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Northwestern 7A/6A and Mountain 6A/5A Week 7 Predictions

kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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Conference play starts with a bang for both conferences. The title race could be decided this week in the Northwestern Conference.

Alexander Central @ St Stephens

Both teams are coming off a bye week, and this game will go a long way in determining who will finish 3rd. Both teams have been able to score pretty well but have struggled on defense. Expect a high-scoring game.

St Stephens 35
Alexander Central 33

Watauga @ Freedom

The game of the year in the conference is week 1 of conference games. Watauga has been literally unstoppable on offense and defense against some pretty good competition. Freedom has been able to score on everyone but might not be as good on defense. Freedom will have to play a mistake-free game to stand a chance, even at home. I think they will keep it close for a while, but Watauga is just too good and Freedom will make a mistake or 2 that will lead to a Watauga win.

Watauga 48
Freedom 27


South Caldwell @ McDowell

The Titans are improving each week under first-year coach Darell Clark. The passing game has been humming, and they have playmakers on the outside. The defense has struggled at times, but seems to be improving, too. South will test their run defense and look to control the clock and time of possession. McDowell will look to build an early lead and force South to pass the ball.

McDowell 28
South Caldwell 15


The mountain conference has some big games this week, too-

TC Roberson @ Asheville

The battle for first place is going to be wild this year. Both of these teams have a shot at it, but a win here is crucial. Asheville and Roberson were both skull-dragged by Watauga and have struggled against top teams. Asheville should have the slight edge at home.

Asheville 27
Roberson 20

Erwin @ Reynolds

Another game that's a bit of a toss-up and could go a long way in determining who wins the league this year. Reynolds has a good win over Maiden, but has really struggled against the other good teams they have faced. Erwin lost their best player, but it has started to play better in the last few weeks.

Erwin 35
Reynolds 34

Enka vs North Buncombe

Maxpreps listed this as a neutral site game, so I'm not sure where it's being played. North Buncombe has a little better running game but a little worse defense. Should be a back-and-forth nailbiter.

North Buncombe 21
Enka 20
 
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egerike

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North Buncombe should be at Enka. Pretty evenly matched game, with the Black Hawks looking to snap a 22-game conference losing streak.
 
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MHHS"12

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kyleheel30 said:
Conference play starts with a bang for both conferences. The title race could be decided this week in the Northwestern Conference.

Alexander Central @ St Stephens

Both teams are coming off a bye week, and this game will go a long way in determining who will finish 3rd. Both teams have been able to score pretty well but have struggled on defense. Expect a high-scoring game.

St Stephens 35
Alexander Central 33

Watauga @ Freedom

The game of the year in the conference is week 1 of conference games. Watauga has been literally unstoppable on offense and defense against some pretty good competition. Freedom has been able to score on everyone but might not be as good on defense. Freedom will have to play a mistake-free game to stand a chance, even at home. I think they will keep it close for a while, but Watauga is just too good and Freedom will make a mistake or 2 that will lead to a Watauga win.

Watauga 48
Freedom 27


South Caldwell @ McDowell

The Titans are improving each week under first-year coach Darell Clark. The passing game has been humming, and they have playmakers on the outside. The defense has struggled at times, but seems to be improving, too. South will test their run defense and look to control the clock and time of possession. McDowell will look to build an early lead and force South to pass the ball.

McDowell 28
South Caldwell 15


The mountain conference has some big games this week, too-

TC Roberson @ Asheville

The battle for first place is going to be wild this year. Both of these teams have a shot at it, but a win here is crucial. Asheville and Roberson were both skull-dragged by Watauga and have struggled against top teams. Asheville should have the slight edge at home.

Asheville 27
Roberson 20

Erwin @ Reynolds

Another game that's a bit of a toss-up and could go a long way in determining who wins the league this year. Reynolds has a good win over Maiden, but has really struggled against the other good teams they have faced. Erwin lost their best player, but it has started to play better in the last few weeks.

Erwin 35
Reynolds 34

Enka vs North Buncombe

Maxpreps listed this as a neutral site game, so I'm not sure where it's being played. North Buncombe has a little better running game but a little worse defense. Should be a back-and-forth nailbiter.

North Buncombe 21
Enka 20
Click to expand...
I agree with all of your picks but I wouldn't be surprised if McDowell won by 20 or more
 
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kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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MHHS12 said:
I agree with all of your picks but I wouldn't be surprised if McDowell won by 20 or more
Click to expand...
I'm still taking a bit of a wait and see approach. They have shown glimpses of being a solid team but haven't put it all together yet.
 
A

Ahscougar

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I think you could combine Asheville Reynolds Erwin and Roberson and still not win 3 playoff games in 6a. When has that ever happened?
 
The Patriot

The Patriot

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Freedom and Watauga is going to come down to which coach prepares better and comes up with a game plan to control their opponent's strengths. It may be that having an entire off week to plan and prepare will work to Freedom's advantage and I'm happy that coach Adkins is now our coach, I think he will come up with a game plan that works for the Patriots, and I don't think he'll fail to account for the things I've seen Habich do in the past that swung games to Watauga's favor. I don't think any of this guarantees a Freedom win or even that we should be favored, because I know that the Pioneers have tons of talent and are very well-coached, but I like our chances now more than I have over the past few seasons.
 
