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Three of the four football teams in Rutherford County won last week and all three will get a chance to play in the postseason, starting Friday (11/13).
#4 seed in the 1A West, Thomas Jefferson will host #13 seed Albemarle. The Bulldogs could cause problems for the Gryphons despite a 3-8 record. Albemarle is one of the winningest 1A programs in North Carolina high school football history. The Bulldogs have five state title to their credit dating back to 2001.
However, Albemarle has won just four games in the last two seasons. Albemarle mainly is a running team with fullback Jacobi Emery (5-11, 231) getting much of the carries.
After beating Burns last week, #14 R-S Central will visit #3 Franklin in the 2AA playoffs.
Franklin is led by running back, Kelton Lowry, who went over 200 yards rushing last week.
East Rutherford heads to Reidsville in their matchup. The Cavaliers just escaped Chase, but have to take on the mighty Rams, who also have a storied high school football past.
Reidsville have about five or six that will tote the rock, but they don't mind throwing the ball around either on offense. Defensively, Reidsville is fairly solid against the run.
Chase boys soccer is still undefeated and hosted Trinity in the third round of the 2A state playoff on Wednesday (11/11). That is the farthest they have ever made the postseason and they still have home field advantage throughout as the No.2 overall seed. If they win, it's another home game on Saturday.
Thomas Jefferson soccer also continues their quest in the 1A playoff at the time of this column. They were in the second round facing Union Academy.
On the NASCAR scene, apparently the big topic of conversation continues to surround Matt Kenseth. Kenseth was suspended two races for intentionally ruining Joey Logano's championship chances. My only problem with the whole thing is that Kenseth pretty much drove Logano through the wall at Martinsville. While the cars are much safer now and Martinsville is the slowest track on the circuit, it still doesn't mean that the car is a weapon. Maybe I could understand a one race suspension just on those grounds. That is not what they nabbed Kenseth for in the first place.
However, Brian France was influenced by the media and political correctness. Nonetheless, he still got it wrong. Also, Brian is just as, if not more guilty than Kenseth.
France called Logano's move on Kenseth at Kansas "quintessential NASCAR." Well Brian, Kenseth's championship chances were ruined by Logano after he was spun out by Logano at Kansas.
The media tried to say that NASCAR should be embarrassed about what happened at Martinsville and that Kenseth's suspension fit the crime. No, no no no! Paybacks have been around for years and NASCAR's punishment this time versus other incidents such as this, don't match up.
If NASCAR wants TV ratings and fans in the stands, what Kenseth did at Martinsville, doesn't hurt the sport one bit. If anything, Joey Logano is now the newest villain in the sport and that does spark interest.
Quickly, when is the last time the Carolina Panthers have been 8-0 and the Clemson Tigers have been No.1 in the AP College Football Poll? Never! Until Sunday!!!
The Panthers have won games in about every fashion this season. The last two weeks, we have seen fast starts turn into late game heroics to win.
People can stop saying that the Panthers are not for real. They have beaten Seattle, Indy, Philly and now Green Bay. The Panthers go to Tennessee this coming weekend. Carolina has lost the previous three meetings with the Titans.
The Tigers on the other hand have gained the No.1 spot under the direction of Dabo Swinney. I am not convinced that they are number one, but they are undefeated. They have also beaten the likes of Miami, FSU, Georgia Tech and Notre Dame. Nobody wants to see Clemson win the title more than me, but there is still a lot of football to be played. Next up: Syracuse.
