31 replies to this topic

[Tomgruneberg]

I’m recently retired from coaching after 23 years. I’m going to try my hand at predicting the weekly winners-6 games a week for 9 weeks provided everyone makes it through the season.  I hope no one gets offended by these picks considering I’m still friends with most of these coaches…

 

WEEK 1 PICKS

First of all let’s wish best of luck to our 6 teams traveling to games this Friday night.  Hopefully it’s not on Zum…

Winners underlined and in bold

 

Game of the week:

Glenelg at Atholton.  This is where I’ll be Friday night for opening week action.  I went back and forth with this pick but I have to give Atholton the benefit of the doubt after the success they’ve had the past 2 seasons.  They have lost a ton of production from the QB and RB positions so we shall see if they can reload.  Coach Bell is working hard with the Glads, and they return a lot of players, but I don’t know if they have the athletes to knock off A town.  

 

Marriotts Ridge at Long Reach-Coach Willis and company should roll here even after losing the largest human ever to play in Howard County.  

 

Wilde Lake at Mount Hebron-Even though the Lake lost the first HOCO PSU commit since Maybin, (coincidentally a MtH grad) they should still have enough to handle a Peperone-less Hebron squad.  Coach Frederick (coincidentally a WL grad)has been building a solid program in Viking land, but WL’s defensive scheme is second to none.  😜

 

Centennial at Reservoir-  Looking ahead schedule wise, Resi could potentially start the season 3-0.  If you look at their off season videos, they’ve won the national championship already.  Anyway, here’s hoping Centennial makes it through the season so everyone gets their full 9 games.  

 

Oakland Mills at Howard - Howard may be in for a good ride this year-They should start off strong  against a scrappy OM squad.  

 

River Hill at Hammond-  Good early season matchup for the Hawks.  Not much more to say on this one-everyone knows how it should go.  

 

Best of Luck to all teams!

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial going undefeated

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 1 POSTMORTEM 

 

I went 4-2 in my picks-slightly disappointing, but week 1 has a lot of unknowns.  I made a joke about Zum transportation affecting this weeks schedule, but it turns out it did!  Several JV football games cancelled or moved due to lack of busses-truly unbelievable.  

 

Glenelg beats Atholton-Huge win to start off the Willy Bell era.  Glenelg looked scrappy and completed some clutch long passes when they needed to.  Atholton is undisciplined-huge personal foul penalties, coaches interacting more with the fans in the stands than coaching the game, snaps over the QB’s head.  We are back to pre-COVID Atholton.  

 

Long reach over MR, but it was a little closer than I would have expected.  Is MR on the upswing?

 

Hebron beats Lake by 25!   Certainly didn’t see that one coming.  Coach Frederick starting the season on a high note vs. his alma mater.  

 

Resi blows out Centennial as expected.  I wonder if the resi water camera guy got any carries?

 

Howard over OM by 2.  Apparently OM went for 2 both times and made neither.  Goes to show you that even though kickers are generally the biggest flakes on a team, they are quite important.  Darius Moore is a monster at RB for the Lions.  Hawks have their work cut out for them next week.

 

River Hill takes care of business vs Hammond.  

 

Week 2 picks come out Thursday. 

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 2 PICKS

 

The powers that be and Zum transportation are trying to eliminate JV football-all games cancelled this week——what a joke.  

 

RIVER HILL @ HOWARD—Game of the Week There may be a week where I pick against my Hawks, but this ain’t it.  Howard is 1-0 on the strength of their running game, but if there is anything we know about the Hawks D, it’s that they will sell out to stop the run. RH will need some of these younger starters to grow up fast.  Howard plays big boy football with a physical line and a well coached , balanced offense.  It will be a battle, but I think the young hawks pull it out in the end.

