I think NW got exposed during the Northern game as they normally do. They just happened to win the game this year and nobody was really talking about the flaws in their defense. Even though they have a ton of play makers on the edges Northern showed that you can line up and run the ball right at them even with a really weak Oline. I know NW hired former Grimsley Head Coach Pat Neal as their DC this off-season and IMO that was another very questionable hire by coach Rolfes with Neals record as a DC and HC at Grimsley. I've been following NW Football since the 80s and Coach Rolfes has made some very questionable hires in his 3 years as the Head Coach of NW. NW is on their 4th DC in 4 years. I don't know Coach Rolfes personally but I do know Coach let a couple very good coaches walk out. One is now the DC at a very good East Forsyth team. I think one is also the DC at HP Central and another took a job in Michigan or Ohio I think. On paper there is no way Northern Guilford should have been in the same ballpark as NW and they were up 20-14 in the 3rd. Then the Thomas Hennigan show started. This is usually how Northern beat NW in the past. NW would be up on Northern then the TJ Logan, Keenan Allen, CJ Freeman show would start and that would be all she wrote. Now if Hennigan is out NW maybe in a world of trouble. East Forsyth, Glenn, SW Guilford and HP Central are all very good teams this year with major athletes and really good O/D Lines. This conference is a toss up. I think East is still on top until someone proves otherwise. Then SW, Glenn, HPC, NW you could pull out of a hat.
As far as the SEG game goes I personally think without Hennigan there is still no way that SE Guilford should have won this game. Some may disagree but I'm just stating my opinion. If you have 3 Power 5 D-1 players on your team someone else has to step up and take over the game. NW looked to be in a state of shock after Hennigan went down. If you were there you know what I'm talking about. There was zero energy and no life whatsoever in the stadium. NW was up 13 - 0 and it felt like they were losing 50 - 0. This bye week came at the perfect time for NW. Coach Rolfes and staff have a lot of work to do. If Hennigan is out for the season they better find some leadership that is willing to put the team on their back. My only fear is the rest of these guys have become too dependent on him to save them when it got tough. I personally believe that with all the senior leadership on this team someone will step up. Turner needs to touch the ball about 10-15 times a game along with Cloud doing the same. With this much talent on the team NW Guilford should be beating good teams by a couple scores not just Smith and Western Guilford.
