There doesn't seem to be anyone here that talks about this class of football but I'm going to post this anyway! Be warned, the only reason I made this thread is to dunk on Fremont-Mills.
So that's Hillboy'shalf-assed ultimate preview of the 1st round of the playoffs. No one is stopping Remsen St. Mary's, rematches are bollocks, and F-M's offense makes me sad/mad. Feel free to agree, disagree, or call me a fool. Hopefully, no one from Tabor/Randolf/Thurman/Bartlett gets too mad at me.
At-Large at 1st Place
Winfield-Mount Union (6-3) at Don Bosco, Gilbertville (7-0)
This is an interesting match-up due to Cam Buffington (current Iowa commit) playing for the underdog. That said, they got spanked by WACO two weeks ago and I expect the Dons to do the same (minus pitching a shutout).
Bedford (5-3) at West Harrison (8-0)
The state should be ashamed of themselves for making West Harrison a top 2 seed. Remsen St. Mary's, WACO, and Lenox are far more deserving of getting the honor. Bedford is better than the teams those three will be playing so they actually got lucky. BCMoore has Bedford rated as the 10th best team, one spot better than West Harrison. My own personal power rankings (that need a little fine tuning) projects Bedford winning by 16 points. Long story short, don't be surprised if Bedford wins.
This is an interesting match-up due to Cam Buffington (current Iowa commit) playing for the underdog. That said, they got spanked by WACO two weeks ago and I expect the Dons to do the same (minus pitching a shutout).
Bedford (5-3) at West Harrison (8-0)
The state should be ashamed of themselves for making West Harrison a top 2 seed. Remsen St. Mary's, WACO, and Lenox are far more deserving of getting the honor. Bedford is better than the teams those three will be playing so they actually got lucky. BCMoore has Bedford rated as the 10th best team, one spot better than West Harrison. My own personal power rankings (that need a little fine tuning) projects Bedford winning by 16 points. Long story short, don't be surprised if Bedford wins.
3rd Place at 1st Place
BGM, Brooklyn (6-2) at Easton Valley (6-1)
Easton Valley would be unbeaten if their starting QB wouldn't have been injured in the first game of the season against Don Bosco. He hasn't played since and I assume he won't be pulling a Willis Reed. Their starting RB didn't play last week so they could be vulnerable if he is out again. Their opponent leads the state in scoring (and my adjusted scoring ranking as well). BGM lost both games they played against non-bad teams (Baxter and Montezuma) but they were shootouts that went down to the wire. The game has potential to be interesting but Easton Valley should win even if their starting RB doesn't play.
Kingsley-Pierson (4-4) at GTRA (7-1)
A rematch from week 1 which GTRA won 40-38. What was the point of ditching brackets if you are going to schedule rematches? It's not fair to either team. Set up neutral field games if traveling is an issue.
Colo-Nesco (4-4) at Lenox (8-0)
Should be the biggest beatdown of the playoffs. Nothing else to say.
Iowa Valley (6-3) at Montezuma (7-2)
A rematch from week 0 which Iowa Valley won 36-33. Again, not a fan of rematches like this.
East Mills (6-2) at Southeast Warren (8-1)
This might be the most interesting game on the docket. East Mills held leads against similar physical, run first teams (Lenox and F-M) but gagged it away. Can they finally put it all together? I think they do.
Audubon (4-5) at St. Mary’s, Remsen (8-0)
I'd be pissed if I was Audubon. Why does the state keep pairing these teams up in the playoffs? No one is going to come close to beating Remsen St. Mary's anyway. I hate them but this is an all-time team. Print the shirts.
Edgewood-Colesburg (4-3) at Turkey Valley (6-1)
E-C's reward for "upsetting" Midland in the final game of the regular season is a rematch with Turkey Valley. Third verse, same as the first.
Martensdale-St. Marys (4-4) at WACO, Wayland (9-0)
WACO is the king of sandbagging so the final score might not represent how big of a beatdown this will be. I will say this, their QB needs to be much better if they want to reach their goal. He has thrown very poorly going by their the last few boxscores.
