If High School Football Ever Gets Going This Fall, The Running Game should be way ahead of the Passing Game

Looking at the high school football for this upcoming Fall of 2020, that is if it ever really gets going, well I would have to say going into this Fall, the Running Game should be way ahead of the Passing Game…

With the lack of Summer workouts as a team, this football thing is all about timing and details….And the running game does not require anywhere near the timing and precision of the passing game….

With the lack of Summer workouts, with the teams not being able to gather together to train and work out, the timing is going to be way off…That is just the way it is…There are so many details that go along with the passing game, and that is where all of those 7 on 7 passing game scrimmages will be missed…Time after time, after time after time…

It is a timing and precision routine…You get it right/correct and just repeat the process over and over again…All about timing and precision and that is where all of those 7 on 7’s come in, and there will be none of them this Summer…

Just stop and think about how much time has been given to the Passing Game in recent years…All teams have worked to develop their QB’s and WR’s….

It has been a long and detailed process, and that time for that needed work that they need to put in, will not be available this Summer…The coaches talk about the time they spend INSTALLING the offense, and the offense these days has been built around the passing game…

With the lack of time available, teams should begin to look to their running games to carry them….

A team like Southeast Guilford should be in great shape with their two-man running tandem of Jalen Fairley and Derron McQuitty…They could give the SEG Falcons upwards of 3,000 yards combined rushing this season…

Last season Grimsley relied heavily on Quan Nora and Chris Zellous for their running attack, and it worked to the tune of right at 3,500 yards rushing and numerous TD’s….

This season Northeast Guilford will have a new coach, but they will have 1,000 yard junior rusher Trevon Hester returning for the Rams, and that should make NEG an early favorite in the games that they play to start/begin the season, since their offense is set, with Hester ready to run for the Rams…His timing should already be there…Ready to go…

Northwest Guilford had a runner that can help to carry them early in 2020, and that is what he did early in 2019…For NWG, the RB is senior Carson Cassetty, and Carson can carry the load….NWG also has much experience at quarterback in Micah Salmon, but the passing game will be lacking in timing, whereas the running game will be ready to roll, as long as the linemen remember how to block/move the opposition….

The Dudley Panthers have junior quarterback Jahmier Slade returning, but Dudley lost almost all of their key running backs off of last year’s 2019 team…Slade will be able to connect with all-star wide receiver Mehki Wall, but Wall and Slade will be pushed to get down their timing, with the lack of Summer practices/workouts/7 on 7’s….Dudley may want to move Wall inside and into the offensive slot back position on occasion, so that they can utilize his speed, and get the ball in his hands more often….

We have the quarterbacks coming back in here for 2020, but the timing factor with their receivers will be a key….Will Lenard at Northern Guilford, Kamell Smith at Eastern Guilford, with both Lenard and Smith being seniors, you have Slade from Dudley, and Alonza Barnett at Grimsley, both of those QB’s are juniors, and we talked up top about Micah Salmon, who is a senior at Northwest Guilford High School, so there are plenty of quality QB’s, but the timing factor with the lack of Summer workouts and practices still comes into question…

Barnett, over at Grimsley HS will have a super set of hands to get the football to, in WR Caleb Curtain, and his inside/middle of the field receiver, TE Lawson Albright, is one of the best in the state, but the Grimsley running game will have to find its way and carry the team early on, and the running game must be led by senior Camden/Cam Allison, who is also a very solid defensive player for the Whirlies…

So still the way we see it, the teams that are ahead of the game early in the 2020 season, should be teams like Southeast Guilford and Northeast Guilford with runners that have logged the yards/miles and those runners are ready to carry their respective teams, since the kids like Fairley and McQuitty(SEG), and Hester(NEG), those kids have the carries, and those kids are ready made….

Another factor we will be watching for, is with all of the kids that are committing early for college, and the 2020 season looking sketchy at best, we hope the top talents will be able to stay focused on their senior year of high school, and not get distracted thinking about just getting out of here, and getting on to college….

Just some thoughts and ideas to put on the table here this morning, and one thing is for certain, everybody’s job is going to be tougher than usual, this upcoming 2020 season….Everybody will need to looking/seeing, working and thinking, at a 2020 level and beyond…