Good info Fanatic! It looks on paper like WM should get the W but you never know. Anything can happen when young people are involved. I still don't think we have seen how good WM can be though. This will the the most competitive team WM has faced since Thomasville in my opinion. I'm not prepared to give a score prediction yet.
West Montgomery @ East Montgomery
- Thread starter WMFootballFanatic
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1n 1988, 2A WM and 1A EM were in the split 1A/2A CTH conference. Both were undefeated in conference play heading into the final week. 2 legendary coaches, Garmon (WM) and Daniel (EM). West won 19 - 0. Incase anybody was curious...
I remember the split 1A/2A league from 1985-1989 ... in 1990, EM and WM were in separate conferences ...
http://nchsaa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/1989-90-conferences.pdf
http://nchsaa.org/sites/default/files/attachments/1989-90-conferences.pdf
Please vote as often as you can. We have some competition but we know what the biggest game should be.
I may be one of the thousands in attendance. I have enjoyed watching the old way end this year. North Moore and my Comets beat the great bull puppies this year. This is the year that East beats West. West is over confident. After watching both teams I feel that East is by far the better prepared team. At the end of the West game the players were tired and we were running all over them. East did not seem to be tired in our game. West does not have the discipline that is needed to beat a good team. Mark my words West is over confident and not as good as East. East wins by at least three scores.
You actually had me intrigued and what you say is at least plausible up until that last sentence. Don't see that happening. I know you so want that to happen to make your loss to EM look better. But if I was a betting man I would bet East Montgomery would be happy for your presence to root on the Eagles as you drop a $20 bill for admission and at the concession stand if you are hungry.
One thing the WM players are not is over confident! It's just another game to them. IMO it's WM's game to lose. No disrespect to EM at all! Those guys will play WM harder than they have played anybody all season and I'm sure WM will have to pull out some new plays or something. EM has had 2 weeks to prepare. I was surprised that nobody from the East Side was at the WM/SD game last week, or atleast I didn't see any.
Wisebone you can't compare the two based on the end of the NM and NS games.... In both games we had second string and jv's on the field. Furthermore I don't know of a team better conditioned in 1a football and the last thing these guys are is over confident. If WM plays mistake free this one will be over real early but if we turn it over and have a lot of penalties it could be a good game...
Our younger guys and 2nd Squad sure has gotten a lot of playing time the last few weeks and I for one am glad! lol
Wm still beat north by 30+ points even after two dumb fumbles and a bunch of ridiculous penalties. Count your blessings it wasn't uglier......
I agree , EM needs to be ATLEAST +2 in turnover margin, and keep penalties under 30 yards to have a chance to win this game. The main difference IMO in this years game vs the last several is if West plays their B-/C+ game , EM is good enough to beat them. Im not sure in the past few years this has been the case.
I agree SweaterFee. Our issue is we have put together some D/F quarters in some games too, particularly early in the year. I don't think we have played our A game for an entire game all year long, especially on offense, where we have had to shuffle a bunch of different kids in for one reason or another. The defense has been more reliable for a change. That's what me and Buzzard was referring to. Plenty of room for improvement from these kids. I hope they don't wait until too late to realize that fact again this year. Just thinking they can show up and win ended what should have been a chance at a title last year in my opinion. It will kill this season too if they allow it to happen.
Wishbone you are smoking some good stuff brother. There is no way East wins this game especially by three touchdowns. Keeping it within three by the end will be a challenge for them. I've seen East play. They are good. A very good qb running the ball, a shifty little running back, a few good wideouts. Defensively they are pretty good. Fundamentally - so so. I expect them to play their best game of the year. But when the Warriors take the lead the doubt will set in. And West will pull away.
WM has 4-5 RBs that can gain 100 yds on most 1A teams. They have two that could hang 100 on most ANY team in the state. As far as the weather goes, I'll take our offensive lines strength, size and stamina over em's. Passing game has started to come around and I believe em relies heavily on the quick hit pass over the middle. Passing shouldn't be a factor if it's raining. If it's not I'm sure em will connect on a couple of passes. The running game, well, look at the stats.
Sgree with bd. Rain favors wmont. Warriors better up front on both side.
Rain is a big equalizer. Rain can help create turnovers. It also makes the playing surface slower. A wet, sloppy field does not benefit anyone really, but I think it hurts WM more. But that is just my opinion.
50% chance of rain throughout the day today, dropping to 20% Wednesday through Friday. Things should be drying out. Need some wind the next couple of days to finish the job.
Both teams appear to rely on speed in the backfield so I don't think that leaving the grass long or wetting the field prior to the game will be an issue. WM has some backs that can run between the tackles and grind out the clock if need be. The offense I do believe will have a different look than the three or four plays we have ran the last three weeks against lesser talented teams.
I would say that EM is more dependent on it's speed .
Question for WM fans. It seems EM has a pretty good passing game. Have we given up a passing score this year other than that fluke tipped pass at West Stanly that should have been a pick? Seems I remember 1 against JM maybe too?
