FB: USA South Athletic Conference

[Hawks88]

I definitely want BSC and/or Berry to win out so we can have the short trip. If they both lose and Trinity wins it then it will be like 2016 where they can send us where ever they decide to put us.

[Wild Horse Rider]

All the Hawks have to do is win 2 out of 3 going forward. Road trip for the first round of the playoffs in TX?

[Wild Horse Rider]

2 out of 4 picking last weeks games and I can't say I am surprised by either result I was wrong on.  I've said it before and I will say it again Brevard is a tough team and they found a way to win on the road in Rocky Mount.  Huntingdon's win over Averett can be considered a mild upset at best but I thought that game was a toss up.  AU12345 called it when he said the Cougars needed to limit Porter to win the game.  They did not to the tune of 10 catches for 194 yds and 2 TDs.  On to week 9:

Huntingdon wins big in Greensboro
Averett plays mad against Maryville and wins at home.  I think the Cougars put up 40+ points
Brevard wins at LaGrange with another strong defensive effort.  I believe the Tornados hold the Panthers to under 20 points

My game of the week is in Fayetteville again.  The Monarchs did what they were supposed to do against Greensboro but still have issues with penalties.  There were 18 accepted penalties for 180 yards.  On the season they are averaging 10 penalties for 97 yards which ranks 242 out of 245 in the country.  That is the biggest concern in my opinion.  I have been pleasantly surprised with the improvements on the defensive side of the ball.  The only poor performance from that unit was against Huntingdon (who is currently the best team the Monarchs have played).  The FR QB has improved as the season has progressed as well and looks so much more confident.  NCWC will be the second best offense that Methodist has faced this season.  Totten at QB and the 2 headed RB duo of Black and Curley will be more than a handful.  I am hoping that Totten will throw it to the wrong team once or twice.  They also have the reigning defensive player of the year at LBer who leads the conference in tackles who will likely make running the ball tough.  This is Methodist's homecoming and there will be new inductions to the athletics hall-of-fame.  This year they will be posthumously inducting head coach Jim Sypult.  Coach Sy was at the helm for 19 seasons in Fayetteville with 1997 (9-1 and ranked #20 in the country) and 2005 (8-2 shared conference title) being some of the highlights.  There were numerous all-conference and all-american selections in his tenure as well.  I am expecting a very large turnout of alumnus for this which will hopefully add to the home field advantage.  All that being said I am going to predict a Methodist win highlighted by a big performance through the air by the Monarch Offense.

[AU12345]

Happy Monday everyone

Not the result Cougar fans were hoping for but sitting there in the stands Saturday, I can't help but be proud of those guys. Down 2 score multiple times in the 4th Quarter and kept fighting. A few questionable calls late but we cannot make those decisions late in a championship game. We live and learn. It's real my unbelievable how much an impact one player can make (Otis being out last year when we played HC) the guy is an absolute monster and there's no reason we shouldn't being seeing him on sundays (maybe in a Falcons uniform).

I went 1-4 in my picks last week (with the obvious being Methodist's win over Greensboro) I've said it once and I'll say it again. Brevard is going to be a force to be reckoned with in the coming years. Their scheme is tremendous and they have athletes all over the field on defense. Maryville looks like they finally gained their footing in the conference, and now as a cougar fan, all we can hope for is an upset 2 weeks from now as Wesleyan travels to Alabama to give us a shot at possibly being Co-Champions of the USA South.

A quick little fact before i get into the predictions for this upcoming week. If the Cougars win out the remaining 3 games, it'll be the most wins in team history in both a 2 year as well as a 4 year span. This senior class really is something special and couldn't be more proud of this group.

My predictions:
Maryville @ Averett (Averett wins 42-10)
That sickening feeling that was in my gut as a fan is no doubt the same they have in theirs. Look for the defense to rebound d play lights out the rest of the year. We need to get our pass rush back (only 1 sack in the last 2 games). Offense will continue to be dominant and we'll get back on the right track.

NC Wesleyan @ Methodist (Wesleyan wins 24-21)
Close game but Wesleyan pulls it out on the road, not sold on Methodist quite yet, but i am certain on how good the monarchs run game is. As a cougar fan I want Wesleyan to have as much momentum heading to Alabama as possible. However, you never know what can happen on a Saturday afternoon.

Huntingdon @ Greensboro (Huntingdon wind 54-0)
Going to keep this short and simple. Otis will have at least 200 yards and Lambert will throw for 400 easily.

