Labor Day Weekend Football Starts Tonight For Some

We have made it all the way to the third weekend of high school football and trends are happening.  For some not good trends but for others the future is bright.. So far the first two weeks have gone 13-1 picks.  I missed the Tarboro game which I thought would be close but wasn't as The Vikings romped.  Did pick the Nash Central losing streak to end.

Nash Central has a shot at two in a row as the coaching theme has been one is not enough.  The Bulldogs are headed to Micro to take on North Johnston.  Bulldogs will be 2-1 36-18.

Rocky Mount could be 2-0 but head east to Ahoskie 1-1.  Hertford County will defend the home turf 1-1 after a big win over Gates Co and and extremely close game at Hunt.  Seems as if the Bears might be back after being down a couple of years.  If RM heads east expecting and easy one they could be in trouble.  I think The Gryphons have too much talent. 35-20 over HC

Oh boy, already 0-2 Northern Nash has a trip to Tarboro to take on the Vikings who are coming off a stomping administered to Washington.  This point Northern has not shown any ability to beat Anybody including Tarboro.  Vikes 40 Northern Nash 14

The Thursday night special has Bunn at Southern Nash. Bunn lost by only one to Fike opening night. Put 70 on NW Halifax last week.  This one scares me.  The Firebirds had better cut out the turnovers
Or else.  I think the Firebirds win a close one 34-28

SouthWest Edgecombe takes on South Central who so far this year everybody is clobbering.  This is a 4-A team and this might be a close one.  Cougars 26 South Central 20.

Northeast Prep travels to Rocky Mount Prep.  The Jags will probably win their second game this year which puts them on cusp of the most wins in any year since started playing football.  RMP 32- NE Prep 14.

Grace Christian at Rocky Mount Academy.  Grace is 0-2 but are having a hard time scoring.  Defense has played well but in this game they must out score the Eagles.  Eagles 45-6.

The college football season starts tonight in Charlotte when the battle of the Carolina's take place.  Surprising this game is not a sellout.  Must be that the die hard fans don't believe there teams are that good this year.  Hard one to pick but for my money The Tar Heels much prove to me they can stop somebody before I'll pick'em.   South 34 North 24.

Duke at Tulane:  I don't think Duke will be as good as last two years but they win tonight 27-17
Elon At Wake Forest:  Deacs need this one 24-17
Alcorn at Georgia Tech:  Is there a 40 point start the clock rule for this one.  56-16 Techsters

Survived For Another Day

The NFL had their first big cut of the preseason yesterday as all teams had to reduce their rosters to 75 by 4pm.  Yes everyday teams waive players who they know already are not working out and let them go.  Many players are still on pins and needles as the last major cut comes after the final preseason games finish up this weekend.  Come Tuesday of next week all teams will be down to their 53 man rosters and they will also announce their practice squad which is not the end of the world because those guys get $6,000 per week to run this week's scheduled opponent's plays in practice for the 1st team offense and defense.

Three players from Tarboro High have survived Tuesday's cut but nobody can breathe easy as of yet as a cut of 22 more will happen this weekend.

Takoby Cofield:  Played for Duke after helping the Viking win state championships.  Listed on the Washington Redskins depth chart as the third right tackle. These next few days will be crucial.  Doubt if he makes it unless a couple of injuries  to somebody else.  Practice squad is possible.

Shawn Draughn:  Third year since playing at Carolina.  Has not carried the ball all preseason due to an injured hand.  Looks like no problem however as the Cleveland Browns seem content to keep Draughn as a special teams player and as their 3rd down back.  Looks as if he will carry the ball this weekend.  Sure sounds me like he has made the team.

Todd Gurley: Fresh out of Georgia and looks fully recover from knee surgery which he had last November.  Has not played a down in preseason but is listed as the number two running back on the St Louis Rams.  His job is safe.

This past weekend two players one playing sports now and another while in high school played sports were shot.  One a SouthWest player shot right here in Rocky Mount.  The other a former Hertford County Bear visiting his brother for the weekend in Greensboro.   The Greensboro shooting resulted in death.

Both were very similar.  Both occurred around two am in the morning.  It seems at this point both were shot for no reason at all.  The SouthWest player looks as if he will recover and maybe by the end of the season be able to play for the Cougars.  Most cases athletes stay out of trouble because if they don't they probably will not be allowed to stay on the team.

Both cases the question has to best asked, why did they have to be out at 2am in the morning.  I don't know how many times I heard this over the years but nothing happens good at 11pm.  Don't know this to be so in either case but today's tough guys have to resort to being tough with a gun and most of the time have several guys behind them with more guns to really be tough.  I don't see if you got to have a gun that you are tough at all.  There you are standing there with a gun and the person you are shooting is unarmed and you still need you group behind you to back you up.  That doesn't sound like a tough guy to me.

