MA at Surry Central
Much props to SC taking this game head on again.. They had every right to not renew it. They coulda easily found someone to play for a W but they wanted the challenge so they took it. MA shouldn’t come into this one overconfident, Central has always been a trap game for them in the olden days and it happens every blue moon. 6 years ago was the last time it did so. However I just don’t see it this year; MA is way too athletic and Central always struggles with containing speed and that come back and destroyed them last week. Expect Central to score a time or two but MA will drop a lot.
East Wilkes at East Surry
Battle of the Cards becomes a reality this week. What looked like a matchup that would have been a blowout months ago looks much different now. Honestly there are too much unknowns to pick someone here so I’ll stay neutral. The Ronda Cards are way more proven while the Pilot variety sat out last week; however last week EW didn’t play that great last week but pulled it out of the hat. Just hard to say who wins here.. Both will have ample chances to prove themselves, but which one wants it more? The Glory team or the team of the future?
Starmount at Forbush
It’s put up or shut up time for the Rams as they travel to face their demons: both across the line and in their heads tonight as it’s time for the Unfi Bowl. Forbush is the heavy favorite as they should be due to their performances as of late however that is a bit deceiving as they haven’t played 2 powerhouses. Starmount got waxed by East but shut down a very good CSD team and ran the ball down their throats. Forbush has had the edge in matchups vs the group growing up so they will probably come in with a big head but they don’t need to do so or else it may be a long night. The Rams have a lot to prove; Forbush not so much and the pressure is on them to stay up. This very well could be closer than what many figure but I’ll pick the Birds.
Elkin at North Moore
The Elks had the good timing of getting out playing a would have been a very motivated North Surry team; but in the replacement they happened to draw a powerhouse offense in North Moore to go against. I’ll give Elkin credit here for trying to face their demons; they had a LOT of struggles vs the run when playing North Wilkes; the Vikes ran on them quite a bit which is unusual given the fact they are an Air Raid team. They realized they had a gold mine because Elkin’s run defense couldn’t adjust to that RB and NW smartly ran him a lot. This week they face a multi faced wing attack which has been quite stout both times this year. They won’t be the North Moore the Elks would have faced 15 years ago in their glory days. The Elks better be ready to thud and put in a better effort on defense or else it will be a long night; as long as that travel they have to and back. Elkin’s best chance is to have a good night at offense with the QB being free to do what he needs and running the clock off. If NM gets loose on defense and causes a lot of losses in the backfield Elkin will have it rough because their heart is that QB.
NM is just a machine right now. They could have folded vs Carver but they found a opening and took off and did a great job holding North Stokes back and just dominated them at the end. This may be closer than what I expect but I think North Moore takes this.
North Stokes at Chatham Central
Much like I expected North Stokes’s offense fell apart at the worst time and couldn’t recover. Fortner made an iffy decision on a play before half which woulda tied it. Instead it lead to a picked pass and their last chance at momentum. Their RB and QB later got hurt in the 3rd quarter and they never recovered from it as NM took off. This week it doesn’t get any better as they have a long haul ahead to play Chatham Central. CC lost a respectable game to Trinity in the opener but had last week off due to South Davidson’s issues. They will be well rested and ready to play while N Stokes’s backfield is a huge ? mark. I haven’t found anything on if those 2 kids are healthy are not.. The game will come down to that ultimately. If they don’t play then North Stokes is pretty much toast.. That offense can’t run without those kids. If they do play they’d have a solid 50/50 shot of winning. CC is still trying to find it’s way after graduating that QB who broke all those records. A win here will make the transition smoother. A North Stokes win would give them solid momentum before they play Patrick County. No room for error here I just feel better with CC right now; less ? marks.
