South Johnston Team Blog

Yea….I know. I’m late with my blog…….sorry. Wanted to wait until after Mondays games to put it together. Hope everyone had the opportunity to go out and watch some of the playoff action……I know I did. I did wait until Monday however. I’ve had my fair share of rain for one season, so I decided not to venture out on Friday night. And I must admit the game I decided to go see was kind of one sided. Watched as Apex broke open a close contest with West Johnston in the second half. Maybe I can pick a better one to watch this Friday. And speaking of picks…..well, let’s just say that I was a little surprised. I was 2 -2 in the first round. I was right with the Gray’s Creek game and the rematch between Harnett Central and Western Harnett. However, I was surprised that Harnett Central was able to put that many points…..what was that, like forty something un-answered…WOW! And how bout them Jaguars! I thought they were playing my beloved Trojans when I saw that score. No wait…..they didn’t score quiet that many. But they scored a lot. And where are the mighty Hawks? So much for using the loss at the hands of Harnett Central as motivation for the playoffs. That was not good. Losing like that at home to a lower seed and struggling to score any points. No….not good, not good at all. That leaves only two CFVC teams still alive. And only two games for me to pick this week.

As I said earlier, Harnett Central threw a massive beat down on conference rival Western Harnett. They looked as good against the Eagles as they have all year. Northeast Guilford is about to run into a buzz saw….too bad for them.

Overhills…..who would have thought that they would have gone down to West Brunswick, a number five seed, and won. Not only did they win but they put up a fifty burger. Alright Overhills….I’ll jump on the band wagon. Head up to No. Vance and see what you can do.

I’m hoping to improve on my picks this week. You do realize that if I go 2-0, that means Overhills gets another shot at Harnett Central. Wouldn’t that be interesting?

And to my fellow Trojan fans, I will post next years schedule on my last blog for this season. If I’m 0-2 on my picks this week, I’ll be posting it next week. Here is a taste for you. First game next year…Southern Lee @ South Johnston. The count down is on.

Well…..it’s over. For us Trojan supporters, things just did not go the way we would have hoped. No one can say that we did not have our chances…that’s for sure. But the ’08 season just was not meant to be. The game against Gray’s Creek kind of summarized our season. Good effort, played hard, just came up a little short.

It was frustrating to watch as the final minute and a half ran off the clock Friday night. It left me wondering what could have been. That is what could have been without the turnovers and what could have happened if we recovered the on-side kick. It was truly a game full of “what ifs”. We have a couple of passes picked off; one returned for a touch down and the other was in the end zone that prevented us from scoring. That’s fourteen points. We also have a touch down taken away when confusion on the official’s part, caused by them being out of place, ruled our receiver out of bounds on a fourth down play in the end zone when he was clearly in for the score. That’s a twenty-one point swing in a game that was decided by seven points. This was a South Johnston team that simply did not get any breaks. Not just Friday night but all year.

So let’s look at things a little closer. What was the difference between the ’08 team and the ’07 team that won the conference last year? Let’s start with offense. We had tremendous receivers in Mannie, Williams and Lucas. The group put up great numbers. But when it came to just being able to go up and get it….their are few better than Dee Walden. He could go up and take it away from people. And we didn’t have Walden this year. We were also thin at the back-up running back position. We didn’t have a back that could come in and give Davis a breather and provide a change of pace. With that being said, we still averaged twenty-six points a game. That’s only three less than last years twenty-nine points a game. So how about the defense? They were young. This was a group that had only two every down players that were seniors and neither of the two started last year. That was a lot to replace. Eleven new starters. Not many realized what kind of turn over we had on that side of the ball. That senior heavy defense we had last year gave up an average of sixteen points a game. This year, we averaged giving up twenty-six a game. That’s not bad, but that’s still a big difference. And actual games…last year we won five games by one TD or less. And this year we lost four games by one TD or less. You could almost say five if you take away that late score in the sss game. So close but yet so far. Could have been 8-3 maybe 9-2. Fact of the matter is we finished 4-7. And now we are at home. Looking forward to next year and a new conference and a new non-conference schedule.

Last week I went 2-2 on my picks. Southern Lee and South Johnston both lost after I predicted a win on senior night for both. That made my final season total come to 19-9…not bad. Hey, take out the South games and I’m 17-4, which is pretty good.

First of all, let me congratulate Western Harnett on making the playoffs. But I do not understand why it is that conference opponents get paired up in the first round. That’s stupid. Anyway, Harnett Central proved something last week. I expect them to keep proving it this week too.

Can’t say that I know a lot about West Brunswick. But from what I do know I think that Overhills may have their hands full.

OK…I know nothing about Western Guilford but I know Triton. Triton will be looking for redemption after last Friday’s loss to Harnett Central.

Gray’s Creek will have to find the passing game. Eastern Alamance isn’t 9 – 1 because they’re bad.

Enjoy the playoff games this week. And even though I picked against some of you, I still would like to wish all the CFVC teams the best of luck.

