My main point is that you need to pay attention to any and all sophomores playing on this team because they must be very good, if they're playing a lot on a deep team like Cville. Brooks, Horner, et al. will be players to pay attention to in a year or too.

By the way let me talk about the mirror image of your point. Of course I went to Charlottesville two years ago to watch Centreville play Oscar Smith. Even though both teams had upwards of probably 8-10,000 there in such a big stadium the place looked empty. Of course for the regional venue they need a bigger spot (holding aside arguments about home field and power points) but I wonder if they need a smaller like 20,000 seat venue for the state championship?

Of course "Kicker" any sophomore that cracks the lineup on CVille is good in my book

one area of motivation for soco could be that this is their chance of revenge against adam neff who left them after their state championship game in 2011

theres not really any key injuries to soco besides their long-term absentee 1st string tailback(Rumors that he might return this week)

Offset perhaps by fact their SOCO's current coach Panonni almost ran Cville's program into the ground when he was there 5-6 years back showing up with a 1-9 record....

Sorry, I know I am being flagrant here but could not resist.

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Offset perhaps by fact their SOCO's current coach
> Panonni almost ran Cville's program into the
> ground when he was there 5-6 years back showing up
> with a 1-9 record....
>
> Sorry, I know I am being flagrant here but could
> not resist.
That may be so, however he did have the balls to start a lot of freshman and that would eventually go to states

I know, sometimes things just go down for various reasons. Turned out well for both schools. CVille doing well under Haddock, Neff, others. SOCO doing well under Pannoni. Good for him.

But back to the point. Do not think SOCO being pissed at CVille and Neff will make any difference. Being pissed last week for those yahoos from TC Williams for running through your tunnel - now yes that should and did make a difference. If I was one of your SOCO players I would have definitely played beyond my limits if another team did an grade school move like that....

It will be interesting to see CVIlle going up against the best offense in the state (South County) I think it is really going to come down to South County forcing turnovers, and keeping their Offense in the game.

Ok folks must we do this again. SOCO is not the best offense in the state. Stats are just stats. CVille (and Braddock for that matter) played their starters basically one half of each regular season game. Plus SOCO never faced a serious defense like CVille. I have no doubt SOCO will gain some yards but there is no way they will come close to the production they are used to against CVille. I guess they may get a few touchdowns but no more than the 21 they got against Braddock. NOw on the other hand they gave up an average of 25 points a game. CVille will score 40-50 points against a defense like that. Think about matchups not stats from games against teams that are not even playing anymore.

what if the strongest district ends up to being the patriot one where there are only two teams that have a good team

The strongest district is not the Patriot, the strongest teams are not Braddock and SOCO. Of the 8 teams left in the North I would rate SOCO no better than about 6th or 7th sorry. Good season good team but going to be extremely difficult for you to win this week.

but to clarify I do think Braddock is the second best team left behind CVille. Although Langley and Westfield are even nipping at the heels of Braddock in 3rd and 4th place based on some untimely injuries Braddock is facing

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The strongest district is not the Patriot, the
> strongest teams are not Braddock and SOCO. Of the
> 8 teams left in the North I would rate SOCO no
> better than about 6th or 7th sorry. Good season
> good team but going to be extremely difficult for
> you to win this week.

Lol i was just saying that in a hypothetical sense

What are y'alls rankings for the teams?

CVille
Braddock
Westfield
Langley
Stonewall
SOCO
Yorktown
Robinson

I guess I kinda ranted on about the sophomores, sorry bout that. Now my rankings of teams still in the 6A playoffs...

1- Centreville. Nuff said.
2- Braddock. Don't think Henderson'n'crew are good enough to beat Centreville.
3- Langley. What a running attack they have over there. Just plain scary.
4- Stonewall. Very talented, just starting to put it together. With the athletes they have, they could possibly give anyone a game.
5- Westfield. Torn a little bit, but have to give them the edge over Robinson since they won in the regular season.
6- Robinson. Joe Wilson is starting to get back towards where he was last season, not a fun thought for defenses.
7- Yorktown. MJ Stewart is the real deal. Him, Turner and Wilson all are awesome.
8- Soco. They're talented, I'd just take all the other playoff teams over them.

You have to be pretty good to make it this far, so I guess outside of the top two, you could possibly see a completely different bottom six. Soco could be 3 in your opinion, and Stonewall could be 8. But like I said, I'd take all these others over Soco. That's my rankings

Good analysis "Kicker" - I have no problems with your list. What do others think about his and my list? Anyone have a completely different opinion?

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I hope South County comes ready to give CVille a
> great game. I think there are a few things that
> could stop CVille - a rash of injuries and
> complacency. I would like them to be really tested
> before Braddock and the 757. Although they
> dispatched of South Lakes last week easily 35-0 I
> will be the first to admit it was a lackluster
> effort relatively speaking for CVille and probably
> a good wake up call (hope the coaching staff is
> reminding them every day this week it gets hard
> starting now....)

Well Walters, Turner and Nickens-Yzer left the game in the 1st and early 2nd qtr. If they played until the half we would have reached our 42 point avg.

