William Campbell was very fortunate to just tie the Tribe. We handed them a free TD by coughing it up on our own 4 after a goal line stand. Strouth smoked the General defense with a 70 yard jaunt to knot it at 7. WC grabbed a 14-7 lead only o see a Dotson to Clifton 70 yard hookup and a pass to Sproles knot it at 14. The Tribe were driving to win it late, but Dotson was picked off at the General 27. I was so proud of our defense. We contained Peerman (yes, he is the bro to Cedrick), as well as Boyd (is the brother to Shea Boyd). WC has some D-1 folks on tha squad. You see them line up wit a gazillion speedy receivers and you get a knot in your gut but we held our own. You could tell that the effort vs WC spent us against a fresh Lebanon squad. There's alot of difference between a 7:30 under the lights start and a daytime start when it is 95 degrees. Still, our guys battled the Pioneers to a 7-7 draw. Dotson's 50 yard hookup to Shouse was something special btw. (Lebanon's starters did score on our 3rd team defense late to make it 14-7). Overall, I am pleased with our effort. I owe our boys an apology. I went hoping that we'd not be 0-2 with confidence-crushing blowout losses, just looking for us to be respectable. I was wrong. Alot of folks are going to be wrong this year. Our 2nd-stringers lost to Burton's seconds 20-8. Martinez Miles killed us. When did he become 2nd string? lol.
It's hard to guage by jamborees because of the fatigue/rotation. WC smoked Lebanon who had just played us. By the time the Raiders played Lebanon, the Pioneers had logged 4 quarters, and Burton rolled.
Here's a bold pick for you all: If WC doesn't shore up that defense, they'll not get out of their region. I went to this thing looking to see this juggernaut Goliath. My Tribe and Da Raidas made the Generals look like an ordinary club. Norton paid WC 5K to come to this is the word that I heard. I would be asking for a refund lol.
So my assessment:
William Campbell: Obviously, the Generals have the athletes, but their are some gaping holes in that defense.
Lebanon: good size, Musick is a helluva back, and the TE is a hoss. They need some conditioning, and to get their QB situation lined out, but I like them and think they will contend in the CMD.
Burton: once again, the unsportsmanlike penalties. When will they get that figured out? I was impressed with them though. I thought that the blocking was good, that the line was coming along, and Stewart killed WC with his feet
J.J.Kelly: still some fine-tuning, but I was impressed with the licks that I saw on defense. Obviously, Strouth delivered hs customary shot of the night, but Weston Mullins laid the serious smacketh down against Lebanon, as well as some other nasty hits from his cohorts. When B.I. went through his first couple of years, and the heat was on, I asked folks for patience. You can't build a program in a year (especially when the cupboard was bare). Today, alot of folks began to see that he is indeed getting this thing turned around. I cannot wait until we do it for keeps this Friday night.
Bookmarks