Fairland @ West 8/28

[TAR HEEL FAN44]

West 15 Fairland 14 Final...................

[sidersports]

a ugly win is better than a loss but what impressed me the most is this is the first time in recent memory that a west ball team in anysport kept there composure and fought through adversity TOGETHER and pulled it out. in the past west teams would fight against each other, fight against the other teams, cry wine and complain to the officials and receive numerous penalties not this game it was awesome to watch a team of young boys stay together. you made a good impression tonight keep it up.

[Westfan]

West has a fine group of boys with good attitudes. I too am very proud how they fought back. Plenty of work to get done before next week and I'm sure he can get their attention.

Fairland you should be proud. You have a really good team and you played great. I took 35-7. Man did I underestimate you.

[tigermack]

Wow, after having watched Fairland play at the OVC previews I wouldn't have thought they would've kept it that close. Did West lose a lot from last year?

[bucking red]

Fhs is just better than people think. Another game the dragons should've won. Pendelton and Murphy are 2 physical backs. West was just in better condition than the dragons and Fhs line was non existent in the second half. Good luck West the rest of the season.

[fuzzhead]

Does Fairland do the same things on offense they've been doing the past few years?

[fan4sure]

WEST was a completly different team in the 2nd half the D held fairland to -4 yards in the 2nd half, Offense got rolling, Looked like two different teams tonight for WEST better not wait till last min. of 3rd Qrt. next week. But figure lack of scrimage game hurt getting the rust off so good game for our young siders wins like this will make the young ones even better WHAT A COME BACK

[buckeyes41]

all I need to say is West isn't all you all think they are. Seemed to me like all of you thought Fairland was going to be a push over. Next time look hard at your own team before you judge another. And to hear the Fairland boys talk, they said they have never heard language on the field like they did last night. CLASSY!!!!!!!!

[fuzzhead]

Now I've said on here that Fairland will do better than even a lot of their own fans thought they would (at least in the conference). I predicted at least 2 conference wins and if they play every game this close, they'll do just fine in the OVC.

[bucking red]

My son said they didn't run their mouth that much he actually said they were pretty good sports. If anything I saw a few Fairland kids run their mouth's. Until the refs put a stop to the mouthing there will always be kids that talk sh--. All in all I thought it was a good hard fought contest. I will say this the West fans need to grow up and give some props to the kids from FHS. West was extremely lucky to come away with the victory against a good and talented FHS team.

[earp]

We are going to be fine Red!If our kids give that kind of effort every week we will win alot of games!

[sider]

First of all, wow what a game...hope this series stays for a long time, because it is always an exciting game to watch...I think West looked really sloppy however they have a lot of work to do, but I'm sure Coach Triplett will fix all the little problems that they had and have them ready to go week 2. West underestimated Fairland, I'm guitly of the same thing, I picked them to go 5th in the Ovc, but after watching them, they have a very good passing game with all of different types of screens they run (middle, bubble, tunnel) a big strong line, an exception quarterback in Fisher and probably the best ball runner in all of Lawrence county in Matt Bloomfield. Not to mention a good defense that could win them some games. If they had the conditioning in the 4th quarter, they probably would of pulled of the upset. I could definitely see this Fairland team making the playoffs and/or being right with Coal Grove in contention for the Ovc championship. I think Fairland will be the best non conference opponent West will play...but West must get better if they want to win another Soc Championship...but I believe West will, they are young and the more varsity experience they get the better they will get

[SPAMONY]

umm....2 words......."REALITY CHECK"

[Westfan]

I thought West showed alot of maturity. They came together and found a way to win. Years past, West (down 14 with 14 minutes to play) would've started doing stupid stuff and gave up. These kids have a great attitude and alot of that is because of coaching. I think some adjustments will be made on the offensive line and we'll be fine. The second half looked alot better on both sides of the ball. Defensively I really like Journey at DE. He (being a past corner), was able to walk out on those 5 wide sets to give a 4-2-5 look from the basic 5-2 defense. This let them bring Compton as a blitzer and Pendelton controlled the middle. Very effective against the spread which they will see alot like next week with Portsmouth. Very good practice.

To me, West looked like a very young team that had 1 scrimmage. They had 1 varsity start in the defensive backfield coming into this year. Fairland is very good. They have alot of speed at the skill positions and they took advantage of Wests youth. Co-player of the game for me besides Pendleton would've been to #75 Conway Cooper. He played great on the D-line.

This is the kind of win that make's you better. West is talented. Remember last year we looked like crap at Fairland and remember how that turned out. I don't think its a coincidence that Portsmouth struggled for so long with South Point. You can't look ahead.

[Bleeding Red]

West just about went down to a middle to low tier Ovc school. They have a new line that everyone made out to be a steel curtain and West fans that were at the game told me today that the line looked bad.

Wake up Siders, it may be a long year. Like everyone has been saying all along, it is hard to replace all of the talent you lost last year and play to the same level. I think you lose 3-4 soc II games this year if they did in fact look that bad against a team like Fairland that shouldnt even get a sniff of the OVC

[SPAMONY]

West just about went down to a middle to low tier Ovc school. They have a new line that everyone made out to be a steel curtain and West fans that were at the game told me today that the line looked bad.

Wake up Siders, it may be a long year. Like everyone has been saying all along, it is hard to replace all of the talent you lost last year and play to the same level. I think you lose 3-4 soc II games this year if they did in fact look that bad against a team like Fairland that shouldnt even get a sniff of the OVC

Normally I would say this is a bit harsh. But, after all the chest thumping that West posters have done on here I agree. Welcome to the real world. Appreciate the quality of kids you lost from last year. STOP the we are a POWERHOUSE crap you have been spreading around and realize that 1 year removed from dominating the SOC you are once again a middle tier team at best!

[playa_44]

Guess that remains to be seen..like anyone on here would know at this point.

[Portsmouth98]

I'd say West has the ability to win 6-8 games depending on how quickly the young kids shape up for them. I have to respectfully argue the point that Fairland will be the toughest team they face non-conference. I'd say their troubles were more likely to have been caused by having 15 or 16 positions filled by first time varsity starters than by Fairland being a powerhouse.

[buckeyeshots]

Photos from last night's epic match-up between Fairland and West Portsmouth are now online at BUCKEYESHOTS.COM. Great game by both teams and good luck with the remainder of the season!

www.buckeyeshots.com

[Westfan]

sounds like alot of posters are hoping West takes a big step back. They are young, but talented. They will make mistakes for a while. It will happen.

Fairland had -4 yards of Offense in the second half. That is West football. They will be ready this week and they will make a statement on Saturday. You watch.