North still has talent. The loss of 10 defensive starters, many of whom started when they were sophomores in 4A ball, left a big void to fill. The D is not awful but they also are obviously not dominant either. The offense still scores points, skill players are not an issue. The size on the line is not the same but it's not as if the offensive line is bad. When the offense executes great things can happen and lots of points get scored. When they don't execute it seems to have a negative effect mentally and more mistakes occur throughout the game.
Both North and Ledford have been hit by the loss of Midway and Wallburg to OG. North lost more athletes, Ledford lost more money. The difference is that Ledfords D covers up more of their weaknesses than Norths does.
But the biggest issue for North this year is finishing. They got off to hot starts offensively against Parkland, Davie, OG and Tville. They lost all of those games in the second half and fourth quarter. Also when they jumped out to big leads against West, Central and Lexington they let those scores get closer later on than the games really were.
Salisbury presents two main issues for North: their defense is the best in the CCC and if North can't get things going offensively then the speed on Salisburys offense is going to be a problem. Salisbury has been playing much better offensively lately and North has always had trouble with option teams that can execute.
Salisbury is definitely the favorite. I'm repeating myself from the other thread but if North can't get their receivers loose then it could be a long night. North really has to step up their game on both sides of the ball to win this one.