Portsmouth West (2-3) @ Minford (5-0)

[Stu Pedasso]

Minford won't even be close to keeping up with burg

Won't know that until week 8 , this is week 7 and Northwest is the opponent "burg" is not a concern until week 8

[28Buck]

Siderman- Berry and Farrar are excellent players but next year I don't see any dropoff in terms of skill positions maybe even an upgrade with the sophomore rbs getting a year to get bigger and faster. Our two best lineman are coming back in Mcray and freshman madden. I look forward to next years game but we still have 2012 to handle first. Good luck Siders!

[NewEra]

One thing that I noticed, was West looked a lot smaller than usually, not a typical west team was far as stature IMO. I think West and Valley will be a good game, Valley better bring their A game, their non-conf schedule is costing them right now, as they are undefeated and only in 6th place in region 19.

[dreamweaver]

I know all you Minford fans are excited this year and should be. Got a good solid team. What I dont understand is how you only managed to get 50+yds on the ground against West and you are saying they are small and weak.? West has some outstanding players for next year also.

[here4fun]

One thing that I noticed, was West looked a lot smaller than usually, not a typical west team was far as stature IMO. I think West and Valley will be a good game, Valley better bring their A game, their non-conf schedule is costing them right now, as they are undefeated and only in 6th place in region 19.

I would not put to much stock into was place Valley is in to how good they are like you said non-conf points are not helping us at all minford just better be ready but this week is West turn

[NewEra]

I know all you Minford fans are excited this year and should be. Got a good solid team. What I dont understand is how you only managed to get 50+yds on the ground against West and you are saying they are small and weak.? West has some outstanding players for next year also.

Never said they were weak, thought West has some tough kids actually, BUT I was just saying they were smaller than your traditional west side football team, that is all. As for the rushing yards, the Falcons nearly had 200 through the air, so I would attribute that as an element in the case of the 50 rushing yards. Anybody who was there last night, could see the falcons were flat. I expect to see it, and believe the Falcons would benefit from a 2 RB set in the gun. 3 wide, 2 RB. This has been done before, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it resurface.

[dreamweaver]

Falcons flat?! I have seen them on film against Oak Hill and they look the same to me.???lol. Look, I hope they do great the rest of their games and post season but come on man, give credit where credit is due. It's as if you think they are the world champs!lol

[Westfan]

Like I said, minford has a good team. They have as good a shot to win out as valley or burg. I really dont think their are any teams in the area capable of advancing past the second round outside of Ironton. Minford would probably compete ok in a D5 playoff game. But they will get stomped in D4.

[Stu Pedasso]

Falcons flat?! I have seen them on film against Oak Hill and they look the same to me.???lol. Look, I hope they do great the rest of their games and post season but come on man, give credit where credit is due. It's as if you think they are the world champs!lol

IMO, I concur they were flat, think about it a second, tight come from behind at Piketon, Breaking the losing streak against Portsmouth, Then "3" overtimes against a good Oak Hill team . If memory serves me correct from back in the days of youth, it is kind of difficult not to tire after a rollercoaster of emotion like that , not to mention the mental thoughts of young teen-age men on homecoming night.

[falcon1]

On here, if your not Burg or West, you shouldn`t be winning. It`s always if Minford or Valley wins, either the teams are week, or it`s a down year.
I`m glad everyone thinks this group of Boy`s isn`t that impressive. All they have done is Win! After last year, i`ll take it!

[Bleeding Red]

Like I said, minford has a good team. They have as good a shot to win out as valley or burg. I really dont think their are any teams in the area capable of advancing past the second round outside of Ironton. Minford would probably compete ok in a D5 playoff game. But they will get stomped in D4.

Well at least Minford has a chance to be playing week 11.

[dreamweaver]

To me Minford may have the best team I have seen THEM have in years. Could make some noise post season and I for one hope they do. But right now, it has been close games with Oak Hill, Piketon and now West. West had better stats than Minford. Defensively West STOPPED the run game. 14 had several GREAT catches which without him, the game may have been different. It wasn't though and Minford is undefeated and that is great! But to say they played flat and otherwise what?? You won isnt that enuf or are you really making excuses for why you didnt win bigger?! Do you beat your chest when you type too?lol..All that, I wish Minford the best of luck going forward and hope they win out and make a deep run in the playoffs.

[eddie]

hey, dreamer`````
wow!

[sider]

Like I said, minford has a good team. They have as good a shot to win out as valley or burg. I really dont think their are any teams in the area capable of advancing past the second round outside of Ironton. Minford would probably compete ok in a D5 playoff game. But they will get stomped in D4.

Well at least Minford has a chance to be playing week 11.

With the exception of Wheelersburg, I have to agree with Siderman. Minford has a nice team and will probably host and win a playoff game, but they will not beat the other top teams in the region. I have seen both Ironton and Minford play, and Ironton is just on a different level physically. I'm not being as authoritative in saying they won't compete, but it would be hard to beat St. Clairsville, who is waxing people and most likely will win the region or Ironton.

On a side note, Southern Ohio as a whole has to get with the 21st century. I'm not saying the coaches aren't knowledgeable or good at what they do, but our offensives and defenses are stuck in the 1980s. West in 08 and Valley last year were two of the most talented teams I have seen in the past 10 years. Both of those teams were state championship caliber teams and should have contended for the title. In Wests case, our inability to adapt our offensive scheme to keep our opposition off balance was our downfall (this was the case in 10 and 11 as well). Last year Valley had it down offensively. They had balance and gave the ball to their playmakers. In Valley's case it was special teams and the inability to play secondary defense (and a little bad luck). Point being, is that you cannot line up in straight - T or wing - T and say here we come and you must be able to understand how to cover the pass and option.