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PioneerPride11

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The Patriot said:
Freedom and Watauga is going to come down to which coach prepares better and comes up with a game plan to control their opponent's strengths. It may be that having an entire off week to plan and prepare will work to Freedom's advantage and I'm happy that coach Adkins is now our coach, I think he will come up with a game plan that works for the Patriots, and I don't think he'll fail to account for the things I've seen Habich do in the past that swung games to Watauga's favor. I don't think any of this guarantees a Freedom win or even that we should be favored, because I know that the Pioneers have tons of talent and are very well-coached, but I like our chances now more than I have over the past few seasons.
Click to expand...
I dont disagree. The only thing I feel different about is having a week off. I feel like a bye week in high school can sometimes negatively effect a team. I do believe this will be one heck of a game and which ever team shows better execution with minimized mistakes wins. Could potentially be a game where the team who has the ball last wins.
 
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kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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If the same Freedom team shows up that put 70 on Reynolds, it will be a barnburner.

If the same Freedom team that almost lost to Roberson shows up, it will be a blowout win for Watauga.

I thought about picking Freedom for the upset, but I haven't seen the consistency with them like you see with Watauga. How will Freedom react to adversity if they get a few scores down early?

Should be a fascinating game.
 
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PioneerPride11

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kyleheel30 said:
If the same Freedom team shows up that put 70 on Reynolds, it will be a barnburner.

If the same Freedom team that almost lost to Roberson shows up, it will be a blowout win for Watauga.

I thought about picking Freedom for the upset, but I haven't seen the consistency with them like you see with Watauga. How will Freedom react to adversity if they get a few scores down early?

Should be a fascinating game.
Click to expand...
Not to down play Freedom, because they've shown flashes, but two of their opponents combine for 70% of the total wins. Watauga opponents have a combined 10-15 record, where as Freedom has played two teams with 1 win each, and one team with no wins. Freedoms shining moment was against ACR, who has been up and down all season. This game wraps up a 3 game road trip for Watauga, and I feel like home field advantage in high school is huge. Honestly, it could go either way. Preparation, execution, minimize mistakes. That's what it comes down to. I hope I'm wrong and Watauga just steam rolls them, but that's why they play the game.
 
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Foosball4thedevil

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Watauga hasn’t lost a road game since 2022. Those kids really like away games. A competitive game will be great for everyone.
 
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kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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PioneerPride11 said:
Not to down play Freedom, because they've shown flashes, but two of their opponents combine for 70% of the total wins. Watauga opponents have a combined 10-15 record, where as Freedom has played two teams with 1 win each, and one team with no wins. Freedoms shining moment was against ACR, who has been up and down all season. This game wraps up a 3 game road trip for Watauga, and I feel like home field advantage in high school is huge. Honestly, it could go either way. Preparation, execution, minimize mistakes. That's what it comes down to. I hope I'm wrong and Watauga just steam rolls them, but that's why they play the game.
Click to expand...
Would you say Wataugas defense is better against the run or the pass?
 
kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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Also, im not sure if maxpreps stat keeping is 100% accurate, but looking over some previous games, it appears a lot of teams in the conference (minus Watauga) have struggled defending teams who can really throw the ball.

For example, according to maxpreps, st stephens, south caldwell and AC has given up a ton of passing yards in a lot of their games.

I say this because you have some teams who can throw it well. Especially Freedom and McDowell. Watauga can throw or run equally well. Alexander Central, South Caldwell and St Stephens are usually run first teams.

I see a lot of high scoring games in the conference. Especially with teams 3-6.
 
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Rocketsrock1

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Heck I’m almost to the point of asking who from ACR got hurt during our bye week. I know injuries happen and you have to move on but against JM Robinson we dressed 27 players with 6 defensive starters out. Against Freedom we were down 8 total starters including our whole starting 4 d-linemen. These aren’t excuses just facts. I feel we got down early in both games and kinda quit which has never been a trait of Rocket football. Hopefully the week off will help heal the team mentally and physically. We shall see….
 
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The Patriot

The Patriot

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Watauga gets a 45 yard run on their first play from scrimmage, converted a fourth down, connects on a long pass and gets a touchdown on an option keeper. 7-0 7:36 first quarter.
 
kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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McDowell 27
South Caldwell 6

McDowell QB Danny Brown has 4 TD passes and over 200 passing yards and it's still the first quarter
 
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A Davis keeper gets Freedom on the board. 21-7 WHS, 9:14 left in the half.
 
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Watauga does an excellent job using downfield blockers. Good patience by the RB.
 
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Pioneers strike again, 28-7 with just under four minutes left in the half.
 
kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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McDowell 41
South Caldwell 6

Danny Brown now has 5 passing TD in the first half
 
kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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McDowell 41
South Caldwell 20

McDowell was about to score again but got greedy and threw a pick 6 and 100 yard TD return.
 
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kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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McDowell 41
South Caldwell 28

We got a game. McDowell is making too many mistakes
 
kyleheel30

kyleheel30

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South Caldwell gets the ball to start the 2nd half.

McDowell has had trouble defending the option. They are also killing themselves with turnovers
 
The Patriot

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Freedom gets a 25 yard touchdown pass on fourth and seven to cut the lead to 28-14. 4:16 third quarter.
 
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