I said I would wait until after week 4 until I started really analyzing these teams so here it is.
Monacan - obviously I watch every Monacan game I can. Monacan seems to be the only team I have seen so far that doesn't self destruct or implode on itself. Which has been a major problem in our past seasons. We have a balanced run / pass offense and can do both pretty well. We don't really seem to try to score massively which bothers me a bit. We get a lead and then seemingly run the dive for 75% of the plays thereafter. I would like to see us go all in and have a complete dry run without hitting the cruise control button. I thought this last game against Clover Hill was our best thus far. There have been multiple games where we have more than once had the ball for an entire quarter. Not a bad thing... just want to see one game where we explode. All in all, i'll take the W's no matter how we can get them. Big game this week verse Powhatan that just beat Cosby 53-0 and has a super stingy defense as they have pitched a couple of shut outs. I know one thing, the livestream of our game is sinfully bad. The livestream shows orbs of light and you can only actually see players in the middle of the field from a super zoom out shot. Player jersey numbers are not even legible. On top of that... no sound. Imagine waking up in a drunken-stuper in a pea-soup fog in London with 20-200 vision... This is how I am forced to watch football games this year and I am not happy about it. DO BETTER!
Midlo - I watched the youtube last night... wow.. talk about self destruction. Two pic 6's on the first 2 drive's, then you give up a 90yrd KO for a TD. Then you let Ramon Brown nearly take another kickoff back the next time you score. Multiple drop passes and untimely penalties. Ugh... Team has talent but I know they wish they could have last night back. Likely out of the playoff picture now and deservingly so. QB can throw the ball well and they have dangerous receivers and a nice tailback. I like their MLB a lot. It is a shame bc this was their year but they just couldn't pull it together. Now I think they will need help to make the playoffs and have to win out.
James River - Feel bad for River. How many times are we going to change coaches in last few years? That is a class 6 school with a decent strip of land to pull football players from and a community with plenty of resources. They shouldn't continually be an under 500 football team.
LC Bird - even though Bird has a losing record I thought they have played hard in the two games I have seen. Monacan and Dale. Their QB Xavior Gordon (I think is his name) is solid and good in the spread. They might play spoiler to someone if the others aren't careful.
Clover Hill - Has all the talent to be the best team in the Dominion. They have two power 5 players that play both ways and other nice pieces. I would say they have 5-6 players that will play college ball on both sides of the ball. Their QB has an arm also. Lost 2 games by a combined 2 pts and lost to Monacan by a few TD's. From what I have seen, CH is too pass happy. I saw entire drives where they didn't even run at all. A team with that much talent to not be above 500 is just unfortunate in my view.
Manchester - I really like the young QB Cody Shelton. I knew he could pass but he can run that thing too! Future is bright for the Lancers. Defense and special teams made a lot of big plays against Midlo last night. Ramon Brown is running hard these days and they seem to be finding a nice chemistry. Manchester has a good offense and a nice run / pass balance. Also, one thing I like is Manchester will try to finish you off and not let up until the game is WELL out of reach. My question for Manchester moving forward is can they get stops when they need to against the elite teams North of the river in the class 5 playoffs... I am not sure on that one. They need to make sure they show up in full strength and focus especially against Clover Hill who I believe has to at least put together one complete game once this season. Could that be against the Lancers? If they do that, it could be a close one.
Powhatan - Is explosive on offense and has a very good defense. They also can run and pass and are well balanced. I think for Powhatan, if it were me coaching against them... I'd focus on stopping the run. If they beat me with the pass then so be it. I have seen too many stat lines this year for Powhatan where they damn near had 350 - 400 yrds rushing. Powhatan has a big test this week against Monacan. This will be a playoff game for both teams as one loss likely means elimination. If Powhatan were to win they would still have to beat Midlo the following week (which could be a toss up) and hope that Hopewell beats Dinwiddie on Monday night. Remember, Hopewell couldn't even practice for 2 weeks so will there be rust? Also, Dinwiddie has been surging as of late and is getting healthier. Powhatan is a pretty good team but in a tough region 4B with only 4 teams making it, I just think it will take a hell of a lot of help. Louisa will surely be undefeated, Powhatan has to beat Monacan or Monacan will almost certainly finish undefeated playing the final game verse James River... Maybe Patrick Henry Ashland slips on a banana peel against Hanover... but I doubt it. Not impossible that they make the playoffs but that path is getting harder and harder to find. They have to win next week bottom line to have any shot.
Cosby - Just outmanned. They have a few decent football players out there but they are self destructing from what I have seen. Won't spend a ton of time here but for a school with 2200 enrollment they should be putting up better showings.
Huguenot - I wanted to see what Huguenot would have done this year. Feel bad for those kids in the city of Richmond who were stripped of their right to play the sport they love. I think they would have been around 500% but that is pure speculation. With the late opt out from Richmond Schools likely most of the kids couldn't even transfer or go to another school. Heart breaks for those kids.
Wythe - Can only hope one day the old Wythe will be back. The last 25 years have been rough.
Disclaimer - these opinions are just opinions from a local HS football fan. Nothing more nothing less.
