Friday After Thanksgiving Football

It is not often that the Twin Counties still have four teams alive the Friday after Thanksgiving but thanks to Hurricane Matthew we will this year.  That extra week of the regular season has seen to that.

Northside Pinetown 8-4 @ North Edgecombe 10-1:  Coming in to this season Keith Parisher had averaged only four wins a year as the Warriors head football coach.  He has ten this year.  Sounds like coach of the year talk.  Don't let the 8-4 Panther record deceive you.  They have played three common foes.

South Creek Northside won 24-7 while the Warriors 22-16.  Riverside the Panthers lost 61-14 while North Edgecombe won 74-56. Rocky Mount Prep Pinetown beat last week in the playoffs 61-12 while in conference play the warriors were winners 54-8.  Two of the three  games show this as a close game while the Riverside game tilts this matchup the Warriors way.  NE 33 Northside 27

Can someone please explain to me why a 6-6 team that didn't even go undefeated in their conference is seeded higher than Tarboro and the Vikings go on the road to Stem.  Tarboro 10-2 @ Granville Central 6-6:  This games has all the makings of a second round clobbering for the Vikings.

Tarboro averages 287 yards a game rushing an another 25 passing.  GC averages 130 yards rushing and 67 passing.  Maybe that explains why they don't score much.  The Vikings had better not be thinking about Wallace Rose Hill next week as a possible third round game or that could lead to fumbles and a poor offensive performance.  See no way Granville Central can keep this close.  Tarboro 38 Granville Central 6.

Rocky Mount 10-2 @ Southern Nash 12-0:  This is for the Big East championship.  This is the way the ACC basketball tournament use to be winner only moves on. Oh, I forgot this is a second round playoff game.  Rocky Mount hoofs out 267 yards rushing a game while the Firebirds 300.  Rocky Mount gets another 84 through the air while the Firebirds 50.  That works out to 351-350.  Even Steven.

The Firebirds had a great opening drive for a touchdown the first time around but  the Gryphons put the clamps on the Birds until a 3rd and 15 incomplete pass roughing the passer call gave new life and the Big Mo to win the game. 

I saw in the last 20 minutes against Southern Lee the Gryphon football team that played the first six games like a great football team.  Rocky Mount played at Southern like that first 28 minute team the other night and yet carried a 10-7 lead into the fourth quarter.

Which Gryphon team shows up?  I'm betting that last 20 minute team and with it a victory for the Gryphons at Southern a place that has not been friendly the last ten years.  Rocky Mount 21 Southern Nash 14.  I have checked with Southern Nash officials and it is a 7:30 kickoff.  Repeating 7:30

Today is a religious holiday whether you think so or not.  The Pilgrims were so thankful for surviving their first year in the new world that they celebrated life in the new world.  We should be thankful for the life we have  and I hope you can enjoy it with family today and let's get back to football tomorrow.

Turkey Day Football Tripleheader

Went 9-5 last week to run my record to 105 -53 on the season.  All the bye weeks are out of the way and we are down to the stretch.  It all starts with a  Tripleheader. Thanksgiving is a day of thanks, family, food and football.

Vikings @ Lions:  It is probably the most important Turkey game in Detroit in 30 years.  Lions win a much needed game 27-24

Washington @ Dallas:  The NFL are games that need wins more.  Dallas has best D in NFL and Washington one of best surprises of season.  The Skins need this one more and teams cruising have lapses.  Skins 30 Boys 27

Pittsburgh @ Indy:  Luck probably out and that means no offense for them.  Steelers will score enough.  Steelers 27 Colts 17

Arizona @ Atlanta:  Cards no where near the team of last two years while Falcons a real contender in NFC South. Falcons 30 Cards 24

Bengals @ Ravens:  Cincy a big disappointment while Ravens are hanging in playoff picture.  Ravens 24 Cats 23

Jacksonville at Buffalo:  Jags are improved but who can see it with only two wins.  Bills are up and down.  Bills survive 26-23

Tennessee @ Chicago:  Titans still alive for playoffs while bears looking for new coach and quarterback.  Titans 26 Bears 17

Giants @ Cleveland:  I am picking the Browns  again this week.  Giants are the perfect team to lose when they shouldn't   Cleveland 30 New York 23

San Diego @ Houston:  The Chargers for the third year in a row with more injuries than anybody else    playing Houston a contender.  Texans 35 Chargers 31