Hey CVille Student glad you are back on, what is the news from the "supposed" injury report at CVille? All the guys except Love going to be playing Friday night?

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Hey CVille Student glad you are back on, what is
> the news from the "supposed" injury report at
> CVille? All the guys except Love going to be
> playing Friday night?

Yes indeed. Good practice today. :)

Just wondering but why would you risk a more serious neck injury just for one game that your supposed to win with/without this guy

Awesome. The rumored demise of AJ Turner, Xavier N-Y and others appears to have previously been grossly exaggerated. I was going to say 42-21 against the visitors from SOCO without a few of those guys but now I think I might say 52-21!!!!

The Kicker Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> My main point is that you need to pay attention to
> any and all sophomores playing on this team
> because they must be very good, if they're playing
> a lot on a deep team like Cville. Brooks, Horner,
> et al. will be players to pay attention to in a
> year or too.

You are correct, Christian and Andre are going to be ones to watch the 2 years.

perhaps he was not really that hurt to start with....

It's simple Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Just wondering but why would you risk a more
> serious neck injury just for one game that your
> supposed to win with/without this guy

The injury wasn't as serious as initially thought.

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Awesome. The rumored demise of AJ Turner, Xavier
> N-Y and others appears to have previously been
> grossly exaggerated. I was going to say 42-21
> against the visitors from SOCO without a few of
> those guys but now I think I might say 52-21!!!!

That sounds about right to me!

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> perhaps he was not really that hurt to start
> with....

Exactly right.

CVille Student, you have been very helpful the last two nights. One thing additional I might ask. You said nine players at CVille were being recruited by D1 schools. Are you at liberty to elaborate? If not no worries just thought I would ask (smile)

This board's really fun. Hope they make one for basketball season...

What is the general perception of soco? What is their football history? How are they viewed by outsiders?

Its fun quotient grows to the extent we are talking real stuff, real analysis, real injury reports, real recruiting. Of course I like to talk about Centreville. Again however I would recommend anyone chime in just please keep it real and logical. If anyone thinks there are reasons why CVille might lose let us hear them. Or if we want to talk about some of the other matchups great. I have watched all the teams a lot in person or on film so am ready to talk about all of them. Only thing that makes this site no fun is when people just saying inane stuff like my school is better than your school with no logic behind it.

^I completely agree

SOCO is a newer school so not a lot of history. Started slow but last few years has done well and now starting to play with the big boys in D6. As I inferred earlier I had my early doubts because Coach Pannoni there did horribly at Centreville but has turned things around. They deserve respect, have a good offense, and should have a 9-2 season. However, they do not have nearly enough defense and their offense has not seen a defense nearly as strong as Cville's.

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> CVille Student, you have been very helpful the
> last two nights. One thing additional I might
> ask. You said nine players at CVille were being
> recruited by D1 schools. Are you at liberty to
> elaborate? If not no worries just thought I would
> ask (smile)

Chad Wiggins, Josh Smith, Chase Heiner, Tyler Love, AJ Turner, Charles Tutt, Nickens-Yzer, Taylor Boose, Justin Skule

Cville Student Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hsfballfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CVille Student, you have been very helpful the
> > last two nights. One thing additional I might
> > ask. You said nine players at CVille were
> being
> > recruited by D1 schools. Are you at liberty to
> > elaborate? If not no worries just thought I
> would
> > ask (smile)
>
> Chad Wiggins, Josh Smith, Chase Heiner, Tyler
> Love, AJ Turner, Charles Tutt, Nickens-Yzer,
> Taylor Boose, Justin Skule

The speed of this group is what sets them apart.

Thanks as usual. Plus you can add Walter to that list who I hear wants to play baseball and then of course I would be very surprised if Christian Brooks, Devante Wright, and a few others don't eventually get some looks.

One more CVille Student - how are people on the inside feeling about Joe Ferrick for next year at QB? Good he is getting a lot of reps this year in the blowouts but honestly looked a bit timid early in the year. Thought in this last game with South Lakes he had some more confidence, zip on the ball, etc. He of course will be handed the keys to a smooth Ferrari next year with the returnees....

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> One more CVille Student - how are people on the
> inside feeling about Joe Ferrick for next year at
> QB? Good he is getting a lot of reps this year in
> the blowouts but honestly looked a bit timid early
> in the year. Thought in this last game with South
> Lakes he had some more confidence, zip on the
> ball, etc. He of course will be handed the keys
> to a smooth Ferrari next year with the
> returnees....

Walters is getting a few D2 looks however he's a beast at baseball and that's what he's going to pursue.

As for Ferrick, you hit the nail on the head. Timid early on however has gained a tremendous amount of confidence that last couple of weeks. It certainly shows in practice. We will be in good hands when he takes over the wheel.

Thanks again for your insights, very helpful!

Go Wildcats!!!!!

