Rams have the size and talent to be dangerous every season, but they lack the heart. Maybe the new coach will energize them and get things going in the right direction. I don't think they challenge the top 3 but they will still be a team that could pull a upset anytime.

5. McDowell - Again, new coach and new enthusiasm I am sure. The Titans will have pretty much a new stadium by next year and they certainly have the numbers to compete. I think they will challenge Roberson for the 4A title this season.

6. Enka - Every year the local news reports on the Jets having a big turnout and they look for big things. Unfortunately for the Jets it doesn't translate in to wins. With the exception of maybe Pisgah, Enka has the best fan base I have seen. No matter how bad the team is the fans fill the stands. If they ever start winning it will be standing room only.

7. NB - The Hawks have got a small taste of winning the last few years but they lost most of their good players. They do have one kid who is as fast s anyone in the conference but they will need a lot more than that.
 
Don't know much about the other teams, but ACR looking rough at a 7 on 7 is no surprise, last year at Erwin 7 on 7 we only won 2 match ups as well. We will be a run based spread much like last year with three very talented ball carriers including the QB. I am sure passing will be on a need to bases much like when Rico was back there. Another strength for ACR is the O-Line with 4 returning starters. 13 total returning starters (7 offense, 6 defense) I think we will be very much in the mix.
 
Reynoldsrocks2 said:
Don't know much about the other teams, but ACR looking rough at a 7 on 7 is no surprise, last year at Erwin 7 on 7 we only won 2 match ups as well. We will be a run based spread much like last year with three very talented ball carriers including the QB. I am sure passing will be on a need to bases much like when Rico was back there. Another strength for ACR is the O-Line with 4 returning starters. 13 total returning starters (7 offense, 6 defense) I think we will be very much in the mix.
Click to expand...

That's what I said. Replacing Dowdle is a huge challenge though. He made you guys so much better because you couldn't rush the qb nor back off him because he would get you either way.
 
Reynoldsrocks2 said:
Don't know much about the other teams, but ACR looking rough at a 7 on 7 is no surprise, last year at Erwin 7 on 7 we only won 2 match ups as well. We will be a run based spread much like last year with three very talented ball carriers including the QB. I am sure passing will be on a need to bases much like when Rico was back there. Another strength for ACR is the O-Line with 4 returning starters. 13 total returning starters (7 offense, 6 defense) I think we will be very much in the mix.
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Yeah acr is acr. Long as they got them big boys up front they will be fine this year. I'll post more later
 
I hate to say it but the Mac doesn't look very good this year. Look at how much talent we all had last year and we COMBINED won a single playoff game. That is incredibly pathetic. Erwin will rightfully be the favorite, but losing Austin is a major blow. No Rico at Reynolds is a major blow and Asheville is coming off the most disappointing senior class in recent memory. Those are the only teams that have a legit chance at winning a couple playoff games in the Mac. It's fun to watch us battle it out for the conference but even the most die hard homer of any of those 3 schools cannot seriously look at those teams and think "we can win a championship this year"
 
I don't think anyone is suggesting that any of the three will win a state title. As a matter of fact I could see all three teams finishing 5-1 in conference play and again only 1 or 2 playoff wins combined, however you don't know how teams will gel and it could be all three win a couple playoff games. I hope it's the latter! I look for ACR to struggle early (at WF, and home vs Shelby), but after that we should win the rest of the non conference slate. So it's all about staying healthy the first two games and gaining momentum going into the conference season.
 
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AhsCougar1 said:
I hate to say it but the Mac doesn't look very good this year. Look at how much talent we all had last year and we COMBINED won a single playoff game. That is incredibly pathetic. Erwin will rightfully be the favorite, but losing Austin is a major blow. No Rico at Reynolds is a major blow and Asheville is coming off the most disappointing senior class in recent memory. Those are the only teams that have a legit chance at winning a couple playoff games in the Mac. It's fun to watch us battle it out for the conference but even the most die hard homer of any of those 3 schools cannot seriously look at those teams and think "we can win a championship this year"
Click to expand...

Sounds like you need to get laid or something AhsCougar1...:D You are very pessimistic every season. That Asheville team was 8-2 last season. They were no pushover. I know what you are getting at though. With teams like what we have to face in 3AA every year it is tough to imagine a state title for our teams. Comapred to other mountain teams nobody has it harder then the 3AA teams.That is why I titled this MAC 2016...We should not even think about state playoffs yet..
 
