Ridge Spring-Monetta- 28
Lewisville- 24 Lamar- 45 Williston-Elko- 14 Baptist Hill- 46 Lake View- 32 C.E. Murray- 20 Lake View- 19 Breakdown- Last week my playoff projections were basically a seven-layer salad of dead flies, old cheese, horse poop, belly button lint, rotting sausage, sock sweat and dog hair. I went a craptastic 1-3 on my predictions, though to be fair there were some extenuating circumstances. I was able to take in the Lewisville, RS-M game in person. That was as over as over gets when Lewisville took a 24-0 lead late in the first half, then it just kind of wasn’t. The Trojans got a long touchdown run late in the half and dang if a score going into the break doesn’t always seem to be a momentum-builder. A couple of things contributed to the run they went on. Lewisville had a couple of three-and-outs and a turnover in the third. On top of that, after they scored to make it 24-14, RS-M went for and recovered an onside kick (they got another in the fourth quarter). Lewisville ran six plays in the entire third quarter, meaning the defense was out there a long time. The Lions weren’t blessed with a ton of depth this year, so I think that started to wear them down a little as the game wore on and limited their chances at a kill shot score. The Trojans also changed things up offensively. They couldn’t squeeze a drop into the potty offensively early on. They went with a straight, drop-back kind of passing attack, which just didn’t work. Lewisville’s defensive front was just destroying them. They could run the ball very well either. So, they went with more of a quick hit passing game, which kind of loosened things up a little. QB Tyson Bettis, despite just getting hammered throughout the first half, kept coming back and as the game wore on, his elusiveness showed more and more. Lewisville helped too, in the form of some dropped passes and penalties. I give the Trojans full credit for battling back from a 24-point deficit, which took a lot of fortitude and toughness. I wanted to say all that up front before I discussed the grab bag of bullcrap that was the final penalty called in the game. I try very hard not to criticize officials here. I know many officials, they work very hard, they get it right most of the time and they are in sadly short supply. However, Lewisville got the ball back with just over two minutes left at their own 22. They drove inside the RS-M 30 and, with 12 or so seconds left, Rhett Cox hit Mikial Fourney in stride for the apparent game-winning touchdown. In Fourney’s wake, though, was a flag. Fourney was called for offensive pass interference. I was standing about five yards from where he caught the ball (around the 10) and am here to tell you, he did not push off. Fourney and a DB were doing some hand-fighting, which receivers and DBs often do. In this case it was mild and very mutual hand-fighting. It had no impact on the play at all. Lewisville’s coaches actually thought if anything, they were going to call defensive pass interference. I get that pass interference is a judgment call, but I was completely shocked at that call in that situation. With 12 seconds left, on a game-winning touchdown pass in the third round of the playoffs, I don’t want a flag deciding things. Especially on a play like that where, really, there wasn’t many of anything to throw a flag for. On top of that, they were letting pass-catchers and pass-defenders get pretty physical for most of the night, so that penalty stood out even more. Lewisville’s last season in Class A (for at least a while) was a good one, but it’s over now. I wish hadn’t ended the way it did. RS-M moves on now to face Lamar for the upperstate championship… Hey, speaking of Lamar, that’s one game I actually got right. The Silver Foxes laid the lumber to Williston-Elko 45-14.My double secret Lamar informant was on hand and said the game was never really close or competitive. Lamar scored on its first three possessions to go up 20-0. W-E did have a fumble return for a touchdown in the second quarter, but their offense never really did much of anything. Against a defense as fast, physical and well-coached as Lamar, I just really didn’t think an offense as mostly one-dimensional as W’E’s would find much traction, and they didn’t. And Lamar used all its offensive weapons to outgain the Blue Devils by more than 300 yards. They did most of that on the ground (Lucas had 200 dadgum yards on 13 flippin’ carries). Oddly, Lamar was apparently a little sloppy with the ball, with three fumbles and an interception in the first two quarters, but the talent and performance gap was so big, it didn’t matter. They’ve been a prohibitive favorite to represent the upperstate for a while and they have a chance to do that this week… There are a couple of super high-powered offenses in the low country and I wondered if they had a prayer against Hemingway. The Tigers were 11-0 going into Friday night and only two of their games were even mildly competitive. Hemingway was so explosive on offense and so adept at creating turnovers on defense and scoring on them AND at getting special teams touchdowns, I thought getting in a shootout with them seemed liked a really terrible idea. Maybe Chad Wilkes did too, because he decided not to try. C.E. Murray, who has moved to a wide open spread this year (including in a 56-35 loss to Hemingway during the regular season) came out Friday night and ran the Wishbone against Hemingway. They’d not shown that look all year. To me, a switch that drastic takes, um, solid gold taters the side of ostrich eggs. You aren’t dancing with the girl that brung you, you’re pretending to be sick, telling her to go to the party without you, then going to her house to see her sister. Seriously, that was a super bold move but also a brilliant one. You, no doubt, catch them off guard, force them to adapt on the fly AND shorten the game and limit possessions. A lot of credit goes to the War Eagle players too. It’s one thing to decide to an offensive 180, but it’s another entirely for them to go out and execute it. The defense obviously played their tails off too. That includes a crucial goal-line stand in the closing seconds. With a team like Hemingway, I wonder if going to the playoffs without really having been challenged is a good thing. They aren’t all going to be walkovers in the playoffs, no matter how good you are. They had a big senior class, a ton of talent, inspired the phrase “crank smack” and 11-1 is certainly nothing to sneeze at, but they didn’t get the ring they probably thought was within reach. C.E. Murray goes to the upperstate title game for the second time in three years, which sustains the amazing turnaround of this program over the past couple of years… I’m not shocked that Baptist Hill (or Methodist Mountain as a friend of mine calls them) upset the defending state champion Lake View Wild Gators. I was honestly torn on that game, but figured Lake View’s defense was a tiny, little bit better than Baptist Hill’s and that they might be able to have some success on the ground and let the air out of the ball a little. As with the Lewisville game, there are some other factors to consider. If you follow high school football, you know that one of Lake View’s best players was not on the field Friday night and you know why. No need to rehash all of that here. That obviously made a difference, but I can’t sit here and honestly say that his presence would have guaranteed a win. For a long time, I didn’t totally buy into the Bobcats. They put up dizzying offensive numbers last year and just left rug burns on bad teams…then got blasted whenever they played somebody who hit back. That isn’t the case this year. They are much better on defense and their offense is still a fireworks show….A good one, not you and your cousins lighting a few blacksnakes and neighbor haters in the pasture on New Year’s Eve. Corey Fields threw for 435 yards and six touchdowns. I’ve seriously run out of superlatives and adjectives to attach to the asinine assault he launches against opposing defenses every week. He has over 4,000 total yards this year despite missing most of a game and the fact that his team played only nine regular season contests. No matter who was on the field for Lake View Friday, I don’t know that it would have helped overcome his efforts. Baptist Hill v C.E. Murray has the makings of the year’s most entertaining game and I, hopefully, will be in attendance. Suggested Reading Seriously, blacksnakes just made it look like the Earth was taking a smoky poo… This guy says something about a controversial ending in Monetta but, but whose buying his jive anymore? Crossed you up. You looked zigged and I zagged. The old switcheroo…
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November 2021
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