"We will be in good hands when he takes over the wheel."
Hahaha that's funny cause Ferrick's dad is the drivers' ed teacher at Cville haha

Cville Student Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> hsfballfan Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > CVille Student, you have been very helpful the
> > last two nights. One thing additional I might
> > ask. You said nine players at CVille were
> being
> > recruited by D1 schools. Are you at liberty to
> > elaborate? If not no worries just thought I
> would
> > ask (smile)
>
> Chad Wiggins, Josh Smith, Chase Heiner, Tyler
> Love, AJ Turner, Charles Tutt, Nickens-Yzer,
> Taylor Boose, Justin Skule

6 of the 9 are juniors!

That CVille has that quality in the junior ranks, sophs like Horner and Christian Brooks, Richebourg and others coming, and then a Freshman class led by Jameel Siler, Kobie Turner (yes AJ's little brother) and others on the way makes it fun to say the least to be a CVille football fan these days. And by the way forgot to mention CVille Fresh team completed yet another 9-0 season again beating Westfield and the rest....

Oh yeah....

What about the other teams left folks so I do not get accused of making this into the CVille channel...heck we can even talk D5 - look what Falls Church is doing this year...good for them. I always like when schools that do not have a great sports tradition can get behind a team - definitely happening at Falls Church this year (that is awesome)

Also Cville Student Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> "We will be in good hands when he takes over the
> wheel."
> Hahaha that's funny cause Ferrick's dad is the
> drivers' ed teacher at Cville haha

Hahaha you're right!

why ridiculous? Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> wildcatrunsupport Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > mysteriomaco Wrote:
> >
>
> Not ridiculous at all. According to VHSL, The 2013
> wildcats are very similar to the 2007 Bulldogs.
> See below:
>
> http://www.vhsl-reference.com/similar2013_list.cfm

Interesting find. So here's a question, if Cville is projected to be even better next year than this year, which team would you compare them to if this years team is being compared to the 2007 Bulldogs? The 2008 Phoebus Phantoms who had the best season in VHSL history?

I for one think they have a chance to be better next year but also this year is really good because of the great juniors but complemented by a small set of great seniors - Walter, Heiner, Smith, Wiggins, etc.

I think this THE YEAR but of course next year will be great as well. Depends on how well Love takes over for Wiggins as the main LB, how well Ferrick takes over from Walter as QB, etc. In any event of course the cupboard will not be bare by any stretch....

Can we rank the remaining 8 teams?

Note - D5 went according to chalk, where all of the 8 higher seeds won.

I think Stone Bridge rolls over a tough but undersized Broad Run team.

Falls Church is in a real tough spot this week.

Tuscarora will fall hard, even as higher seed. North Stafford by 14 or more.

I think Briar - Mountain View game is going to be closer than the so-called spread, but Falcons advance to set up 1st ever meeting against Stone Bridge with winner advancing to regional finas. What a big game that will be in Ashburn! All of those kids played youth football together!

We just reseeded the D6 teams for fun. There is no reseeding in the North. Strangely after this week the south will reseed. But to your D5 picks

Agree unfortunately the gig will be up for Falls Church as Massaponax is very good.

ALso agree North Stafford will take Tuscarora.

Setting up a Stone Bridge and Briar Woods game will indeed be an interesting thing. Would like to see that game if I wasn't already planning to be at some D6 games....

By the way feel sorry for all of the teams in the North as they will not beat LC Bird from the South....

Speaking of sophomores playing the two best I've seen on defense this year in the Concorde are linebackers, one for Oakton, #10 I think, the other at Westfield, #41. The skinny on both are that they earned starting positions as the season progressed from their level of play, not injury. Both are thought to be D1 level talent from what I hear.

Do you happen to remember their names?

Sorry last post was from "Fan" not "Can", damn IPhone!

Last name of Oakton's kid is Escajeda I believe, spelling could be wrong. Kid from Westfield last name is Clancy. Both have a real nose for the ball, are big, and can hit. Have seen a couple of either one of their teams games. Had to go watch them when the two schools played each other, both played well.

Sorry, damn iPhone again, stupid autocorrect!

will keep an eye out for them

hsfballfan signing off for tonite

thanks to everyone for good posts tonite

I have the pleasure of getting to watch a lot of games. I work for a local company, my job is to film games so I get to see a ton of local high school football.

the kicker & others who are interested... basketball post


http://www.fairfaxunderground.com/forum/read/2/1337070/1367033.html#msg-1367033

Saw Centreville 3 times and SOCO 3 times. SOCO has a better shot than the one Centreville fan on here thinks. I will agree though if they have turnovers like they did vs LB SOCO will lose. Saw SOCO beat Stonewall in preseason. SOCO defense has some good physical athletes but need to stay focused every play, a SOCO parent tells me 9 of there defensive starters will be back next year. SOCO D has left several teams with significant injuries the week after they played them. LB, TC, Hayfield MV. If CV wins next weeks opponent will prob get a weaker CV.