[urban buck]

Sider, thanks for the lesson. Not sure what game you saw but
Ironton is NOT the powerhouse you think it is. They are as you said about Minford, a good solid team, but with alot of upperclassmen. Their line play, both offensively and defensively, is suspect this year. Lewis is the key to at least two of their wins. No one around southern Ohio has a Lewis this year but Ironton. I always wondered why they didnt use him more last year, with his athleticism and speed. Johnson Central ran right at them. Yea they are big, but so is Ironton. So if Lewis stays healthy then Ironton makes it a couple rounds. Minford and Ironton would be a great match up in my opinion. Minford really needs to work on run game against better defenses like Oak Hill and West.
Sider, you sound great on paper, as do many football fans. Where have you been a varsity coach before?

[Westfan]

Ironton would beat minford by at least 3 td's, if not more.

[Bleeding Red]

Ironton would beat minford by at least 3 td's, if not more.

I disagree. Having seen Ironton, their defense is suspect. Oak Hill will be a good test for their defense and Oak Hill WILL move the ball on Ironton. I also think Oak Hill's defense will cause Ironton a bunch of trouble.

You should really stop trying to put Minford down. Its not Minford's fault that West is down this year.

Like I said, at least we should be playing week 11 instead of sitting at home. This should make the 5th playoff appearance in 6 years if my numbers are correct.

Hard to put a program like that down without sour grapes.

[coop]

Ironton would beat minford by at least 3 td's, if not more.

I disagree. Having seen Ironton, their defense is suspect. Oak Hill will be a good test for their defense and Oak Hill WILL move the ball on Ironton. I also think Oak Hill's defense will cause Ironton a bunch of trouble.

You should really stop trying to put Minford down. Its not Minford's fault that West is down this year.

Like I said, at least we should be playing week 11 instead of sitting at home. This should make the 5th playoff appearance in 6 years if my numbers are correct.

Hard to put a program like that down without sour grapes.

Doesnt matter, someone will always find something to talk down to other schools.............schedule, lack of playoff exp, colors of the school..lol

[NewEra]

Ironton would beat minford by at least 3 td's, if not more.

It's a different level and mentality of preparation vs higher level teams. Minford will be ready to bring their best game and game plan, mentally, coaching, and physically if they play Ironton/ St Clairsville. The team that sleep walked through the West game will not be the team who shows up week 11-13. If you think these kids are going to be as up and focused mentally vs. a 2-3 West team on homecoming night than they would against a say 11-0 St. Clairsville team you are kidding youself. No disrespect to west at all with this post, it's just reality, it's about the psychology of a player, the dynamic of when, where, and what is at stake at the time of kickoff, the coaching staff knowing if they need to push the envelope, etc. So many different things go into different match-ups. You will see an example of this as West will be more focused IMO vs. Valley. Similar to what we saw Friday at Minford when West competed and had chances to beat Minford and lost 17-6. At the end of the day, most of the time, talent will overcome it, so if Ironton or St. Clairsville beats Minford by lets say 35-21, 28-21, etc we will know. But you take the same Minford team from friday, and line them up it would be more of a 35-7 type ordeal. West will have this dynamic, in which will result in a 7 to 14 point game vs. Valley IMO, if not a win. Minford, Burg, and Valley would all play closer if not compete/win vs. Ironton or St. Clairsville than West would because of this dynamic.

[Burg_Grad_77]

Went to this instead of my Pirates/NW...hope people do not get mad but not impressed at all by either team. Minford one dimensional unless they throw the out pattern to one guy...and West was just a mess. Did not see much speed as promised, perhaps b/c of field conditions. I really root for Minford's program (when not playing Burg) because I believe coach Daniels has created new atmosphere. Seen Burg few times and have not seen Valley...both teams seem to be scoring at will and I can't see either team tonight keeping up, at least offensively. Hope the Falcons continue to progress and represent the SOC in DIV playoffs. West, get some young guys some PT to give them experience for next year.

Minford is hardly one dimensional. West just had good defense. #14 for Minford will be hard to stop in any game. #28 will also. Minford has some weapons and #75 did his job. West is not a "mess" as you put it. They are young but seem like the seniors they do have are not leading by example. I heard alot of folks express even how they hold themselves, as if they already lost. Never seen a team for Trip do that before. #11 and #4 play to win. Only 3 or 4 seniors start for West so they have no choice but to give the young guys experience. Good Luck to both teams as they go forward. Like to see West beat Valley and like to see Minford win out. I cant wait to see this Burg team that everyone is jawing about. From what I read, they are more one-dimensional than any other team, or should I say Miller dimensional. Both Miller kids make most everything happen. Jackson is waaaaay down this year. Still they may win SOC but I would rather see Minford.

First off, the Burg is not one dimensional. They have Eddie Miller at QB who is doing an outstanding job passing the ball, running the ball, and running the offense in general. They have great receivers in Dylan Miller, Claxon, and Pyles who all do a great job of running their routes and catching the ball. They also have two good running backs in Cowgill and Gifford and when Wade Martin returns that will add another offensive weapon. The defense swarms to the ball and is great at pursuit. Jackson may be down, but they are not "waaaaaay down" and they are huge on both sides on the ball. The Burg just overwhelmed them and they never recovered. Is Ironton down too? The Burg actually outplayed Ironton and if not for the two quick scores by the KO return and the fumble return the Pirates would be 6-0 right now. Wheelersburg's no huddle wears teams down and they will be hard to stop on offense. I haven't seen anyone stop them yet this year, including Ironton, so if you want to beat them you are going to have to outscore them.