SOC2 Minford (5-1) @ Portsmouth West (5-1)

[Bleeding Red]

Tell the minford coaches to put extra air in their helmets (if they still have air helmets! Just referring to my age lol) Win or lose You know this..... West is going to hit you hard and hit you all night... And with Murphy and "The Beast" running downhill they better be ready for 4 quarters of hardnosed West football. West has everything to gain. Everyone including myself thought they would be a 600 or 700 team this year. I say this, wow!!!! Minford plays good defense. Good open field tackling up field. I know they are tired of hearing it but, when they tackle #8 it better be a group effort. I have heard the comparisons between him and the Burg kid. Shank is a really good back great speed and vision but you are not tackling him this week. It is going to be an awesome Friday night football atmosphere at the Rock. SOC here we come!

Minford does play good defense, especially on the run. I am very proud of how the young LB's stepped up against Burg, although I think Pendelton is the better back when comparing him to Shankwiler. Just as much as Minford's LB's stepped up, the CB's played well all night and kept Burg's WR's bottled up and played very tight coverage on them. Not much was open all night when Burg put the ball in the air.

Minford knows that West is primarily a running team, and they have to stop the run first to win the game. If West doesnt have their normal ground attack, which I think Minford can limit, and has to go to the air, the Minford secondary is really coming around and not giving up big plays from the pass.

[marshallman]

West doesn't have a passing game. Minford can mix it up. Minford wins 21-14 in the fourth quarter. Minford is the real deal. It will be a great game.

[sider]

[/quote]Please tell me you don't think scoring another TD with two minutes and something left to make it a 28-7 win is running up the score. I'll never forget when your coach got on the radio after that and complained we ran the score up on them. If you have the chance to score late to put the game absoltuely out of reach that's what you do, simple as that. I gurantee any SOC school would have done the same thing.[/quote]

I kinda felt that they did, they were the better team that year, and they pushed West all over the field that night were clearly, the stronger superior team, they knew it, I just disagreed with there were 7 seconds on the clock left after that touchdown...however, if we didn't want to let ourselves get embrassed we should of stopped them from scoring. But, I said that they are still some players on this team that played in that game, and felt like they did, a lot of the players took a lot of offense to it...that won was one factor that made them so hyped to play Minford last year...Its one of those things were its kinda borderline as far as running it up, I felt that it was unnecessary, some don't.

Also hats off to Triplett, he put an end to most if not all of the cheapshots that West notorious for (the player that game was removed from the field)...he disiplined a team last year that almost had given up on and were expected to go 6-4 or 7-3...He has really turned things around

[The Oaf]

Bleeding Red, Minford might know that West is a running team, everybody does, but the real question is going to be if Minford can stop it. Burg had 297 yards rushing on Minford for a 6.5 yard average, and you said yourself West's #8 is better then Burg's!!!

[Tremonti1]

Considering the play that was call, I don't think Minford intentionally ran up the score on west. It just happened. We got ours handed to us last year so I think we're even. West was clearly the better team last year. Let's talk this year. I don't think it will be a blow out. This game will come down to the last second and the team that wants it the most will win. I just hope it's minford.

[Bleeding Red]

I agree that Triplett is a good coach. Very much old school. I would think that his coaching style wouldnt hold up at most schools, with West being one of the only exceptions.....which is a compliment. Most schools would get rid of a coach that was loud and rough at times, but West has embraced it because it gets results most of the time. I personally think that most kids these days need that discipline. Not just at West but at alot of the schools.

Both Tripplett and Daniels are very good coaches and have done what it takes to build their programs, each with their own and very different styles. Both get through to the kids and develop discipline and respect, which is demonstrated on and off the field. Winning football games is a nice benefit to their coaching too!

[The Oaf]

I agree that Triplett is a good coach. Very much old school. I would think that his coaching style wouldnt hold up at most schools, with West being one of the only exceptions.....which is a compliment. Most schools would get rid of a coach that was loud and rough at times, but West has embraced it because it gets results most of the time. I personally think that most kids these days need that discipline. Not just at West but at alot of the schools.