SF @ Miami:  How can anybody pull for a team that has a protester who dishonors his  country and then find out he is not registered to vote.  A true leader.  Miami 27 9'ers 19



Rams @ Saints:  Rams can't score 20 and the Saints  can.  Saints 30 Rams 17

Seattle @ Tampa:  Hawks look Super Bowl bound while Bucs are still playoff possible.  Hawks 23 Bucs 21

New England @ Jets:  The Pats are best team in the elite division.  Every team when they play New England wilt.  New England 35 Jets 21

Carolina @ Oakland:  Raiders look like Super Bowl possibilities while  Panthers are the losers of last year's Super Bowl.  Oakland 23 Panthers 17

KC @ Denver:  Low scoring and loser is in jeopardy of falling out of playoff contention.  19-17 KC

Green Bay @ Philadelphia:  Packers  can't stop anybody and Philly  struggling.  Might be highest scoring game of weekend.  Philly 38 Packers 35

Showdown Number Two Is Near

When you look at the season the Firebirds of Southern Nash have had 12-0 it is all the more remarkable when you think of everything that has happen to them along the way.  Their coach missing two weeks while taking care of a wife and son almost killed in a head on collision with a truck.  One of those two missed weeks was against the Gryphons and it was for the conference crown and they prevailed.

The Firebirds will be playing their seventh straight conference game.  Their last four games have been  Rocky Mount, Nash Central, Northern Nash, Northern Nash and now Rocky Mount again.   They have score at least 21 in all four and not giving up more that 18 in any of the four.  Hard to find any team that has played their biggest rivals four straight times and about to be five.

The Big East is down to two teams and it was expected to be this way and after Friday only one will stand.  The third round for the winner will be the Southern Guilford 10-2/South Johnston winner 6-6. If the Firebirds play the first Friday in December they will be at home.  If Rocky Mount wins they would travel to Southern Guilford should they win and that school is east of I-85 toward High Point.  If South Johnston wins they come to Rocky Mount.

Got a real shock entering the stadium Friday night only to learn there was three minutes until kickoff of what everyone on the chain crew  and I think most fans thought was a 7:30 kickoff.  If you go to the NCHSAA playoff bracket all games are scheduled for 7:30.  Why the Big East changed to 7 this year for I have no idea but I bet when the count up ticket sales they lost big starting at 7 all year.  I remember when kickoff was 8pm and that got changed in the late 70's to 7:30.  Please go back to 7:30 next year.

Regardless of the outcome this Friday the Rocky Mount Gryphons have had two superlative years right now at 24-4.  From what I saw coming up on the JV's winning ten will be tough next year.  I heard it again more than once since Friday night why isn't  Detrell Revis used more on offense.  He reminds me of Stephan Virgil.  Every time he touches the ball seems like magic happens.

All Nash Central Bulldog fans can be proud to hold their head high as they have a football team again.  They finished 7-5 and didn't get embarrassed in any game.  Many they scared the day lights out of a few winners.

Northern Nash finished 5-7 but they played better than a 5-7 record especially on defense.  Just one more score in all those losses might have been an 9-3 season.

Tarboro is headed to Stem Friday night to play Granville Central.  They have not been tested this year in any game when playing someone else in 1-A

North Edgecombe will get a test hosting Northside Pinetown.  The Warriors have the best team they have had probably since Raymond Cobb left.

SouthWest Edgecombe was leading until  the fumble bug struck which ended a comeback year in which four games into the season there were doubts they would win one.  Yet, they won the conference.

Rocky Mount Prep continues to grow in football with three wins. They were respectable in most games except the big boys.

Did The Gryphons Learn Something

It is not often that any team starts a season as the defending State Champions as the 2016 Rocky Mount Gryphon football team did.  Even if the entire team except for one player returns to a team that one player makes a completely new team.  There have been times this season that this team has looked like last years squad but for the most part there is nothing about this years team that matches up with last.

They started 5-1  and the one lost was a competitive game with Middle Creek who by the way is on the schedule again next year. No one in 4-A through the first 12 games this season has been as close as the Gryphons were to MC  25-37. The victory over Rose was impressive and total domination over Hoke County led up to a conference schedule.

We all found out that there is new life in Nash Central.  Turnovers we said made that game closer than it should be.  A hurricane put a stop to life for a week and Fike found the Gryphons very dominant.  A visit to Southern Nash and a top quality dog fight and the Gryphons go down after practically handing the Firebirds a touchdown after a defensive stop.