Call Up Day In Majors

September 1st for all minor league players is the day especially those at AAA and AA baseball they hope they get a telephone call that they have been invited to spend September on their major roster mostly to sit on the bench and find out how life is in the major leagues.

Most teams these days let the players who are playing on a team that will be in the minor league playoffs stay in the minors until their team is either out and then call up to come to the big club.  We have two players in AA and both would love a phone call.

Brian Goodwin has fallen all the way down the Washington National priority list and right now hitting only 230 I doubt he gets invited to the big club.   Right now he is probably trade bait once the season is over to get shipped to another team.  The old saying a change of scenery might do him good.

Hobbs Johnson stands 7-7 in Biloxi Mississippi.  Being a left hander might be on call up list. ERA stands at 3.61 and his walks continue to be his bug-a-boo.  Doubt he gets called up but it could be close.

Collins Cuthrell had successful surgery and will stay in Florence Kentucky until the season ends this weekend.  He will then head back to UNC Pembroke to continue his Graduate studies and he plans on helping in the spring with UNCP baseball.  Sounds like his professional playing career is over and he is heading into coaching.

Iasiah White has now play 35 games playing for the Marlins in the Gulf Coast League.  His batting average is 294 so he is having a good summer.  Has struck out 44 of 126 at bats is one out of three which is not good.

Benton Moss started for the ninth time in thirteen appearances last night and it will probably be his last of the season. Had a 6-0 lead but gave up five runs in the fourth which is the most runs in any inning since turning pro.  Will finish the season with a 2-2 record and and ERA of 2.55 which is an excellent summer.  His base on balls per innings pitched is excellent.  Be interesting to see if he gets invited for fall ball.

High School Football Review

Even in a loss the Rocky Mount Gryphons gained the respect in Wake County after one of the powers to be Middle Creek had their hands full with the Gryphons.  Coach Jason Battle has many talking points to show his team as their own mistakes played a major factor in stopping themselves on several drives.  Gryphons are for real.

Now that the losing streak is in the rear view mirror Nash Central can now see light at the end of the tunnel that they can be as good as anyone else.   Good chance by conference time another win or two could be in their back pocket.  One talking point for Chris Lee is this is just one win.  Don't be satisfied with just one.  After Tarboro's romp over Washington Nash Central's loss to Tarboro doesn't look all that bad.

It was a long ride home from Elizabeth City as Northern Nash took it on the chin to Northeastern.  Offense is missing and putting pressure on the defense to be perfect.  I thought by this point under coach Randy Raper that Northern would look a lot like Hunt did while Raper was there.

Southern Nash goes to 2-0 in beating Beddingfield a team because of the contrasting styles always gives the Firebirds trouble.  It is  always a good sign when you win against a team completely different than you are.  Kind of gets you playoff tested early.

Tarboro may be young but they sure are talented.  Disposed of Washington in Washington with ease.  Since the move to 1-A the Vikings haven't made it to the state championship game.  The scent is in the air that this year might be a return.

North Edgecombe always has trouble with every other team in Edgecombe County just from the point of size.  There was a good sign for the Warriors that when the game was on the verge of getting out of hand that dug deep and played hard.  Any coach wants to see his team do that.

SouthWest Edgecombe got slapped on the opening defensive stand and took control until the game well in hand.  This is a good start for the Cougar's season.

Rocky Mount Academy responded from their first loss in over two years.  They showed to be resilient and quite capable of having a fine season.

The World We Live In

If you have ever been to a little league baseball game there is very seldom a time when a batter hits  a scorching line drive that is headed outside the field of play that parents or any spectator is in danger of being hit.  Most the time it is a pop up that you need to make sure it doesn't fall directly on your head.

The higher up you go  in age the balls start leaving the field at a faster rate.  During the current major league baseball season there have been a couple of incidents where spectators were either hit by a broken bat or one of those  scorching line  drive foul balls has hit and injured  fans in the stands.

There is a big controversy right now amongst baseball people, sports reporter and the like about why should they have to have netting up or if the fans will be able to see the game when they do put it up.  Simply those whining about not being able to see a game behind the net has never sat and watched a game from behind the netting.

We all who have ever been to a high school game and watch from behind home plate  where the fencing is are glad it is there.  Most every school now days has knitted nets that run from the end of the dugout on first base to the end of the dugout at third.    This stops those scorchers from attacking in some cases unsuspecting people from being drilled with the ball.

If you watch a major league game these days people are sitting in the stands talking to someone sitting near them, texting, looking at the internet or talking to someone who is at home watching them be on TV and they have called to tell them that they see them.  All the while not paying attention at all to the game and in a split half second can get nailed by a ball.

We need to be protected from ourselves.  Any body sitting near the dug out  and up to 30 rows high had better watch every time that ball is thrown because there is a batter there capable of hitting it 500 feet in any direction and it could be traveling 100 miles per hour.  I am always ready when sitting down the foul lines say at a Durham Bulls game just waiting for a foul ball heading my way.