Both Tripplett and Daniels are very good coaches and have done what it takes to build their programs, each with their own and very different styles. Both get through to the kids and develop discipline and respect, which is demonstrated on and off the field. Winning football games is a nice benefit to their coaching too!

Good post, well said.....

[bigstick625]

I agree that Triplett is a good coach. Very much old school. I would think that his coaching style wouldnt hold up at most schools, with West being one of the only exceptions.....which is a compliment. Most schools would get rid of a coach that was loud and rough at times, but West has embraced it because it gets results most of the time. I personally think that most kids these days need that discipline. Not just at West but at alot of the schools.

Both Tripplett and Daniels are very good coaches and have done what it takes to build their programs, each with their own and very different styles. Both get through to the kids and develop discipline and respect, which is demonstrated on and off the field. Winning football games is a nice benefit to their coaching too!

Good Post.

[bookem13]

All I kept hearing about was West's inexperience going into the Waverly game. They didn't play like an inexperienced team, and I have to give Triplett and his coaching staff credit for that. Those kids came out of the locker room ready to play! They had us on our heels from the opening kickoff. Waverly, on the other hand, was not ready to play at all. We were beat during warm-ups.

I have not seen Minford play, but obviously they are a very good football team. I wish I could see this game. I would think every team from here on out will struggle in stopping the West ground game....maybe the Falcons can get it done. I can't wait to see the game updates (the Minford/Burg updates are the only thing that kept us alive in the sleeper on the West side)...good luck to both squads.

[Tremonti1]

The Oaf likes to laugh at every reply he makes. :lol
j/k

Coach Mattix will have the minford defense ready. The kids listen and respond to him well.

[Westfan]

Sloan is a very good player, but he isn't real big. I don't know the other LB, but he looks smaller than Sloan. The D-line isn't very big either. We've seen it over and over the last 2 years; the size of those backs and the style that we play wears on you over the course of a game. Murphy and Pendelton will keep leading each other through the hole. It's difficult to ask an undersized kid to sustain and take that on for 4 quarters, besides having to run it themselves. If West gets to the second half either very close or ahead, they'll win going away.

[Mikenmike]

Sloan is a very good player, but he isn't real big. I don't know the other LB, but he looks smaller than Sloan. The D-line isn't very big either. We've seen it over and over the last 2 years; the size of those backs and the style that we play wears on you over the course of a game. Murphy and Pendelton will keep leading each other through the hole. It's difficult to ask an undersized kid to sustain and take that on for 4 quarters, besides having to run it themselves. If West gets to the second half either very close or ahead, they'll win going away.

You're right the D-Line and LB's for Minford are not very big, but they sure can hit just ask burg. One player who really doesn't get talked about alot that has proven to be one heck of a football player is the sophmore Tyler Gaines #27 look for his name to be called quite a few times this week. He was the one who made the tackle on the 2-point try last week and has a pretty good game every week.

[Bushy Tail Butcher]

All everybody wants to talk about, is if the Falcons can stop West's running backs. How about, can West stop Minford's running backs. We have a few very good backs, #15, #23, #20, #27, and #3, are all good backs. They run hard, and have alot of speed. And you better keep your eye on #7, he can break one on any given play. And don't forget Minford's O-line, they looked strong in the second half of The Burg game.

That's why I think we have a very evenly matched game. I think both teams have showed what they can do on offense, the question is, how good the defenses will play.

And then there is always turnovers, who will make the most mistakes, will lose. We haven't caused alot of turnovers, hopefully we can cause some Friday night. The two we did cause last Friday, is what won the game for us.