 

RESERVOIR @ OAKLAND MILLS—-Intriguing matchup here.  OM looked solid in a 2 point loss to Howard. Tried 2 two point conversions and missed both.  They continue to add more of the wing T type running game that you may have seen in Clarksville-even scoring on a counter criss-cross…the ultimate misdirection running play.   Can the Gators come out of the water and stop the scorps running game?  I’m picking them , but I’m not super confident.  

 

HAMMOND@ GLENELG.  Glenelg gets the bye after upsetting the 2 time County champs.  Glads move to 2-0

 

MOUNT HEBRON @ MARRIOTTS RIDGE-Another good match up, MR played Long Reach close, but word is that the Vikings have a physical ground and pound this year.  Some people may not know it, but Hebron has a heck of a line guy in Coach Davis.  If he has some material to work with, which it appears he does, Hebron could be dangerous for the rest of HOCO

 

LONG REACH @ ATHOLTON.  A-Town starts the season 0-2

 

WILDE LAKE @ CENTENNIAL   The lake show gets to lick their Viking inflicted wounds against the Eagles. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 30

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 2 POSTMORTEM 

 

5-1 Record this week -only game I picked wrong was my Hawks.  I’m 9-3 overall.  Some great games coming up next week, I need to get on Hudl to research my picks.  

 

Howard beats River Hill 12-8.  Defensive struggle in the Lions Den.  Penalties killed the Hawks, and you have to give the Howard coaching staff credit for making some crucial adjustments over the weekend.  Apparently Pusser’s Caribbean Grill is great for the football scheming mind.  Hawks had a chance to win it , making it to the Howard 2 yard line in the closing minutes of the game, but were unable to punch it in.  D Moore was injured in the game and did not return.  Hopefully he’s back in action quickly.  Howard moves to 2-0 with a huge matchup with 2-0 long reach next week.  

 

Resi smacks up the scorps 51-21.  I thought this one would be a little closer, but like I predicted earlier, Resi will start the season 3-0 (Hammond this week) and gain a ton of confidence for once they have to play anyone who actually has a win.  (combined opponent record 0-6)

 

Glenelg pounds Hammond as expected and moves to 2-0.  

 

Mount Hebron over Marriotts 41-16.  Vikings are red hot 2-0.  Game of the week next week vs the Gladiators.  

 

Long Reach blanks Atholton 26-0.  Atholton starts the season 0-2 after winning 2 straight HOCO championships.  Long Reach moves to 2-0 with a showdown with Howard next week.  

 

Wilde Lake handles Centennial as expected 26-0 and moves to 1-1.

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 3

Monday night football in HOCO!  2 games this week between undefeated teams!    We take a big step towards finding out who is supreme in Howard County.  Only 3 undefeated teams will remain after week 3.  

 

I was 5-1 last week, 9-3 overall.  I should have been 6-0.  Hawks lose a tough one on a botched call at the goal line.  Listen, I’m not one to cry about refs-I realize it’s a tough job, and those guys get less respect than a Zum bus driver, but in this case we have video reviewed by the head of our officials group..well, I’ll just give you his own words “The referee and the other officials on the field should know the rule. No excuse…I do not believe that the actions on either play met the standard for a foul”.   In other words-There was no penalty in the first place-and when they did call it, they marked it off for 10 yards instead of 5.  

 

 

HEBRON @ GLENELG—-Game of the Week.  It’s the Hebron ground and pound vs the new air raid Gladiators.  Glenelg may have one of the best home field environments in Hoco, but we all know that the run game travels.  Can Hebron stop the sprint out pass game?  People who live near the school have been confused seeing all these brown objects flying though the air.  I’m picking them, but I’m not super confident-Glenelg has a swagger not seen since the days of the legendary Butch and 15 Owens brothers.  

 

HOWARD @ LONG REACH—-Another game of the week. Both teams 2-0.  I’m giving the Lightning the advantage here due to a possibly weakened lions run game.  A shut out victory over Atholton means the reach is playing some D.  Those LR DB’s are greedy, the lions need to be careful if they want to air it out.  I’ll be at this game since I’ve already traveled to god forsaken Glenelg once this year.  