Here we go. Playoff time. No the regular season is not over but we are in playoff mode. Grey’s Creek is a must win.

The game against Union Pines was not our best but it was a step in the right direction. It was a confidence booster if nothing else. We started off fast….scored on our first possession for a 7-0 lead. Union Pines scored on their opening drive as well but could not convert the extra point. In the second quarter we got a field goal to go up 10-6. Union Pines was inside their five when we blew a coverage assignment and gave up an eighty plus yard pass before making a tackle at our ten. It looked like we were going to dodge a bullet on a Union Pines fumble that we recovered but no…..had an inadvertent whistle that gave Union Pines the ball back and another chance on third down. Needless to say….they scored a TD on the next play. But the half wasn’t over. Union Pines recovered an on-side kick so they had another chance. We were able to keep them from scoring so we were only down 13-10 at half time. Neither team scored in the third. But Union Pines put themselves in a position to on the last play of the quarter with a fake punt that gave them the ball inside our twenty. No problem though, we got an interception on the first play of the fourth. Two plays later, we scored on a sixty yard TD pass to give us the lead 17-13. Union Pines came back and scored on a fourth and one play that gave them the lead back 20-17.. We get the ball back after the kick off and go sixty yards and score again to take the lead back 24-20. Union Pines got a good kick off return and started with the ball inside our thirty. But the defense stopped them in four plays on a fourth and three play to seal the win.

Now….as I said, a win this week against Grey’s Creek will more than likely put us in the playoffs. It won’t be a cake walk but I believe we can do it. Despite what some might think I don’t believe this team, including the seniors, is ready to just lay down and die. We can do it.

I did better on my picks last week as well. Got all four games right making my record 17-7 on the season. I’m going to try and finish strong….maybe I can go 4-0 again.

Let’s see…Overhills puts 67 on South but only manages to score 14 on Western Harnett….interesting. Southern Lee gave Harnett Central all they wanted last week. The game with Overhills is Southern Lee’s senior night. Their seniors have not had the season they wanted to say the least. Southern Lee could have mailed it in but they toughed it out. Stranger things have happened but Southern Lee will not go down with a loss in the last game of the season.

Western Harnett is coming off a game were they managed to score only 7 points and did a lot to beat themselves. Union Pines played inspired football last week on their senior night but came up short. Western needs to win just to make sure that something funky doesn’t happen and they miss the playoffs.

Last week Grey’s Creek got hammered by Triton. South got that win they had to have to keep their playoff hopes alive. If South can come out and play with emotion they can win and put themselves in a position to make the playoffs.

This is the big one. Harnett Central has played well….or well enough in Brian Taylor’s absence to remain undefeated. Triton hasn’t lost since non-conference play and hasn’t even been challenged by anyone in the conference up to this point. This will be nasty. Triton will leave the CFVC as champions.

And to the Trojan Nation…..our guys normally wear all black for the home games. It would be cool if all the supporters could show up Friday night wearing black as well. You know….a show of unity. Let’s make it a Black Friday for Grey’s Creek.

EMBARRASSING!

I was 2-2 on my picks last week, bringing my overall record to 13-7. I need to do better this week.

Harnett Central @ Southern Lee

Harnett Central is coming off an impressive win over Grey’s Creek. Southern Lee is falling fast. Doesn’t look like Harnett Central will be challenged this week.

Prediction: Harnett Central – 40 Southern Lee – 6

Triton @ Grey’s Creek

Triton took care of business against Union Pines last week. Grey’s Creek is coming off a disappointing game with Harnett Central. Guess they’ll be disappointed again this week.

Prediction: Triton – 36 Grey’s Creek – 12

Western Harnett @ Overhills

Western Harnett added to their win total last week with the victory over the slumping Cavs from Southern Lee. Overhills played a flawless game against South Johnston. The Western Harnett streak ends this week at the hands of the Jaguars.

Prediction: Overhills – 42 Western Harnett – 14

South Johnston @ Union Pines

Union Pines lost to Triton, scoring only six points again. My beloved Trojans were absolutely embarrassed on homecoming by Overhills. This is a must win for South if they hope to salvage anything of their season.

Prediction: South Johnston – 20 Union Pines – 12

I don’t know if words can truly describe what I felt as I left Western Harnett Friday night. I was wet and cold but that’s not what I felt. Maybe I was numb. I don’t know…I guess I kind of felt empty. Half way through the drive home, that empty feeling was replaced with anger. But who do I, or should I say we South fans, be angry at? There are some that would point fingers at the coaches….lets face it, there are always those that would be quick to blame a coaching staff for any little thing, even if you win. So does that mean that people should blame the players? After all, they are the people that actually play the game. I think….maybe….a little. Not so much for the playing of the game Friday night but maybe for the way they prepared during the week. There wasn’t a lot fire from the guys at practice this week. Not like the practices they had in the weeks of the Harnett Central game or Triton or even Southern Lee. I don’t know that the players would admit it, but they looked in practice this week, like they could just show up and win….after all they were playing Western Harnett….right? Now that’s not to say that they had bad practices, they just didn’t have that mentality that they had something to prove to Western Harnett.