I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic. Last year I got the same flack for saying "none of us was really that good" and all year long I got ripped "oh just because you guys lost the conference title streak doesn't mean the other teams aren't good, times are changing and you can't handle it". That was said repeatedly. I knew last year in October all of us were deeply flawed but for some reason people believed "well we killed Asheville" or "we beat Asheville, we are ready for a run in these playoffs". Asheville was 8-2 but we were not a good team. That's why the "power 3" in the MAC won a combined 1 playoff game in 2015 which absolutely mind bogglingly terrible.

This season is a new season and everybody is excited about their new roster and getting the season underway, Erwin rightfully deserves to be the preseason favorite. Do I think they are as good as that team a few years ago that beat south point? I don't know. Do I think Asheville is as good as they were in 2004,2005,2007,2009,2011,2014? I don't know. Is reynolds going to be as good as they were last year? I don't know.

We will find out soon, but I think it's doubtful. Also our schedules don't help us any. It is possible that the preseason favorite could start the season 1-3. Does that help you for the playoffs? Maybe in terms of seeing better competition, but it doesn't help when you're on the road in the second round.

We are playing a couple 2a teams so we are screwed one way or the other. If we win its because we were supposed to and if we lose, we lost to a 2a team and suck. I knew we were going to be underachievers last year when we had really tough times with carver franklin and pisgah. No disrespect to them but if you're a legit deep playoff run team you should beat those team by 28. And we didn't do that and nor were we one of those teams.

Reynolds is a question mark. They lost 85 percent of their offense and are breaking In a new qb. People talk about all their lineman coming back but a d1 rb has a way of making his lineman look good.

If things change and one of us starts looking like a state power, my tune will happily change, but for now I'm being realistic
 
I think basically what this thread was suppose to be about was conference play only, not about state titles and playoffs. I think he just wanted everyone's opinion on their team compared to the rest of the conference, not compared to all of 3A across the state.
 
Reynoldsrocks2 said:
I think basically what this thread was suppose to be about was conference play only, not about state titles and playoffs. I think he just wanted everyone's opinion on their team compared to the rest of the conference, not compared to all of 3A across the state.
Click to expand...
I know, I veered off a little bit. Sorry
 
Reynoldsrocks2 said:
I think basically what this thread was suppose to be about was conference play only, not about state titles and playoffs. I think he just wanted everyone's opinion on their team compared to the rest of the conference, not compared to all of 3A across the state.
Click to expand...

This...
 
AhsCougar1 said:
Damn I know it's a preaseason poll but what a slap in the face to Erwin
Click to expand...

I was thinking the same thing. I guess they are going on history of the two schools and not who is coming back. No offense to Reynolds but I think ncpreps and ACT still think Dowdle is suiting up this season.
 
Wow! Obviously I'm a Asheville fan and I know it's just a preseason poll but I really can't believe they pick Reynolds over Erwin! I don't see how with everything Erwin has coming back and what Reynolds lost! But I guess the poll is just for fun.
 
Cougarsfan22 said:
Wow! Obviously I'm a Asheville fan and I know it's just a preseason poll but I really can't believe they pick Reynolds over Erwin! I don't see how with everything Erwin has coming back and what Reynolds lost! But I guess the poll is just for fun.
Click to expand...
Reynolds literally lost like 75 percent of their offensive production.
 
Erwin is down a few key athletes this year but is returning their QB and is running the same system they've been running for many years now.
Asheville has a totally new offense and the players are not going to pick it up in one summer of practice. I look for them to be better in the next couple of years, but not right out of the gate.
Reynolds has the program to compete but has lost a massive amount of offensive fire power.

#1 Erwin
#2 Asheville / Reynolds
#3 Reynolds / Asheville

On a side note, ya'll are screaming about the preseason poll placing Erwin at number 2, but completely missed Roberson jumping over North Buncombe, McDowell, and Enka. Roberson has a new coach and half their guys have either transferred or quit.
 
I know NCPreps is a media based poll, but that isn't the AC-T picking ACR first, that's the MAC coaches poll. Not saying I agree with ACR first but we do return 13 starters 7 offensive and 6 defensive and our tailback is a talent that will impress people, speed and power.
 
