disciple633

Fair enough...I didn't realize there was subbing already happening in the 4th. Still saw a lot of the key numbers out there during that time; so I just assumed the entire starting unit was indeed still there. Thanks for clarifying. No disrespect felt, here. Good luck at NCS! I've become a WC fan this year; so I'll be rooting for you guys and checking the updates through the night. Would come watch, but I have a kid I care about pretty deeply at Henry Co & I want to go see those boys take a second shot at Centennial. Go Patriots! Go Wildcats!

Thanks for the congrats! I'm sure our boys will work hard to keep some momentum moving forward next year. Lots of underclassmen gonna have to step up! I agree that WC defense was once again the difference. However, I feel compelled to point out that HC did in fact come very close to scoring against WC starters with about 6 minutes remaining in the 4th quarter. We had just converted a 4th down inside the redzone when TB Nolas Seay was toppled head over heals on the HC sideline somewhere between the 10 & 15 yard line and lost the ball in mid-air. That is pretty darn close to a score! Of course credit is still due to the WC defense; it was a crushing blow dealt to the senior HB and to the Irish as a whole when that drive ended. (Sorry for being late to the followup conversation, folks. I was out of town and unable to access the board from Friday until today.) Really proud of the 50+ young men who gave their heart and should to represent the good people of Houston County by wearing the green and white on the gridiron this season. WAY TO GO, IRISH!!

I'm very interested as well to know how TSSAA responds to this issue. In Houston County, we don't have open enrollment issues or much of a significant threat that we would lose athletes to other schools. However, I believe this is a relevant conversation for another (I believer more fundamental) reason.... I'm talking about the overall health of student athletes in the game of football. Our middle schoolers have no access to a physical training facility or any sort of supervised training program outside of the high school football program. Since they are currently banned from participating in the program until the summer after their 8th grade year, they enter their freshman seasons with very little physical foundation for handling the rigors & physicality of high school level practices. This is a recipe for injuries--injuries that could be avoided if TSSAA would allow them to simply ride a district school bus from MS to HS after school (or during a late afternoon exploratory period, when students come to the HS for other purposes anyway) and begin working our in our high school's facility as early as the second semester of their 8th grade year.

Great point here! The last time these two teams played, HC ran about 60 plays, gaining just 6 first downs. They ran 3 against the WC JV for a first down and a touchdown. By contrast, the Wildcats scored 0 points on 7 offensive plays in the 1st, 14 points on 8 offensive plays in the 2nd, 14 points on 14 offensive plays in the 3rd, and 13 points on 5 offensive plays in the 4th. (+ 2 victory kneels) That's 6 touchdowns on 34 plays. Thats a score every 5.6 plays. Only two scores came from within the red zone. One was a veer option keep from the Irish 19. The other was just two plays after another veer option keep that had gone for 33 yards down to the Irish 6. Most of the rest of the plays went for negative yardage or fairly minimal gains. HC did succeed at getting pressure on Rice (2-3 sacks), intercepting him for the first time all year (in week 8!), forcing a couple punts, and forcing a fumble as well. I'm saying this in part to make the point to Irish fans that it wasn't like the Irish quit, or the wheels came off or they lost their intensity. The flow of the game was consistent throughout. And HC made some plays throughout. There were 2 legitimate drives by HC and 4 short field opportunities granted by penalty, fumble, interception, and kick return. However, there was very little success at blocking WC linebackers. They flowed, shed blocks, and tackled much better than we blocked at the skill positions. We also hurt several drives with penalties, fumbles, poor passing accuracy (in rain) and 1 interception. Aside from our utter failure to block those backers, protect the ball, and convert 3rd downs....HC essentially gave up 6 BIG plays—2 per quarter from the time Rice entered the game in the second quarter til it ended. (And by the way Rice was key to everything offense for WC. Even when the big play was a run by someone other than Rice, it was facilitated by a phenomenal mesh&read on the veer.) For all the good HC did in that game defensively, Rice & company were just that much better to find what was still available to exploit. A good one-play microcosm of HC-D vs. WC-O can be found on Rice's second play of the 2nd quarter. Because of a successful OLB blitz, Rice was on his way to the ground being sacked at his own 8 yard line when he alertly flipped the ball to Cole who was kind of just sitting as a blocker/check-down on the back side of the play. Several great open-field blocks and 90 yards later, Cole was in the Irish endzone. The Irish defense must play pretty near to perfect in order to make this a game. Cuz you can win every play except 3 to these Wildcats and see 21 points go up on the board. And creating a few turnovers is an absolute must. On the flip side, it seemed like HC's best defense in the first meeting was the few times we sustained moderate-length drives. You hold the ball vs. WC, you limit their odds for a big play. And if your drives actually convert enough first downs to end in scores.... Is it possible for HC to sustain 3+ long scoring drives? Is it possible that HC will actually show an edge on the line matchup IF they can block those backers more effectively? Can HC calm those backers' pursuits in run support by passing more effectively this time around? Can HC force WC to drive for their scores instead of surrendering the big plays? What role could special teams play in the outcome this time around?

I know!!! We can move the game to HC! Our field has a few muddy spots but mostly looks good. I mean, relative to what I'm hearing about the WC field. Who's on board!?!