hsref Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Saw Centreville 3 times and SOCO 3 times. SOCO
> has a better shot than the one Centreville fan on
> here thinks. I will agree though if they have
> turnovers like they did vs LB SOCO will lose. Saw
> SOCO beat Stonewall in preseason. SOCO defense
> has some good physical athletes but need to stay
> focused every play, a SOCO parent tells me 9 of
> there defensive starters will be back next year.
> SOCO D has left several teams with significant
> injuries the week after they played them. LB, TC,
> Hayfield MV. If CV wins next weeks opponent will
> prob get a weaker CV.
This is so true. If i were cville and got stonewall next week after soco punished some of my players i would pe scared

hsref Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Saw Centreville 3 times and SOCO 3 times. SOCO
> has a better shot than the one Centreville fan on
> here thinks. I will agree though if they have
> turnovers like they did vs LB SOCO will lose. Saw
> SOCO beat Stonewall in preseason. SOCO defense
> has some good physical athletes but need to stay
> focused every play, a SOCO parent tells me 9 of
> there defensive starters will be back next year.
> SOCO D has left several teams with significant
> injuries the week after they played them. LB, TC,
> Hayfield MV. If CV wins next weeks opponent will
> prob get a weaker CV.

Credit to the poster here. Much better insight about SOCO and analysis that the 'SOCO rules'. A little scary that SOCO seems to injure players. We could see that with TC Williams as they made a number of late hits/cheap shots against CVille and LB and as that tunnel run shows the type of team they are. SOCO is a tough team and the CVille coaches have to be prepared. While all of the numbers shows CVille winning handily, last years Oakton run will be in the minds of many coaches/players/fans of what can happen and particular season, especially if you do not play well. Going to the VHSL Reference simulator shows CVille winning 71% of the time. Far from an easy win.

Hi folks I am back. Of course there are multiple CVille fans in these posts but I assume that the poster this morning is referring to me "that one Centreville fan"). Well here we go...

(1) Let us keep it clean and logical, not emotional
(2) Sorry to hear that SOCO has a history of causing injuries to other teams. Hope it is not intentional. Of course playing in the Concorde District I am comfortable that CVille will be able to handle physicality if that is the reason.
(3) Of course at this stage any team has a chance to win but consider the facts
(4) CVille gave up 7 points a game against stronger competition than SOCO played overall. In reality this should be about 3-4 points a game since the first line team was always pulled out about halftime and some points were scored on third stringers late by other teams.
(5) SOCO's offense is good no doubt but it has not faced a defense as strong as Cville's . Lake Braddock has a good defense not a great defense. So do you expect SOCO to put up more than 21 against CVille. Best of luck folks.
(6) Now let us turn to the real reason why SOCO will lose. SOCO gave up on average 25 points a game again playing a mostly Patriot district schedule. Centreville playing a mostly Concorde district schedule average well over 40 points a game. So again I ask - how does SOCO imagine it will hold CVille to something less than 40 points?
(7) Throw in the CVille home crowd, the fact that CVille will not take anyone lightly, the fact that Neff will have some ideas of what SOCO is trying to do, etc. how does SOCO really think it is going to win?
(8) Please bring your emotion to the game as I want CVille to be tested instead of winning another 35 or worse to zero type of game.
(9) However please do not bring a "hey let us try to injure that team" type of attitude.

Best of luck to SOCO.

Here is another data point SOCO fans that should concern you greatly. SOCO lost to Chantilly in Chantilly 42-34. Centreville beat Chantilly in Chantilly 42-0.

I fear the SOCO game because the team is already making plans for the semi-final game with LB. Just check out some of the twitter posts. The only thing that they haven't done is post bulletin board material for SOCO. CVille also has a history of overlooking opponents by coming out flat for important games. It happened in 2011 in the first Westfield game and again last year.

In the first Westfield game in 2011 CVille dominated that game, especially the first half. An ill advised reverse kickoff play to start the second half turned momentum, then rain, etc. Last year I will be the first to admit that Westfield was marginally better than CVille since the latter was playing so many sophomores. I am confident no one will be taken lightly...

Inquisitive One I also looked at Twitter - did not see anything concerning, what did you see

Simple thing but indicative of the mindset of the team. A CVille back was tweeting with a LB player and discussing what uniforms LB was going to wear for the semi final game.

Ok they might just be friends (smile). Actually more concerned on the Lake Braddock side with them needing to get past Ytown and likely Westfield....

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Here is another data point SOCO fans that should
> concern you greatly. SOCO lost to Chantilly in
> Chantilly 42-34. Centreville beat Chantilly in
> Chantilly 42-0.

More data points: Centreville scored 503 points this year for an average of 45.7 points per game. Only 35 (7%) of those points were in the 4th Q, and 398 points (79.1%) were scored in the first half. Had Centreville's 2nd half kept pace with their 1st half, they would be averaging 72 points per game. Of course with a running clock that would never happen, but you get the point. As for the Defense, they are only giving up 7.9 points per game. Impressive enough, but even more impressive is the starters only allowed 4.3 points per game. 46% of the defensive points given up by Centreville this season were in the 4th Quarter.

In contrast, South County did averaged 46.8 points per game, however, I suspect the starters were on the field in the 3rd/4th quarters, mainly because the defense was giving up an average of 22.2 points.

Good analysis "interesting" thanks for your contribution.

Looking for any logical rebuttals from SOCO fans.

