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Metro 4A Week 6

PagePirates44

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Aug 15, 2004
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Current standings
5-0 Grimsley 8-0
4-1 NW Guilford 6-2
4-1 Page 5-3
3-2 SE Guilford 6-2
2-3 SW Guilford 4-4
1-4 N Guilford 3-5
1-4 Ragsdale 1-7
0-5 W Guilford 0-8

2 more weeks of the regular season, its coming down to the nitty gritty. Two very big match ups this week, feature the top 4 teams in the conference. With #1 @ #3, and #2 @ #4.

Week 6 Matchups
NW Guilford @ SE Guilford -- The best match up has to be Northwest and Southeast. Northwest has a pretty potent offense, but has shown that their defense isn't quite up to the same standard. I think SE has the edge in that department. Just don't turn the ball over and give them extra possessions, or you might find yourself down, like Page did a couple weeks back and couldn't overcome it. In my eyes, this one is a toss up pick.

N Guilford @ W Guilford -- I do think Northern and Western might be closer than some expect, especially if Northern is battling through injuries. I still like Northern in this match up though.

Ragsdale @ SW Guilford -- Ragsdale and Southwest has chances to become a high scoring barnburner type of game. Most will say SW holds the edge and I would have to agree.

Grimsley @ Page -- And then there is the elephant in the room, Page vs Grimsley. One of the biggest rivalries in the nation, let alone the state. Grimsley is the clear cut favorite, probably by 3 TDs or so. But, this game has seen some crazy things. Since 2004, Page and Grimsley have seen ebbs and flows.

The first year these two schools met was 1962 Grimsley won 21-7, in 1963 Page won 7-6. Grimsley won 12-7 in '64, and Page won 13-12 in '65. In '66, Grimsley won 27-6, and '67 Page won 12-7 and in '68 the teams tied 6-6. Page won in '69 and '70, and the Whirlies won in 1971.
So during this 10 year span, the all-time record was Page leading 5-4-1, which is why it's such a big rivalry, it was uber competitive early on, amongst many other factors that has made this thing very heated.

From 1972-1998, Grimsley won once, seeing Page win 26 with 2 ties, putting the series at a staggering 31-5-3. That one win being a huge upset. Page was 11-0 going into the 1987 4A playoffs match up against Grimsley. Page won earlier that same year 56-7, and ended up losing a tough one 10-7.

Year 2000 is when things start to get a bit interesting. Coach Kirby retired from Page before the 96 season, and Coach King took over holding serve and winning til 2000, Coach Via took over and the margin of victory started to shrink a bit. Page won in 2002 24-21, and in 2003 18-10. This is where one of the Ebbs I was talking about earlier happens. Page had its first ever winless season in 2004, going 0-10, with Grimsley winning on a last second field goal to win 23-21. To add insult to injury, in 2005 Grimsley Head Coach Todd Shuping and RB Rob Lane surged atop a reeling Page who end up losing badly 41-14 and the Whirlies would ride that success to a 4A state title appearance later on that year. Grimsley won again in 2006. Which was the first time Grimsley had ever won 3 match ups in a row. At this point in the series it stands 36-8-3. Page hires Kevin Gillespie in 2007 and in his first year, wins a upset come from behind 24-23 victory on a Will Newman slip screen pass to Eric Barnard late in the 4th quarter. This is where the flow came back, Page would go on to win the next 11 match ups bringing the all time series record to 47-8-3. 2018, Grimsley kept the score relatively closer, starting the next ebb. Both schools made coaching changes around this time period, and Page was trending down, as Grimsley trended up. Since then, Grimsley has won 3 straight games and this year they have a chance to make it 4, which would be their longest winning streak ever. Page is making efforts to start the next flow, how much can they close the gap this year? It would be a sight to see if both teams could be successful at the same time, winning 10+ games a season and being ranked top 10 in 4A.
 
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Good stuff, Mister Pirate. I like Northwest in a nail biter, Northern by seventeen, Southwest by twenty seven, and not sure about Grimsley vs. Page yet.
I know it's a rivalry, but I don't see how Page comes out on top of this one. Grimsley has too much talent and Page doesn't have the bodies. Grimsley by at least 2 TDs. I like SE over NW based on SE's defense, their DB's are very aggressive, and that doesn't bode well for an offense that likes to sling it around as much as NW. Plus their best DB isn't even playing DB right now, he's only been clocking time on the offensive side of the ball for the past few weeks. SW vs Ragsdale, this is a trap game for the Cowboys. If they take Ragsdale lightly they're gonna hang an L on them. Ragsdale has been threatening a serious upset all season. SW has to be on their A game for this matchup. Northern vs Western could very well be a tossup, Western is another team that has been threatening an upset all season and those boys are hungry for a W. Northern is in a very vulnerable position with all their injuries. If Mercer is still out, Western has a shot.
 
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I think Norhtwest and Southeast will be a tit for tat game, with Northwest winning by six.. I"m sure Western is thinking upset after keeping their Page game confined , but Northern will come out smokin'...Northern by twenty. Being the big rivals they are, and as Ragsdale saunters on the cusp of an upset, I don't think Southwest will allow this occasion to occur. Southwest by twenty four. Grimsley over Page by twenty.
 