I dont really know, nor can I predict who will win the MAC. Last year I really thought we were going to be a great team and we sucked, so you never know what youre going to get.

Erwin deserves to be preseason favorites because Mike Sexton is a great coach and nobody benefits from their head coach more than Ferguson. Sexton gets everything out of his players. Although I believe Isaiah Poore has been wasted the last couple years, maybe that will change this year. Hes a great player. Losing Austin is a major blow to Erwin but thats how it goes, you cant keep them forever. He single handedly won them the Franklin game and was without a doubt Fergusons number 1 target on 3rd and 4th down. Who will replace him? Will they run the ball more to get the ball in Poores hands? Or will they throw the ball 55 times a game trying to get Damien Ferguson the all time WNC passing record? Erwin may in fact have a team that could make it to a third round game and never get there because of their schedule. Its possible they could begin the year 1-3 before conference play even begins. Not saying its gonna happen, but you could have a great team that has to go on the road in the second round and play another great team and loses before they should because of early season out of conference losses.

Asheville is the question mark of the MAC. Coach Metcalf calling the plays is going to be a major change from the past 16 years. Davidson has gotten bigger as to be expected and once again, the mountains best WR will be at Asheville high. Luckily this year we will probably get him more than 9 catches for the entire season. Andrew Leota who has started every game since being at Asheville high will move to inside linebacker, so there is another big question mark. There are several smaller guys that can move on Asheville's roster and 2 wide receivers that can cause mismatches. Last year was such a debacle that I really dont know what to expect this year. It is quite possible we could finish our regular season 11-0 and its also possible we lose to Newton Conover, Carver, Franklin, Pisgah, Erwin and Reynolds.There is no Shelby or Science Hill on Asheville's schedule so there isnt any opponent I see on the schedule where Im like "we are going to get our ass kicked probably". We have one transfer from Roberson that we are really depending on playing for us, but I dont know if hes going to. We sure could use him. All I know is that if I never see another fullback dive at midfield, I will die a happy man.

I know Reynolds returns alot of lineman and that is certainly a good thing, but to see them picked by the coaches to win the MAC was very surprising to say the least. People may think im crazy for saying this, but I really believe the reason Reynolds MASSIVELY underachieved last year in the playoffs WAS because of Rico Dowdle. I think Shane Laws is a hell of a coach, but they completely wasted AJ Logan in 2015. Because Rico was given the option to run on every play, it became clear to any of Reynolds opponents that he was the entire team. Instead of having a johnny white crezdon butler like backfield, a two headed monster if you will, it was only rico left, rico right and rico up the middle. As i said last year, it actually got comical last year to see Reynolds winning 57-6 every week and Rico having 25 carries for 350 yards and 7 touchdowns. AJ Logan was just out there watching like the rest of us and his numbers suffered GREATLY. Because of that, I really dont know who the hell they return. There are certainly no names coming back that I have ever heard of, which is surprising seeing as how they were voted the favorite. Reynolds will have a great team, but like Erwin, they may end up playing a very tough team in the second round having to play Freedom, West Forsyth and Shelby early in the year. Im sure reynolds has talent coming back, but thats a tough first few weeks.

Roberson...well they will be the best looking team as usual. With a new coach, their best player the last 3 years is now at Christ school and their best returning player was shot several days ago and will miss 2-3 months. Also, having to play at Freedom and at Crest wont help their cause either, although the rest of their out of conference schedule shouldnt pose much of a problem. Roberson is always one of those teams where as an opponent, you hope they never get a coach that figures it out because they could end up killing all of us on a regular basis.

North Buncombe has a big WR who is still raw, but a great athlete. He is the only thing you need to even give a second glance to and NB's line play is what severely hampers them. I dont expect much from them. Still searching for a qb

McDowell has a new coach and needs to also replace their QB. They typically will hit you, but last year we werent very good and beat what was one of their better teams by 100 on their homecoming, so who knows.

Enka really does have great fan support. They are the only team that can be 1-10 and have the stadium damn near full. If they ever had a playoff team there would probably be 10,000 people at the games. Huge participation numbers even though the kids have to know they are going to be 1-10 almost every year. Thats playing for the love of the game...you gotta admire that.

