Mitchell at Mount Airy
The Bears finally will face their first real challenge tonight as the Mountain boys will be rolling downhill to meet them. Mitchell has been one of the more consistent 1A programs of the past half decade and will provide MA a real challenge for the first time in a while. Their line will offer size and a solid physicality challenge to the Bears they haven't faced much all year. That will ultimately decide the ball game; if MA's line has some struggles it will be enough to keep Mitchell in the game. Mitchell won't have the speed to counter MA with but MA did have some struggles last week with Starmount in the first half as their line came ready to hit and it took a half for MA to wake up. MA can't afford to sleep walk anymore because these last few teams are talented and here for a reason now. MA's speed is ultimately a game breaker and I think that will be enough to help them over the hill if it comes down to it.
However a bad first half or 2nd half for MA could make the game so much more interesting. I'm not 100% counting Mitchell out either as this one is a hard pick. Whoever wins this one I think will have the edge to the 1A West spot in the title game.
Maiden at East Surry
Last week Monroe laid an egg and played like crap all night which was enough to let East slide into the next round. Don't know if it was the long ride, or ego problems with the kids that did Monroe in but they sure looked out of sorts and nowhere like they have all year. They couldn't handle the success of beating down that Robinson team and it shows in spades as they looked like a bunch of goofs a majority of the game. East meanwhile struggled again for the 3rd straight week to put a solid dominating performance in on both sides but again one side did enough (the defense,) to make sure they got out of it all alive. East has yet to truly dominate like in their 1AA days but they have put together 3 gutty games which is impressive to be honest. They've found 3 different ways to do it each week too.
However this week isn't a week to coast as a very good Maiden teams rolls up from Catawba county. This is the best squad Maiden's had in a long time and they've been truly dominant all year long. Their week 2 demolition of Watauga blew a lot of people away including myself to show that they aren't a joke they followed it up with an OT win over one of the top private school teams the next week. Offensively they are very similar to East but Maiden has the edge on defense as they are a little better and potent. They held a very good and very well coached Salisbury team in check last week who had more speed than Maiden does which is never easy. They did it by a comfortable margin too which I never expected. This Blue Devil team is clicking at the right time while East hasn't fully done it yet. East has got to have a solid 3 level performance tonight or it will be it for the Pilot boys. Maiden historically has had the Cards's number; 2002 they ended the Griggs era with a dominating win. Could it happen again tonight or will the Cards avenge history tonight?
This one can go either way but I've been impressed with this Maiden team so I'll give it to them with the pick, but another upset wouldn't surprise me either. This East team refuses to die.
The Bears finally will face their first real challenge tonight as the Mountain boys will be rolling downhill to meet them. Mitchell has been one of the more consistent 1A programs of the past half decade and will provide MA a real challenge for the first time in a while. Their line will offer size and a solid physicality challenge to the Bears they haven't faced much all year. That will ultimately decide the ball game; if MA's line has some struggles it will be enough to keep Mitchell in the game. Mitchell won't have the speed to counter MA with but MA did have some struggles last week with Starmount in the first half as their line came ready to hit and it took a half for MA to wake up. MA can't afford to sleep walk anymore because these last few teams are talented and here for a reason now. MA's speed is ultimately a game breaker and I think that will be enough to help them over the hill if it comes down to it.
However a bad first half or 2nd half for MA could make the game so much more interesting. I'm not 100% counting Mitchell out either as this one is a hard pick. Whoever wins this one I think will have the edge to the 1A West spot in the title game.
Maiden at East Surry
Last week Monroe laid an egg and played like crap all night which was enough to let East slide into the next round. Don't know if it was the long ride, or ego problems with the kids that did Monroe in but they sure looked out of sorts and nowhere like they have all year. They couldn't handle the success of beating down that Robinson team and it shows in spades as they looked like a bunch of goofs a majority of the game. East meanwhile struggled again for the 3rd straight week to put a solid dominating performance in on both sides but again one side did enough (the defense,) to make sure they got out of it all alive. East has yet to truly dominate like in their 1AA days but they have put together 3 gutty games which is impressive to be honest. They've found 3 different ways to do it each week too.
However this week isn't a week to coast as a very good Maiden teams rolls up from Catawba county. This is the best squad Maiden's had in a long time and they've been truly dominant all year long. Their week 2 demolition of Watauga blew a lot of people away including myself to show that they aren't a joke they followed it up with an OT win over one of the top private school teams the next week. Offensively they are very similar to East but Maiden has the edge on defense as they are a little better and potent. They held a very good and very well coached Salisbury team in check last week who had more speed than Maiden does which is never easy. They did it by a comfortable margin too which I never expected. This Blue Devil team is clicking at the right time while East hasn't fully done it yet. East has got to have a solid 3 level performance tonight or it will be it for the Pilot boys. Maiden historically has had the Cards's number; 2002 they ended the Griggs era with a dominating win. Could it happen again tonight or will the Cards avenge history tonight?
This one can go either way but I've been impressed with this Maiden team so I'll give it to them with the pick, but another upset wouldn't surprise me either. This East team refuses to die.
