SOC II Predictions

[marshallman]

Ironton did, back when Lutz had Ironton going 9-1 or 10-0 every year, years back. The last couple of times were not pretty and Ironton dropped them off the sch. Burg playing Greenup county is no more quality win than Minford playing Piketon. I don't think there is much separation in sch between burg and Minford except for PHS and Ironton burg plays. The rest of the 8 teams are even in strength. Its funny sometimes, you can play a school that went 10-0 last year, this year and everyone says wow! Then, you beat that team this year and that team goes 3-7 and then everyone says...."well, you had a weak sch, look who you played" and the opposite can be true too.

[falconflyer]

I support Minford totally but Portsmouth and Ironton out of conference put Burg's schedule tougher than Minford's but I don't see that as a problem at this point in time. Let's get some winning seasons here and then worry about strength of schedule. Coal Grove, West, Waverly and Burg will all be very big challenges this year. I am not saying the other 6 games won't be tough, just that we know right now these 4 games will be.

[fbnut]

The 03 game was the only game that was lopsided in the ironton-Desales series. Falconflyer can speak for himself but I think as far as scheduling goes we agree. I said above that this yr the burg schedule does not appear to be as challenging as in the past but just by putting ironton and phs on the schedule it puts them head and shoulders above the other D5 teams in this area as far as strength of their nonleague schedule. To west's credit they have had ironton and Phs on their schedule in the past as well.

[Derf_W]

FBnut: Back in the 1980s, 'burg played Coal Grove on a regular basis. Also, if you want to really go back look at 'burg schedule in the 1970s when it was Wellston, Notre Dame, New Boston, Sciotoville, etc. Those teams went 10-0 and what did it do? That's right it built a foundation for your program. Ironton begged you to play us back then, and I know each program points the finger at the other but it never happened.

I understand what Minford is doing and Coal Grove is a quality foe on their schedule. Wellston could be this year, and has been in the past. Coal Grove is much more tough than Greenup Co, and they'll probably beat Rock Hill both of whom are on 'burg's schedule.

[marshallman]

I also remember watching the burg play Notre Dame and Green in the 1980's. Not to say Minford didn't either. But, Minford is building up to a regular series with Ironton, PHS and maybe Jackson. That conference PHS and Ironton play in is brutal and the computer points are huge if you win and they keep winning. When you see your program is ready to compete and win thats when you get the series going. Minford plays the burg every year and competes well with them. They play Ironton and PHS and compete well with them. Minford is not that far away, its not like this huge gap that will take years to build.

[fbnut]

In the 70's the soc was not split into 2 Div so all the schools had to play each other which is the reason the burg played East, NB, ND, Green etc.. I know the burg did not play ND or green from 84 until now and I don't think they played from 81 on. The burg made the playoffs for the first time in 81 and the way the playoffs were structured back then I don't think it would have been possible to make the playoffs by playing green or ND.ND was actualy a powerhouse in the 70's into the late 80's. The burg and coalgrove had some good games in the 70's, 80's and early into the 90's. You may disagree but I think there program might have been a little better in that time frame then they are now. I think they usually won 8-9 games, won their league and made the playoffs a few times in the 80's. They chose not to renew the contract with the burg sometime in the early 90's. If you want to say the burg was ducking Ironton in the 70 and 80's I won't argue with you, I am just glad they play now, its a good series for both teams and its a heck of a game to open the season. I am not saying that greenup is a tough matchup for the burg or that they are better than CG. I am saying that if you look at the burg's toughest non SOC games, (Ironton, PHS), that there is a big difference between minfords toughest non SOC games CG and Piketon.

[Derf_W]

Coal Grove went 7-2 last year, won the OVC, and missed the playoffs by a fraction of a point. The problem was Sciotoville East dropped CG at the last minute and they were undefeated, so had that not happened I believe CG would have went 8-2 and made the playoffs. Regardless, Coal Grove was the 2007 OVC Champ. Minford having a team they can beat that will win 70-80% of their games and win their league is a good team for them to play.

[marshallman]

The burg playing PHS when they finished 2-8 about three years ago or a 5-5 Ironton team is not as impressive as an 8-2 CG or a 7-3 Piketon in the same year. It's not the name of the school that makes the sch stronger but the impressive season that the team had you beat. So, you really are hoping you beat a great team. You don't know the strength of the schedule until its over.