South Stokes at McMichael
The Sauras flat out destroyed Bishop from the opening whistle and never let up until the end. It seemed like Dave finally woke them up and they played some good balanced ball for the first time in a while. Carrick ran the ball well and the sophomore QB had a good night throwing it. This week they have another solid shot at winning a road game as they head to Mayodan and play McMichael who is one of their longtime rivals. McMichael’s record is very deceiving as they played one of their rivals and a good Bartlett Yancy team quite tough so the Sauras shouldn’t overlook them. The Phoenix are desperate for any momentum and the next two weeks present their two best shots of a win so I expect their best here. McMichael let South slip in 2019 but I just don’t see it here. They look too stubborn; however all bets are off when Dave plays McMichael. He’s always seemed to have the way to counter them from all the times he has played them. A South win here is very possible.
Carver at Highland Tech
There’s no better goodtime story going in the area than Carver’s turnaround this year. They went from the verge of program death at the end of 2019 when the JV folded and how lifeless they were when they played us in that finale, to re-fielding a JV last night to just a TD loss and the past two weeks on varsity’s performances. They won a solid yet not very sexy game over Atkins last week so they have solid momentum on their side right now. They face a very long drive to Gastonia ahead as they play the Highland Tech Rams, a team that should be in their conference right now (they fit better than Mountain Island anyways.) The Rams have never been a juggernaut; they just love to play for playing’s sake. However they have a really workman like QB who can chunk it so they can’t afford to sleep here. In reality the long drive is their biggest enemy. I expect the Jackets and Blackburn especially to have a amazing night on the ground. Maybe a career high game here. With the win the Jackets will have a win streak for the first time in a while and will head into next week’s game with McMichael with some momentum. That game might define their season; a win would give them untold momentum but a loss would be hard to overcome once conference starts. However they need to worry about the now first which is the Rams.
Bishop at Graham
Bishop’s debut in that new offense landed with a thud last week as the line fell apart often and they couldn’t maintain any momentum. Defensively they looked lost and got ran over by Carrick quite regularly. It was a debut that is best forgotten. However things don’t get no easier as they head to Alamance Co to face a motivated Graham team who beat Carrboro in a shoot out in the opener. Things won’t get any easier for the Villains as the Red Devils will look at Bishop as one of the easier teams they play and will not let up on them. They badly need an easier team to play; now’s not the time though.
Walkertown at Mt Pleasant
The Bully’s got bullied last week as Walkertown got done a raw deal by kharma as Lexington got sick and had to pull out, and in came Ledford who lost their game with West Davidson. The first half proved close before Ledford just laid the wood on the Pack and just humiliated them after halftime throwing the ball. Pass defense has always been an achilles heel for the Pack and it bit them hard last week. This week it won’t get any easier as they face a fired up Mount Pleasant team fresh off a thriller win over Forest Hills. MP is one of the more consistently good teams in NC and the replacement for Eastern Randolph who got sick in a bummer to their early success. Walkertown needs to be ready to come play solid fundamentals based ball or else it’s gonna be a long night again. This will be another good taste to prep them for Reidsville.
WS Prep at Parkland
The Prep boys had a meh opener last week.. Offensively they struggled quite a bit as the lack of Davis at QB really hurt them. Defensively they did quite well just limiting LN Charter to 2 TD’s worth of points. So defensively might honestly be their strong point this year. Up next they are to be whipping boys for both Parkland and Walkertown the next 2 weeks. Up first is a very, very rough Parkland team, fresh off a bye after getting humiliated by South Rowan in the opener. South Rowan had one of the most impressive offensive showings of week one by beating the Mustangs with a killer 99 yards of total offence! Most of it came running the ball.. Yikes. Parkland is on a 9 game losing streak which isn’t too much but it dates back 2 years.. Yeah. If the Mustangs don’t win this week they probably won’t do so the rest of their. This game is HUGE for them; Prep I just don’t think is ready for that pressure yet. But who knows they may just be. A win for them would be huge for their program as they haven’t beaten a 3A or 4A team yet. Maybe, and just MAYBE it might be now.
