Three Rivers (Week 4)

[wchsvikingpride]

Here are my new Three Rivers Conference predictions after week 3:

1. South Columbus
2. Whiteville
3. St. Pauls
4. Red Springs
5. Fairmont
6. South Robeson
7. East Columbus
8. West Columbus

South Columbus is impressive. They are back in their old offense and the kids seem motivated to win. Coach Dove has done a heckuva job so far and it is good to see a team in our county back on top. Whiteville made a statement last night and I think they are moving in the right direction. St. Pauls made a statement as well, scoring 28 on the East Bladen Eagles. Coach King is doing a great job at SPHS. Red Springs is 2-1 and has shown that they can play a little defense and score when needed. Red Springs also runs the ball well, which will hurt teams like Fairmont who cannot stop the run. Stick a fork in Fairmont. I originally thought they would compete for the conference title, but they will be lucky to finish 4th or above based on what I have read and heard. Their defense is awful and their offense is not scoring nearly as much as it was last year. I thought they would be able to outscore teams, but they are struggling. Even if they were scoring, they would not be able to score enough to win because their defense is bad. They will be lucky to make the playoffs at this point. I see the Tornadoes finishing 5-6 or 6-5, pending whether they can beat Red Springs. South Robeson competed much better than I thought they would last night at Swett. Fairmont better be on their toes in a few weeks. From what I hear, South Robeson is a Wing T like South Columbus and is run first. If Fairmont cannot stop Ashley, they may not be able to stop South Robeson. East Columbus and West Columbus, as much as I hate to say it, will compete for last place in the conference. My Vikings are awful as well, and I do not see them getting any better until Coach Pierce has had them for a full season.

Post your thoughts.

 

[Trench Fighter]

1) South Columbus has shown already to be the tem to beat in the Three Rivers Conference. Solid win last night over Loris and they look like they are playing with confidence again.

2) Whiteville is young and they are leaning to play together and they will continue to improve as the season progresses. Last week of the season will determine the title for the Three Rivers Conference.

3) Fairmont needs help on defense, but their offense should be strong enough to keep them near the top of the conference

4) Red Springs has athletes and can play with a lot of teams, but being undisciplined will cost them in a couple games this year.

5) St. Pauls is young and have a new coach ... It will take some time for them to get it together. Some people like them as a sleeper, I don't see it and don't understand the fascination with them

6/7/8) West Columbus, East Columbus and South Robeson are not very good and I can see any of these any where in the bottom three. I don't think these three teams will beat a top five team in the conference

 

[dirty stallion]

Great to see South Columbus playing with such confidence again, Coach Dove and his staff have really turned things around in a hurry. Players are working hard in the weight room and seem well conditioned. Really think the O-line is still not clicking as well as they are capable but they are young and inexperienced right now. Defense is really swarming to the ball but the pass D is still struggling but hopefully playing a tough non-conference schedule will play off. Whiteville is young but they are loaded with athletes, just got to think they will get better and better as the season goes. QB appears to be getting more comfortable in Coach Hutch's offense, that is a big factor on whether they will contend for the conference title or not. Fairmont is playing some big schools to start the season off, defense sounds bad but you would think they could score on anybody. What is the reason for lack of offense, are all their skill players healthy??

 

[dirty stallion]

As for Red Springs and St. Pauls, you never know what you will get from these two from week to week. Both have athletes but never seem to be very consistent. But Red Devils, if they are anything like last two year, can play with anybody on any given night.
West Columbus, East Columbus and South Robeson are at bottom of conference but maybe SR is starting to show improvement. West and East have to give their Head Coaches some time. Coaches have to stay motivated to keep working hard and draw interest to get the kids to come out and play. Both schools have athletes but depth is always a problem and I believe that WC lost one of their better players for the season last week to an injury, that really hurts. Numbers are low at those schools but hopefully the kids will buy into the coaches style and help to start their own traditions. These kids at the smaller schools have to know that they don't necessarily have to have a winning season for their teams to be a success. MOST of the time they are playing bigger schools, play those schools hard and beat the teams that you should. Best of luck to all 3 Rivers teams!!!

 

[WINGT Tradition]

South is looking good. I'd like to see more passing though. Don't get me wrong, we look 1000 times better than the past two years and that is from coaching, discipline and weight lifting. I think more passing will loosen up defense for the run. Tough game this week with WRH then a bye week to rest up and come in strong with conference play.

I'm really confused with Fairmont. I just don't know. I've been giving them a lot of credit these first three games. They could make a run in conference.

Whiteville has and always will be a good match at the end of the season. Should be fun.

Red Springs and St. Paul's can play with any team on any night if they show up and play hard.

EC, WC and SR are struggling once again.

 

[Gotoredd]

Dirty ,have you seen WC play? Not having a complete JV program for years really hurting this team. You are now seeing the results of this come into play. Amoung other things. I still believe in any 1A school u have to have kids play more than just one sport to compete because of low numbers. Not happening here. Its hard to play with 20 or 22 kids period.

