The 2016 3A football championships will again feature the two teams that played in the 2015 game. Please don't forget the Gryphons trailed in the fourth quarter and don't get the idea that we dominated the game last year. The Red Raider defense held the Gryphon running attack to only 120 yards in last year's game so what makes you think they can't do it again?
It took the best passing night of the season by Forest Bell 219 yards and the blocking and catching to help the Gryphons win their first state football title in 52 years. Let's talk for a minute about the Gryphons. Which team is better this year's squad or last. To the naked eye there is not much difference is there. Then a question is if we are about the same then is there any way we can judge about South Point. They played practically the same schedule as last year and they are back again just like we are.
They did play Shelby who is playing in the 3AA title game while Edenton Holmes is playing in the 2A after we played them this year. Lincolnton who the Red Raiders played got knocked out last week while Middle Creek who we played got knocked out last week too. We should not knock their schedule because they played some really tough teams just as we did. How can we judge how good their schedule is, anyone around here seen anybody on their schedule play?
Pre sale of game tickets remain on sale at Rocky Mount High School for $9. Stop by the school from 8-am-4pm for your purchase. It is 165 miles to Groves Stadium or about two hours and forty minutes driving time with good traffic. There and back is 330 miles or about a tank of gas. A bus ride to the game is only $20 and somebody else is doing the driving so to me the bus rides sounds mighty good. Call Beluah Battle to hitch a ride on the bus. her number is 467-3759
Now let's look at this week's NFL: Last week had a 12-4 week to run my record for the season to 143-68.
Rams @ Seahawks: New coach in LA and Seattle at home 26-10 Seattle
Dolphins @ Jets: I think Dolphins win 26-23
Packers @ Bears: This could be a game in Chicago but I'll stick with Packers 23-17
Browns @ Bills: Haven't given up on a Browns victory but they have a shot against Chargers next week. Bills 26 Browns 19
Eagles @ Ravens: Eagle season is shot and Ravens need this one Ravens 33-17
Titans @Chiefs: Nashville is a threat. Chiefs 19 Titans 17
Steelers @ Bengals: Steelers seem to be for real but game in Cincy will be a game 26-23 Steel Curtin
Lions @ Giants: Giants hold serve 23-19
Colts @ Vikings: Both teams are in need of victory but Vikings win at home. Vikes 33 Colts 28
Jaguars @ Texans: Talk about a team needing a win but Texans still alive for playoffs Houston 27 Jacksonville 17
Saints @ Cardinals: Cards win in the desert. Zona 36 Saints 28
49'ers @ Falcons: 9'ers can't score enough Atlanta 38 San Fran 26
Raiders @ Chargers: Chargers simply don't have anybody healthy. Raiders 30 Philip Rivers 23
Patriots @ Broncos: Pat's 27 Denver 16
Buccaneers @ Cowboys: Don't be surprised if Bucs win but Cowboys hang on 23-21
Panthers @ Redskins: Cam had his one great year and now he has gone back to being the throw off back foot QB. Redskins 26 Panthers 23.
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If the South Point defense is as good as they are made out to be by the Gaston Gazette and the message boards then it will be a very tight game again this year. Based off stats and what I have read it appears that South Point is able to throw the ball and willing to do a little more this year. I have to think that Southpoint learned something from last year that they needed to be able to be a little more diverse in their offense and passed song in order to beat a team like Rocky Mount.
Now is the time to play your best players even if it means playing them two ways. I have to think that Battle will pull out all the stops and use Greene, Revis and Richardson on offense to sustain drives. Like Battle said in his press conference Rocky Mount will need to just find ways to score. South Point is going to do all they can to control the clock and hope for constant 3rd and 1, 4th and 1 to keep the ball out of the Rocky Mount playmakers hands. Based off the defenses of both teams I think this will be a low-scoring game and potentially could go into overtime again.
I don't think there's any question that the non-conference schedule for Belmont Southpoint was stronger than its conference opponents. Everything I have read is that Belmont South Point on offense took a while to get things figured out since they had only two starters returning. I don't think their playoff opponents in the west were quite as strong as what RMT faced in the east. I also feel very strongly that the Big East conference was much stronger than South points Conference opponents. Reality is this comes down to one game and both opponents know a lot about each other. That is very evident based off the interviews with the coaches and their press conferences. This will be a tight low-scoring game that potentially could go into overtime again.
Having watched SP play, they did take a little longer to get going. However, they only lost 3 of the 4 games by less than a touchdown to very good teams. Shelby was the exception. With that being said, they seem to being rolling now. This is one of the strongest defense I have seen, they are very fast to the ball and the secondary is much better than last years team. They will be intercepting passes if Rocky Mount abandons the run game and they do cause a lot of fumbles. The offense is nothing to brag about. They just keep pounding, getting first downs and run the clock. The brightest spot from this years team compared to last year is they will pass and are very successful at it. If SP gets clicking on all cylinders, I feel it will be very long game for RM. If they don't hit on all cylinders the game will be close.
We will be fine if we continue to play our game. SP is no better than Havelock..Middle Creek..Southern Nash or other teams we have played. We will run and pass well on SP.The game will come down to physicality and big plays.
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