MA at North Stokes
Not much to write about here. MA will have 42 in not to long of a time they have too many backs for N Stokes to handle. MA should be worried about protecting their starters and staying healthy. I expect a lot of youngin’s to play in this game.
Surry Central at Forbush
Time for another solid edition to this rivalry. These two have always played each other tough since 1967 when the Northwest 3A started. There’s been a lot of close matchups over the years and a lot of landslides too (Forbush has the record for one of the most lopsided wins of all time they beat Central 80-0 in 1990 during their long losing streak, ouch.) As of late these games have been super tough. Central won the last matchup as they took the gameplan in which we used to win the first half vs the Bush on that Monday night game and used it to beat them that Friday. Bush was beat up and Central took it to them and it was to the point they didn’t want it anymore. That hadn’t happened much with that group; honestly it was one of Southern’s finest moments as an HC.
This year the two teams are again very similar. Neither are up at what they used to be’s levels and badly need a W. A win for the Bush would make 3 in the row while Central’s would be 2 in a row. However there are a lot of questions that prevent me from picking a winner here. Forbush was badly beat up after our game last week. #9 their QB got hurt and didn’t play most of the 2nd half. They ran a direct snap offense to #4 who also got beat up. The question here is how healthy are those 2 kids. Without either one the Bush is seriously in trouble. I just can’t make a decision without that info. Central’s kids play their system hard and will regardless of Bush’s situation. I just don’t know theirs enough to pick.
Elkin at Starmount
Time for another yearly round of the bridge game. Starmount came out of MA honestly in not bad of a shape as it coulda been, they didn’t have 60+ dropped on them. 43 is still a lot when you don’t offer much resistsence. The Rams have got to make sure to find momentum for the rest of this year. They still have a lot to play for especially a good playoff seeding and Dezern still has records to go for. Elkin meanwhile are fighting for their lives to stay in the hunt. They badly underperformed last week in a game they shoulda competed in vs SC. Elkin badly needs momentum going forward as they go to Sparta for a huge game next weekend. A good performance here will give them some momentum for that and maybe help them make it into the crowded playoff field.
When push comes to shove however I jus don’t see it. Starmount’s not like anyone Elkin’s played this year since North Wilkes and they couldn’t stay on the field that night. Starmount’s biggest foe is their own selves they got to become more consistent.
West Stokes at HP Andrews
Very interesting matchup here to say the least in a very odd mid state conference. West won a solid victory over an improved Morehead team last week. West’s offense finally woke up after a long hibernation at a time where they really needed it, and their defense stepped up enough to make it a comfortable win. Meanwhile HPA held off North Forsyth in Winston last week for a huge win over the Vikings. Last year NF throttled the Raiders to a 30+ point loss so it was a satisfying win for a improving program. This week West has the truly sucky task of having to go to Simeon to play HPA, it’s a very, very tough place to play. I got to go there 9 years ago and even I found it intimidating and I never do.
Last year’s game was a West win which was huge for that program as they never beat them before. However it wasn’t an easy one either, West had to rally in the 4th with a 13 point quarter to put it away. HPA almost pulled it out of the hat last year as rough as they were. This game should be a close one as both sides are super fast in the skill player side of things. It will come down to the trenches and who handles momentum better. West has it for the first time in a while and HPA is coming of a program win over a bully. Hard to say who has the edge but SImeon’s a tricky beast and it might be enough. Both of these teams badly need this win for momentum’s sakes. It could go either way.
North Wilkes at Wilkes Central
Very big matchup here in Moravian Falls as the Eagles host a very senior laden North Wilkes squad who wants a repeat victory streak over Central for possibly the first time ever (I’ll need to check history to see.) Last year WC played very inept on a Monday night and let North Wilkes dominate them to an upset win and the true sign of trouble in Denmark for the Eagles. This year however they have managed to be more competent albeit not perfect. Their defense is still quite non-existent and they struggle to put teams away. Both of their conference wins were long drawn out games with both teams scoring 30+ on them and East Surry had a solid week last week. NW meanwhile prefers to let the RB run you over to attrition. They capitalized off West Wilkes’s mistakes last week to a big game. They are a fundamental ball squad and make the most of those mistakes. However this week Central presents a challenge to NW that they haven’t faced much. They face the same amount of size they have but will be facing more speed than they have.