The way the game started, I as well as everybody else on the South side, thought that it was going to be a route. I mean 17 straight unanswered points. And the Western offense had only two first downs in the first quarter. After we scored on our third straight possession, Western Harnett got a TD with five minutes to go in the first half. But that was as much our fault as anything. Got a fifteen yard penalty on third down that keep the drive going where Western would have been punting. No big deal, we were getting the ball back and they had not stopped us yet. But we went three and out. No problem, defense stepped up and stopped them on a fourth down play at mid field and that was the half….we were ahead 17 – 7. Not a lot of concern on the South side…I mean, after all, we were getting the ball to start the second half and we had only been stopped once. We started the second half with a decent drive. Then I don’t know what happened. We failed to convert a short fourth down play. Three plays later, Western made the score 17 – 14. This is when things tightened up, even though we were still ahead.. Our offense turned the ball over on downs after running three plays…missed a golden opportunity on a dropped pass on a fake punt on fourth and one.. Western Harnett takes over on the fifty and aided by yet another mysterious fifteen yard penalty, they had the ball on the twenty. Couldn’t stop them on fourth and one on the fourteen and they end up scoring a TD. After the kick off, we got the ball on our own twelve and end up punting after failing to convert on a third and one on our thirty-five. Five plays into the Western drive they are faced with a third and ten from the fifty. Western connected on a screen pass that went for the TD….the biggest play that our defense gave up all night not aided by a penalty. That made the score Western 26 and South 17. Now, we still had a chance. We got a good kick off return and started at the Western thirty-three.. Three plays later, we had a first and goal at the seven. Very next play, kid from Western made a hell of a pick, leaping way up to snag a wet ball out of the air. Pass would have cut the Western lead to two with seven minutes to go and then….you never know. After that Western Harnett was able to run the clock out.

Now what I didn’t mention was all the penalties we had. How about this….thirteen total penalties on us. That’s a season high. One on special teams for an out of bounds kick, nine of them on offense for seventy yards. If you figure in the yards that were lost on positive gains, it would probably be closer to one hundred fifty. Three on the defense for forty-five yards….two of them coming on third down plays that would have put Western in fourth and long plays where they probably would have been punting. Instead, they end up scoring TDs. Don’t get me wrong…Western played their butt off. But we shot ourselves in the foot so much this game….it’s amazing it was as close as it was.

I try to be optimistic. So in my mind, I’m going to try to think that Friday night’s loss can be a learning experience. I’m going to sound like a broken record here, but I still believe this team, talent wise, to be just as good as last year’s team. It took a lot to get the players, the school, and the community to believe that we could win. That was the biggest challenge every coach that has been at South has had to overcome. We didn’t have that history that a coach could point at and say, “We’ve had winning teams here and you can do it too.” But the mind set has changed now. We expect to win…the school, community, and the fans. That’s what has made this season so hard for many up to this point. This team is faced with a different problem than teams we’ve had in the past. Use to be, we were the sacrificial lambs….the team that everybody would mark as a win on their schedule. Over the last four years, coach Salas has taught our team to be the hunters….the team that nobody expected and the team that could win. Now, we have to learn how to be successful when you can’t sneak up on anyone anymore. This team has to learn what it means to be hunted. There can be no let downs….any week.

South has a sound opponent coming in this week for homecoming. We absolutely can not take Overhills lightly. I don’t believe that we will. I would like to believe that our guys have figured out that they are a target every week. Just as we did not forget the play off loss to Southern Lee last year…I’m sure that Overhills did not forget that 46 – 0 beating that we put on them last year at their homecoming.

Well, looks like I had a set back last week on my picks. My beloved Trojans and Southern Lee let me down causing me to go 2 – 2. That brings my record to 11 – 5 on the season so far. The last time I went 2 – 2, I went 4 – 0 the following week. Maybe I can do that again.

Not much to say about this one. Triton continued to roll last week. Union Pines managed to score but that’s about all you can say. Triton rolls on again this week.

You got two teams here heading in different directions. Western is coming off a big homecoming win over South Johnston with a lot of momentum. And Southern Lee seems to be falling further and further into disarray. I don’t see anything changing this week.

Try to stay with me on this one. Harnett Central is undefeated thus far on the season but they have not played a very tough opponent since Brian Taylor went down and have done just enough to win. It seems as if no one is talking about Grey’s Creek. So they lost to Western Harnett…big deal. That’s not the same old Western either. Grey’s Creek has quietly put together a 3-1 conference and a 6-2 overall record. People will recognize after this week.

Overhills played Triton last week as their homecoming opponent and came up short as Triton spoiled their fun. South went up to Western Harnett were they dominated early on before the wheels feel off and were washed away. This is South’s homecoming game and with the lessons they learned last week should rebound and play well. It’s almost getting desperation time around here. South just about needs to win out if they want to make the playoffs again this year. It starts Friday night.