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Yes, while we have seen a lot of really crazy stuff in the Page/Grimsley match up. We've also seen so many times where the game is close for a half, and then the stronger side will pull away in the 2nd half. Grimsley has to have the upper hand this year. I think, Page is a year or 2 away from being really good again. Still young in many spots on both sides of the ball, with a sizable numbers of underclassmen starters and contributors. The two top rushers and the top receiver are Sophs and Jrs. The defense has played 5 sophomores and 2 Freshman all year. Not to mention the couple of Jrs sprinkled in. 5 of the top 6 sack leaders are underclassman, and 5 of the top 7 tackle for loss leaders are underclassman. 8 of Page's 16 interceptions have been from underclassman. Basically, Page is seeing A LOT of production from the young guns. By the looks of the JV team and now the two middle school programs that feed into Page have gotten back on track and are winning, things are looking up.
 
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I like Page alot. Such a young team. They wont be afraid of Grimsley. They have already beaten Reidsville, which in my opinion is the best win out of any Guilford county school. I think this game will be within a 10 point margin
 
The proof is in the pudding, our offense is predictable and not explosive. The Reidsville win was a fluke, we barely beat W Guilford by 3. The QB injury was exaggerated, and the AD is still at Page (for now). 🙃🤪
 
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The proof is in the pudding, our offense is predictable and not explosive. The Reidsville win was a fluke, we barely beat W Guilford by 3. The QB injury was exaggerated, and the AD is still at Page (for now). 🙃🤪

I don't think it was a fluke. Reidsville has some issues this season. ( Not talent related).
 
I don't think it was a fluke. Reidsville has some issues this season. ( Not talent related).
i was mostly trolling :)
We know that was a tough hard fought win, the players played extremely hard, and it was well coached.
 
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You guys are right, it was 1987, Grimsley won 10-7 in the playoffs, Page ended up the season 11-1, after beating Grimsley 56-7 earlier on that year.
I missed that one, i fixed the post.
This is just another reminder that you can throw the records out the window in this match up.
 
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Page was trailing Grimsley 14-9 with 40 seconds left in the 1st half. Page got a sack then Grimsley threw a long pass down to the 25, pass interference was called, declined, clock showed 0.0 they put 2 seconds on the clock and Grimsley scored. It's 21-9 at halftime. The radio guys are in disbelief.
 
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That Page defense is tough and boy are they young. Grimsleys wideouts were a tough match up, but Page was able to bottle up everything else nicely. Next week will be interesting, I love the momentum this ball club has going right now.
 
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Page's starting corner #8 went out injured early in the 1st quarter on a kick return, tough losing him, he is a big part of the secondary.

Page was picked to lose by 30 in this one. Crazy they were within 5 points with 4 minutes left. The gap has been closed...
 
Page's starting corner #8 went out injured early in the 1st quarter on a kick return, tough losing him, he is a big part of the secondary.

Page was picked to lose by 30 in this one. Crazy they were within 5 points with 4 minutes left. The gap has been closed...
You’re “regap” on greensborosports 😂. I had an idea awhile back but now know.
 
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Page’s best day at home was insufficient to beat Grimsley. Look at stats on penalties. Blackwell is a warrior, though. Robertson game play was spot on.
Far from Page's best day, I think, first two drives went backwards, because of conservative play calling. On the 3rd drive #5 ran a 12 yard gainer and fumbled. Giving Grimsley good field position which they capitalized on. Also, on the extremely weird situation where the refs put time back on the clock, still not sure how they determined that??? Page's cornerback was in very good position to just bat the ball down and go to halftime, 14-9. Instead he tried to catch it, giving the WR a chance to wrestle it away. Page also inside the 5 yardline at one point and was unable to get into the endzone because we tried to run gut 3 plays in a row. kicked a FG instead. I think if Page doesn't fumble, and the refs don't add time for Grimsley to score (or the DB played the ball properly..) then maybe we can say it was Page's best day, and the outcome is probably a Page W........

Penalties.... I think alot of Grimsley's offensive penalties were created by Page's defense catching them off guard. Especially the false starts, block in the backs, holding, etc. Page's defense is underrated, and maybe Grimsley wasn't quite expecting that and tried to overcompensate. Also regarding penalties... 2nd quarter, Grimsley had a ugly late hit out of bounds on Page's sideline, Grimsley kid ran over and shoved Page kid in the helmet, Page kid shoved back, and another flag was thrown, and I can see that incident being offset, but the initial late hit was also offset? I didn't understand that. Grimsley got off on that. Also I specifically remember another unsportsmanlike call against Grimsley where big #55 should probably have been disqualified. Grimsley was pretty undisciplined throughout the game, I was a bit surprised about it.
 
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A lot of ‘giving them the business’ was occurring from the start of this game, reflecting the intensity of the rivalry. Pirate interior defense was up to the task of stopping Grimsley’s big play run game.

The Whirlies still had a lot of offensive balance with nearly two hundred yards in both the run and pass game. Page soph QB #6 Blackwell put on an impressive showing in the 4th quarter while doing double duty playing man up on #3 Taylor(multiple D1 offers). Pirates definitely gave it everything they had.

Perhaps a rematch at the more spacious Jamieson in the playoffs looms ahead.

BTW, I watched the replay today and it appears that on the last 1st down measurement, Grimsley got the short end on the spot. Four in a row over Page for the first time ever!
 
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