No need for logical rebuttals Centreville is favored. If SOCO wins it will be a huge upset. only rebuttal is it starts 0-0 but Cville is home with several D-1 players a coach formerly from SOCO great players from the strongest district. Centreville is who we thought they were, if you want to crown them go ahead and crown their A$$. Looking for logical rebuttals is a joke. Upsets happen in sports but no logic to explain why SOCO should win. The previous poster did not allege SOCO injures anyone on purpose, they are just a physical team that is a little young on defense. Coincidence that LB RB sprained MCL vs SOCO. SOCO caused one player to have to have spleen removed in an earlier game just a clean hard hit. The bruins will be ready for Cville but we also have work to do and injured players. Although we beat SOCO it was closer than the final score as they had 600 yards of offense vs our strong d.No excuse just a fact.

So what schools will be looking for a new coach?
Annandale?
Edison?
Woodson?

enough about C-ville and SOCO already! How does Robinson look? what about Stonewll? how about Langley?

another factor will be how biased the refs are

Happy to talk about the other teams too because as I have said before I have seen all of them multiple times in person or on film.

Robinson - will go as far as Joe Wilson will take them as he is a great RB but has been nicked up this year. Problem is everyone knows it and teams are keying on Robinson's running game. Do not have the outside athletes or QB to sustain a strong enough passing attack as an antidote. Will give Westfield a good game but I think Westfield wins by about 10 points.

Langley - interesting team, we have talked a lot about their oline and of course their rb and qb have racked up a lot of yardage in the option. Problem is that is something that can be neutralized by a stellar defense like Centreville. Not sure what the options are if the option gets stopped or at least held down.

Stonewall Jackson - tread carefully here. Greg Stroman is one of a small handful of exemplary athletes in the region (read MJ Stewart at Ytown, AJ Turner at Centreville, etc.). He carried that team last week against W-L. Langley is certainly more stout on D than W-L but do not sleep on Stonewall.

Anyone else have any opinions on these teams?

"Last name of Oakton's kid is Escajeda I believe, spelling could be wrong. Kid from Westfield last name is Clancy. Both have a real nose for the ball, are big, and can hit. Have seen a couple of either one of their teams games. Had to go watch them when the two schools played each other, both played well."



Fan or Can, whichever it might be,

You got the kid from Oakton last name right, Escajeda, but his number is #5. You’re correct about the Westfield kid both name and number, Clancy(#41). Sorry, it's the OCD in me for correcting you.

I've too seen both of these young men play, very impressed, should be hearing their names a good deal over the next 2 years. They both are eerily similar not only in their style of play but build as well, look and play like they were cloned.



hsfballfan,

I can assure you I'm not a fan of Westfield, the thought of that just made me throw up in my mouth just a little, no offense Westfield fans. I am just a fan like you that has had the opportunity to coach against many of the teams mentioned in this thread. Just like to share my perspective of the teams that I've seen more of especially up close.

In regard to the rankings that were posted earlier, I would rate the teams in this order;

Centreville

Lake Braddock
Westfield
Langley/Robinson
Stonewall
SOCO
Yorktown

I deliberately left the space between Centreville and the rest because the others just are not even close. This team is one of those that comes around every so often that are just that special. I paired Langley and Robinson together because that's a toss-up in my opinion. You have to rate Robinson above Stonewall only because they dispatched Patriot so easily, and Patriot did lose to Stonewall but only by 6. Also due to the fact that Patriot beat Hylton, highly regarded in the 6A South, by 10 earlier in the season. Just hard to not rank Concorde teams higher due to the strength of the district, records may not always reflect teams overall talent if that makes any sense.

But once again, just my opinion as are all of these threads from everyone. I must say it's just nice for a change to see a topic on here where there's not name calling and insults thrown about. One of the most insightful and enjoyable threads that I can remember.

Hey Coach welcome back today. Good list, cannot quibble much. Happy you are not a Westfield fan (smile) but would not care if you were.

I took a little grief this morning from the SOCO and Braddock fans - that is alright I am a big boy.

Happy though people like you and some others see the value in analyzing and discussing real x's and o's rather than just talking smack.

Let us keep the quality of this site going - can only happen if we all try hard. Plus I will be the first to admit I do not know everything. Just a lifelong sports fan with some coaching experience of my own in years past, always been a big "Friday Night Lights" guy - who wouldn't like good high school football, then of course Cville's quality makes it even easier. But I have learned a lot from my younger days. Emotion is great and can help ride the day. But you also have to look at games/film, think about matchups and be logical about stuff. Not to say you won't have upsets, they do happen, but much more often than not the team that is supposed to win does win if advantages maximized and disadvantages minimized.

Keep pushing me to be better in my analysis...

Still waiting to hear more from fans from Braddock, Langley, etc. about how and why their teams will win out.

HSFBALLFAN

Watching both Cville and SoCo film, this coming from a coach, I believe SoCo stacks up well athletically on both sides of the ball with Cville. I do not think it is necessarily a matter of these guys are just plain better than SoCo but rather a matter of execution. That being said there are certainly players on Cville that are physically better than guys at Soco. However, you go back and watch film on SoCo and the scores they gave up and nearly all of them were a result of poor execution by the defense. It was most definitely not an issue of the other guy just being better. If, and that is a big if given the past 11 games they've played, SoCo's D can cut down the mental mistakes I believe they will give themselves a fair shot at winning.