And when push comes to shove the Vikings struggle versus speed quite a bit. If they can bottle it up enough they might get their sweep. Central needs a monster outing from the NC state kid; they haven’t had that yet. Might be an upset here; couldn't’ say I’m surprised if so.
Alleghany at East Wilkes
The Ronda Cards look to be back to their jamming ways. They went into Sauraland and had a pretty respectable but not sexy showing last week to a 28-6 over South and Dave. However given the 2021 game they needed anything symbolizing a normal win. Alleghany meanwhile took out their frustrations on North Stokes last week to a solid shutout win for the Trojans, not much went wrong there. Even the QB went perfect throwing it. They couldn’t have asked for anything better.
However this week both presents 2 different scenarios for each team to deal with. It just happens they will be lining up heads first across from each other. Who can handle the consistency and pressure better?
East has the talent edge but Alleghany doesn’t have anything to lose here they can be a major pest to the Cards if they want to be. History shows they can do so.. In 2018 in Wilmoth’s first year, an overlooked Alleghany squad hosted East ,and proceeded to upset the Cards with a killer 2nd half in which they just dominated the Cards it happened when East was on a 6 game win streak. Similar to what they are in now; East has all the momentum but if they don’t come ready to play it could slip away.
The Cards better be ready to thud tonight.
Ashe County at Hibriten
The Huskies showed up last week and took Alexander Central to the wire for the 2nd year of the row. However a bad 3rd quarter and inability to run the ball cost them late to a 28-21 loss. However this is a good sign for the Huskies as it shows they can compete with these 3A squads. However they still need a W to salvage this year. This week they head to Lenoir to play a down Hibriten squad who’s in the youthful blues period of their run as of late. However they are still Hibriten and they beat Freedom last week. Ashe needs to prep for a fight, Hibriten’s always been a bully to them.
Not much to write about here. MA will have 42 in not to long of a time they have too many backs for N Stokes to handle. MA should be worried about protecting their starters and staying healthy. I expect a lot of youngin’s to play in this game.
Surry Central at Forbush
Time for another solid edition to this rivalry. These two have always played each other tough since 1967 when the Northwest 3A started. There’s been a lot of close matchups over the years and a lot of landslides too (Forbush has the record for one of the most lopsided wins of all time they beat Central 80-0 in 1990 during their long losing streak, ouch.) As of late these games have been super tough. Central won the last matchup as they took the gameplan in which we used to win the first half vs the Bush on that Monday night game and used it to beat them that Friday. Bush was beat up and Central took it to them and it was to the point they didn’t want it anymore. That hadn’t happened much with that group; honestly it was one of Southern’s finest moments as an HC.
This year the two teams are again very similar. Neither are up at what they used to be’s levels and badly need a W. A win for the Bush would make 3 in the row while Central’s would be 2 in a row. However there are a lot of questions that prevent me from picking a winner here. Forbush was badly beat up after our game last week. #9 their QB got hurt and didn’t play most of the 2nd half. They ran a direct snap offense to #4 who also got beat up. The question here is how healthy are those 2 kids. Without either one the Bush is seriously in trouble. I just can’t make a decision without that info. Central’s kids play their system hard and will regardless of Bush’s situation. I just don’t know theirs enough to pick.
Elkin at Starmount
Time for another yearly round of the bridge game. Starmount came out of MA honestly in not bad of a shape as it coulda been, they didn’t have 60+ dropped on them. 43 is still a lot when you don’t offer much resistsence. The Rams have got to make sure to find momentum for the rest of this year. They still have a lot to play for especially a good playoff seeding and Dezern still has records to go for. Elkin meanwhile are fighting for their lives to stay in the hunt. They badly underperformed last week in a game they shoulda competed in vs SC. Elkin badly needs momentum going forward as they go to Sparta for a huge game next weekend. A good performance here will give them some momentum for that and maybe help them make it into the crowded playoff field.
