Betsy @ SH

[lawnman]

Ok guys can the Cyclones hang with the Toppers this year.

[KennyPowers55]

I've learned one thing over the years, NEVER count Shawn and the Cyclones out of any game. Only wrench in that is I've heard this is as talented as Stacy has been at the Hill... it will be a war but I'd say Toppers in a close one. 

[WBNC83]

I don't know much about the Cyclones this year but you all usually give SH a pretty good game. 

I will say that I've heard the Toppers have a lot of talent this year. I know the coaching staff feels the OL is probably the biggest strength coming into the season. QB Jaylan Adams is back so that's another big plus. And this is probably the best group of RB's that Coach Carter and his staff have had at The Hill. Junior Ahmik Watterson is going to be the starter, and is the real deal, but 3-4 guys are real good and will see time there. They've got a kid that's a freshman named Malik Bowman that is going to end up being a big-time player at RB for them. He's playing varsity and starting at safety but he'll no doubt get some time at RB. The kid is just that good. 

The biggest question marks going into the season are the secondary, WR's and the DL. I do know the coaches feel good about those positions but I've got questions there. There's plenty of talent and athleticism with each group but not a ton of experience. I was told there is a kid on the DL that is 6'6 300+ and already getting interest from several D-1 schools.

Less than 1 week away. Ready to see this SH team play!

Edited August 13, 2017 by WBNC83

[blazer1set]

Pulling for the Cyclones, but the Toppers have won 7 straight, and Elizabethton has only won once since 2003,  so until proven otherwise, the Hill takes yet another.

 

Edited August 13, 2017 by blazer1set

[Bucsback]

2 hours ago, WBNC83 said:

I don't know much about the Cyclones this year but you all usually give SH a pretty good game. 

I will say that I've heard the Toppers have a lot of talent this year. I know the coaching staff feels the OL is probably the biggest strength coming into the season. QB Jaylan Adams is back so that's another big plus. And this is probably the best group of RB's that Coach Carter and his staff have had at The Hill. Junior Ahmik Watterson is going to be the starter, and is the real deal, but 3-4 guys are real good and will see time there. They've got a kid that's a freshman named Malik Bowman that is going to end up being a big-time player at RB for them. He's playing varsity and starting at safety but he'll no doubt get some time at RB. The kid is just that good. 

The biggest question marks going into the season are the secondary, WR's and the DL. I do know the coaches feel good about those positions but I've got questions there. There's plenty of talent and athleticism with each group but not a ton of experience. I was told there is a kid on the DL that is 6'6 300+ and already getting interest from several D-1 schools.

Less than 1 week away. Ready to see this SH team play!

SH by 21 and there will be no problem with their D line. It's the biggest and most aggressive I've seen them have in years. Now you are correct SH definitely needs to tighten up their secondary. That will be the difference on how far they make it in the playoffs. The WR's I'm not so much worried about due to them really not being a pass first team. It should be a good year for Coach Carter and his boys.

[lawnman]

The depth of the SH team is always a plus for them because we have boys that play both ways and a big team like SH has  a tendency to wear a team down late in the game.

[WBNC83]

2 hours ago, lawnman said:

The depth of the SH team is always a plus for them because we have boys that play both ways and a big team like SH has  a tendency to wear a team down late in the game.

SH always has some players that do play both ways. Most of their WR's also start and play in the secondary. Same goes for their RB's; this year, Malik Bowman is starting at FS and Arthur James is starting LB. Both those guys are going to get plenty of carries on offense. They typically have 2-3 guys playing on both OL/DL as well. And I'm not sure if QB Jaylan Adams will play both ways this year but last year he played QB, FS and WR. So while Elizabethton may have a few more players playing both sides, the Toppers gave them too.

[lawnman]

41 minutes ago, WBNC83 said:

SH always has some players that do play both ways. Most of their WR's also start and play in the secondary. Same goes for their RB's; this year, Malik Bowman is starting at FS and Arthur James is starting LB. Both those guys are going to get plenty of carries on offense. They typically have 2-3 guys playing on both OL/DL as well. And I'm not sure if QB Jaylan Adams will play both ways this year but last year he played QB, FS and WR. So while Elizabethton may have a few more players playing both sides, the Toppers gave them too.

I agree with that but still SH has a few more big bodies than Betsy typically and we lost some big offensive lineman from last years team.Going to be and interesting game Friday night.

[WBNC83]

Nobody going to give any info on Elizabethton's team this year? 

[EHSTrack06]

Only 4 times since 2002 has SH beaten EHS by 2 or more TDs and no more than 3 TDs. It's the same every year. SH always will have bigger athletes than EHS does and many times that has been the deciding factor in the games as well as being able to sub in fresh bodies. That being said EHS has some key players coming back that carried a big load last year and I feel we could see another close game as we have in the past. It won't be a blowout by any means and Im picking SH to win but by maybe 1 TD but EHS winning by 3-7pts would not surprise me either.

Edited August 14, 2017 by EHSTrack06

[blazer1set]

10 minutes ago, EHSTrack06 said:

Only 4 times since 2002 has SH beaten EHS by 2 or more TDs and no more than 3 TDs. It's the same every year. SH always will have bigger athletes than EHS does and many times that has been the deciding factor in the games as well as being able to sub in fresh bodies. That being said EHS has some key players coming back that carried a big load last year and I feel we could see another close game as we have in the past. It won't be a blowout by any means and Im picking SH to win but by maybe 1 TD but EHS winning by 3-7pts would not surprise me either.

If EHS was the same size (# of students) as SH then the Cyclones would be playing in the SEC instead of high school!

[WBNC83]

The one area where Elizabethton could definitely take advantage of the Toppers is in the passing game. I was able to watch some footage of SH scrimmages over the weekend and like everyone is saying, the secondary is suspect. They looked a little better in their most recent scrimmage (vs TC Roberson) but they still need a lot of work. The DL and LB's look pretty good though. Just from the scrimmages it looks like teams are going to have a hard time running on this Topper defense. 

As for the Topper offense, it's very run heavy. Clearly, they are going to try and wear opponents down with their run game. And it should be pretty effective because it looks like they'll be able to rotate 4-5 guys there easily. Watterson, Bowman, Thomas and Morrison really stuck out on tape. Also, gotta say Jaylan looked good throwing the ball and running it.