Holmes over Northeastern revisted

[HowerinJr]

There was a discussion the week East Surry beat Reidsville and Holmes defeated Northeastern about which win was more impressive. At the time, I felt perhaps Holmes win over Northeastern was more unexpected and seemed to point to significant improvement in Edenton since last season. Fast forward a couple of weeks and it doesn't seem quite the same. Not that Holmes pounding on Camden wasn't dominant enough, but the rub the Aces got from beating Northeastern doesn't seem as impressive now that the Eagles have lost three straight. Havelock made the Northeastern look bad, but Havelock is always an elite team. Losing to Hertford County was unexpected. The Eagles have blown Hertford out the last two seasons. In my mind, Northeastern has lost two games in three weeks that they were expected to win. That is just simply not living up to expectations. Unfortunately for Holmes, that puts a bit of a damper on their strength of schedule, which might have an effect on seeding depending on how far the east goes west this year.

 

[Old Mountaineer]

Just a guess but I don't believe that playing Northeastern has hurt their strength of schedule but maybe the 4 teams with a combined 5 wins they've played that's lowered it to -16 in Maxprep rankings. Actually beating Northeastern probably still has helped them playing up in classification helps especially when you win plus Northeastern even with a 4-3 record is still #10 in the Maxprep and NCHSAA adjusted, I assume because while most teams have a negative or a single-digit Maxprep str Northeastern has a str of 20.8 because there's no other top 10 team in the other classifications with 3 losses.

 

[vikingfan08]

I think we need to take a look at Northeasterns schedule a little better before down playing a Holmes victory. They have beaten Conley and Rocky Mount. Rocky Mount lost 6-0 to Tarboro. Havelock has 1 loss, and has beaten WRH... Hertford County’s only loss is to Rocky Mount. So let’s not act like Northeastern has loss to a bunch of garbage teams. If anything, I think the Holmes victory should solidify there strength. JMHO

 

[HowerinJr]

Just a guess but I don't believe that playing Northeastern has hurt their strength of schedule but maybe the 4 teams with a combined 5 wins they've played that's lowered it to -16 in Maxprep rankings. Actually beating Northeastern probably still has helped them playing up in classification helps especially when you win plus Northeastern even with a 4-3 record is still #10 in the Maxprep and NCHSAA adjusted, I assume because while most teams have a negative or a single-digit Maxprep str Northeastern has a str of 20.8 because there's no other top 10 team in the other classifications with 3 losses.

Holmes and Northeastern play every year. Anytime you win, it helps. I'm just saying as long as Northeastern is not playing up to Northeastern standards, it might not help Holmes as much as you might think. It seemed Holmes had a much tougher schedule when they were 2A than they do now as a 1A school. They had Rocky Mount, Southwest Edgecombe and West Craven out of conference before. They just don't get much from playing Bertie, Pasquotank or Camden. To be fair, that entire region is really weak. You have Northeastern and Hertford County and the rest is pretty rotten.

 

[HowerinJr]

I think we need to take a look at Northeasterns schedule a little better before down playing a Holmes victory. They have beaten Conley and Rocky Mount. Rocky Mount lost 6-0 to Tarboro. Havelock has 1 loss, and has beaten WRH... Hertford County’s only loss is to Rocky Mount. So let’s not act like Northeastern has loss to a bunch of garbage teams. If anything, I think the Holmes victory should solidify there strength. JMHO

Going into that game against Holmes, I figured Northeastern to be an elite 2A program. They just aren't anymore IMHO. They are a very good team, but are they even top 10 in 2A now?

 

[Old Mountaineer]

Holmes and Northeastern play every year. Anytime you win, it helps. I'm just saying as long as Northeastern is not playing up to Northeastern standards, it might not help Holmes as much as you might think. It seemed Holmes had a much tougher schedule when they were 2A than they do now as a 1A school. They had Rocky Mount, Southwest Edgecombe and West Craven out of conference before. They just don't get much from playing Bertie, Pasquotank or Camden. To be fair, that entire region is really weak. You have Northeastern and Hertford County and the rest is pretty rotten.

Yeah I don't know the conference but just looking at the records Northeastern str might go down because of a weak conference. As for Holmes looks like their getting ready to play the better teams in thier conference and thier str may go up playing two 5-2 and 6-1 teams as of now in thier conference, but in the end it comes down to winning, Holmes is setting at #7 in the NCHSAA adjusted right now so if they can win out they'll probably get a high seed in the playoffs.