[marshallman]

Sloan is a very good player, but he isn't real big. I don't know the other LB, but he looks smaller than Sloan. The D-line isn't very big either. We've seen it over and over the last 2 years; the size of those backs and the style that we play wears on you over the course of a game. Murphy and Pendelton will keep leading each other through the hole. It's difficult to ask an undersized kid to sustain and take that on for 4 quarters, besides having to run it themselves. If West gets to the second half either very close or ahead, they'll win going away.

PHS doesn't have big LB either. I watched that game. PHS had no problems passing on West. PHS stopped West for the most part except for the two big runs West had. West also doesn't have a kicker. Minford does. This game may come down to FG's and if it does Minford wins this hands down.

[WestFan27]

Minford wins this hands down

.

Minford's hands are going to be down on their hips and knees in the 2nd half. Our backs will wear them out.

[fan4sure]

west has a very good kicker its just getting the ball down on spot to get the kick off. I will tell you this it is a good thing phs does not play west now not the same team phs beat in week 2 maybe we will have a rematch like 2002. Oh yeah the rain caused phs to lose that game at least thats what all the trojan fans "still" say. Back to game at hand, if west comes out and plays like they did friday night against waverly they should win by 2 or 3 scores. Maybe sounds crazy but remember I said if they play like they did against waverly so go easy

[Westfan]

Sloan is a very good player, but he isn't real big. I don't know the other LB, but he looks smaller than Sloan. The D-line isn't very big either. We've seen it over and over the last 2 years; the size of those backs and the style that we play wears on you over the course of a game. Murphy and Pendelton will keep leading each other through the hole. It's difficult to ask an undersized kid to sustain and take that on for 4 quarters, besides having to run it themselves. If West gets to the second half either very close or ahead, they'll win going away.

PHS doesn't have big LB either. I watched that game. PHS had no problems passing on West. PHS stopped West for the most part except for the two big runs West had. West also doesn't have a kicker. Minford does. This game may come down to FG's and if it does Minford wins this hands down.

Portsmouth played a very aggressive 4-4 defense and took advantage of a very green offensive line. They were blitzing the LB's every play and they weren't picking it up. In fact, just the adjustments coach made at halftime were nite and day from the first half. They are leaps and bounds better than they were week 2.

I'll agree with the other guy. Kyle Auger is a really good kicker. As good as we've had at West for some time. The 2 pat's he missed at Portsmouth were because the ball wasn't placed properly. On the last one, it was noticeably leaning to the left and he pulled the kick that way. West really needs to spend some time on the pat's or it's gonna cost them another game.

[thechaingang]

I really feel that this game is a toss up. i think that west is young with a great running game. i think minford is the better team but i also feel that they might of peaked last weak against the burg. as for minford i am also afraid of the big game let down. i dont care who you are our were your from you just want some games worse than others and last week was the one for minford.as for the soc II if west wins i think it will be a three way tie for the gold football because i dont think the burg will loose again till playoffs. jmo

[Black@Orange]

West doesn't have a passing game. Minford can mix it up. Minford wins 21-14 in the fourth quarter. Minford is the real deal. It will be a great game.

West does'nt have a passing game? West has'nt had to us a passing game. I've seen Lang, Oesch, and Roeback. All good QB's, but I will put Ratliffs arm against any of them. Most people just has'nt seen him throw. Coach Triplett does'nt throw much, but by the time the 15yr. old is a senior, I think coach will air it out alot more. If you would watch our practices you would think that all we did was throw. Our last practice I Think he threw two incompletions. You don't know what we have in our pocket, if we've never shown it to you. Remember he also made it to Oklahoma with Pendleton, Newman, and Slone.

[Black@Orange]

I'll agree with the other guy. Kyle Auger is a really good kicker. As good as we've had at West for some time. The 2 pat's he missed at Portsmouth were because the ball wasn't placed properly. On the last one, it was noticeably leaning to the left and he pulled the kick that way. West really needs to spend some time on the pat's or it's gonna cost them another game.[/quote]

Go to bobbieannsphotos and tell me whats wrong with the hold. Kyle is a good kicker, but its all in his head right now. He will get over it.