I've read more than a few times about SoCo not seeing such a stout defense as the one they will see this Friday but I should remind everyone here that Neff was at Soco just 2 years ago and the offensive staff that is there now hasn't changed since he was there. Neff knowing the offensive style certainly gives him an advantage but the offense knowing Neff's style gives them an advantage as well.

All in all I believe that if SoCo can shore up its execution issues on D Friday night will be a very good game.

Justathought

Thanks "justathought" - interesting comment. 25 cent question then becomes, how easy do you think it will be to shore up the execution issues 3 days out? Why the continuing execution issues? Bad coaching, irresponsible athletes, etc? My experience is it is difficult to change high school teams midstream, they are what they are but would enjoy hearing other opinions...

While we are throwing things out there - I am wondering how much difference there really is between Westfield 2011-2012 and 2013.

It is my observation that 2013 is very close to the previous two years - Centreville and Lake Braddock are just a lot better this year than they were in 2011-2012

Unlike a lot of teams Westfield seems to enter the season almost as good as they are going to get. The team is so coached up and well prepared that I don't see a huge jump in performance between game 1 and game 10. A lot of teams don't seem to enter the season that way and improve throughout the year leaving everyone scratching their heads why a 10-0 team keeps getting beat early (well, earlier than expected) in the playoffs. I could be way off but this is an impression that came to mind as I was thinking about it.

Thanks Rydell for the post. As a CVille fan it pains me but have to give props to Westfield coaching. This year in fact as others have posted they are trying some new things like the wildcat option to get the ball more in the hands of their athletes like Devon Burns, etc.

Just a few things with Westfield this year. Of course they have quality athletes like Burns, Thrasher W, and etc. But you hit it there has been just an explosion of similar or better talent at CVille and Braddock. But there is another thing. I do not see the same overall depth and quality of talent at Westfield this year and coming up as I have seen in the past. 2011 team was very good just got beat by 3 points by a CVille team on a mission to finally beat Westfield and fulfill its own promise. Last year, Oakton just got on a roll and while Westfield was very good not quite as good as 2011 edition. This year they are a very good team, cannot take anything away but they are not a great (CVille) or near great (Lake Braddock) team. We will see what adjustments they make this year and next....

As I said in a post last night to a distraught Oakton fan, history has shown it is hard to keep Concorde teams down for long....and Westfield is not that far down anyway....

hsfballfan,

I was catching up on the posts I missed last night and this morning, there are definitely many spirited fans on this board. I think that's probably why the thread has been so good, good deal of input from those that have followed their respective schools all season. Catching a little grief comes with the territory on here when you ruffle feathers, fortunately it's all in good fun.

I think most fans of the remaining 7 teams that aren’t named Centreville are clinging to the hope that the post season trend of letdowns will continue. Unlike the past two years though there is a decided difference between the #1 seed and the rest.

I too remember the 2011 Centreville-Westfield regular season game, Centreville definitely dominated the first half but only led 10-0 if I'm not mistaken. I was shaking my head when Centreville opened the second half with that ill advised reverse on the kickoff, scoop and score for Westfield. Turned what could have been a sure victory for Centreville into an awesome game. Heck, if Centreville doesn't fumble the ball on the first play of overtime they would have won.

Sorry, I got off track with my line of reasoning in regard to post season hopes. Guess the point I'm trying to make is unlike the past 2 years where there wasn't a great deal of distance, if any, between the #1 seed and the rest of the field this year there is. Centreville is decidedly a cut above, I could name individual personnel from the other 7 teams that can could match Centreville’s key players. However, the difference is in the second tier players, the non skilled positions.

For example, I remember when Gameday did their big Westfield-Centreville preview earlier this season to hype the game, though none was needed. The video was pairing star for star, i.e. Turner vs. Thrasher-Walker, Tutt vs. Burns, Boose vs. Gray, Walter vs. Scoville, Wiggins vs. Gibson, Nickens-Yzer vs. Moore. Could make a case for each one with the exception of the QB's though I think Scoville gets a little leeway since Westfield does not have him run like Walter does and Westfield is so enamored with the run game that Scoville hasn't had as many opportunities to throw. Of course that could be due to his injury of the throwing shoulder that's been there all year. Though my sources have assured me he's better.

Once again, I've gotten too far from my point, which is if you go down the list of the rest of the starters for both squads, Centreville has the advantage. Does that mean Westfield doesn't have quality players, of course not, heck, their only losses were to the top 2 seeds. What it means is that Centreville just has better quality, some in part to the fact that Centreville returned almost their entire starting line up from last season.

Folks, that just does not happen this day and age either at the high school or college level. There is a great deal to be said for game experience, makes a world of difference especially in the postseason. That's why Centreville has such a sizeable advantage, they have the players but also all those kids were there last year to experience the bitter taste of defeat. I'm sure that's a driving force behind this season, have seen many of Centreville's players mention that this season during interviews.