The MAC will be exciting to keep up with. I dont know that any of us has the firepower to be playing in late November but we will see about that after the leaves change.
 
Excellent post Ahscougar1. I agree with everything you said. Somebody better screenshot that because we know how much we have gotten along over the years. Lol. I know people rag on Erwin for there 1st rd loses the last few years but we really have caught a raw deal on that. Two years ago was the debacle when we had our 2 best receivers suspended days before the playoffs and then lose in ot to Ashbrook. That Erwin team was the biggest letdown for me as a fan that I can remember. They looked so dominant all season and then something stupid and they fall apart. The next season we get ACR and lose another heartbreaker thanks to the pod system. Last year our schedule killed us and we get a team with a Oklahoma Sooner bound qb and lose another heartbreaker. I know these are all excuses but they are legit. As for this season who knows. Losing Austin is big loss because he was the go to guy. Look for CJ Thompson to have a huge season this year and Isaiah Poore to finally get the ball like he should. Time will tell if Erwin can get past the 1st rd curse.

Asheville will be dangerous by seasons end if they can pick the spread up well. I know you(ahscougar) have been wanting them to do this so deep down I am sure you are excited to see it.

As for ACR, I really don't know. This is not a shot at them but if Dowdle had not played last year I think Erwin would have won that game. He single handily beat a lot of teams. He made Reynolds receivers so much better because everyone was chasing him around all the time while they got open. That will not be the case this year. Reynolds very well may be the #1 team in the conference this season but I just don't see it now. They have a ton of pride and good coaches so I will never count them out.
 
On a side note, how sad is that two of the better players in the conference will not be playing because they were shot..It made me sick to my stomach to see Kyrie Irving lose his life over something so stupid. I know that is a whole other topic and not one most people like to talk about but it is unfortunate.
 
AhsCougar1 said:
Kyrie Irving is dead? He hit a big shot in the NBA finals game 7. Lol
Click to expand...

:D:D:D I am an idiot.. I wish Kyrie Irving played at Erwin. For those who do not know I meant Kyrie Logan who was sadly shot and killed this summer..
 
AhsCougar1 said:
I dont really know, nor can I predict who will win the MAC. Last year I really thought we were going to be a great team and we sucked, so you never know what youre going to get.

Erwin deserves to be preseason favorites because Mike Sexton is a great coach and nobody benefits from their head coach more than Ferguson. Sexton gets everything out of his players. Although I believe Isaiah Poore has been wasted the last couple years, maybe that will change this year. Hes a great player. Losing Austin is a major blow to Erwin but thats how it goes, you cant keep them forever. He single handedly won them the Franklin game and was without a doubt Fergusons number 1 target on 3rd and 4th down. Who will replace him? Will they run the ball more to get the ball in Poores hands? Or will they throw the ball 55 times a game trying to get Damien Ferguson the all time WNC passing record? Erwin may in fact have a team that could make it to a third round game and never get there because of their schedule. Its possible they could begin the year 1-3 before conference play even begins. Not saying its gonna happen, but you could have a great team that has to go on the road in the second round and play another great team and loses before they should because of early season out of conference losses.

Asheville is the question mark of the MAC. Coach Metcalf calling the plays is going to be a major change from the past 16 years. Davidson has gotten bigger as to be expected and once again, the mountains best WR will be at Asheville high. Luckily this year we will probably get him more than 9 catches for the entire season. Andrew Leota who has started every game since being at Asheville high will move to inside linebacker, so there is another big question mark. There are several smaller guys that can move on Asheville's roster and 2 wide receivers that can cause mismatches. Last year was such a debacle that I really dont know what to expect this year. It is quite possible we could finish our regular season 11-0 and its also possible we lose to Newton Conover, Carver, Franklin, Pisgah, Erwin and Reynolds.There is no Shelby or Science Hill on Asheville's schedule so there isnt any opponent I see on the schedule where Im like "we are going to get our ass kicked probably". We have one transfer from Roberson that we are really depending on playing for us, but I dont know if hes going to. We sure could use him. All I know is that if I never see another fullback dive at midfield, I will die a happy man.