Most know not to try to pass on our Secondary. Those guys will make an opposing QB pay for it. If EM plans on staying up with WM then it will be Flowers that does it. He is as physical and strong as NS's Williams. I believe WM just has too many weapons and the Defense is on a whole different level. All in all it comes down to who shows up. EM will be fired up and the home crowd will be loud! The WM side needs to match the noise level if possible!
Wm's secondary will be the best East has seen all year. If WM gets to maynor and watts it will get interesting really really quick. That's the key, pressure up front on D..........
Unless East is hiding some secret weapon, I see no way they can match up with West. Stranger things have happened, but West should have this game over by halftime. Not to belittle East, but there's little to no resistance in this conference. NM held off West for almost 13 minutes before that second quarter deluge of points. East slipped by NM in the waning minutes. UP was a good early season test it seemed at the time; however, Union Pines too has proven it pads the early season schedule with 1A schools and then gets trampled during the last 2/3 of its year. UP (5-5) hammered EM (9-1) and barely escaped NM. East then went on to monumental wins over.....Eastern Randolph (4-6), Trinity (3-7), Albemarle (2-8), Union Academy (3-7), Chatham Central (0-10), South Davidson (0-10), and North Moore (6-4). On the other side of the ball, only Thomasville provides the lone shine on West's record of 10-0. The Bulldogs are riding a 7-3 mark and looking pretty good; however, Jordan-Matthews' early test against West proved to be a facade, as the Jets are only 2-7. And then there's West Stanly and their 3-7 record. While on paper it may look like a very inviting top ten match up between 10-0 and 9-1 teams, the back story to their trips to those marks make this one of the most bizarre match-ups I've seen in watching/covering high school football in 35 years. East's 9 wins come over teams with a combined record of 23-57, while West's ten victims are 23-56, another stat that makes this match-up interesting on paper. The one fact that stands out is that West beat Thomasville, a meaningful win over a quality opponent, and crushed everyone else (except the early season slow start v J-M). East lost to UP, then beat everyone they were supposed to and had a time with NM (whom WM dispatched easily).
My take: 1. Teams need more quality out of conference opponents
2. East is not as powerful as some think. In fact, they have glaring weaknesses.
3. West is a good 1A team, but not battle-tested against solid opposition.
4. Sorry, but East will not provide number 3 for West. Not enough bodies. Not enough skilled positions.
5. West will score 40+, mainly on big plays. East will score, but I can't see more than 14 points. No weapons
other than their small tailback. I'll go 48-14 West Montgomery.
6. ....and finally.....no matter who wins or loses, somebody is going to be blaming the officials. East and West are
notorious for blaming the officials, so this should be an interesting night for the men in stripes.
Do stay away from the injury bug and remember to keep emotions in check and avoid ejections. They lead to suspensions and disqualification from post season if you cross the limit.
My take: 1. Teams need more quality out of conference opponents
2. East is not as powerful as some think. In fact, they have glaring weaknesses.
3. West is a good 1A team, but not battle-tested against solid opposition.
4. Sorry, but East will not provide number 3 for West. Not enough bodies. Not enough skilled positions.
5. West will score 40+, mainly on big plays. East will score, but I can't see more than 14 points. No weapons
other than their small tailback. I'll go 48-14 West Montgomery.
6. ....and finally.....no matter who wins or loses, somebody is going to be blaming the officials. East and West are
notorious for blaming the officials, so this should be an interesting night for the men in stripes.
Do stay away from the injury bug and remember to keep emotions in check and avoid ejections. They lead to suspensions and disqualification from post season if you cross the limit.
Pretty good summary. The lack of competition can be said for a lot of the top teams when it comes to their conferences. If and when we get beat, that will be what I attribute it to, the lack of conference competition. No offense to anyone, that's just a fact. Early season close games don't really bother me because the team today is better than the team in those early games. I can't speak for everyone, but my quarrel with the refs is generally when they are trying to control the outcome of a game as far as trying to keep it close. That's when injuries can happen for both teams, when the starters are in there when they shouldn't be. We also have this one referee we get from time to time who thinks any pancake block he sees is holding. If your hands are within the framework of the body and you drive someone into the dust, that is not holding. We've only had such issues in a couple of games in my opinion with a couple of the Stanly teams. If we get beat, I'll tell you. If East beats us, I'll admit it.
You have a lot of good arguments except for the "not enough skilled positions" and " no weapons other than the small tailback". EM has several great athletes and # 24 ( McKinney) is probably the best " combine athlete " in the conference. That doesnt mean he is the best football player ( he is getting there) , but that atleast classifies him as a weapon. I guess you didnt see him break a tackle on 4th and short vs NM and go 65 yards leaving everyone behind ? Not to mention litterally jumping over basically a player standing up right and land on 2 feet. WM may very well shut him down, but he is a weapon.
East isn't overly athletic. Very good QB, but not an accurate passer. They will hit quick screens out in the flats. QB is a better runner and could hurt west at times there if the Warriors are prepared. McKinney is a good athlete but not sure he's the best in the conference. Eagles aren't very fundamentally sound or overly big up front. Will hurt them Friday night. Eagles secondary has some pretty good talent on it.
Great teams can shut down great individual players ( see WM v NS Williams) , but not recognizing Mckinney as a" weapon" is unreal, Im sure it was just an oversight on NM88 part.
