Covid Squads:
First week of Q:
-North Surry
The Hounds found life and their mojo finally after a rough start in King. Despite the loss North played rather decent ball in this game; the defense limited West to one real drive in either half, the other 2 scores came early off short field after not being there mentally. That is to be expected when you only have one senior on the defense. Offensively we fumbled too dumbly in the first half but we came out of the half on fire and it was fun to watch. They coulda easily been down 28 but a different squad came out and it made for a fun second half. The Hounds lost their QB of the future for a month and a half at least due to a broke arm, and their senior LB to a concussion but managed to play 3 quarters of good ball. It shows a lot of growth in just 2 games for these kids; the season has went like I expected: nothing too crazy off my guesstimate minus the missed week. Offensively they are miles better than what they were in February at this point but still needs work, D wise is the same. They both faced buzz saws the opener then showed up in week 2. Lots of parallels.
This week would have been a nice proving game for the kids as they had a great chance to ditch the first two weeks and move on. It would have been the home opener too; bummer. I guess the Hounds will have to wait until the Wilkes Central game now unless they find someone between that date and when the quarantine ends.
-West Stokes
The Wildcats were given a much harder contest and were exposed by the Hounds after the Sauras laid down to them the first week. The QB got banged up with a hurt shoulder from the way it looked and the lack of depth bit them in the butt on offense as cramps hit, but their defense did what they needed to do for the win. Reminds me of these two teams 3 years back in middle school. Put these two teams later in the year and I would expect another bloodbath. It will be more dooszies at the start of the year for the next few years between these two teams .
As for West until the offense finds some more consistency they will have a harder time each week in that conference. They can't afford to sputter and live off mistakes. HP Andrews and up in that conference is too good. Their next one should be winnable however vs McMichael. Depth will be the huge key for them.. The longer they can stay healthy the better. Reidsville and Walkertown will have that edge by a mile. Everyone else should be in the same ballpark. If their JV’s have to fold due to low #’s then it will be a step backward; they don't need that.
Second Week of Q:
-North Wilkes
The Hays Vikes honestly surprised me on film.. They came out ready to play and took it to the Elks; they honestly looked better and should have won that game. They choked it when they didn’t need to do so. Elkin couldn’t stop NW’s RB who is a gamer, and their QB chunked it all over them. They just fumbled at awful points and their defense showed their usual lost nature and couldn’t keep up with Elkin when they needed to. I see this squad having a solid offense by the end of the year but that defense will make or break them. They need to be better coached on that end and not so inept at option plays and audibles.
-West Wilkes
The Blackhawks desperately need another game to show theirselves; however the first chance they get is vs a powerhouse Central Davidson team next week who are one of the hottest teams in the state right now after thumping Randleman. The main thing here is if the Blackhawks can stand their own or get run over by that wing.. It will show a lot for the end of the year. They wanted the challenge so we shall see. However things aren’t so dire in Miller’s Creek. They have the makeup date for the Ashe game scheduled and their JV squad looks quite competitive. There is potential there they just gotta get out of the valley.
-Ashe County
Ashe’s passing game looks as solid as ever but the run game and defense has a lot of adjusting and growth to go. They need all the momentum they can get the next 2 games before they hit the buzzsaw of that 3A conference. MA will be a game they have to find what they can in because they are jamming right now. But the other two Wilkes teams if they can play them will be winnable for the Huskies.
-Wilkes Central
Much like Ashe it’s hard to tell who was the better team of these two squads.. Ashe let them come back so that wasn’t a good sign. WC looked better than they did vs Elkin at that scrimmage. They will be a very athletic squad but their year will be determined on how that line does. They are much younger and have a lot of question marks.
I'm sure something will bite me this week though.
