Marion 2017

[PurplePower68]

6 minutes ago, FootballFan75 said:

Alot of cleaning up to do before game time!

That's to be expected with the first scrimmage. I saw enough in the first few drives to see what's to be expected this year. Saylors is a monster and Sampson looks good throwing the ball. Kane will be a nightmare matchup for most teams in 2A. Still work to do but we have 10 games to get it together.

[oneyewilly]

Saylors will be Marions work horse this year.  There line and defence has a lot of work to do.  Overall team speed is not what it has been the past few years. Dade did well in the trenches against them.   Marion should be fine come playoff time but they have lots of work to do and the road won't be as easy as it has been 

[FootballFan75]

1 hour ago, PurplePower68 said:

That's to be expected with the first scrimmage. I saw enough in the first few drives to see what's to be expected this year. Saylors is a monster and Sampson looks good throwing the ball. Kane will be a nightmare matchup for most teams in 2A. Still work to do but we have 10 games to get it together.

I totally agree! First few drives on both sides looked good besides the one fumble. Defense looked stingy and QB's arm gets better every time I see him. Saylors is a beast and the line looked pretty good to have lost all the starters from last year there. Nelson keeps impressing me he is a ball player

[PurplePower68]

20 minutes ago, oneyewilly said:

Saylors will be Marions work horse this year.  There line and defence has a lot of work to do.  Overall team speed is not what it has been the past few years. Dade did well in the trenches against them.   Marion should be fine come playoff time but they have lots of work to do and the road won't be as easy as it has been 

Most believe, as do I, overall team speed will be better this year. The line did ok for their first live action. I was worried about the big kid for Dade that got in the backfield against SP quite a few times and disrupted plays (74 or 76 I can't remember) but he never did get through. The defense is replacing 2 Mr Football Finalists and quite a few All State players. It will take them some time to get it together. 

Edited August 9, 2017 by PurplePower68

[PurplePower68]

12 minutes ago, FootballFan75 said:

I totally agree! First few drives on both sides looked good besides the one fumble. Defense looked stingy and QB's arm gets better every time I see him. Saylors is a beast and the line looked pretty good to have lost all the starters from last year there. Nelson keeps impressing me he is a ball player

A lot of different things were worked on that most of the average fan probably couldn't see. I wish the 1's would have gotten more work as a cohesive unit but Coach Mathis knows what he's doing. You saw in the first few drives what will be the game plan for the most part. You can tell Sampson has put in the work and Kane will be as good as he wants to be. He's a very physical wr. Saylors will be a man among boys in most games. That first run when he came around the end he looked like a Mack truck. Nelson will be a huge contributor this fall.

Edited August 9, 2017 by PurplePower68

[oneyewilly]

4 minutes ago, PurplePower68 said:

Most believe, as do I, overall team speed will be better this year. The line did ok for their first live action. I was worried about the big kid for Dade that got in the backfield against SP quite a few times and disrupted plays. (74 or 76 I can't remember) The defense is replacing 2 Mr Football Finalists and quite a few All State players. It will take them some time to get it together. 

It was just a scrimmage and I agree it is hard to replace 2 Mr football finalist. Dade co is not a bad football team they have a lot of size up front. 

[PurplePower68]

Just now, oneyewilly said:

It was just a scrimmage and I agree it is hard to replace 2 Mr football finalist. Dade co is not a bad football team they have a lot of size up front. 

I'm friends with #12 from Dades parents. They do have some good looking kids and I tried to kidnap their kid but he's Dade Co all the way. Some fans were disappointed it wasn't a runaway but it's a scrimmage and you're working on certain things, not gameplanning to win a game. I still believe we win more than we lose this year.

[oneyewilly]

4 minutes ago, PurplePower68 said:

I'm friends with #12 from Dades parents. They do have some good looking kids and I tried to kidnap their kid but he's Dade Co all the way. Some fans were disappointed it wasn't a runaway but it's a scrimmage and you're working on certain things, not gameplanning to win a game. I still believe we win more than we lose this year.

Like you said scrimmages are for working on things that need work and only the coaches know what that is.  I wasn't meaning nothing bad. It's just hard to replace the talent you guys have had the last several years. I think this year will be the first year it's noticeable. The strength of schedule will help you guys come playoff time.  I say 7-3 or 6-4  for regular season.

[PurplePower68]

2 minutes ago, oneyewilly said:

Like you said scrimmages are for working on things that need work and only the coaches know what that is.  I wasn't meaning nothing bad. It's just hard to replace the talent you guys have had the last several years. I think this year will be the first year it's noticeable. The strength of schedule will help you guys come playoff time.  I say 7-3 or 6-4  for regular season.

Thats true. I do worry about playing Rhea so late in the season for fear of injuries. We're going to try to get that first one against Hixson and see where we stand after that. After last year's scrimmage at Franklin I would have said our team was a 7-3 team and losing in the 3rd round. I've learned my lesson on that stuff. Kids have a way of  determining their own destiny. 

[oneyewilly]

18 minutes ago, PurplePower68 said:

Thats true. I do worry about playing Rhea so late in the season for fear of injuries. We're going to try to get that first one against Hixson and see where we stand after that. After last year's scrimmage at Franklin I would have said our team was a 7-3 team and losing in the 3rd round. I've learned my lesson on that stuff. Kids have a way of  determining their own destiny. 

I agree the games are won and lost on the field. Best of luck to you guys this year.

[FootballFan75]

I believe they have the skill players to be a explosive scoring team again this year baring injuries.. This seasons record and how far they get in the playoffs depends on what the line is gonna look like after a little more gametime experience!!! Very excited to watch this team grow up together... Good group of kids!!!

[TheAmbassador]

My assessment on the game. Naturally Saylors is as good as any RB around. The Nelson kid I assume was that other WB most of the time. He has good quickness as well. It was interesting to see the larger kid in the backfield. He's a big kid as well and will probably make it hard on some defenses as well. The line play isn't as good as it has been, but that's to be expected this early. Overall I thought line play was adequate. The QB to WR combination is going to make it hard on a lot of teams as well. Defensively someone mentioned the loss of two Mr. Football guys. I believe they still did ok considering the losses. Dade Co had some very big, physical kids as well. I wish I could have seen them against us last week, but the change in schedule got me.

As for the season, I believe Marion County has 6 built in wins on the schedule. Swing games vs SP, Tyner, and Coalfield. 1 loss vs Rhea County. I pretty much come up with 6-1 before the swing games. The regular season record is irrelevant, but it will come down to those 3.