All games set to kickoff at 7pm, with the exception of the NEG at Morehead game, which will start, at 6:30pm…..
(Any fields going to be too wet for the teams to play tonight???)
Mount Tabor(3-0) at Dudley(3-0)
This game could end being for the Piedmont Triad 3-A Conference Championship, since Dudley and Mount Tabor have been battling it out for this title over the past 4-5 seasons….Dudley with Jahmier Slade(QB), Milan Summers(RB), Mehki Wall(WR/KR) and Joncarlos Miller II(TE), should have a bit of an advantage since the Panthers are playing at home….The field will still be somewhat wet from the Thursday rains, but this should favor Dudley, since they know their field, and they know it well….Joe Sirera will be there covering the game for the News and Record and for their HSXtra section, so you may want to keep a close eye on Joe and his tweets, as they will be going out with scores on this game tonight, from Tarpley Stadium, on the James B. Dudley High School campus…
(Mount Tabor has beaten Dudley something like four straight years, so this fact should not be lost by/on the Dudley Panthers.)
Northwest Guilford(3-0) at Grimsley(3-0)
So we don’t forget to inform you, this game can be heard tonight on GreensboroSports Radio…
Should be a war over at Jamieson Stadium, with the upstart NWG Vikings facing the homestanding Grimsley Whirlies….It will be Homecoming Night and Senior Night all rolled into one for Grimsley, and Grimsley has some very important seniors on this year’s Spring 2021 team….Lawson Albright, Sincere Burnette, Quentin Williamson, Christian Tutuh, Anthony Dunkins, Cam Allison, Clifton Burkram, Myles Gowens, Jake Henry, Caleb Curtain and others….Northwest Guilford has had success running the football this Spring season, but it will be tough to run the ball inside against the likes of defensive ends Travis Shaw, and Tamorye Thompson….Then Shaw and Thompson have Burnette, Williamson, Allison and Buckram backing them up at linebacker…NWG’s Walt Turner and Danny Greene, both right at 300 pounds, on the NWG Viking offensive line, will have to push it extra hard on Friday night to get the space needed for Northwest’s Carson Cassetty to move the ball on the ground from his running back spot…Senior NWG QB Micah Salmon will have to find ways to get the ball in his receiver’s hands too…Salmon will need time to get that done, and that will be part of the test, for Northwest…Giving Salmon time to run and properly execute his team’s offense…True test too, for NWG freshman center Linus Lingle vs. the tough and experienced Grimsley defensive front…NWG’s defense(led by LB Isaiah Simmons) will be busy working to control Grimsley QB Alonza Barnett and his RB Jeiel Melton, plus receivers Albright, Tutuh, Dunkins, Tyson Resper and Curtain…Northwest has a real challenge in front of them, but their program can make a real statement with a strong showing tonight, at Grimsley….And Grimsley can show that they are the best team in the county, by taking over and ruling in this contest…Both teams will try and “Impose their Will”, and will it be Grimsley or Northwest, that accomplishes this task???? And by the way, this game can be heard on GreensboroSports Radio, with the pregame at 6:30, and then the kickoff coming at 7pm…Again, that is Grimsley hosting Northwest Guilford, on GreensboroSports Radio….One other key factor about this game? This one is a Metro 4-A Conference game, and the winner takes control of the top spot, in the conference….
Southeast Guilford(2-1) at Eastern Guilford(2-0)
EG QB Kamell Smith and EG RB Hezekiah Newby will be the keys to this game…How well they play will determine how far Eastern can go in knocking off the Southeast Guilford Falcons…SEG has pretty much owned the Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference the past couple of seasons, and they can do it again, if Eastern doesn’t get an edge on the ground game with Newby, and if the Wildcats don’t take over control of the field with Kamell Smith, at the helm….SEG has this game in their corner, if the Falcons get an outstanding game from their defense…If the SEG defense can control Smith and Newby, then this game goes to SEG….SEG has enough offense to win this game on limited points….