 

[bud33345]

I think what alot of you guys are overlooking is the injuries that have piled up for Northeastern. That brutal non conference schedule before the Edenton game really beat Northeastern up. Let's not forget those injuries compounded when NE was up 21-0 on Hertford county last week only to lose the starting QB on a late hit. QB stays in, NE wins easily, they were unable to sustain drives without him. He had 2 tds before the injury one rushing for 60 yards and one big pass play. After the Rocky Mount game Northeastern has had to deal with the consequences of a tough schedule. Since that game Freshwater hasn't been 100% but neither has the rest of the team health wise, especially the LBs. NE had the #1 strength of schedule and they have the scars to prove it. It will be interesting to see what adjustments are made moving forward. We may see coach Moore change the identity of this team in the short term to give his guys a chance to get healthy in the weaker conference schedule. I still believe Edenton still deserves alot of credit for their win, their rushing attack will be tough for most teams.

 

[HowerinJr]

I think what alot of you guys are overlooking is the injuries that have piled up for Northeastern. That brutal non conference schedule before the Edenton game really beat Northeastern up. Let's not forget those injuries compounded when NE was up 21-0 on Hertford county last week only to lose the starting QB on a late hit. QB stays in, NE wins easily, they were unable to sustain drives without him. He had 2 tds before the injury one rushing for 60 yards and one big pass play. After the Rocky Mount game Northeastern has had to deal with the consequences of a tough schedule. Since that game Freshwater hasn't been 100% but neither has the rest of the team health wise, especially the LBs. NE had the #1 strength of schedule and they have the scars to prove it. It will be interesting to see what adjustments are made moving forward. We may see coach Moore change the identity of this team in the short term to give his guys a chance to get healthy in the weaker conference schedule. I still believe Edenton still deserves alot of credit for their win, their rushing attack will be tough for most teams.

Oh man. Injuries are never a good deal, especially if its your QB. I hadn't heard that, but you would hope your defense could hold a 21 point lead.

 

[bud33345]

Oh man. Injuries are never a good deal, especially if its your QB. I hadn't heard that, but you would hope your defense could hold a 21 point lead.

They tried going into the 3rd, but they left their young corners on an island which is something you can't afford to do against a spread offense. The QB for NE had his arm in a sling and is likely done for the season on that late hit. NE numbers are low too in ADM, will be interesting to see what happens next realignment.

 

[swe98]

I think we need to take a look at Northeasterns schedule a little better before down playing a Holmes victory. They have beaten Conley and Rocky Mount. Rocky Mount lost 6-0 to Tarboro. Havelock has 1 loss, and has beaten WRH... Hertford County’s only loss is to Rocky Mount. So let’s not act like Northeastern has loss to a bunch of garbage teams. If anything, I think the Holmes victory should solidify there strength. JMHO

Don't use Rocky Mounts score against Tarboro as a gauge for them. That game was called at the beginning of the second quarter because of weather. That's the reason it was ONLY 6-0. Tarboro had started to dominate Rocky Mount when they haulted the game.

 

[HowerinJr]

Don't use Rocky Mounts score against Tarboro as a gauge for them. That game was called at the beginning of the second quarter because of weather. That's the reason it was ONLY 6-0. Tarboro had started to dominate Rocky Mount when they haulted the game.

It's hard to say what that game was. RM had a very good open drive scripted. The Gryphons drove the field and dropped a wide open pass in the end zone. After that first drive though, their offense looked a little lost. Tarboro got off to a bit of a slow start offensively, but started to look stronger late in the first. Rocky Mount was no pushover defensively, so there was still room for halftime adjustments playing a factor in the outcome of that game. It's a shame the weather had to ruin such a highly anticipated game, but once that storm began, it left no doubt that football was DONE for that night. It was ankle deep water on both ends of the stadium. Walkways became creek beds.

 

[AcesWild2323]

I don’t know about other Holmes fans but I was pulling for NE to win out. Now that we are not in the same classification or the same conference their success costs us nothing. Also our region catches a hard time, many times rightfully so, for being weak and I thought their first four games this year could have gone a long way in improving our reputation had they kept it up. Most importantly and selfishly if they kept winning it would have helped our SOS.

 

[flyfalconsfly]

The NE HC game was actually 14-6 at the end of the 1st qtr.