Easton Valley would be unbeaten if their starting QB wouldn't have been injured in the first game of the season against Don Bosco. He hasn't played since and I assume he won't be pulling a Willis Reed. Their starting RB didn't play last week so they could be vulnerable if he is out again. Their opponent leads the state in scoring (and my adjusted scoring ranking as well). BGM lost both games they played against non-bad teams (Baxter and Montezuma) but they were shootouts that went down to the wire. The game has potential to be interesting but Easton Valley should win even if their starting RB doesn't play.
Kingsley-Pierson (4-4) at GTRA (7-1)
A rematch from week 1 which GTRA won 40-38. What was the point of ditching brackets if you are going to schedule rematches? It's not fair to either team. Set up neutral field games if traveling is an issue.
Colo-Nesco (4-4) at Lenox (8-0)
Should be the biggest beatdown of the playoffs. Nothing else to say.
Iowa Valley (6-3) at Montezuma (7-2)
A rematch from week 0 which Iowa Valley won 36-33. Again, not a fan of rematches like this.
East Mills (6-2) at Southeast Warren (8-1)
This might be the most interesting game on the docket. East Mills held leads against similar physical, run first teams (Lenox and F-M) but gagged it away. Can they finally put it all together? I think they do.
Audubon (4-5) at St. Mary’s, Remsen (8-0)
I'd be pissed if I was Audubon. Why does the state keep pairing these teams up in the playoffs? No one is going to come close to beating Remsen St. Mary's anyway. I hate them but this is an all-time team. Print the shirts.
Edgewood-Colesburg (4-3) at Turkey Valley (6-1)
E-C's reward for "upsetting" Midland in the final game of the regular season is a rematch with Turkey Valley. Third verse, same as the first.
Martensdale-St. Marys (4-4) at WACO, Wayland (9-0)
WACO is the king of sandbagging so the final score might not represent how big of a beatdown this will be. I will say this, their QB needs to be much better if they want to reach their goal. He has thrown very poorly going by their the last few boxscores.
3rd Place at 2nd Place (Host By Point Differential)
Harris-Lake Park (6-2) at Newell-Fonda (7-1)
Two teams I would like to throw into the ocean for beating my F-M Knights in the Dome. The teams have four common opponents this year with the big outlier result being their respective matchups with West Bend-Mallard. N-F took it 28-14 in week 1 while H-LP got spanked 48-6 in week 7. I don't know what that means. It should be a good game.
Clarksville (5-3) at West Bend-Mallard (6-2)
Clarksville is an interesting team. They went from 1-8 to a playoff team and could be a preseason top-10 team next year. They have a fighting chance but WB-M should take this.
Two teams I would like to throw into the ocean for beating my F-M Knights in the Dome. The teams have four common opponents this year with the big outlier result being their respective matchups with West Bend-Mallard. N-F took it 28-14 in week 1 while H-LP got spanked 48-6 in week 7. I don't know what that means. It should be a good game.
Clarksville (5-3) at West Bend-Mallard (6-2)
Clarksville is an interesting team. They went from 1-8 to a playoff team and could be a preseason top-10 team next year. They have a fighting chance but WB-M should take this.
2nd Place at 2nd Place (Host By Point Differential)
Baxter (7-1) at CAM, Anita (6-2)
A classic matchup with a team that played a very weak schedule (Baxter) and one that played a tough one (CAM). The defending champs are playing their best ball and I expect them to roll.
Moravia (7-2) at Fremont-Mills (6-2)
Here we go. This post is not about how pathetic F-M looked against Lenox. They look like that every time they play a team that can tackle because this offensive scheme is garbage. Actually, it's an insult to garbage to compare the two. It's almost as bad as Iowa's offense. Your whole scheme can't be "run straight at your opponent until they quit". Only bad and mediocre teams fold. We've been running this junk since 2017 and the only time it worked was the back half of 2018 when the QB started carrying the ball more. This scheme has no shot of being successful without a true dual threat QB at the helm. Reed is a no-threat QB right now. It's not all his fault though. Where are the easy completions? Not every pass has to go 10 yards through the air. Not to mention he can hardly hand the ball off thanks to the center shooting the snap all over the place. It makes no sense to be in shotgun on every single play anyway. You play with a slow tempo, hardly pass, and barely run spread option. Another thing that makes no sense is having your best lineman play OT/TE. I love the idea of the base offense having 4 lineman but I want to throw my shoe every time the best blocker on the team lines up as a receiver or is not even on the field. Unless you count that as changing the offense, this is by far the longest we've gone without a major change. I just don't get it. We've got great coaches with a history of adapting their offense to fit their personnel but they have been trying to shove a round peg into a square hole for years. It's past time to set this playbook aflame.