Alright Trojan Nation…..its homecoming week. Got to make it a big week. Need a big, loud, green wearing, devil horn flashing crowd on Friday night. Come early and support your Trojans. You can’t see me…..but I’ll see you!

Finally! Trojans…..we bounced back. This week feels better than the last few doesn’t it? A solid win makes everyone feel a little better. Not to mention a big confidence booster for next week. Hard to believe but that was the first win at home this season. And if you figure in the bye week, it was the first win in a month.

Nobody knows adversity like Southern Lee with coaching changes and missing players. But we had to overcome some adversity this past week ourselves. Davis was still feeling the affects of an injury suffered in the first quarter of the Triton game going into Friday’s game with Southern Lee. And it’s no secret that a healthy Tony Davis is a difference maker. Just like the difference he could have made in the Triton game. But he was not alone. At last count, we were missing five starters going into Friday night. That created a trickle down effect. Some guys were moved from one side of the ball to the other and some were pulled up from jv. That helped to explain for the slow start. That and the fact that Southern Lee came out just as expected. Hey….they may have lost some people from last year’s team but they still have a lot of guys that were there last year too. They were not going to go down without a fight. So after a few hick-ups in the first half, we were able to settle down and make some good things happen on both sides of the ball. Offense settled into a groove lead by quarterback Patrick Dunigan, and ran off 31 un-answered points. While the defense laid their ears back and played like they have in every game this year, with the exception of the Triton game. The South defense spear headed by line backer Tyler Benson, held Southern Lee to four first downs and 47 total yards of offense in the second half. Special teams got a couple of nice returns from Caleb Lucas and Dee Williams and were finally able to block some kicks.

So here we go. We will be traveling Friday night to play the “up start’ Western Harnett Eagles. At least this week we will be completely healthy. The only player that we will be missing will be defensive lineman, Shawn Williams, who broke his ankle in the North Johnston scrimmages at the beginning of the season. And if there is a bright spot to playing on the road, we have played some of our best football away from home.

After going 2-2 last week on my picks for the conference, I rebounded and went 4-0. I’m now 9-3 for the conference season. Let’s see what I can do this week.

Harnett Central is coming off a very pedestrian like outing against Overhills. Union Pines finally scored some points but still lost to Grey’s Creek. Now I know Brian Taylor did not play against Overhills and I’m not sure what his status will be for Friday or the rest of the season. But it shouldn’t matter. Harnett Central will win.

Triton took care of business last week at Western Harnett. Overhills put fourth a spirited effort but came up short against an injured Harnett Central team. Triton will prove to be a party pooper and give the Jags their second consecutive loss on Home Coming.

Grey’s Creek was able to defeat Union Pines at home last week. Southern Lee was steam rolled in the second half by South Johnston. Now Grey’s Creek may be 2-1 in the conference but that doesn’t mean a lot. Southern Lee will get a much needed conference win.

South Johnston started hitting on all cylinders in the second half against Southern Lee last week. And Western Harnett lost to what I believe to be the best team in the conference right now. Doesn’t get any easier for Western Harnett this week. South is coming in healthier than they’ve been in a long time.

That’s it. Another week in the books. Time to take the show on the road Trojans. Bringing yet another dose of 48 Minutes of Hell to the masses.

Well…..this isn’t where we thought we would be. I could copy what I wrote last week and post it again because we seem to be in the same spot. Yet to win a conference game and looking for answers. I will say that most of the questions last week had more to do with the offense and this week the questions are about 50/50. We moved the ball well at times against Triton but still couldn’t manage to score in the red zone. Actually had a first and goal twice in the third quarter, once from the three and once from the nine, and could not punch it in. The defense on the other hand may have had its poorest outing yet. Forced Triton to punt only once the entire game. And allowed Triton to drive ninety-two yards for a touch down that consumed the last 1:45 of the third quarter and took up 10:56 of the fourth. Now you can look at this two ways. One being, we just played poorly against Triton. Now that may be true to an extent but I am leaning toward the other. That being that Triton is just that good. Now I’m no dummy. And I know that people will believe what they want. But in my opinion, Triton is the best team we’ve played so far this year. And yes, that includes West Johnston, sss, and Harnett Central. Despite what West supporters believe, I still and will always be of the opinion that we gave that game to them. sss……no comment. Harnett Central, offensively, will only go as far as Brian Taylor can take them. If you can slow him down, you can beat them. But Triton has an impressive running attack and a sufficient passing game….big, strong and surprisingly quick defensive line. Now maybe they had just a really good night but I don’t think so. After playing WJ, sss, HC and Triton….Triton just looked the best of the four. I’ll admit when I make a mistake. And I did with Triton. I knew they had a new QB and after the two losses they had early in the season, I figured they wouldn’t be even as good as they were last year. I can’t imagine how Triton lost to sss. Needless to say, that game between HC and Triton will be very interesting.