[fbnut]

The burg playing PHS when they finished 2-8 about three years ago or a 5-5 Ironton team is not as impressive as an 8-2 CG or a 7-3 Piketon in the same year. It's not the name of the school that makes the sch stronger but the impressive season that the team had you beat. So, you really are hoping you beat a great team. You don't know the strength of the schedule until its over.

I think your underestimating how difficult it is to go into the Tank and come out with a victory. Your just not going to convince me that piketon is a very good team, their league is not very good, take a look at the teams they beat last yr and what their records were. The league piketon is in plays about the same caliber ball as soc1. Head to head i would put my money on the 07 tigers and the 2-8 phs team against the 07 piketon, CG teams. ironton and phs records are a little deceiving because of the caliber of teams that play in there league.

[Derf_W]

In looking at Minford schedule, Piketon isn't on there any longer so that's a moot point, so why are you even speaking about them? IMO, Coal Grove would have beat Ironton in the first few weeks until things settled back down, especially without their starting RB as 'burg had us. Again, CG won 78% of their games and won the OVC title.

As far as the SVC, Westfall won a regional championship last year and Adena usually isn't a bad team.

I personally would like to see Minford put together 3 seasons with 7+ wins and a few SOCII championships. And, then maybe Ironton will quit having to find teams from Canada to play in week 3. Ironton won't schedule them until they can prove that. I do feel Minford is on the right track with what they're doing.

[marshallman]

Ironton playing a Canada team this year? That is poor AD work unless it was an emergency. There are way too many teams to pick up even in another state. Minford is on the right track and I hope to see them playing Ironton in about 5 years. Piketon was an example, they dropped Minford.

[West Legend]

west is looking very good and is my pick to win it this year

[The Riepo Man]

BURG is looking very good and is my pick to win it this year

[Burgballer08]

im gonna have to go with with wheelersburg, lots of athletes, very good defense.

[Westfan]

How would you rank your teams potential compared to last year. Minford, Wheelersburg and Waverly all lost alot of really good experience. Winning experience. Thats hard to replace.

I may be wrong, but from what I've seen seen so far this West would've competed for the title last year. They are light years ahead of where they were last year. Truly amazing what a hard year of work and dedication can do.

[G&B from huddle]

This will be an very interesting year in the SOC II.
Wheelersburg are the champs until they get beat.
Here are some things that could be factor in the league. For Burg and Waverly, both temas lost a lot of good talented players.
Waverly and Burg both lost their QBs to graduation as well as some defensive key players.
The weather could definitley reak havoc and effect some games. And we have two new coaches in the conference. I think many people don't give this the attention it deserves. It's not b/c the new coaches are bad coaches, some are inexperienced and that doesn't make them bad.
But new signals, new schemes, new things to learn it takes time and practice speed to game speed with new things to remember can take a while to all come together.

[Runner00]

Don't sleep on the side.. I hear good things out of west camp.

[marshallman]

Burg- From all the names that carried the burg last year, they are gone? Cook, Spradlin, Jenkins, some LBs and OL. Now, a new coach, new QB.

Minford- lost Reynolds at RB but not much else. Williams boy will take over for Reynolds I would guess. New coach has already got his feet wet from last year and they have the QB and a huge line back.

West- will be loaded because they have almost all of them back.

Valley- don't know what they have.

NW- new coach, system, players and lots of ???

Waverly- New QB, 21 seniors gone from last year. lots of ???

[falconflyer]

Actually, Minford lost all of their starting running backs, both tight ends, a split end, two guards and a tackle on offense. All are pretty big losses. However, I think there are replacements who are capable if they are willing.

[marshallman]

Yes, but Reynolds was the featured back. He was 1st team all-state. The wr and TE didn't get the ball like Cook and Jenkins @ Burg. Thats why it was a bigger lose for the burg. I believe the Line will be bigger then last year and the coaches didn't let the QB take all the heat to win the games. I think they will open up the passing more this year. Yes, the other backs were lost, but they have depth in the backfield. It seemed alot of players got to touch the ball last year.