Thursday, August 25, 2011

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 2 Picks

Gaston, Lincoln and Cleveland Week 2 Picks

Game of the Week: South Point (1-0) @ Lincolnton (1-0): The Red Raiders of South Point showed why they were picked to finish first in the conference. They routed Clover and former head coach John Devine 63-0. The Red Raiders jumped out to a 42-0 lead and never looked back. Was that just a one game wonder or could the same thing be in store for Lincolnton? The Wolves are coming offa win that’s not quite as dominant as they trounced Maiden 35-10 after only leading 14-10 at half-time. Nonetheless, who could forget last season’s 43-42 Lincolnton overtime win at Lineberger Stadium? The Red Raiders will be looking for some payback after that heart-wrenching loss.
My pick: South Point 42 – Lincolnton 28

North Gaston (0-1) @ East Gaston (0-1): The Wildcats are hoping to put last week’s 63-14 thumping by Asheville behind them and make a new beginning as they travel to take on East Gaston. The Warriors lost a heart-breaker to Hunter Huss 39-32. The Wildcats may be a notch better than last year, but they still have an uphill battle in getting in the win column.
My pick: East Gaston 55 – North Gaston 14

Forestview (0-1) @ Clover, SC (0-1): The Blue Eagles may still be in shock over their season-opening 63-0 loss to South Point. One thing head coach John Devine has proven to be good at is having his teams rebound from losses. However, this appears to be a much different Clover team than in years past. Forestview lost their season opener to Nation Ford and is also looking to rebound. It’s usually a different game when teams from the Tar-Heel State travel to the Palmetto State and Forestview is winless when crossing the border. Could they make school history and break that trend?
My pick: Forestview 27 – Clover 20  

Ashbrook (0-0) @ Shelby (0-1): The Green Wave gets a late start on the season since they didn’t play last week. Shelby started their post-Chris Norman era with a 43-24 loss at Kannapolis A.L. Brown. Giving up 40+ points a game is not very characteristic of a traditional powerhouse like Shelby. On top of that, Shelby has switched their offense from the Double-Wing to a Spread-type offense. Can they adapt in time enough to withstand a very physical Ashbrook squad?
My pick: Ashbrook 21 – Shelby 17

Hunter Huss (1-0) @ Bessemer City (0-0): Bessemer City is another team getting a late start. The Yellow Jackets were set to play R-S Central until scheduling conflicts put the brakes on that. The Jackets, due to small numbers this year, will not field a JV squad at the moment and have many freshmen and sophomores on varsity. Hunter Huss is coming off a 39-32 win over East Gaston in a back-and-forth shootout. Don’t look for Huss to be challenged much in this game.
My pick: Hunter Huss 48 – Bessemer City 13

Lake Norman Community (0-1) @ Cherryville (0-1): The Ironmen play a very unfamiliar foe in the Lake Norman Community School. The only thing we know about them is that they lost 40-14 at Lake Norman Charter.  Expect similar results this week. Cherryville opened the 2011 season with their third straight loss to Bunker Hill 28-20.
My pick: Cherryville 45 – Lake Norman Community 14

East Lincoln (1-0) @ Hopewell (1-0): This could be a shootout. Both teams opened up the season with big wins. The Titans downed Providence 41-13 in their 2011 debut. The Mustangs got a huge monkey off their backs with a 55-13 beating of Newton-Conover. The Red Devils took 7 out of 8 from the Mustangs prior to last Friday’s game.  Look for this to be a very competitive ball game.
My pick: Hopewell 34 – East Lincoln 27

West Lincoln (0-1) @ Highland Tech (0-1): Believe it or not, this is a conference game. The Highland Tech Rams have joined the Southern Piedmont 2A/1A conference after being a private school for the last six years. The Rams probably got a dose of what it will be like playing with the bigger boys again given they lost 30-12 to Victory Christian Academy. The Rebels should be able to rebound from last week’s 35-20 loss at Chase.
My pick: West Lincoln 35 – Highland Tech 7

Maiden (0-1) @ North Lincoln (0-1): Maiden gets to face another Lincoln County school. The Blue Devils stumbled against Lincolnton 35-10 last week. North Lincoln and new head coach Zach Bevilacqua started the new era with a 25-6 loss at Fred T. Foard. Both are hungry for their first win of the season. On paper, Maiden should be the one that comes out on top, but that’s why the game isn’t played on paper.
My pick: Maiden 28 – North Lincoln 17

Burns (1-0) @ Kings Mountain (1-0): This time last year, Burns was coming off a season-opening 42-19 drubbing by Crest. They rebounded by pounding Kings Mountain 41-13. This time they are coming off a big 33-12 win over Crest. Could the Kings Mountain game prove to be a trap game for the Bulldogs? The Mountaineers are young on offense and could have a hard time with the Bulldogs’ stingy defense.
My pick: Burns 31 – Kings Mountain 13

Q Foundation (0-1) @ Crest (0-1): The Chargers have not started the year 0-1 since 2003 when they lost three straight. That was the year they won their first of two back-to-back champions (in 2003 and 2004). Don’t expect the Chargers to lose two straight this time around as they host Q Foundation out of Charlotte.
My pick: Crest 41 – Q Foundation 12

Did You know? As was stated earlier Forestview is winless when going south of the border. They are currently 0-7 against four different teams (Clover - 0-3, Nation Ford - 0-2, Fort Mill 0-1, and Byrnes 0-1). A win at Clover tonight would be considered a historic feat for the Jaguars.

Did you also know? Many streaks ended last Friday. The most notable streak was West Rowan's 47-game winning streak as they fell to Mooresville. Butler's 31-game streak came to an abrupt halt against Mallard Creek, Clover was riding a 15-game winning streak over Gaston County teams prior to their 63-0 loss at South Point. One team that was happy to see their streak end was Central Cabarrus. After 34 straight on-the-field losses, they get over the hump with a 31-22 win over South Rowan. If you count their forfeit win over Mallard Creek in 2008 then that streak is only 26.

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