So…ok….no need to panic. We, South should, hopefully be able to string together some wins. Got to take it one game at a time. Doesn’t look like we will be winning the conference this year without something strange happening but there are still a lot of goals out there that are still in reach. We can still finish in the top of the conference and make the play offs. Who knows, might even get a home play off game. First things first though, got to get ready for the game this week.

Going to try my hand at picking our conference games again this week. I’m still above 500 so far so I guess that’s not too bad. I went 3-1 the first week and 2-2 last week. I’ll try to do better this week.

Harnett Central had to come from behind last week to defeat Western Harnett. How many saw that coming? Overhills lost to Grey’s Creek last week after beating the breath out of Union Pines the week before. I didn’t see that coming either. With all that being said, I like HC to win.

Western Harnett fought hard last week and proved that they are on the way up. Triton made a statement at South with a big win. I’d like to see WH win but with the injuries they sustained last week, I don’t see them beating what I believe to be the best team in the conference right now.

Wow. Talk about a guessing game. I was really surprised when Union Pines beat Southern Lee last week. I didn’t think they had it in them. And to think that Grey’s Creek Defense held the Overhills offense to 7 points…hmmm. So what’s the common denominator from the first two weeks of conference play? UP has no offense. They’ve not scored more than 7 points in their two conference games. Grey’s Creek wins big.

Neither team is where they want to be right now. It kind of takes some of the luster away from the match up…..from an out-sider’s perspective anyway. Both SL and SJ really want and need this game. And if there was one game that SJ had circled besides the sss game, this is it. (Nobody here has forgotten the play off game from last season.) Southern Lee will battle but South Johnston will out last the SL effort. (No offense Terry-T or TShoop.)

Well….that about does it for this week. Enjoy the games. And to the Trojan Nation, I still do not know why we don’t have our comment section.

FRUSTRATION!! Complete and total frustration! To be so close…..and yet so far. I don’t know how to explain it…..but I’m going to try anyway.

I guess the most glaring question out there is, are we as good as we were last year? Well, I believe we are and as I keep saying, maybe better in places. So, what’s the difference between last year’s team and this year’s team? Because the win, lose record is definitely different now than it was last year at this time. Preparation. Let me explain. I believe we were as prepared as possible to play coming into this season. I believe us to be as well prepared to play from week to week as possible. The difference between last year and this year is not in us as much as it is in our competition. Aside from what people may say, the traditional powers in the CFVC didn’t really take us as a serious threat last year. And with us playing Harnett Central and then Triton as the first two conference games, by the time they figured out that we were pretty good, it was too late. We were sitting at 2 and 0, leaving Harnett Central and Triton hoping for help from the rest of the conference that never came. We got on a roll and were able to win the close games to finish undefeated in the conference.

This season, we are not going to be able to sneak up on anybody. Friday night at Harnett Central proved it. That “S” we wear on our chest may as well be a “bull’s eye” because everybody is coming after us. Like I wrote last week, “to be the man, you have to beat the man.” Well, that’s what everybody is going to try to do. There are seven teams out there that have circled us on the schedule. And they will prepare the week that they play us as well as any week this year.

Our guys knew that coming into the Central game. Yes, we lost 21 to 13. But depending on your point of view, we did not play that bad. If we had won 21 to 13, I’m pretty sure that we would be thinking that we played pretty good. It was a hard fought game that both teams did some good things and left both teams thinking of things they need to improve on. Numbers don’t lie. I was looking at a copy of the stats and believe it or not, we put up better numbers in the second half than Central did. Our defense held Harnett Central to 129 yards of total offense in the second half, while our offense racked up nearly 170 yards. For that matter the totals for the game weren’t that different, Central had 340 yards and we had 260. Both teams had the ball seven times and neither team turned the ball over. It’s not like we got hammered and lost by three touch downs like some Central fans were predicting. Our defense made a hell of a goal line stand to end the first half when Central had a 1st and goal inside the 10 to keep the score 14 to 7 at half time. The Central defense made a similar stand on a 4th and 1 play from the Central 10 in the third quarter when it looked as if we were about to score. The biggest difference in these two teams is the win, lose record.

Time to move on. Can’t change what has been done, we can only look to improve and get a win this week.

Thought I did a descent job on the predictions last week, going 3 and 1. The final scores were pretty close too. I see if I can make it two weeks in a row.

Western Harnett is coming off a much needed win over Grey’s Creek last week. Harnett Central is coming off the win over South in the “conference championship game.” While I would love to see Western make it two in a row….I don’t believe it will happen. Central runs away with this one unless they have some kind of hang over from the South game.

This game will be very similar to the Western Harnett, Grey’s Creek game from last week. Overhills has some speed and the ability to put some points on the board. But this week they will be playing a much faster team in Grey’s Creek than they saw last week with Union Pines. Not a lot of defense to be found in this game. Overhills will make it two in a row.

