NW4A...4 Weeks In

Well as amazing as it may sound to the rest of the state the NW4A has a combined 18-7 record (most combined wins in the state by ANY 4A conference) with one week to go before the conference season starts. Alot of credit for this should go Watauga for their nice 4-0 start, as well as South Caldwell who some thought might drop off from their strong showing last year. McDowell, has also been a nice suprise as well with their 2-2 start (maybe even should have been a 3-1 start), and the Rockets and Cougars are right where everyone has expected them to be, both at 4-0 and 3-0 respectively. The conference real shock is the Burke Co. boys, coming in at a combined 1-5. Yes, Freedom and East Burke have played some tough teams and I fully expect both teams to recover from this start, but some of the scores and the amount of points given up have been a real shock. Another thing, if 4 wins qualifies you for the playoffs this year, 3 NW4A teams are in, and 1 is just one win away and conference hasn't even started. That is a great sign for our conference this year and it should make conference play all the more challenging and the battle for playoff position fun and exciting.

Team Observations:

AC Reynolds - Dominating so far, defense has been above what anyone expected, giving up just 97 rushing yards in 4 games.

Alexander Central - Looks to have a great defense as well, but seems to need an offense to go with it.

South Caldwell - Not sure they have been tested alot, but seem to be playing well and with alot of confidence.

Watauga - breitenstein (sp) seems to be doing it all for this team, question is how far can he carry them and how high a finish in conference can he carry them?

McDowell - If they don't self distruct they would be sitting at 3-1 and 1 win away from a possible playoff bid, now they need at least 2 wins, can they get it? Conference hasn't been nice to them and they have Burns as a non-conference game as well, it won't be easy.

East Burke - Their schedule hasn't been easy, but it doesn't get alot easier come conference, so the playoffs may be a tough task to reach. Next year might be what they are playing for.

Freedom - Speaking of tough schedules...Shelby and Crest, who does this to a team, now they have TCR coming and Asheville. I bet they can't wait for conference to start, although this year that may not be fun either. Better get that defense better quickly or it will be a looooonnnnggg year.

Lets hear everyone else's thoughts and keep up the good work NW4A!

 

I'll toss a few thoughts around for this one RR23, but in all honesty, the only team that I can comment on is McDowell b/c they are the only team that I have seen. After the first game with TCR, I thought that McDowell was going to throw the ball a lot more this year. Well, they haven't, and I really wonder why. Well, I know why, but I am just a balance type of guy. Horses that are ridden a lot tend to break down late, and I hope that doesn't happen to Kincaid. I will say this; I have watched McDowell for a lot of years and this guy is the best running back that I have seen in quite a few moons. I just hope that he doesn't get hurt again. I wish they would get him off the field on D so that he can rest.

McDowell's D is a little better this year too. The really made RS work for everything they got. They ran about 4 plays from inside the 5 before finally getting it in the endzone to go ahead 28-27 (They ran a play from the 5 to get a first down at the 4, then ran 3 more plays before finally getting it in). That came on McDowell's 7th turnover of the game. They will give up a big play on occasion, but have been pleasingly steady all year. I hope that they stay up emotionally after this past week; man they were on the field a LONG time Friday night. Good thing they get that perinnial no show "OPEN" this week.

 

I have seen all four South Caldwell games and I made the point in another post that someone better pick it up and take the place of the Hardee Boys (wrestling reference anyone), and I would like to believe that is happening.

The gaudy numbers that individual players are putting up in the conference are impressive. But South's offense by design is used to eat clock and beat people 14-0 or so. Unless players break long, South players don't get big numbers. South has had atleast 1 100 yard rusher every week except the first one. Its just been evenly spread out between 3 pretty good RBs.

So what does all this mean?? The Spartans are 4-0 and under the radar again... They play better that way.

 

After seeing the TC - Reynolds score I would have to say that Reynolds should win the conference with no problem. I expected Reynolds to win, just not by 4 touchdowns. MHS has to hold onto the ball. Terrence is such a strong running back that he fights for extra yardage and this is when the fumbles occur. Also the kicking game is maybe the worst in the state. I'm also concerned with Terrence playing so many minutes. He plays both ways and is on all special teams plus he does the kicking. I think MHS will win 5 or 6 games if Terence can stay healthy.

I really don't know much about all the other teams. The only thing that i have looked at is the opponents record. Watagua has 4 wins, that is also how many there 4 opponents have combined. Alot of these teams are 2A/1A also. They may have an excellent team. This type of stat just caught my eye. Same goes for Alexander Central, but there defense will win alot of games for them.

I think Freedom is going to have a down year. I know they play some of the best competition but the amount of points they give up must be a concern for them.

Reynolds
Alexander Central
South Caldwell
MHS
Freedom
Watagua
EB
My predictions in the NW4A!

 

I would be bouncing off the walls if McDowell were 3-1 but to be honest I'm happy with McDowell being 2-2. We were competitive against a very good team in Roberson and with that first game you could see the confidence grow ten-fold with each passing week. I think the big story is how will the Titans respond after blowing that game against R-S Central?

IMHO, Terrence "Buggy" Kincaid is the best single athlete that I have ever seen play football at McDowell High. If Buggy was playing football at a traditional powerhouse school in this state (Asheville, Crest, any of the Charlotte area schools), he could focus on play one position on the field. But since he plays at McDowell, his talent is needed as much as possible. I hope he dosen't break down, I also feel the same as billyblockhead...I was hoping for a more balanced attack. Amerto's 193 yard performance against Roberson must have been an abnormality. With Buggy's explosive ability, all the Titans would need is about 10-12 pass plays with say 50% success to balance the offense. The defense is getting better. R-S had to nickel and dime theirselves for most of the game friday night before our defense just broke down in the fourth quarter. What people don't know is that R-S had about 5 or 6 turnovers of their own.

That being said, I see McDowell having a legit shot in four conference games (Freedom, EB, SC, Watauga). Freedom and East Burke are on the road and would require a bit extra. Beating Alexander Central is one that would require a good performance by the O'Line and no mental mistakes. And I see nobody coming close to Reynolds.

 

NWC stronger in 2006

The NW4a is stronger than in the past. There is not a team that is a given win, and you have not been able to say that in a while. Good to see Watauga playing well and happy to see McDowell playing better. Both Alexander Central and South Caldwell are solid. The offense is not yet going for the Cougars but they will get better, they already can throw it, they just can't run it despite a strong O Line. East Burke is probably a notch or two below Alexander Central and South Caldwell, but they look like they may be pretty solid on defense. That leaves Freedom. They have played a brutal schedule but I think they will be a factor once the conference season gets underway. It would be a shock if AC Reynolds does not run the table, but they must go to Taylorsville and that will not be easy. Good Luck to all the teams.