Here's my thoughts from the 7 on 7's I've seen so far. They ain't pure Football but it shows what to expect in a lot of regards for teams who do it. It helps to get a look anyways:
-Ashe is gonna be better. Their QB is gonna be very solid in terms of his arm and his leadership and the sophomore class will help them a lot this year. Defense they looked a little more confident. #'s aren't great still but I see them maybe surprising in conference play once they get out of the murderer's row slate of non con games they have (I see them having a solid chance to beat Avery this year.) They have been working on their run game from what I heard so they could be improved. They will be hard to contend with in MVAC play. WC and East will have their hands full.
-Our 7 on 7 was quite fun; even if it was a bit crowded. We had to play every game on the bottom field due to rain so it was 8 teams on one field. But I liked the way it was done so I think they will do the timing format at least next year. Still prefer a less crowded field; easier to watch and scout.
-Across the board there was no team in my eyes that had a solid edge on another. RJ Reynolds won again but they weren't as impressive in terms of speed and play as they were last year. North Iredell got us due to a lucky interception of a bounced pass or else we woulda drove late and won it. They are much better though; last year they were tough to watch. Their QB can chunk it and got a solid WR core. I see them and Forbush having a thriller week 2.
-As for the other area schools: West Stokes is about the same as always, did a lot of screens and middle of the field passes. Defense is young for them. East Surry struggled from what I heard. I didn't see them but here and there but them and South had a thriller for 5th place that had a 0-0 tie. South got 5 yards from scoring but blew it according to the paper. A friend told me East was doing pistol plays, I can't say for certain.. I guess I'll see them at West Stokes in 2 weeks.
-Cont: South Stokes looks a lot better. Still not super athletic by any means but they have a new coaching staff who gets a lot out of them. They applied for new coaches on Max Preps so I was expecting them to look different; ran more eclectic plays this year than last year. #'s look way better. QB is young but they got a fast freshman kid who can be productive for them. They are wearing oddly white helmets.. don't fit their outfit much but I guess they are going for a Maryland style look. I see them doing fine in NW play. Gotta get better against deep routes to beat Prep. Forbush is very, very young and will be in an ID crisis this year but they played very hard after a rough start QB is a sophomore. They beat North Iredell in a thriller despite getting owned by South.
-Elkin is very athletic; they don't have 1 stud kid like the one from last year but they compete. Got one kid who likes to fight and catch. QB wise they tried 2 different kids, first one wasn't flashy 2nd one was the JV QB from '16. They will do a lot of boots and roll outs. Defensively they weren't as good as the offense. West beat them and in a suprise Forbush beat them I believe. Last I remember they were up 14-13. Elkin got out of dodge fast as they could after that onto the bus. I see them running it more this year until they find their QB; hard to replace a 3 year starter sometimes.
-Starmount we had last Thursday and they weren't that impressive but I admired their effort. They are definitely a run based team. They didn't complete a pass until play 10 on their first drive and thru about 4-6 picks against us; they ran shotgun pass plays. Defensively they give up a lot of yards but get to the ball quick. We had some good big plays against them as well as the JV's did. Our JV's scored on their varsity bench in 3 plays. I see them struggling against MA and WC but they will get things going by the start of conference play. I like how Grinton coaches them.