Turnovers plague  once again with Northern Nash and Hunt.  There was a point midway in the third quarter against Southern Lee that the season is over gift wrapped very nicely by four turnovers.  Then there was a transformation right in front of everyone's eyes.  The Gryphons woke up and started playing the way they had the first six games.  Anyone who attended the game could see the players that played the first 28 minutes were not the same players that finished the last 20 minutes.

This team has the ability to be just as dominant as last year running the ball.  They are not very good when they just go through the motions.  You could almost see a concentration focus in the last minutes that has been missing for over a month.  The only defensive fumble that the Gryphons had all night against Southern Lee was the Southern Lee defender took the ball away on the second half kickoff.  The other five times the ball was on the ground were mishandles in the backfield that the Cavaliers graciously pounced on.

The 2016 version of Rocky Mount Gryphon football team this season have convinced themselves that they are defending state champions and no one can stop them but are they ever so wrong.  There is a team out there that can stop them and they are the Rocky Mount Gryphons.  That Gryphon team shows up to games thinking the other team must be shaking in their cleats because we are on the field.  They rely on that team to fold up before the kickoff.

If this team has any intentions of playing beyond next Friday night they had better get off the bus with the concentration level like they had at Rose.  They went to Southern once and two unnecessary penalties gave new life to the Firebirds and the Birds are good enough to take any gift and cram it down your throat.

Ok Rocky Mount Gryphons, what team do you want to be?  Are you going to be the Gryphons that show up for 28 minutes and give the game away or the team that wants to crush you.  The only way to play A third round  game is to be the Gryphon team that when they get off the bus they are focused as one.  If they show up and  play the first 28 minutes the way they did last Friday it will not matter about the last 20 minutes the game will be lost.

What will it be?

High School Baseball Prospects

The third Nash County baseball player has signed Division one scholarship as Landon Roupp of Faith Christian has inked his name to an offer from UNC Wilmington.  He becomes the third player in the class of 2017 to commit to a Major baseball program.

Roupp joins David Harrison from Rocky Mount and Reid Johnston from Rocky Mount Academy  as baseball players that know what they will be doing in the fall of 2017.  Most notably two of those players are from private schools Roupp and Johnston  killing the myth that no player from a private school will ever get noticed  at the level they play in high school because they don't play enough quality competition.

Those two players joined travel league teams and like Harrison traveled  all over the southeast growing up and all three got noticed.  Johnston and Harrison by Elliot Advent from N C State and Roupp by Mark Scalf at UNC-W.  The last ten years travel ball has boomed and families are willing to join soccer, basketball, volleyball and baseball and I am sure there are others sports on travel teams that send families on weekend excursions all over the southeastern US.  Their is a tremendous cost to families and for these three it has paid off for their college futures.

One of the biggest losers in the rise of travel baseball is American Legion baseball who has lost most of the top prospects to travel ball.  Even high school baseball is feeling the effects as many travel teams play during high school season making spring time seven day a week baseball.  It brings in question and all three of our signees are pitchers pitching during the week for their high school team and may be pitching an inning or two on weekends. The  stress level on a players arm or body is never ceasing.  Last season even during the summer both Johnston and Harrison played for Post 58 Legion team but when scheduling conflicts occurred they played travel.

This coming high school season all three should be set to show us their stuff as they prepare to move to the next level and at this point we don't know but hope there may even be a level beyond college if they want it.  There is no need for any of our three signees to play travel next summer and just think of the Legion team Rocky Mount  could have if all three spend the summer playing legion for Post 58. 

The prospects for the Legion  is good without the three but with them the summer of 17 could last into August if these three anchor what looks like a good team already.  If you remember Post 58 did not have a college player returning from college last season because of no Legion Baseball in 2015.  Several senior players from last years team will have eligibility to return to Post 58 next season if they wish

Has anybody noticed this besides me that the best newspaper in Nash County is the Nashville Graphics.  Even though it is only a weekly newspaper you can find more information in it than any other.  In my opinion the second best paper to find out what is happening here in Nash County is WRAL.COM.  Just thinking out loud.

Gryphons Act Like Santa Finish Like Grinch

During my predictions on Thursday I suggested that Rocky Mount must pound and hold on to the ball.  The Gryphons pounded but they didn't hold on to the ball fumbling 6 times losing 4 and three led directly to 21 points for Southern Lee and those 21 points gave the Caviliers a 21-7 lead seconds into the third quarter after Rocky Mount led 7-0 at the half.