Once again, just my thoughts and opinion on the subject.

I hear you Coach. To amplify your point most of the uninitiated will focus on the offensive skill players of CVille and think wow this is a high scoring team. Of course it is. But what has REALLY impressed me this year is the defense. Great athletes up and down the roster, play their game and positions, take appropriate chances, etc. Again I am probably a purist and a bit of an old fogie but defense still wins championships.

"Thanks Rydell for the post. As a CVille fan it pains me but have to give props to Westfield coaching. This year in fact as others have posted they are trying some new things like the wildcat option to get the ball more in the hands of their athletes like Devon Burns, etc.

Just a few things with Westfield this year. Of course they have quality athletes like Burns, Thrasher W, and etc. But you hit it there has been just an explosion of similar or better talent at CVille and Braddock. But there is another thing. I do not see the same overall depth and quality of talent at Westfield this year and coming up as I have seen in the past. 2011 team was very good just got beat by 3 points by a CVille team on a mission to finally beat Westfield and fulfill its own promise. Last year, Oakton just got on a roll and while Westfield was very good not quite as good as 2011 edition. This year they are a very good team, cannot take anything away but they are not a great (CVille) or near great (Lake Braddock) team. We will see what adjustments they make this year and next....

As I said in a post last night to a distraught Oakton fan, history has shown it is hard to keep Concorde teams down for long....and Westfield is not that far down anyway...."



Actually the defense at Westfield is far better than last years, primarily the front 7 or 8 depending on what look they are in. The D line is a little bigger than last years, little more physical. The big difference is the play of the MLB's. As previously posted the Clancy kid is a heat seeking missile, always seems to find the ball. Mcnulty, who currently is out but supposed to be back this week from a broken leg he suffered against Centreville, is solid, tall lanky kid who also plays rugby. The other MLB filling in for Mcnulty is Gardner, transfer from South Riding area I think, he is the fastest of the 3 and hits hard too. The OLB, Rogers, and safeties’ Gibson and Moore are essentially the same, Rice at CB but he played last year.

The difference from the last 2 seasons for Westfield is offense, especially compared to last year. The QB was Mullins, he outdueled Henderson in their meeting last season, big strong kid that could huck the ball. The OL was also more experienced, and a wee bit better. All the skill position players like Thrasher-Walker, Gray, and Burns were major contributors last year as well.

The big problem Westfield has had is getting the ball in the hands of Burns, probably why they've been experimenting with the WIldcat. He is a phenomenal athlete, I've heard Cincinnati, Maryland, Tennessee, and a few others are looking at him.

I also don't think I would use the word "down" to refer to Westfield, heck, they went 8-2, are the #3 seed, and lost to Centreville and Lake Braddock while playing a pretty tough schedule. I think most programs would love to have that type of a "down" season.

However, I will agree with hsfballfan and RydellRoad, Centreville and Lake Braddock have definitely improved over last season. Centreville's mainly due to experience and reps as I stated in my previous post.

Of course "down" is a relative concept, but that is the beauty of some of these programs like Wfield, CVille, Braddock, etc. - they expect to be good which is the first step....

"I hear you Coach. To amplify your point most of the uninitiated will focus on the offensive skill players of CVille and think wow this is a high scoring team. Of course it is. But what has REALLY impressed me this year is the defense. Great athletes up and down the roster, play their game and positions, take appropriate chances, etc. Again I am probably a purist and a bit of an old fogie but defense still wins championships."

Couldn't agree more, doesn't matter how electrifying your offense is, defensive performances, especially in the postseason, are what championships are made of. Look at last year, Westfield lost to Oakton because the Oakton coaching staff changed their DEFENSE up going into the post season. The offense was the same, they just took a couple of their offensive studs, Kyle Downer for one, and put them on the defensive side of the ball. Westfield scored 28 points on Oakton in the regular season last year, 16 in the region championship. If Westfield scores 28 they win, that was the difference!

Calling all other teams left in the D6 or heck D5 playoffs - tell us what you think about upcoming games. Have heard a little from Braddock fans not much, almost nothing from Langley, nothing from Robinson, etc. Cannot expect SJackson fans to be looking on a Fairfax Underground site although I might to see if I could get some tips on upcoming competition.

I actually think Robinson will beat Westfield on Friday by a couple of TDs. Just a gut feeling. Robinson is playing really well and is healthy now. Havn't been impressed with Westfield at all this year. Over-rated.

This will set up a Ram/Bruin game the next week - which will be the better game because of the rivalry between the two, but I see Robinson losing that one.

BruinFan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I actually think Robinson will beat Westfield on
> Friday by a couple of TDs. Just a gut feeling.
> Robinson is playing really well and is healthy
> now. Havn't been impressed with Westfield at all
> this year. Over-rated.

I can see why you think that - I mentioned before a Robinson win would not surprise me. If you look at Westfield's 5 toughest games (Lake Braddock, Stone Bridge, Centreville, Robinson, Chantilly) they were outscored 92-88 while going 3-2.

