blackflag79

I'm glad to see somebody on here mentioned this game, even if it is just vaguely. The story behind the story is pretty neat. The relationships built by coaches with other coaches, with the young men who play for them, and the parents of those players usually go well beyond the gridiron. This is one of those "the rest of the story" posts. McCown will DEFINITELY be a problem for our defense to contain. We must get pressure repeatedly and try to keep him in the pocket. It's when he has time, whether in the pocket or rolling out with a run, pass option is when he is at his best. We can't let him do that repeatedly or he will make us pay. He has good receivers, and a good RB, too. The biggest advantage I can see is that Gilmer has a better defense, in my opinion. Gilmer's offense is a rhythm offense. We need to establish a rhythm early and keep it if we want to win this game. In other words, we MUST be Gilmer and do what Gilmer does, win games. We "should" win this game, and I think we will, but they better play "UP" like I know they can. I haven't really seen that "UP" game yet this season. In the playoffs, it doesn't matter what the records are. It is win, or go home. This is the beginning of the third stage/goal of the Buckeye season.

If Carthage has any players that are banged up, they should rest them in this one. That's what Gilmer did. I look for a 56-7 type game, and that's being conservative. Carthage will likely go into halftime leading about 42-0. I think this game will be boring, especially for a neutral outsider that just wants to watch a football game.

Last year's China Spring team would've beaten the brakes off of Stephenville, in my opinion. This year, I think things are quite different. CS's defense is better than Stephenville's, but both teams score lots of points. I think Stephenville takes it in a close game, but it wouldn't surprise me if CS wins. The only thing that would surprise me would be blowout by either team.

I "blame" the majority of Carthage's success on the their coaching staff. No doubt about that. But to be honest, Carthage has more "coached up depth" than just about anybody else at the 4A level. The talent level is deep, and has been for many years, but I've always said it's the coaching that puts them over the top. A team that has won 8 championships in 8 tries over the last 14 seasons tells me it is a combination of talent and coaching, with coaching being the number one reason.

Unfortunately, or fortunately, whichever way you look at it, you're right. With the coaching staff they have over there, along with good depth, they could make a very good team out of the second and third stringers. They have an embarrassment of riches over there.

Maybe I should've said the second and third stringers? The entire team will get at least some playing time, in my opinion.

Carthage is playing chess while everybody else is playing checkers. Carthage is on another level than anybody else in 4A right now, in my opinion. Dawgs roll, and Center rolls........over. The Carthage defense will stuff Center, and Center won't be able to move the ball consistently at all against the starters, but like someone said, Scott will be working on the Dawgs more so than the opponent. Later in the game, I look for the scrubs to get a lot of PT.

I think this game will be close. I think PG's defense is better, and I think L-E's offense is better. I am one that thinks defense wins, so I'll go with PG, but I wouldn't be surprised either way.

Hmmm...., it will be the Friday night before Halloween, so..., let's hope so.

These are throw back uniforms from the '60s and '70s when Gilmer wasn't very good (especially the '70s). They are way too loud for my taste. I prefer the unis they have now. They will wear them against Spring Hill because they won't to blind them with brightness I guess.

DANG!!! They MUST be a pretty good team if they can do all that!

Pleasant Grove ain't no slouch of a team. They still have some studs. They are very good defensively. The one weakness they have is their lack of an effective passing game. Most of the time they haven't needed very much of a passing game, but it helps when you play the more elite teams. If they can get that going they will give most opponents fits. Just my opinion.

You got that right, mikehoncho. Who cares about LH? They had their run in 4A, now they can see how it goes in 5A. Apparently, 4A was pretty darn good to have so many former 4A teams in the 5A rankings now. I would take Carthage's hardware any day over what LH has accomplished. Count them..., 8 titles in 8 tries under SS..., and more to come most likely. Gilmer has had 7 tries themselves, but have only 3 titles so far. I'm just waiting for Gilmer to get over that mental hump, Carthage. It will happen eventually. Don't know when, but it will happen. I would also like to see them play better on the big stage like Carthage always does.

Playoffs? I was talking about 2032!

Dem Bears is gonna put it on dem Carthrage Dawgs!

This should be GOTW for sure. Two evenly matched teams. This is a toss up in my opinion. So much so that I'm having trouble deciding who wins. I'm pretty sure this game will stay close throughout, or at least end up that way. Lindale does have the home field advantage, but Kilgore has looked really good the last couple of weeks on both sides of the ball. Lindale is Lindale, though, and they have looked good, too.

I know it takes 11 guys playing together to make stops, and that will nullify, or at least limit, any speed advantage somebody may have. That's called DEFENSE for a reason. If you can limit that one guy it's not going to matter how much speed he has.

Fortunately, he doesn't play for any team we will face....

I do agree that Coach Metzel doesn't roll the dice often enough, nor does he try for the big play often enough. Not dissing him, it's just that sometimes in tight games you have throw caution to the wind and trust your guys to get it done.

So do we! Y'all already have a trophy case full. We need a few more for ours!

I just want to add one more thing to this conversation. Lindale is big, has good talent, is disciplined, and well-coached. The whole team and town is a class act. The Eagles were absolutely NOT going to let Gilmer's Fluellen be a factor, nor were they going to let Haynes run effectively inside the tackles. You can call that excellent game planning by their coaching staff. Gilmer's best plays were when they were able to get outside and use their speed and athleticism. Tomahawk (yes that's actually Will Henderson's middle name) broke two long ones which really proved to be the difference in the game. My frustration comes to a head when we don't make in-game adjustments to the other team's game plan. The outside game was open all night, and for the life of me I have no idea why we didn't exploit it more. I'm hoping our coaches have figured some things out, and can make in-game adjustments much quicker. That's what it will take to get to the next level. I would absolutely love to see the Tomahawk as a receiver, and Haynes in the backfield. Nobody, and I do mean nobody would be able to catch the Tomahawk from behind. Just a few thoughts.

I agree. I don't think there's anybody that is even close to figuring out a way to beat Carthage right now.

Haha..., me, too. I don't think anybody can touch that "other" team you speak of.

OUCH!!! And I agree with you...

That is correct.