 

[Gotoredd]

Here are my new Three Rivers Conference predictions after week 3:

1. South Columbus
2. Whiteville
3. St. Pauls
4. Red Springs
5. Fairmont
6. South Robeson
7. East Columbus
8. West Columbus

South Columbus is impressive. They are back in their old offense and the kids seem motivated to win. Coach Dove has done a heckuva job so far and it is good to see a team in our county back on top. Whiteville made a statement last night and I think they are moving in the right direction. St. Pauls made a statement as well, scoring 28 on the East Bladen Eagles. Coach King is doing a great job at SPHS. Red Springs is 2-1 and has shown that they can play a little defense and score when needed. Red Springs also runs the ball well, which will hurt teams like Fairmont who cannot stop the run. Stick a fork in Fairmont. I originally thought they would compete for the conference title, but they will be lucky to finish 4th or above based on what I have read and heard. Their defense is awful and their offense is not scoring nearly as much as it was last year. I thought they would be able to outscore teams, but they are struggling. Even if they were scoring, they would not be able to score enough to win because their defense is bad. They will be lucky to make the playoffs at this point. I see the Tornadoes finishing 5-6 or 6-5, pending whether they can beat Red Springs. South Robeson competed much better than I thought they would last night at Swett. Fairmont better be on their toes in a few weeks. From what I hear, South Robeson is a Wing T like South Columbus and is run first. If Fairmont cannot stop Ashley, they may not be able to stop South Robeson. East Columbus and West Columbus, as much as I hate to say it, will compete for last place in the conference. My Vikings are awful as well, and I do not see them getting any better until Coach Pierce has had them for a full season.

Post your thoughts.

If u think one season will help this team pride u been drinking. I hate to say it but this program has hit very bottom. It will take a long time to teach fundamentals to high school students that should have been taught that in middle school. Better get someone at middle level to start teaching fundamentals to them so coach pierce want have to do this before he can even put his system in. Starting a JV team each year 3 or 4 weeks late does no good either
Not coaches fault though. Someone once told me Don't complain unless u have solutions to things u are complaining about.
This is true in this case not complaining just a lot of peoples observations. I wish WC and staff well this season.

 

[redsprings17]

South Rob had a strong jv team last year and most were freshman from what i was told. Has it not translated to the varsity level or do you guys think they need another year?

 

[Trench Fighter]

South Rob had a strong jv team last year and most were freshman from what i was told. Has it not translated to the varsity level or do you guys think they need another year?

red, JV and varsity football are two different animals. With that being said ... I don't much about South Rob's JV program. South Rob is a very small school with very small numbers on the team that has not had a lot of success on the field. They have nice sized kids, but can't seem to put it together. Is it coaching? Is it being a small school? Is it the culture? I don't have the answer for you.

 

[Days of Thunder]

South Robeson jv won the conference last year. South Columbus' jv only conference loss was a close one to South Rob. They always have big guys & I hear they work hard in the weight room. Might take them another year to make strides.

 

[Gotoredd]

The last few years they had plenty of athletes but can't seem to have winning season. Frank Jernigan and son are good coaches but discipline can play a part my friend.

 

[Gotoredd]

Can East Columbus win games this year?
I know its hard to compete with 2A schools that have twice as many students or close to that.

 

[hotterhand]

East Columbus has issues with discipline in school and they're ADM numbers are steadily declining and that area is in desperate need of a shot in the arm with some kind of industrial/commercial business.

 

[Gotoredd]

Looking back over last 2 years or so,county middle school talent has dropped off a lot. A bunch of new coaches in middle schools here,not enough help that can teach fundamentals to these kids. WC is going through that now,Whiteville I think will see this happening this year also. I coached with Coach Rodney Storms 8 years at Central middle. Kids have changed,mentally and physically in last 5 years. Win or lose in middle u have to teach them their basichere to find out who wants to play,also who is capable of assignments. U need at least 4 asst coaches if u have 35-40 kids. Numbers are down at a lot of 1A schools. Coaches put in a lot of long hours and should be thanked each time we have a chance to.

 

[redsprings17]

Looking back over last 2 years or so,county middle school talent has dropped off a lot. A bunch of new coaches in middle schools here,not enough help that can teach fundamentals to these kids. WC is going through that now,Whiteville I think will see this happening this year also. I coached with Coach Rodney Storms 8 years at Central middle. Kids have changed,mentally and physically in last 5 years. Win or lose in middle u have to teach them their basichere to find out who wants to play,also who is capable of assignments. U need at least 4 asst coaches if u have 35-40 kids. Numbers are down at a lot of 1A schools. Coaches put in a lot of long hours and should be thanked each time we have a chance to.

Do you think the media's push of concussion has had a large effect on kids playing the sport? Starting to see more kids play soccer (even though concussion is a huge issue in that sport as well.)

 

[Trench Fighter]

The concussion issue has had an impact across the nation and numbers have dropped in recent years, but the numbers are not as large as you might think. News & Observer had an article on this about a month ago and the numbers would be higher. Football is the most popular sport in America and there will be interest. Columbus county has a lot to with it and has been mentioned already ... It's one of the poorest counties in the state and the largest employer in the county (outside the paper mill) is probably the school system or the hospital in Whiteville. There is not a lot in Columbus county to draw families there and I think you are seeing that in Richmond county as well. Richmond county is good in football, but not what they use to be

 

[Gotoredd]

We have 2 schools in Columbus County that have football tradition,Whiteville,South Columbus. Both have good numbers now.
Winning is expected at these two places and it happens too.
WC ,EC have been down for so long and had coach changes low numbers and administration that doesn't help either.
I want say never,but will take along time to get in order. You are right Trenchfighter there are no jobs here to attract parents moving here to cc. That's just the way it is.

 

[Core31]

WC and EC also has a problem with Whiteville stealing their athletes

 

[Gotoredd]

How can they steal them when parents take them there. I know some that have moved going back as far as 10 years ago. Some moved for different reasons. Kids should stay in their district and play or not play.

 

[Core31]

Yeah.... OK