Monacan - obviously I watch every Monacan game I can. Monacan seems to be the only team I have seen so far that doesn't self destruct or implode on itself. Which has been a major problem in our past seasons. We have a balanced run / pass offense and can do both pretty well. We don't really seem to try to score massively which bothers me a bit. We get a lead and then seemingly run the dive for 75% of the plays thereafter. I would like to see us go all in and have a complete dry run without hitting the cruise control button. I thought this last game against Clover Hill was our best thus far. There have been multiple games where we have more than once had the ball for an entire quarter. Not a bad thing... just want to see one game where we explode. All in all, i'll take the W's no matter how we can get them. Big game this week verse Powhatan that just beat Cosby 53-0 and has a super stingy defense as they have pitched a couple of shut outs. I know one thing, the livestream of our game is sinfully bad. The livestream shows orbs of light and you can only actually see players in the middle of the field from a super zoom out shot. Player jersey numbers are not even legible. On top of that... no sound. Imagine waking up in a drunken-stuper in a pea-soup fog in London with 20-200 vision... This is how I am forced to watch football games this year and I am not happy about it. DO BETTER!
Midlo - I watched the youtube last night... wow.. talk about self destruction. Two pic 6's on the first 2 drive's, then you give up a 90yrd KO for a TD. Then you let Ramon Brown nearly take another kickoff back the next time you score. Multiple drop passes and untimely penalties. Ugh... Team has talent but I know they wish they could have last night back. Likely out of the playoff picture now and deservingly so. QB can throw the ball well and they have dangerous receivers and a nice tailback. I like their MLB a lot. It is a shame bc this was their year but they just couldn't pull it together. Now I think they will need help to make the playoffs and have to win out.
James River - Feel bad for River. How many times are we going to change coaches in last few years? That is a class 6 school with a decent strip of land to pull football players from and a community with plenty of resources. They shouldn't continually be an under 500 football team.
LC Bird - even though Bird has a losing record I thought they have played hard in the two games I have seen. Monacan and Dale. Their QB Xavior Gordon (I think is his name) is solid and good in the spread. They might play spoiler to someone if the others aren't careful.
Clover Hill - Has all the talent to be the best team in the Dominion. They have two power 5 players that play both ways and other nice pieces. I would say they have 5-6 players that will play college ball on both sides of the ball. Their QB has an arm also. Lost 2 games by a combined 2 pts and lost to Monacan by a few TD's. From what I have seen, CH is too pass happy. I saw entire drives where they didn't even run at all. A team with that much talent to not be above 500 is just unfortunate in my view.
Manchester - I really like the young QB Cody Shelton. I knew he could pass but he can run that thing too! Future is bright for the Lancers. Defense and special teams made a lot of big plays against Midlo last night. Ramon Brown is running hard these days and they seem to be finding a nice chemistry. Manchester has a good offense and a nice run / pass balance. Also, one thing I like is Manchester will try to finish you off and not let up until the game is WELL out of reach. My question for Manchester moving forward is can they get stops when they need to against the elite teams North of the river in the class 5 playoffs... I am not sure on that one. They need to make sure they show up in full strength and focus especially against Clover Hill who I believe has to at least put together one complete game once this season. Could that be against the Lancers? If they do that, it could be a close one.
Powhatan - Is explosive on offense and has a very good defense. They also can run and pass and are well balanced. I think for Powhatan, if it were me coaching against them... I'd focus on stopping the run. If they beat me with the pass then so be it. I have seen too many stat lines this year for Powhatan where they damn near had 350 - 400 yrds rushing. Powhatan has a big test this week against Monacan. This will be a playoff game for both teams as one loss likely means elimination. If Powhatan were to win they would still have to beat Midlo the following week (which could be a toss up) and hope that Hopewell beats Dinwiddie on Monday night. Remember, Hopewell couldn't even practice for 2 weeks so will there be rust? Also, Dinwiddie has been surging as of late and is getting healthier. Powhatan is a pretty good team but in a tough region 4B with only 4 teams making it, I just think it will take a hell of a lot of help. Louisa will surely be undefeated, Powhatan has to beat Monacan or Monacan will almost certainly finish undefeated playing the final game verse James River... Maybe Patrick Henry Ashland slips on a banana peel against Hanover... but I doubt it. Not impossible that they make the playoffs but that path is getting harder and harder to find. They have to win next week bottom line to have any shot.
Cosby - Just outmanned. They have a few decent football players out there but they are self destructing from what I have seen. Won't spend a ton of time here but for a school with 2200 enrollment they should be putting up better showings.
Huguenot - I wanted to see what Huguenot would have done this year. Feel bad for those kids in the city of Richmond who were stripped of their right to play the sport they love. I think they would have been around 500% but that is pure speculation. With the late opt out from Richmond Schools likely most of the kids couldn't even transfer or go to another school. Heart breaks for those kids.
Wythe - Can only hope one day the old Wythe will be back. The last 25 years have been rough.
Disclaimer - these opinions are just opinions from a local HS football fan. Nothing more nothing less.
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