Southern Lee played a physical team in the rain and mud last week. That was an advantage for Triton. Union Pines played a much faster team in Overhills, who ran past them. Not that I’ve seen a lot from Southern Lee yet this year but Union Pines has shown me nothing. Southern Lee will rebound from last week with the win. If not, it will be a very long conference season for the Cavs.

Triton was able to do what they wanted last week against Southern Lee, taking advantage of their line play. South is coming off another tough lose, were their defense was able to keep Harnett Central’s point scoring machine in check, holding them to 21 points were they had been averaging 42 a game. I think South’s offense will get back in rhythm and be able to put some points up this week and I expect the defense to be able to keep Triton under control. This is a must win game for South if we hope to have any chance of repeating. For that matter, they will all be must win games from here on out.

Trojans!!! Here we are. Time for conference play to begin. Worked out pretty nice for us, having a bye the week before conference play begins. It gives us a chance to heal from any bumps and bruises from the non-conference schedule. Hard to believe that we are five weeks into the season. But nun the less, here we are heading into week six.

As I said, the bye week for us comes at a good time. We had some mental bruises to heal after the SSS game. But the week off gave us a chance to put that aberration behind us. Physical wise, we are pretty healthy. Got a couple still dinged up but as a team, we are good to go.

Well this week I thought I would try my hand at picking some games. Everyone else does it, so I figured why not? It will give my haters a chance to hate me some more.

Triton may not be what they were a few years ago but they aren’t bad either. Southern Lee has had some issues that has cost them some of their more talented skill position players and are also in the process of breaking in a new coaching staff. I expect Triton to come out looking to make a statement. It seems that everybody is talking about South Johnston and Harnett Central. Triton wants to make sure that they figure into the conference title mix. No offense to Southern Lee but I’m taking Triton in this one. Prediction: Triton – 28 Southern Lee – 13

Overhills has talent and speed on the offensive side of the ball. Union Pines lost quiet a bit off of last year’s team. Overhills' defense may be their biggest concern for this season but it won’t matter against Union Pines. Overhills will run away with this one. Prediction: Overhills – 42 Union Pines – 14

Good match up here. It seems you never know exactly what you’re going to get from Gray’s Creek. From year to year they can be one of the best or one of the worst. This game will tell us a lot about both of these teams. Western Harnett is due and they want it bad. A win this week will be enormous for the Eagles. A loss, and they may not recover enough to make any noise in the conference. I guess I’m going out on a limb here but I’m feeling you Western. Prediction: Western Harnett – 27 Gray’s Creek – 14

Its no secret what could be at stake here. Coming into this season, a lot of people had South picked to repeat and Central to finish second. Fast forward to now. People are flip-flopping their earlier predictions. Central explodes out of the gate to a 4-0 record while South stumbles against West and SSS….well, it was SSS. What’s new? I still believe this is the game for the conference title. The only thing more fitting would be if this was the last game of the season. Central has proven that they can score a lot of points. Averaging 37 points a game. Their defense has been solid, giving up an average of 19 points a game. But we (SJ) can score with the best of them as well. With the exception of the SSS game we have been averaging 41 points a game. While our defense has allowed an average of 22 points a game, including the SSS game.. What do all these numbers mean? Nothing! To be the Man, you have to beat the Man. And right now, South is still the “Man” in the conference. Sometimes you just got to go with what you feel. South wins in what many will believe to be a shocker. Prediction: South Johnston – 42 Harnett Central - 28

To all the SJ Trojan fans out there, be sure to load up and head to Harnett Central. The fight to stay on top starts Friday night. Bring your devil horns….it’s gonna be a good one.

THIS IS NOT THIS WEEKS ENTRY IN ITS ORIGINAL FORM. LEAVE AN E-MAIL ADDRESS AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SCREEN IN THE COMMENT SECTION IF YOU WOULD LIKE A COPY OF THE ORIGINAL.

Well…….it’s over….for at least another year. Yep…..another chapter of South versus SSS is in the book. Only problem is, if you’re a South fan, the outcome on the scoreboard was the same that it has been…..forever. The game was as intense as any high school football game could ever be. Big plays and hard hits by both teams on both sides of the ball. Definitely worth the price of admission. We can’t say that we (SJ) did not have our chances. Driving the ball down to the seven yard line in the first quarter and to the sixteen in the second quarter only to have to kick field goals for a six nothing lead. SSS scored a TD with twenty seconds to go before the half to give them the halftime lead, seven to six. The second half started off much like the start of the game. We were able to drive the ball down field on our first possession. Had a first and goal at the seven but again had to settle for a field goal attempt that was just wide. SSS was able to put together their longest drive of the night (eighty yards) and scored a TD giving them a fourteen to six lead. We exchanged punts on the next two possessions. It looked as if we might get something started only to have a pass picked off when Dunigan’s attempt went off the hands of Williams. SSS took over possession and scored on an eight play thirty-nine yard drive. They missed the extra point, making the score twenty to six. We had the ball twice after that but we were unable to do much with it, turning it over on downs once and having to punt once. So that was pretty much it. Looking at the numbers it would seem that offensively speaking, we were kept in check. Only six points and less than one hundred fifty yards of offense. I did not believe that could happen with the weapons we have. But it was no secret coming in that SSS had a strong defense and nothing happened to show otherwise. As far as our Trojan defense, they played really well. We only gave up two hundred fifty yards of total offense to SSS. Not bad considering that SSS started with the ball inside their forty only three times. So that’s not bad at all for defending a short field.