Brevard @ Lagrange (Brevard wins 21-14)
Close throughout the game but Brevard closes it out late

[Wild Horse Rider]

Game day, game day, it's a great day to be alive, it's a great day to be a Monarch! Woooo!!

Hopefully the game that kicks off at 1pm in Fayetteville looks better than the alumni flag football game played earlier this morning.

[Subway Alum]

Brevard fan here, rejoining the board after absence since 2017 . . .  Now that Brevard is getting better-established in Division III and will soon be a full, football-title competitor in the USAS I'm getting to know the conference teams better and enjoy following the Tornados by way of the video game coverage most schools now have. With the win against N. C. Wesleyan last week BC has a decent shot at finishing over .500.  The only  winning season to date since the program was restarted in 2005 was in 2009, when Brevard ran over their non-conference opponents, then played fairly well in the conference (SAC, Division II).  Those seasons in Division II were difficult for a school with an enrollment under 1,000 trying to operate in an athletic scholarships situation against strong programs like Carson-Newman and Lenior-Rhyne.   Division III is a much better fit for Brevard, and as they get established it looks--as some others have mentioned here--that they can be a factor to be reckoned with in future USAS seasons. 

The current Brevard coaching staff came in with the division move and has revamped the offense from a ball control running orientation to a more wide-open style.  The only thing Brevard used to win every week was time of possession, but that has changed dramatically and the Tornados are essentially able to score from any point on the field.  This didn't happen overnight, since there were problems with retaining players for more than a season while the team played in Division II, and the offensive players who did stick around were recruited and schooled in the option running game.  But there is finally some stability at quarterback, resulting in the ability to recruit better receivers, and Brevard has retained a usually-reliable ground game keyed by an offensive line that is getting the chance to play together for more than one season.   . . .  Most of the Brevard coaches have some NFL experience, and that has shown to advantage with the 2019 defense. The defense has either scored or set up a number of Brevard points this season.  Granted, that's not something a team can rely on, but it's something that opponents seem to be keeping in mind against the Tornados.

I'm optimistic for a Brevard win at LaGrange this week to set up what would be the biggest home game to date in the 15-year history of revived Tornado football--Averett. There's still not a lot of student support for football here, with Brevard's emphasis on outdoor education and a nationally-known cycling team, but these things take time. If Brevard can become an annual contender for the USAS football title, maybe even the hikers and bikers will spare some of their weekend time for a football game.

[DGPugh]

Welcome Subway Alum
My bride and I (45 yrs now) were on the motorbike in the mtn's this summer and came out of the 'woods' near Brevard NEAT AREA.
These are nice folk. I've been reading and occasionally writing here since 2007 (under AF4) and '09=> now by my name


keep the faith

[Hawks88]

Good job by the Hawks going to Geensboro and taking care of business and getting lots of young guys on the field in the 2nd half. Big one against NC Wesleyan next week for the chance to clinch the AQ.

Go Hawks!

[DGPugh]

Hawks 88
are you going to the Wesleyan game ?
I might head down, depends on weather and some logs I need to saw this week
  A recap shows
Lambert: 6/8 for 68 yards, 3 TDs, 0 INT
E. Thomas: 19 rushes for 139 yards
D. Cunningham: 6 rushes for 98 yards
R. Trimble: 6 rushes for 78 yards
J. Pugh: 8 rushes for 53 yards ( I like his last name )

I hope we can avoid the let downs we had in years past, and not let this thing slip away. I figure these folk will come to play

Have a great week, keep the faith

[Hawks88]

Definitely planning to be there, DG. Right now the weather forecast is calling for a beautiful sunny with low 60's. If that sticks we can't ask for much better than that. I expect NCW will show up ready to give us a battle but our guys have had good focus since conference play started so I think we'll be ready. If you make it over, look us up.

Go Hawks!

[DGPugh]

Hawks
If i get over to Montgomery I'll look for you in Y'all's Spot in the stands
keep the faith
Go Hawks

[Wild Horse Rider]

Well things certainly didn't go the Monarchs way Saturday.  Things started out well with the Methodist offense going 11 plays for 65 yards in about 5 minutes for a TD.  Then the Bishops took to ensuing kickoff 92 yards to the house.  The Monarchs had something going on their next possession but a sack on 3&10 took them well out of field goal range.  The punt was downed at the 1 and NCWC took 11 plays to travel the 99 yards for another score.  NCWC had the ball 3 times on offense in the first half and scored 3 TDs (also the KR TD).  Methodist did manage 17 points so it was still a game at that point.   The Bishops got the ball out of half and threw a 41 yard bomb for another score.  Methodist had a little something going on their first possession of the second half when Antonio Johnson (reigning DPOY in the conference) picked a ball of on the 6 yard line going in and returned it 72 yards.  At this point it was all but over even though there were 25 minutes left to play.  NCWC only punted the ball twice all game and both were in the 4th quarter.  They turned it over once on downs and lost one fumble.  Their defense sacked the Monarchs FR QB 5 times on the day.  I was very impressed with the Bishops on Saturday in all phases of the game which is what makes the Brevard loss even more curious.  I don't believe that Huntingdon should or will take NCWC lightly next weekend.  On the week the Methodist game was my only miss.