That's more than enough bitching; I prefer promoting solutions. F-M should run Wild Cat/Thug/Whatever-they-call-their-direct-snap-formation-now every play with Madison running the show. Get Blackburn and Van Houten involved with sweeps and zone read and BOOM, you are no longer incredibly predictable. They probably can't do this due to the previously mentioned snap issues. The next best solution would be run the same plays but from under center. That fixes the snap problem, fits the chosen style of play better, and greatly increases the effectiveness of play action. Neither of my solutions will happen, but a man can dream. All that said, we should still be able to run over the top of Moravia. They are the kind of team this offense works well against. They could make it a high scoring affair though. F-M was torched by teams that can't pass half as well as Moravia does.
New London (6-3) at Gladbrook-Reinbeck (7-1)
Gladbrook-Reinbeck hasn't been able to recreate the successes they had in 11-man but this could be their best team since dropping down. I'm rooting for them since New London is another team that beat F-M in the Dome.
Central City (7-1) at Tripoli (6-2)
Another very interesting matchup. I assume Tripoli's QB is the brother of the dude that broke the 1A state 100 meter record last spring so you know they got speed. Central City has had a similar turnaround as Clarksville but they are better. I think Central City gets it done in a game that will come down to the wire. Watch out for them next year.A classic matchup with a team that played a very weak schedule (Baxter) and one that played a tough one (CAM). The defending champs are playing their best ball and I expect them to roll.
Moravia (7-2) at Fremont-Mills (6-2)
Here we go. This post is not about how pathetic F-M looked against Lenox. They look like that every time they play a team that can tackle because this offensive scheme is garbage. Actually, it's an insult to garbage to compare the two. It's almost as bad as Iowa's offense. Your whole scheme can't be "run straight at your opponent until they quit". Only bad and mediocre teams fold. We've been running this junk since 2017 and the only time it worked was the back half of 2018 when the QB started carrying the ball more. This scheme has no shot of being successful without a true dual threat QB at the helm. Reed is a no-threat QB right now. It's not all his fault though. Where are the easy completions? Not every pass has to go 10 yards through the air. Not to mention he can hardly hand the ball off thanks to the center shooting the snap all over the place. It makes no sense to be in shotgun on every single play anyway. You play with a slow tempo, hardly pass, and barely run spread option. Another thing that makes no sense is having your best lineman play OT/TE. I love the idea of the base offense having 4 lineman but I want to throw my shoe every time the best blocker on the team lines up as a receiver or is not even on the field. Unless you count that as changing the offense, this is by far the longest we've gone without a major change. I just don't get it. We've got great coaches with a history of adapting their offense to fit their personnel but they have been trying to shove a round peg into a square hole for years. It's past time to set this playbook aflame.
That's more than enough bitching; I prefer promoting solutions. F-M should run Wild Cat/Thug/Whatever-they-call-their-direct-snap-formation-now every play with Madison running the show. Get Blackburn and Van Houten involved with sweeps and zone read and BOOM, you are no longer incredibly predictable. They probably can't do this due to the previously mentioned snap issues. The next best solution would be run the same plays but from under center. That fixes the snap problem, fits the chosen style of play better, and greatly increases the effectiveness of play action. Neither of my solutions will happen, but a man can dream. All that said, we should still be able to run over the top of Moravia. They are the kind of team this offense works well against. They could make it a high scoring affair though. F-M was torched by teams that can't pass half as well as Moravia does.
New London (6-3) at Gladbrook-Reinbeck (7-1)
Gladbrook-Reinbeck hasn't been able to recreate the successes they had in 11-man but this could be their best team since dropping down. I'm rooting for them since New London is another team that beat F-M in the Dome.
Central City (7-1) at Tripoli (6-2)
So that's Hillboy's