I've heard a lot about he defense from NCS. And I've heard about the heavy package utilized to spark an explosive (understatement) 3rd quarter against TC. But I don't really know much else about NCS offense. How big is your line? Pretty fast? Disciplined? Your 2 recent opponents claimed a lot of holding took place. But clearly, y'all have the ability to put up big points--hold or no hold. Huntingdon's line is a force to be reckoned with. You have to be more than just good to neutralize what they do offensively. I'm really eager to see this matchup!! Two top5 programs! Will be happy for NCS if they advance. But gonna be pulling for our region6 boys to represent.

I second this.

Wonder how accurate my score would have been if the weather was fair & the field intact. I hit the spread at least! Sounds like it was a great game. Congrats, WC! Kudos Monterey on a great season and an impressive effort against the other Cats. Hopefully Monterey and HC will get a chance to throw down in the next year or two! WC Fans...y'all are always a classy bunch. Excited we get a chance to tango once more this year. And excited to see your place down there and get immersed in the WC Football Culture. I know y'all wouldn't dream of overlooking us; so I'll go ahead and say, "Look out! Here we come!!"

I appreciate all this feedback! I know there are a lot of good teams out there with which I am not yet familiar. Cool to hear some informed perspective on where we might rank.

Well, I feel decent about my guess. Congratulations NCS. Good work this year, CA. Praying the young man who suffered the bruised lung heals up well & quickly.

Well said, Gentlemen! Best game thread I've seen on the T all year. And from what I've observed in reading other scores, we may have witnessed the best game in the state tonight right there in the dungeon of Jo Byrns!! One more thing...the engine rev and that glorious smell of grilled meats wafting out of the smokehouse...thats what small town HS football is all about!!! It. Was. Awesome! You guys really do it right. I think HC needs a smokehouse or a BBQ pit up on the hill!

Well, I just about nailed the Huntingdon score. Overshot by a couple. Just missed conversion points. I was way wrong about the TC score, though. Kudos, Mustang defense! This is an impressive showing. Congrats on win #10!!

Yeah! Like that amazing O-line & D-line the Mustangs have!! Of course, they are mostly seniors; so it does kind of make the other guy's point about youth being a factor. But I believe this...young or old, that O-line is awesome. And the way HHS has schemed to get so many blockers to the POA is brilliant. And the way they block til the whistle like getting a pancake is the celebrated on par with a pick-6...I love it! Would love to see HC's culture of line play & skill position blocking take some more steps in that direction as we keep improving our program.

-1 They are a respectable playoff team, Dude.

We share a region, buddy. And I appreciate your team. So i spend time on the thread. and respectfully so, I will add. No one who reads my posts can deny that I am respectful. You regularly hate on any program whose tradition does not far exceed that of your own. And you don't just keep to the singular topic on your own thread either. I could say more. But your reputation speaks loudly already. I will readily defend any team you unfairly criticize. Nothing wrong with that. I'm for the kids.

No running mouth, here. But since you brought it up... my relevance to speak comes from my love of football, my love of high school sports, and my genuine love of every young man who straps it up to play the game this Friday! I have spoken nothing but critically positive words on behalf of your beloved Mustangs this week--and this is how you pop off at me? My team may not have the strength of tradition that yours has at this point in history. But it's shameful for you to point at their shortcomings relative to Huntingdon as your rationale for excluding me from this conversation. Talk about "irrelevant".

I agree. I can't speak to that, fully. I haven't seen enough of the 5A-6A teams out of Memphis. But I would probably give Huntingdon or Wayne Co that kind of ranking in west TN classifications 1A-4A. And perhaps I would agree totally if I did get to see some of those larger schools. Cool thought. Thanks for sharing it.

Irish getting fired up on here! It's energizing to see on a Friday morning! GO IRISH!!

This is blind hatred—or just trolling.Rice is legit. WC is the best team HHS has played this season. Could Huntingdon compete with WC and give em a good game? Absolutely! Could Huntingdon have beaten WC were it not for the injuries? Sure, I believe so. Does that diminish what WC has done this year or the caliber team they posess? NO!! They beat the Mustangs for crying out loud. That alone would make em a great team in my book—even if I hadn't seen em play for myself. Let's keep some integrity in the stuff we post on here.

Cool to know.

On second thought...Wayne Co has a better defense, too. And Preston Rice doesn't even play defense. Oh well. I'll just simplify my comments & say I think I disagree with you, sir.

Perhaps they were generally speaking—everywhere except QB. And that WC QB changes the performance of his entire team, raising it to a level significantly above Makenzie.

Oh i agree with you wholeheartedly, there! JB is a better team than CA. And HC can sink this week by fumbling the ball or lining up wrong or failing to cover returns or tackling weak. I agree completely. I just thought we were talking about "intensity". Man, I hear what you're saying. But I don't see it as a lack of intensity. I believe intensity is one of the hallmarks of this 2015 squad that makes them stand apart from a lot of the others. They come every week ready to play. They bring it for 4 quarters. And when they aren't just severely overmatched, they break teams by the end of the game. And sure...there may be some ugly spots along the way. But their heart and soul are in it start to finish. You guys may disagree. And that's ok. But that's one criticism of our boys that I won't hear without at least speaking my mind in their defense. Thanks for hearing me out.

Curious...how far outside of the 1A top 10 would y'all put HC at this point? If HC defeats JB this weekend, would that put us in the top 10 in anyone's (unofficial) book?

nice play, Waker. [chuckle] Watch out, fellas! The Horse may come galloping up anytime.