If you have ever been to a NASCAR race there is safety fencing all the way around the track and if you sit in the first 30 rows at your favorite track that fencing is steel poles and steel wiring.  It is in spots a hindrance trying to look directly at the poles as the cars go by.  Is there a person in the stands that wants to sit there without that fencing in place?  No way, just recently  a car went into the fencing and with all the car parts flying nobody received more than scratches even the driver.

Safety should be a top priority  and all stadiums should have netting at least from end of the dugout to end of the other dugout.  The outfield area will get a hot one every now and then but at least you are near 60 yards or more and maybe somebody will holler look out.

Read the article in Friday's Telegram about Zack Foster the Southern Nash quarterback who has a physical disability which I had never heard about but he has been able to over come it.  The article was about his leadership with his Firebird's teammates.  I heard last weekend at Englewood Baptist several of his teammates accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior and Zack help them all .

Our world is now a world of hate  and people scratch their heads that they can't understand why.  It is simple.  There are too many people who are trying to please themselves first instead of the creator of this world and his son.  There is no way we can ever be satisfied  with what we want because we will always want more. 

Our God in heaven is who we all need to please and when we decide that he is more important than me just maybe the world we change back around.  It is people like a young man like Zack Foster who are leading the way in that turn around.

Streak Ends At 25

Nash Central has put and end to the third longest active losing streak in North Carolina High School football beating Smithfield Selma 36-21.  It took two games into the 2015 season for new coach Chris Lee to end the streak which has been going on since the ninth game of the 2012 season.

Just how good was the beating Rocky Mount laid on South Granville last week was answered tonight in Apex when the Gryphons took on the Mustangs of Middle Creek.  Middle Creek is expected to go deep in the 4-A playoffs .  What the Mustangs got was a hand full of Gryphons.

Middle Creek struck first late in the first quarter moving the ball down field with the pass to take a 7-0 lead.  The Gryphons defense held the Mustangs in check and a long pass under two minutes in the half set up the Gryphons Sherrod Green for a two yard dive to tie the score at 7.  MC with .18 seconds in the half threw a pass dropped by the receiver.  Rocky Mount scooped up the ball and ran 40 yards with the Middle Creek crowd in a uproar To take a 14-7 half time lead.

Motivated Middle Creek roared out of the locker room and almost ran the kickoff back but three plays tied the game at 14.  Late in the third Sherrod Green from three yards out gave the Gryphons the lead again 21-14.

Early fourth quarter MC returns a punt fifty yards to tie the game at 21.  Rocky Mount went to the air and two ints set up the Mustangs to kick a field goal with 3:30 to play.  That would be  enough.  The Gryphons give great effort but too many penalties especially a penalty after a first down killed a Gryphon drive.  Gryphons fine respect in Apex but lose 24-21 to Middle Creek.
Other scores:

Southern Nash 23 Beddingfield 14
Tarboro 26 Washington 7
SouthWest Edgecombe 35 North Edgecombe 14
Hunt 17 Hertford County 12
East Wake 40 Fike 27
Northeastern 53 Northern Nash 13
RMA 53 Lawrence Academy 25

What Impact's Teams The Most?

High schools, Colleges and Pro football teams  are all optimistic that they have the team formed that will make great strides this year. High school coaches have to depend on the youngsters from his school district to teach them up to make a good team.

College coaches recruit players going after players that can fill holes in their team but they compete with other coaches after the same players to do the same for their team.  The pros  draft players available at the time that it is their turn to draft and they fill what they considered needs to improve their team.

All a coach can do is try to train their players to the very best they can as they practice offensive plays, how to run the plays that take advantage of what the defense presents.  Defenses practice when a team lines up this is what  they will probably do and here is what we will do to stop it.

All this preparation one injury can ruin any teams plans.  The backup player may not be quite as good as the player injured and coaches have to adjust to run plays that suit that player in order for him to perform at his best ability.  Some times that puts a team into never reaching their best potential because they simply are not as good as they could be with a healthy team.

This year ECU is trying to replace a quarterback that if you look at Pirates history  is the most prolific quarterback in Pirates history.  The chosen one this week picked as the heir to the starting quarterback job tore his ACL and is out for the year.  Every day you read a player is lost for the year for what ever reason but every team must adjust and move forward with the players they have left.

Every now and then a you hear the story of a player who got a chance and he becomes great as the replacement for the person injured.  Most of the time that doesn't happen.  Teams struggle as the replacement player learns how to play at the the level needed for his team to be successful and sometimes they just are not strong enough to be successful.

We all at some point in time and looked when the season is over and said.  What would have happened if that injury didn't happen?  So the next time you yell at the coach and holler "you bum you can't coach a lick", remember all that coaching can go down the drain when part of the the best part of your team is standing on the sideline with the coach in a cast.