 

 

MR @ Oakland Mills-  I like the scorps in this one.  Wing T run game will prove to be too much for the ponies.  Somebody gets their first win this week.  

 

HAMMOND @ RESI.-  Resi should easily take care of business here and start their season 3-0.  Resi gets an early season schedule gift that’s better than a waterproof camera.  Centennial, OM, Hammond.  Combined 0-6

 

RIVER HILL @ CENTENNIAL    River Hill gets the Centennial bye week.  

 

ATHOLTON @ WILDE LAKE.  First meeting of these 2 since the “brawl for it all” last year on Freetown.   WL’s only win is over Centennial.  I think Atholton gets their first win here.  Hopefully the WL AD can keep the stadium under control. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 40

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 3 POSTMORTEM 

 

4-2 on the week-13-5 overall .  It’s anybody’s game in HOCO in terms of the county title.  

 

Hebron takes it to Glenelg 23-7.  When the running back is talking about taking peoples souls and  the names of all 5 OL get mentioned in the article, you know it was a good day for the run game.  

 

Howard smacks Long Reach 24-0.  I really thought the Howard run game would be deficient after D Moore left the game vs. RH.  Well, I was very wrong as he rushed for 150 minimum tonight.  The LR D  that I thought was decent was nonexistent.  LR has a lot to work on before a big game with RH.  

 

Marriotts Ridge handles the scorps 39-27.  I had the scorps winning this one, but they seem to have gotten progressively worse since a 2 point week 1 loss to Howard.  

 

Resi blows out Hammond.  

 

RH beats Centennial.  

 

Atholton gets their first win over WL

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 4

 

Some interesting matchups this week, unfortunately I won’t be at any games since I’ll be in Gainesville watching the Florida Gators play the Charlotte Poggi’s Saturday night.  (SEC network 7:00). Interesting side note-Charlotte has 29 (!) players on the roster from Saint Frances Academy in Baltimore. The Gators have 1 player from MD-a god forsaken kicker from Severna Park named Trey Smack.  (Mainly a kickoff guy, but he did have 2 PATs vs Tennessee last week). I’m pumped to attend my first game in the swamp. 🐊🐊🐊. On to the picks.  

 

GLENELG @ RESERVOIR.  Game of the week for sure.  So many dynamics at play here.  Glenelg is banged up after a physical battle with the Vikings.  I saw Resi live vs. RH in a scrimmage and they were not impressive.  But they are 3-0. They have played no one this year (combined record of their 3 teams is 0-6). I guess that means they should be super fresh for the Glads.  For these reasons, I’m grudgingly picking the gators at their home field in this one.

 

MARRIOTTS RIDGE @ HAMMOND.  Ridge gets the win here-not much to say on this one.  I think MR is improving as the season progresses.  

 

 OAKLAND MILLS @ MOUNT HEBRON.   Hebron should move to 4-0 on the year.  #1 Aidan Hauf and #3 Coleman have both been over 100 yds all three games and they’re talking about taking souls in the paper.  LFG.  Where is the OM that was 2 XP’s away from a tie ball game at Howard?

 

HOWARD at WILDE LAKE-  The Lake Show is struggling a little right now and Howard is rolling after thrashing Long Reach Monday night. This one could get ugly for the wildEcats.  

 

CENTENNIAL @ ATHOLTON-    Atholton should win their second straight here to bring themselves back to .500.  

 

LONG REACH @ RIVER HILL.  Battle of the schools that opened in 1996-one has 4 state championships and one has…well…anyway, Huge Ravens Rise game here and I’m sad to miss it.  The Ravens are very supportive of high school athletics and there will be a Ravens player there.  Long Reach does not look like the formidable team we’ve seen the past few years capable of big strike offensive plays with a super fast D.  I like the Hawks in this one.

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 40

[Tomgruneberg]

My first 6-0 week!