So where is South Johnston as a team? I still believe that we are just as good now as we were last year…maybe better in some places. I know that we were all thinking 4 and 0 but 2 and 2 is not the end of the world. West is no slouch (still think we gave that one away) and SSS is…..well…SSS. We are getting ready to head into conference play, so now is when it really matters. Tony should be ready to go and Pat will be back there throwing the ball around to Caleb, Dee, Nick and Mannie. The offense will bounce back from the SSS game and be fine. Our defense, as I said earlier this season, has become just as good as the group we had on defense last year. We’ve got a big, strong, athletic defensive line with guys like Raheem, Dan, Stacey, Quay, Shawn Williams, Inohelio, and Brandon. As far as line backers go, we my have the best group in the conference. Tyler Benson and Jamel Rhodes in the middle with Josh Barbour and CJ Williams on the outside is as good a foursome that you’ll find. The defensive backs with Jon, Rogelio, Aaron, Justin, and Shawn Wright have done nothing but gotten better and are solid. And don’t forget about Andrew taking care of the special team stuff. We are good.

What’s next? We’ve got a bye week this week so that will give our guys their first day off since we started back on July 1st. It’ll give them time to rest a bit before we start conference play.. And we’ve got a big one when we start back. Harnett Central at their place to be exact. Should be a real battle. Most believe that the winner of this game will go on to win the conference and I would have to agree. No doubt that both teams will be ready to go, knowing what could be at stake. But we’ll talk more about that game as we get closer.

I may try to do something a little different for next week’s blog. We’ll see. I guess you’ll have to make sure to check it out to see what it might be. Until then, keep sharpening the devil horns.…think green, think gold,….think…..CHAMPION!

What’s up Trojan Nation! The ship was righted last week with the win over Clayton. And it was a good win…which any win is a good win. The offense was efficient and the defense played smart and tough. Yes, our South offense was back to performing like a well oiled machine….no fumbles, no interceptions….only forced to punt on three of their eleven possessions. What’s that you say?...Our defense?. People still want to doubt our defense. So, let’s look at the numbers. I mean, really look at the numbers. Clayton finished the game with four hundred plus yards on the ground. No…that’s not good if you’re a South fan. But I got to give credit where credit is due….Clayton is good. I underestimated them coming in to the game. Don’t get me wrong…I knew they were going to be one dimensional. Everybody knew they were a run first and pass ….well….only if they have to. But I didn’t realize the size they have up front. West has some size but Clayton…wow! Run the ball was exactly what Clayton did. With that massive offense line and Anthony Hinton at 230 pounds slamming between the tackles…why pass anyway? But.…with all that being said, our defense actually got better as the game went on. We had not and probably will not play another team with that kind of size and athleticism this season. Took a little getting use to by our South defense. The numbers prove it. We gave up something like 260 something yards and 19 points in the first half. But in the second half, we gave up something like 150 something yards and only seven points while forcing two turnovers. The total numbers do not look good. But sometimes you have to look deeper. Yes, we gave up way too many yards. But the defense did improve as the game progressed. One hundred fewer yards on basically the same number of carries as the first half and holding them to only seven points. That’s not bad against a team with that kind of size.

Enough on the Clayton game. We all know who we’ve got this week. There is absolutely NO LOVE between us and them. I despise them with every fiber of my body. That’s right…Smithfield Selma Senior High. I almost threw up just typing that. Where does the hate come from you might ask? It’s not so much the losing streak against them as much as it is that snooty, holier than thou attitude that exudes from Smellfield. I’ve said it many times, I can live with losing to them if it means we win conference titles and play in the state playoffs.. But we get absolutely NO respect from them at all. Smellfield acts like it’s their God given right to beat us every year. The time has come to put them in their place. NO MORE! Never has sss had to play a team of the caliber that we have this year in our stadium. We win this year! I know I’m going to have all kinds of haters coming after me…post what you want. We will see who is laughing on Saturday. It may be them but I doubt it. All the pressure is on them. And let’s face it…they will be remembered as the team that “lost to South”. Come early, wear green, be loud, and show your devil horns as we show sss GREEN HELL. Friday night, WE MAKE HISTORY!!!!!