So the Gryphons acted like Santa fumbling the second half kick off returned 24 yards to tie the score 13 seconds into the second half.  Very first play the Gryphons fumble the snap and give it to Southern Lee at the 21. Five plays later a 8 yard pass gives S Lee the lead.  The ensuing kickoff is bobbled retrieved at the eight yard and tackled at the one yard line.  The very first play the ball is bobbled dropped in the enzone where Southern Lee recovered and within a couple of minutes they trail 21-7.

Over maybe the last five weeks the Gryphons on offense have been in neutral but now down and on the verge of being blown out this Gryphons team played the last 22 minutes the way championship  teams play.  The tied the score with 11:01 in the fourth.

A Chase Miller field goal gave the Gryphons the lead with 6:29 to go.  An interception inside the red zone led to a Gryphon drive to seal the victory an a 30-21 lead.  Southern Lee fought to the end scoring their only earned offensive touchdown with 22 seconds to play to make the final 30-28.

The lone Gryphon first half score happened at 5:22 of the second on a 17 yard run by Deangelo Collins and a Chase Miller extra points.  13 and 14 points happened after the Gryphons went into over drive on a B J Sanders score at 3:06 in third.  Sanders scores a 15 yard dive over the goal line at 11:06 of the fourth.  Miller's  field goal gave the Gryphons the lead at 6:29 at 24-21 and Deangelo Collins gave the Gryphons the insurmountable lead at 2:06 to go on a 15 yard clincher.

Rocky Mount rushed for 48-314 passing4-6 for 60 for 374 yards on the night.  Southern Lee rushed 11 times including sacks of the quarterback for 0 yards.  They attempted 35 passes completing 18 for 184 yards for a total offense of 184 on the game.

The Gryphons when they are in the Christmas spirit are only an average team but when the concentrated on being  Grinch and pound they can be unstoppable.  They head to Southern Nash next week for the second time this year.

Other playoff scores
Tarboro 46 James Kenan 12
North Edgecombe 44 Columbia 0
East Alamance 35 Nash Central 21
Northside 61 Rocky Mount Prep 12
Orange County 48 Fike 7
Southern Nash 30 Northern Nash 15

College Weekend Of Disaster

All of the college football upsets last week had an awful week on picks.  5-5 which sinks my record for the year to 76-29.  Just two weeks to go in the regular season and Clemson and Louisville are in position to send the ACC with two teams in college playoffs.  All they have  to do is win  both of their remaining games.

Navy 7-2 @ ECU 4-6:  Would love to think ECU had a chance but I think the triple option of the Naval Academy runs rough shod over Pirates.  Annapolis 44 ECU 26

Miami 6-4 @ N C State 5-5:  This game could be even Steven right down the middle.  The Pack needs this one and they just might get it Pack 26 Miami 24.

Duke 4-6 @ Pitt 6-4:  Was Duke's victory over Carolina just two arch rivals meeting or is a Duke capable of beating anybody?  Pitt scores on anybody their question is always can they stop anybody.  Pitt 36 Duke 27

Citadel 10-0 @ Carolina 7-3:  Carolina can't stop the run and that's all the Cadets do.  They might make this game interesting if they if control the ball.  Their problem will be the rapid fire scoring the Tar Heels will do.  Carolina 42 Citadel 24

Clemson 9-1 @ Wake Forest 6-4.   Clemson's rabbitt's foot  finally fell out of their pocket last week.  The Deacons can make it sticky for a team still in the running for the playoffs.  Clemson 42 Wake 17

Florida State 7-3 @ Syracuse 4-6:  The Noles should win but over the years they have trouble on the road in games if they are disinterested.    Doubt the Cuse has enough horses to keep it close.  Florida State 38 Syracuse 23

Virginia 2-8  @ Georgia Tech 6-4:  The Rambling Wreck's status sky rocketed with the win over Va Tech.  Bowl status will rise with win over Virginia. GT  33 Virginia 20

Virginia Tech 7-3 @ Notre Dame 4-6:  The Gobblers still control their own destiny but they had better play better than they have all year.  VT 26 ND 23

Louisville 9-1 @ Houston  8-2:  Did not realize that this was the Thursday night game.  Louisville is back in playoff picture with the three losses by  Clemson, Michigan and Washington falling.  The Ville had better not let the Cougars slip up on them or it is too late to catch back up in a week.  Louisville 35 Houston 27