When push comes to shove however I jus don’t see it. Starmount’s not like anyone Elkin’s played this year since North Wilkes and they couldn’t stay on the field that night. Starmount’s biggest foe is their own selves they got to become more consistent.
West Stokes at HP Andrews
Very interesting matchup here to say the least in a very odd mid state conference. West won a solid victory over an improved Morehead team last week. West’s offense finally woke up after a long hibernation at a time where they really needed it, and their defense stepped up enough to make it a comfortable win. Meanwhile HPA held off North Forsyth in Winston last week for a huge win over the Vikings. Last year NF throttled the Raiders to a 30+ point loss so it was a satisfying win for a improving program. This week West has the truly sucky task of having to go to Simeon to play HPA, it’s a very, very tough place to play. I got to go there 9 years ago and even I found it intimidating and I never do.
Last year’s game was a West win which was huge for that program as they never beat them before. However it wasn’t an easy one either, West had to rally in the 4th with a 13 point quarter to put it away. HPA almost pulled it out of the hat last year as rough as they were. This game should be a close one as both sides are super fast in the skill player side of things. It will come down to the trenches and who handles momentum better. West has it for the first time in a while and HPA is coming of a program win over a bully. Hard to say who has the edge but SImeon’s a tricky beast and it might be enough. Both of these teams badly need this win for momentum’s sakes. It could go either way.
North Wilkes at Wilkes Central
Very big matchup here in Moravian Falls as the Eagles host a very senior laden North Wilkes squad who wants a repeat victory streak over Central for possibly the first time ever (I’ll need to check history to see.) Last year WC played very inept on a Monday night and let North Wilkes dominate them to an upset win and the true sign of trouble in Denmark for the Eagles. This year however they have managed to be more competent albeit not perfect. Their defense is still quite non-existent and they struggle to put teams away. Both of their conference wins were long drawn out games with both teams scoring 30+ on them and East Surry had a solid week last week. NW meanwhile prefers to let the RB run you over to attrition. They capitalized off West Wilkes’s mistakes last week to a big game. They are a fundamental ball squad and make the most of those mistakes. However this week Central presents a challenge to NW that they haven’t faced much. They face the same amount of size they have but will be facing more speed than they have.
And when push comes to shove the Vikings struggle versus speed quite a bit. If they can bottle it up enough they might get their sweep. Central needs a monster outing from the NC state kid; they haven’t had that yet. Might be an upset here; couldn't’ say I’m surprised if so.
Alleghany at East Wilkes
The Ronda Cards look to be back to their jamming ways. They went into Sauraland and had a pretty respectable but not sexy showing last week to a 28-6 over South and Dave. However given the 2021 game they needed anything symbolizing a normal win. Alleghany meanwhile took out their frustrations on North Stokes last week to a solid shutout win for the Trojans, not much went wrong there. Even the QB went perfect throwing it. They couldn’t have asked for anything better.
However this week both presents 2 different scenarios for each team to deal with. It just happens they will be lining up heads first across from each other. Who can handle the consistency and pressure better?
East has the talent edge but Alleghany doesn’t have anything to lose here they can be a major pest to the Cards if they want to be. History shows they can do so.. In 2018 in Wilmoth’s first year, an overlooked Alleghany squad hosted East ,and proceeded to upset the Cards with a killer 2nd half in which they just dominated the Cards it happened when East was on a 6 game win streak. Similar to what they are in now; East has all the momentum but if they don’t come ready to play it could slip away.
The Cards better be ready to thud tonight.
Ashe County at Hibriten
The Huskies showed up last week and took Alexander Central to the wire for the 2nd year of the row. However a bad 3rd quarter and inability to run the ball cost them late to a 28-21 loss. However this is a good sign for the Huskies as it shows they can compete with these 3A squads. However they still need a W to salvage this year. This week they head to Lenoir to play a down Hibriten squad who’s in the youthful blues period of their run as of late. However they are still Hibriten and they beat Freedom last week. Ashe needs to prep for a fight, Hibriten’s always been a bully to them.
