Always a battle between these two. We owe them one for last year. Should be fun. Interested to see status of Mo Kaba for Clinton. Hope he is ok.
East Duplin @ Clinton
- Thread starter Darkhorse04
- Start date
THE only one to see any good in this one is Clinton. Even without Kaba should be 21+ for the darkhorses.
That would be the smart thing to do ... honestly wouldn’t be shocked if he sits until playoffs
From what i saw, ED lost to SWO on the last play of the game, so it wasn't a blow out, tbh with the O line SWO has they should have blown ED away but they didn't so with that being said a lot of teams will lose to SWO. It will be a tough one for ED at Clinton as it usually is through the years but it won't have anything to do with ED losing to SWO. Hope the Panthers play well and i hope Kaba will get healthy, he's got a lot of potential.
I'm going to say 42-14 Clinton.The defense for East Duplin just hasn't been there, especially against the pass. They prefer teams to run against them but its still not enough to stop any high calibur playoff team in the east. Clinton gets up on top early and wins comfortably, even if they sit Kaba.
Dude, I was going to say the same thing!! I've seen East play NFHS Network, and they were burned a couple of times by SWO.
SWO scored with 1:44 left in the game, out rushed ED 215 yards to 166, had more passing yards 76 to 52....lost on the last play of the game? Lol
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I wish ED was better this season. I miss their posters/posts(posted alot when they were on top). They had the most humble posters when they were beating everybody.
On our first series Pagan ran it from our 33 to the ED 11 but a holding call brought it all the way back to our 20 and we had to punt. A latter series and we suffered an interception at about their 29. ED also han an interception deep in our end. We did get an int. on the last series and just let the clock run out. I dont think they will stop Clintons run game. Also we had pressure on the QB a lot, Clinton will have even more. They didnt run on us much, and again will even less on the big horses. Shapes up to be a Real Big Ole Butt Whippen on the Pink Panthers.....
I don’t buy it this being a blowout game for the DarkHorses. For many years/decades this has always been a competitive game. Even with both team’s finest teams somehow it was close when conventional wisdom says it should not be. It’s going to take a very good team to score a lot of points on Clinton and Clinton’s offense seemed to find itself last week. Key for the DarkHorses is to keep thosepenalties down.
Except for 2001, we curb stomped them that year at ED as we went on to win the title. Scored like 50+ points that game. But, I agree I think it’ll be closer than the experts think.
They got the best of us the last 2 meetings believe listening to Coach Johnson's preseason interview he wants to win this one pretty bad. Go Horses!!!
Agree with a lot of what is posted above. Based on the game I saw ED is very limited athletically and also size wise this year. As such, they have a very small margin for error. The teams they have defeated are not world beaters by any means, but they have played a pretty stout schedule. Jacksonville is decent though not as good as last year, Hertford might be one of the better 2-A teams in the east this year. I don't think Southwest is all that good but that is based on the WRH game and the close score of the ED game. Still, I think ED could finish 3-2 in the conference but wouldn't be surprised if it was 2-3.
Clinton was better than ED last year but the better teams don't always win. Maybe Coach Johnson should have circled this game last year? Win that game and you go undefeated in the regular season and it doesn't come down to depending on WRH to beat ED in the last game of the season.
I know this, ED will be prepared and they will play hard, but I don't know if it will be enough.
Clinton was better than ED last year but the better teams don't always win. Maybe Coach Johnson should have circled this game last year? Win that game and you go undefeated in the regular season and it doesn't come down to depending on WRH to beat ED in the last game of the season.
I know this, ED will be prepared and they will play hard, but I don't know if it will be enough.
Nobody said it was a blowout. Your insinuation was that SW won the game against ED on some last second hail mary when they infact lead in pretty much every statistical category including the one that counts the most, the scoreboard.
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I used to go to playoff games there at ED. Couple years they played Clinton in 3 round. Man,what a crowed there. Brian was coach at ED and Bob Lewis at Clinton. They love their football to guys. Miss those days with my buddies going to playoffs,if Whiteville lost out we would go to good games in area. But Pack came first. ED has had alot of talent.
That is highly debatable. His dad may have been God in NC high school football but let’s not go crown Battle yet. Clark is doing a lot with a little bit at JK. North Lenoir is shocking everyone. There are several coaches out there who have to do a lot with a little bit.
I agree with what you're saying, but I'm talking consistently, year after year. No matter what talent he's got, they are never an easy out.
North Lenoir??? You are really reaching there. For someone who bashes others non-conference schedules, you must have overlooked who they have played. They will beat South Lenoir and that may very well be the last game they win this year.