I know Reynolds returns alot of lineman and that is certainly a good thing, but to see them picked by the coaches to win the MAC was very surprising to say the least. People may think im crazy for saying this, but I really believe the reason Reynolds MASSIVELY underachieved last year in the playoffs WAS because of Rico Dowdle. I think Shane Laws is a hell of a coach, but they completely wasted AJ Logan in 2015. Because Rico was given the option to run on every play, it became clear to any of Reynolds opponents that he was the entire team. Instead of having a johnny white crezdon butler like backfield, a two headed monster if you will, it was only rico left, rico right and rico up the middle. As i said last year, it actually got comical last year to see Reynolds winning 57-6 every week and Rico having 25 carries for 350 yards and 7 touchdowns. AJ Logan was just out there watching like the rest of us and his numbers suffered GREATLY. Because of that, I really dont know who the hell they return. There are certainly no names coming back that I have ever heard of, which is surprising seeing as how they were voted the favorite. Reynolds will have a great team, but like Erwin, they may end up playing a very tough team in the second round having to play Freedom, West Forsyth and Shelby early in the year. Im sure reynolds has talent coming back, but thats a tough first few weeks.

Roberson...well they will be the best looking team as usual. With a new coach, their best player the last 3 years is now at Christ school and their best returning player was shot several days ago and will miss 2-3 months. Also, having to play at Freedom and at Crest wont help their cause either, although the rest of their out of conference schedule shouldnt pose much of a problem. Roberson is always one of those teams where as an opponent, you hope they never get a coach that figures it out because they could end up killing all of us on a regular basis.

North Buncombe has a big WR who is still raw, but a great athlete. He is the only thing you need to even give a second glance to and NB's line play is what severely hampers them. I dont expect much from them. Still searching for a qb

McDowell has a new coach and needs to also replace their QB. They typically will hit you, but last year we werent very good and beat what was one of their better teams by 100 on their homecoming, so who knows.

Enka really does have great fan support. They are the only team that can be 1-10 and have the stadium damn near full. If they ever had a playoff team there would probably be 10,000 people at the games. Huge participation numbers even though the kids have to know they are going to be 1-10 almost every year. Thats playing for the love of the game...you gotta admire that.

The MAC will be exciting to keep up with. I dont know that any of us has the firepower to be playing in late November but we will see about that after the leaves change.
Click to expand...
We replaced carver with southern lee
 
Packer10 said:
Did they ever find the guy that shot him?
Click to expand...

I never heard another word about it after it happened. It was a murder and seems to be just forgotten. Kyrie was a big kid and we sure could have used him this season, but this goes way beyond football.
 
AhsCougar1 said:
We still play carver from what I understand and they are always loaded with speed
Click to expand...

I remember going to Carver during the playoffs when Johnathon Crompton was at Erwin. They were undefeated and #1 in the state. That team had speed everywhere. For anyone that has not been there it is kind of a scary place. The school is right in the middle of a very rough area.
 
That year in 2007 was awesome with Rahkeem Morgan. Carver was ranked number 1 in North Carolina and undefeated and we laid a beat down on them on their field. There is no doubt in my mind their s*it talking before the game is what caused their beat down. That was the best coached game by Danny Wilkins I had ever seen. Carver was supposed to be incredible on defense and I believed they were but Wilkins opened the playbook like he hadn't done before and hasn't done since. I remember it was literally the polar opposite of what coach Wilkins style of offense was. We had screens bubbles backs coming out of the back field, we were just taking shots downfield all night and damn near every one of them worked. That 2007 teams seniors were sophomores on the state championship team so it wasn't their first rodeo and in my opinion Rahkeem Morgan was the best qb Wilkins ever had. A true dual threat qb. And that night he was on fire and was the main reason we put up 50 on that great carver defense. Unfortunately that 2007 team missed out the following week for a berth in the state title game going for 2 on what I believe was the single worst play call I've ever seen at Asheville high.
 
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Hate going back and talking about what-ifs from years past, but Greg Ray walks in on that 2 point conversion had the FB not completely missed his block. Personally I would've ran some type of bootleg play to give Rahkeem a run/pass option but hindsight is 20/20.
 
Yea there are a lot of what ifs in Asheville high history. That one stands out because of the timing and not only who we gave the ball to in that situation, but who we DIDNT. Like you said said hindsight is 20-20.
 
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