Ragsdale(1-2) at Page(0-3)
Page has a young team still trying to find its way, and Ragsdale is in somewhat of a similar boat….Page needs to establish their ground game, and then I think they will be able to get their passing game going, and it may be behind left-handed QB Grady Sherrill again this week for Page…Ragsdale has some very solid skilled position players on the outside on offense, but the question is for them, sort of like it is for Page…Does Ragsdale have enough artillery at QB to take over and win this ball game??? We mentioned guys up above like Slade, Barnett, Salmon, and Smith, and Ragsdale and Page both have to find themselves QB’s like those we just listed, in order to have success on offense….I think Page and Ragsdale can get their defenses in place, but they both have to find out what their offense can, and will be able to do…
Smith(0-3) at Southwest Guilford(2-1)
Smith might have taken a few steps back last week vs. Dudley, and SWG found their offense for 56 points vs. WS Parkland, last Friday night…Dudley hung 56 up on Smith, but the Dudley defense did not allow Smith to score….SWG will try and do the same thing to Smith…Go for the 49 to 56 points, and do not give up any points on defense…Smith is going to have to find a way to break through, or SWG will own Smith, just like Dudley did….
Roxboro Person(1-2) at Northern Guilford(2-1)
Northern still smarting from that 28-24 loss to Eastern Alamance last Friday night, and NG led that game 24-6, before EA woke up, took over the game, and claimed the win….NG must win out, the rest of the way in the Mid-State 3-A Conference, and then hope that Western Alamance knocks off Eastern Alamance, and then if NG can beat Western, they you would have a three-way tie for the title…It is not really a matter of personnel, it is a matter of everyone on the Northern team wanting to bounce back, and still win the conference title in the Mid-State 3-A, even if it is a shared title…I’m sure Will Lenard and Manny Elliot will be ready to do their part and the other Nighthawks will have to pitch in and lend their helping hands to the NG Nighthawk cause…
Asheboro(0-3) at Southern Guilford(2-0)
Game was originally scheduled for Thursday, but moved to Friday due to the weather, and now Bear Bradley’s Southern Guilford Storm want to keep on staking their claim to the Mid-Piedmont 3-A Conference title….SG has been playing better each week, but they missed last week due to COVID issues, with Southwestern Randolph…SG is sitting pretty right now and they have done all that they can do, to keep this season where it needs to be….SG needs a breakout game vs. Asheboro, and what SG does not need, is to give up unnecessary points to the Asheboro Blue Comets…The SG Storm must lay it all out and do all they can to demolish Asheboro…With SEG, EG and others still to come, SG can’t afford any let up in their efforts now…
Northeast Guilford(0-3) at Morehead(0-3)
They used to do a lot of tobacco priming/picking/pulling out around Hicone Road, the home of the Northeast Guilford Rams, and although their game this week is not at home, at their Bill Bookout Stadium, this is a “Prime Opportunity” for the NEG Rams to chalk up their first victory of the season….This is “Prime Time” right here, and a win, is a win, even if you have to drive up to Eden to get it…One of the old sayings goes, “What you have been needin’ is up in Eden”, and for the NEG Rams, the time is now, to go get what they’ve been needin’….
WS Parkland(0-3) at Western Guilford(0-3)
Another “Prime Date” on your schedule…WG has WS Parkland coming into their Doug Henderson Stadium, and this is the night where the Hornets are facing one of those “Must Win” situations…You don’t want to put any pressure on the boys, but why not??? Apply the pressure and hope that the WG Hornets, in turn, will turn that pressure on, and apply it to Parkland….The win is laid out here for WG, but are they ready to take it???
High Point Central(1-2) at Southern Alamance(1-1)
HP Central won the JV game 8-6 on Wednesday and will that be a precursor for the varsity game on Friday night??? Should that be a precursor for the Friday night game??? Why not, use it as a springboard….This is a non-conference game, so Central should not be holding anything back…The Bison are playing much better this year, with their new leader, Coach Sheffield….Time to get this Bison team running and using some of that ball-control offense with QB Keith McDuffie Jr. and RB JJ Kennedy…Let these young men carry you, and then challenge your defense to stop Coach Fritz Hezenthaler’s offense…
High Point Andrews(1-2) at Randleman(3-0)
Andrews defeated Jordan Matthews, then lost to HP Central, and then lost to Eastern Randolph, and now the HPA Red Raiders face the Randleman Tigers….With Randleman at (3-0), Andrews must play over their heads, and be rising above and beyond the call of duty…And to lay it out in practical terms, HP Andrews is going to have to really do some big time things on the football field, to win this ball game….
That is it for this week, and like we do most weeks, I feel like we gave you too much information…It is like Christmas Morning for the reader, and we have given you more presents than you know what to do with….We have probably given you just too much, but we will work to lighten our load next week…You better get a lot of your friends to start reading this football talk, because after all of the time and effort that we have put in, we need a large crowd reading this report…Time to go to bed now, and then get up and get ready to broadcast Northwest Guilford at Grimsley on Friday night…We will also have scores from the other games for you…You guys are getting a load, and we are hitting the road…..