Nov 13, 2008
NCHSAA Football - Generic Graphic
Several weeks ago, I threw up my hands and decided that this football season was impossible to figure out. After the 12-week regular season, no one emerged as the clear-cut, team-to-beat heading into the playoffs.
Instead, there are a lot of really, really, really good teams, and that parity should lead to a superb postseason.
So for the sake of discussion, here’s my predictions for the postseason. Below is the 4-A (winners in bold).
Click here for my 4-AA picks.
(10) Smithfield-Selma (6-4) at (7) Middle Creek (4-6)
(15) Cary (4-6) at (2) Southeast Raleigh (9-1)
(11) Fayetteville Pine Forest (5-5) at (6) Hillside (9-0-1)
(14) Athens Drive (4-6) at (3) Southern Durham (8-2)
(9) New Bern (6-3-1) at (8) Fayetteville Douglas Byrd (8-2)
(16) Fayetteville Terry Sanford (4-6) at (1) Fuquay-Varina (10-0)
(12) Northern Durham (5-5) at (5) Wilmington New Hanover (6-4)
(13) Fayetteville Cape Fear (5-5) at (4) Greenville Rose (6-4)
(10) SSS @ (2) Southeast Raleigh
(6) Hillside @ (3) Southern
(9) New Bern @ (1) Fuquay-Varina
(5) Wilmington New Hanover @ (4) Greenville Rose
(6) Hillside @ (2) SE Raleigh
(9) New Bern @ (4) Greenville Rose
(6) Hillside @ (4) Rose
If my bracket holds true, then Hillside will play in the 4-A state championship game. Why Hillside?
In all honesty, I was surprised when Hillside came out as my winner. But I’ve talked myself into the Hornets. Their No. 6 seed is deceptive. They tied for the PAC 6 title with Southern and Chapel Hill, but lost the draw for seeds and were dropped down.
They only lost one game, a 12-9 nailbiter at Southern on Sept. 26, a game the Hornets had every opportunity to win. If my bracket is correct, they'll have the chance to avenge that loss in the second round.
After the Southern loss, the Hornets won their final six games, four of them comfortably (by margins of 29, 24, 14, 14 points). They won their two close games (14-9 over Jordan and 34-31 over Chapel Hill).
Tailback Desmond Scott’s been on a tear. He’s got five straight 100-yard games, and he rushed for 1,486 yards and 13 touchdowns this season. He’s averaging a mind-boggling 9.1 yards per carry. Quarterback Corey Gattis has passed for 1,952 yards and 12 touchdowns (against four interceptions), and he’s completing 63 percent of his passes. Gattis is also a threat to run. He has 417 yards and nine touchdowns on 66 carries this season.Sophomore receiver Vad Lee has nearly half the team’s receptions (47) for 928 yards and seven touchdowns.
And the Hornets have got a pretty good defense, allowing 13.8 points per game. The most points they allowed this season was 31 to Chapel Hill. None of their other 10 opponents scored more than 19.
What do you think? Will Hillside be the East team in Chapel Hill on Dec. 13? If not the Hornets, then who?
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