[AU12345]

Happy Monday everyone

Went 4-4 on my picks this week (Not a lot of hard decisions to be made) now as an Averett fan we're on to the 2nd most important week of our season this year.

My predictions for this upcoming week:

1. Greensboro @ Maryville (Maryville wins 35-0)
Maryville running attack gave us some problems early in the game, but thankfully we held them to 13 points in the game. The score bounce back this week and get a win vs the Pride.

2. Lagrange @ Methodist (Methodist wins 28-7)
A tough loss last week for the Monarchs vs NC Wesleyan, look at them to get back on track this week to head into the final week of the season vs Averett.

3. NC Wesleyan @ Huntingdon (Huntingdon wind 28-21)
As bad as I want the Bishops to upset the Hawks on the road to hell us with a share of the USA South title this year, i don't think it'll happen. The Bishops have a good corner in #5, he held our starting receiver to the lowest totals he's had this season so maybe he can limit Porter. If the Bishops can stop the hawks passing game I think they have a chance.

4. Averett @ Brevard (Averett wins 24-7)
Looked at the weather forecast for this weekend and boy it's going to be a cold one (30 degrees in the mountains of North Carolina. We're going to rely on the run game because our receivers haven't really had a game in the cold yet. Most of the time when it's cold teams tend to run. We'll hope for a Wesleyan win this weekend to help us reach our goal of a conference title (granted we wouldn't get the AQ, a ring is a ring)

Hope everyone has a great week

[Wild Horse Rider]

I wish the Monarchs season had taken a few different turns but with 7 games played I can say this:

The defense is so much improved.  Last season they gave up 30+ points on 7 different occasions.  The only exceptions were Greensboro and somehow Averett.  This season only Huntingdon and NCWC produced that many points.  Averett  and Shenandoah could do the same but I don't think LaGrange will.  On paper all that will be lost is a SR DL and 2 SR DBs.  There are a few FR in the front 7 that will be fun to watch for the next few years.

The offense found a QB.  Bullins is on pace for the best FR season at the position in the history of the program.  In 2011 Max Reber came in as a FR and would up starting 7 games.  He owns most of the all-time passing records at Methodist.  2015 a FR named Dylan DeGroot had a better season statistically than Reber.  I believe Bullins will have a good chance at offensive ROY in the conference.  By his JR year watch out.

The rest of the offense has been a little disappointing.  I thought that the SR RB Howard would follow up his monster JR season with a special SR year.  I think that inexperience and injuries to a young OL have hurt those chances some.  The OL misses the 2 SR OL all-conference players from last year at the tackle positions.  Again I thing the future on this side of the ball is very bright.  They are losing the top 2 RBs as well as a SR WR but on paper nothing else.

The FR kicker has performed well and hopefully a off-season in the weight room sill help the leg strength and distance.  The JR punter is a field position weapon.

I'm not giving up hope on the final 3 games of this season with all that said.  LaGrange coming to town this weekend is very winnable game.  The last 2 away games will be tough @ Averett who will be looking for back to back 8-2 seasons followed by the weather makeup game @ Shenandoah.  That will be a difficult game no matter what but if Shenandoah can beat W&L in 2 weeks the Hornets will be playing for their first 7 win season since 2004 I believe.  If the Monarchs can win 2 out of the last 3 that would be their first season .500 or better since 2014 and by far the best season under Coach Williams.

[Wild Horse Rider]

AU12345 I am going to agree with all of your winners but to try and make things interesting I will give the scores a shot as well

Maryville 45 Greensboro 7 and Maryville will have over 300 yards rushing
Methodist 31 LaGrange 17 and Methodist throws for over 200 and runs for over 200
Huntingdon 45 NCWC 42 if Averett couldn't slow the Hawks down I don't like the Bishops chances.  If NCWC throws a bunch of picks then the score will not be near as close
Averett 14 Brevard 10 in a game that will be a physical as it comes.  If the Cougars do have success in the run game I would expect it to be outside since the Tornado's interior DL are rather large