Great finally someone else chiming in (smile). What is the feeling amongst Lake Braddock fans given the unfortunate losses on the line this past week including Lomax?

"I actually think Robinson will beat Westfield on Friday by a couple of TDs. Just a gut feeling. Robinson is playing really well and is healthy now. Havn't been impressed with Westfield at all this year. Over-rated.

This will set up a Ram/Bruin game the next week - which will be the better game because of the rivalry between the two, but I see Robinson losing that one"


BruinFan,

Actually Joe Wilson is not 100% healthy, I think he only had 12 carries this past Friday night against Patriot. In terms of health, I know the first game between Robinson-Westfield was 14-13 but there are a couple factors there that my friends on Westfield's staff had passed along to me. Apparently Burns returned the opening kickoff for a TD that was called back on a block in the back that apparently never showed up on film. Also, 6 starters on defense for Westfield were out, 2 DT's, 1 DE, both MLB's, and 1 S, that's huge. As a matter of fact even Lake Braddock's head coach, Poythress, mentioned that in his Washington Post top 20 list when commenting on his ranking of Westfield following their narrow victory over Robinson.

I also don't want to ruffle your feathers but I watched the game film from the Westfield-Lake Braddock game, seems like that was a pretty close game. Game winning TD came with under 2 minutes to go, heck, Westfield was driving late but QB had an errant throw that turned into an INT about Lake Braddock's 15 yard line with 20 some seconds to go. Let's also not forget about the TD pass a wide open Westfield receiver dropped just before half on 3rd down, missed field goal on the ensuing down. And the elephant in the room is the INT that Henderson threw just before the game winning TD, ruled an incompletion on the field but the film and a still photo from someone on the sideline clearly showed it was a pick. That would have ended the game right there since there was about 1:42 to go and Lake Braddock either was out of timeouts or only had one left.

And to my hsfballfan, once again, I am not a Westfield fan. However, since I coached against them this year I did see enough film to know a few things, hence my knowledge. I just merely was attempting to offer some factual information to determine what exactly the BruinFan meant when stating he "hadn't been impressed with Westfield all year".

BruinFan, please don't think I'm picking on you either, I just was confused by your comment. Especially since the only close call Lake Braddock had this year was to Westfield!

Coach I don't care if you like Westfield or not, just happy to have some additional quality analysis on this site...!!! :)

"I can see why you think that - I mentioned before a Robinson win would not surprise me. If you look at Westfield's 5 toughest games (Lake Braddock, Stone Bridge, Centreville, Robinson, Chantilly) they were outscored 92-88 while going 3-2."


Yes, but that is pretty misleading when you consider Westfield beat Stone Bridge by 25 and lost to Braddock by only 4. I think I covered the Robinson game in my previous post. Chantilly game was close but they always are regardless of either teams records year in and year out. Then of course the 28 point loss to Centreville is what skews the numbers, but heck, who hasn't lost to the Wildcats by a large margin, no one that's who....

Robinson will put up a reasonable fight against Westfield but think Westfield will win by about 10....

Coach Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Actually Joe Wilson is not 100% healthy, I think
> he only had 12 carries this past Friday night
> against Patriot.

WP has him at 23 carries for 113 yard vs. Patriot.


> the elephant in the room is the INT that
> Henderson threw just before the game winning TD,
> ruled an incompletion on the field but the film
> and a still photo from someone on the sideline
> clearly showed it was a pick.

Sorta reminds me of another bad call against Westfield in a big game in 2011 on a crucial 4th down where a bounce pass was inexplicably ruled a complete pass.

Sorry but CVille won that one fair and square, some bad calls on both ends - look at the tape again....full game in fact on youtube

hsfballfan Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Robinson will put up a reasonable fight against
> Westfield but think Westfield will win by about
> 10....

Not sure about that, I have watched Robinson play the last few weeks and have seen remarkable improvements in the run game and their passing game. Endi Akerman is playing well, and now Shaq is healthy will help them a lot. Joe Wilson is much healthier and finally getting his legs back. Their third back is getting much more confident. Jack Rowlett is passing better but will need to be on to give them an edge. Lake Braddock losing those two starters will really hurt any chances of beating teams over the next weeks. I did hear they are trying Antonellis at DE. Centreville is a really good team and on paper should beat SOCO by a good margin, but SOCO is a scrappy team and will put a a lot of hard hits on players. As mentioned, I do believe Cent will be put to task physically and hope players do not get hurt from it. Yorktown will give LB a good game but don't think they are on point to win. Never know though. LB may get a surge from playing in honor for the hurt players. I too would like to see LB and Robinson play again, but Westfield is first.

I agree Braddock will likely beat Ytown but do not sleep on the latter if MJ Stewart plays....could be a lot closer than people think.

And also where is this SOCO hurting people with their tackles coming from. In the 2 games I saw them on person, then an additional one on film they did not look so bruising....what am I missing?

Even though I think Centreville would have beat Westfield anyway, the rain took any chance that they had to make it close. Westfield needed the passing game to be competitive. I do however think if they played now the game would be closer.