No one is crowning anyone, but ED draws from a completely different talent pool than WRH or JK. Yes they have the largest enrollment in the county, but there is not an abundance of athletes certainly not on the level of a JK, WRH, Goldsboro, Clinton, Jville, SWO, or many of the teams they plan year in and year out. That ED is able to stay competitive in games with those teams and many times win, is a testament to good coaching. No way ED should have beaten Clinton or SWO last year. Yes, two years ago they had a great team that came up a couple of points short, but those types of teams happen at ED with a lot less regularity than other places.
I think Duplin County is in great shape at all four high schools with their head coaches and coaching staffs as a whole.
By the fence, exactly my point. I never followed them until they beat jville a few years back. I immediately liked their style. Shoot, last year we had the best team in years, and those East duplin kids kept fighting back. That my friend, is good coaching.
In the ED state championship game a couple years ago if that coaching with the lead right before the half had punted on or about midfield Hilbruten may not have had a short field to work with and not scored just before the half.The second half went scoreless and ED would have won the game. Just saying..... I called it when the didn't punt and my recollection it wasn’t 4th and short it was 4th and 4 or 5 ugh somewhere around midfield. Costly decision early.
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Just not buying ED doesn’t have talent. They have had talent over there for years
Not on a consistent basis. Again, there talent, or lack thereof, goes through shorter cycles than the other area schools. There have been many years where the talent level might have dictated 3-4 win seasons but the coaching got them 6 or 7 wins.
Unlike other county schools or neighboring schools you have to go pretty far back to see 2 wins or less seasons. That is due to coaching.
I think Battle does a super job with what they have year in and year out. The guy can flat out coach as evident with what he did at Kinston the short time he was there. I saw them once this year and they might have 2 kids at most that could start at WRH.
Unlike other county schools or neighboring schools you have to go pretty far back to see 2 wins or less seasons. That is due to coaching.
I think Battle does a super job with what they have year in and year out. The guy can flat out coach as evident with what he did at Kinston the short time he was there. I saw them once this year and they might have 2 kids at most that could start at WRH.
It was a decision that goes directly with Coach Holley’s attitude. “Go for the gusto”. He’s always been that way. He believes in his guys. He believes they can accomplish any feat in front of them. If they pick up that 4th down, you’re probably right. ED wins a ring and nobody talks about the 4th down that they picked up at the end of the first half. Nobody said Holley was perfect, but he’s one hell of a coach.
Having went to ED and looking back, yes ED has talent. But it comes in waves. It’s not a consistent thing that they are pumping out all stars every year. It’s just not there. Battle does a heck of a job coaching the kids up and Brian Aldridge did the same thing. They’ve never got over “the hump” but they are never a easy win either.
I remember a very respected coach getting forced out after a questionable decision in a state championship game. Im sure the ED followers are glad that didn't happen there.
Why would it? Holley lead him them farther than they had ever been. I know it’s no big deal to some (Wallace, Clinton, SWO, etc) but that was a morale boost to the community just getting that far.
If anybody thinks that ED has consistently had the athlete's that WRH has had year after year after year, then you just haven't been to many football games, the Dogs just reload every year and they will always be in contention come playoff time because of that. I agree that both Battle and Brian have done a tremendous job with the talent that was at their disposal and they have the ability to make a guy believe he can run through a wall and that is what coaching is all about.
Like Wiz posted earlier, that 4th down call was huge in the title game. At that point in the game Battles “go for the gusto” style was not the correct call. He was already down a starting rb and going for it was a bad play call. They could have punted and maybe pinned Hibriten deep. ED had a pretty solid defense and maybe they get a 3 and out and get it back anyway.
I’m not saying Battle isn’t a good coach but some of y’all are making him out to be great because ED doesn’t get the talent “year in year out” that WRH or jk gets. If that’s even remotely true then he should have never gone for it in that situation because he didn’t have the horses to make it on 4th down anyway. I also understand he was probably trying to shake off the ghosts of his dad losing those heartbreaking state title games. He was in a tough spot and he made the call and he has to live with it. Sometimes par is better than trying to go for the green in two.
I’m not saying Battle isn’t a good coach but some of y’all are making him out to be great because ED doesn’t get the talent “year in year out” that WRH or jk gets. If that’s even remotely true then he should have never gone for it in that situation because he didn’t have the horses to make it on 4th down anyway. I also understand he was probably trying to shake off the ghosts of his dad losing those heartbreaking state title games. He was in a tough spot and he made the call and he has to live with it. Sometimes par is better than trying to go for the green in two.