What’s happening people. If you’re a Trojan fan and even if you’re not, you’re probably wondering what happened Friday night. Well, let’s call it….multiple turnovers equals losing football. And you can throw in a couple of missed assignments too. We had three interceptions, one lost fumble, a lost onside kick, and failed to convert on a big fourth and one in the second half. So let’s do the math…that’s like six lost possessions. Two of those turnovers were inside the twenty when it looked as if we were about to score. Taking nothing away from West…..when you lose the turnover battle that badly, you shouldn’t even be in the game, much less have a chance to win it. And this game was up for grabs with three minutes to go. South did as much to lose the game as West did to win it. When we started to get a little momentum, we would have a lightning delay, or an injury time out for a West player, miss an assignment on defense and give up a long pass play, or we would just turn the ball back over. The South offense marched up and down the field all night…that is, when they weren’t shooting themselves in the foot with penalties and turnovers.

I know what you’re thinking, “What about the defense?” …..What about it? The word coming in was that our Trojan defense was young and inexperienced. The mighty West ground game that lit up Athens Drive was suppose to run the ball at will. That didn’t happen. Our line backers basically shut down the West running game. The Trojan defense gave up a grand total of sixty yards on the ground. And it’s not like West didn’t try to run the ball. They ran it twenty-six times to be exact. That’s a two point three yards per carry average. So, what about the pass defense? Yes….we did give up a lot in the air. Something like three hundred twenty yards….one hundred twenty on two plays. Not much you can say about that. Missed assignments? There was a couple. Missed tackles? There were some of those too. Bottom line…..we did not play as well as we are capable of…..on offense or defense. Way too many mistakes that West took advantage of. West scored twenty-one points on four turnovers. Not good. But if you look at the big picture, we nearly won that game. To play that poorly and still have a chance to win shows just how good this team is. I dare say that there may not be another team out there than can make those kinds of mistakes and turn the ball over like we did against West Johnston and still be in the game with a chance to win it.

Let’s look at the bright side……it seemed to light a fire in our guys. Practice this week has been intense, to say the least. Full contact, no holds bared, flat out get after it, take ‘em to the ground, scrimmage. Our guys were about to kill each other. Yes, the loss was a reality check. No more thinking that they can just show up and win. I don’t believe you’ll be seeing the same mistakes this week against Clayton that we saw last week.

Green Hell goes on the road this week….making the short trip to Clayton. Clayton is coming off back to back games decided by six points or less…..one loss, one win. I really believe that if we do not make the mental mistakes and turn the ball over as we did last week, we should win going away. I’m not putting any numbers on it cause I'm still trying to not give any bulletin board material.

Trojan Nation….we start a new win streak this week. And we’ll add to the win streak over Clayton. Wear green, be loud, and bring your devil horns. I actually saw some in the crowd last week. That was cool. Let'em know we were there.

What’s happening “TROJAN NATION”. That’s right….it’s your friendly neighborhood “SATAN”. Born out of the “48 minutes of Hell”. Yes…….the county school system still loves that slogan (I still have my t-shirt). I have the honor of “blogging” this season for FNF, so I’ll be keeping you up to date on your defending 2007 Cape Fear Valley Conference Champions, South Johnston Trojans. Ha-ha……never get tired of saying that.

Let’s see……where to begin. For most of the teams in our area and conference, the season started last Friday night. Most teams performed as expected but there was some…..hmmm….surprises? Well….let’s just say some were surprised. Me…..nothing surprised me. But for now, we’ll just focus on our Trojans.

With all due respect to Princeton, Friday night was a dismantling. When it comes to playing Princeton, it’s a “no win situation” for South, in the minds of our “haters”. Yes, if we win big, we get accused of picking on a “little” 1A school. But if its close, we have to hear that we aren’t that good (like we don’t hear that anyway)…”struggled with “little” Princeton.” Oh well…we will take care of the “haters” when the time comes.

As I’ve said, we did what we were supposed to do. The offense looked sharp in the three quarters they played before the JVs took over. Dunigan was an efficient 12 of 16 for about 260 yards and four TDs with NO interceptions while Davis rushed for 200 yards on 10 or 11 carries and three TDs. But that’s what people expected coming into this season….great offense. If there was one unknown coming into this season, it would be the defense. I am here to assure you that defense will not be a problem. I know what you’re thinking, “lost a lot of starters.” You’re right, but that’s not to say that there are not a lot of guys with varsity experience filling those spots. The guys on the defensive line and line backers will become “house hold names” in the Trojan Nation, as well as the secondary with their hard hitting and cover skills. Friday night was just a taste of what is to come on the defensive side of the ball.

This week brings the start of school. It also brings West Johnston to Ronald Avery Stadium. West is coming off a solid win over Athens Drive. It was surprising to some that West won this game….not to me. West has some talent and Athens Drive lost a lot off of last years squad. I believe that the game this week against WJ will be exciting. But not really close. This being our first home game of the year and with classes beginning this week will assure a packed house. I could give you a prediction on the score but…..I’m trying really hard not to give anybody “bulletin board material.” So be it. Don’t forget, this is our Big Top Event. So come early, wear green and bring your “devil horns”. Let’s welcome West Johnston to GREEN HELL.