 

WEEK 4 POSTMORTEM 

 

Week 4 is finally complete as Atholton had their Saturday game moved to Tuesday due to a few rain drops.  

 

6-0 ON THE WEEK!   The county is starting to shake out a little bit.  The top teams are pulling away from the pack.  

 

River Hill dispatches the reach 28-8 in front of a huge crowd for the Ravens Rise game of the week.  Marlon Humphrey and Geno Stone in attendance for the Ravens.  

 

Resi The rowdy reptiles of reservoir squeak by Glenelg 13-5.  According to @aka_themamba (a must follow on X) this is the first time Resi has ever been 4-0.  

 

Hebron continues their winning ways with a 35-12 victory over the scorps.  They still have River Hill, Howard and Reservoir remaining on the schedule.  Can they run the gauntlet to 9-0?

 

Howard over the Lake 14-6, much closer than I would have expected-maybe the Lake can give the Hawks something this week.  The Lions don’t seem to want to dictate and take over games, they seem to wait until they are down to start playing.  They do, however, remain one of the three undefeateds.  

 

The Ridge takes care of business vs the Bears.  

 

Atholton takes it to Centennial 38-0.  Raiders have won their last 2. 

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 5

 

We are starting to separate the men from the boys in HOCO.  With most teams playing 2 games last week, we are back on our regular schedule.  I’m 19-5, hoping to go 6-0 again this week.  

 

GLENELG @ OAKLAND MILLS.  Glenelg has dropped their last 2 , but they should get back on track this week vs. the scorps.  

 

HAMMOND @ MOUNT HEBRON.  A running clock on old Frederick road.  Hebron moves to 5-0.  The refs love these games because they get home early.  

 

RESERVOIR @ MARRIOTTS RIDGE-  The ridge will put up a fight and they have won their last 2, but they don’t bring enough to the party to keep Resi from swimming to 5-0.  

 

CENTENNIAL @ LONG REACH.    The reach will get back on the winning side during the Centennial bye week.  

 

WILDE LAKE @ RIVER HILL.  The lake played Howard tough last week, but they won’t be able to hang with these hawks.  Jett Born (198 last week) and Shrek (the pounder)will run wild(E). RH D looked good against Long Reach.  RH moves to 4-1.  

 

HOWARD @ ATHOLTON.  Atholton has won their last 2, but I don’t expect them to knock off Howard.  D Moore should run for 150+ against this porous defense and Howard stays undefeated. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 53

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 5 POSTMORTEM 

 

Well it was a week of upsets in HOCO.  Undefeated Howard loses to Atholton and a 1 loss RH squad falls to Wilde Lake.  

 

I went 4-2 on the week with an overall record of 23-7.

 

Let’s start with the Friday night action.  

Oakland Mills kept it close vs Glenelg only losing 10-0.  Gladiators move to 3-2 and OM is still searching for their first win.  

A wise coach once told me that, much like a rattlesnake in your sleeping bag, turnovers will kill you.  That’s what happened in the other Friday night games.  By all accounts Marriotts Ridge should have beaten Reservoir , but they fumbled the ball away twice in crucial situations. Resi remains undefeated .  

In the same vein, River Hill appeared to be cruising for a victory over Wilde Lake.  A crucial turnover at the goal line changed the tone of this game as well.  WL’s running back #26 was a rushing force for the Cats and they also had a crazy 99 yard run play.  Backed up on their own 1 yard line, they ran a QB lead to get some breathing room.  It appeared the hawks pushed the pile back enough for a safety, but somehow another WL players comes out of the scrum and takes it 99 yards to the house.  Crazy play.  

 

Then on Saturday another huge upset happens-the 2-2 Atholton Raiders knock off the undefeated Howard Lions.  Shocker.  Definitely on my list to watch this week.  

 

Centennial stays within 5 points of Long Reach.  Wow.  Somehow Centennial doesn’t play Hammond or Oakland Mills.  How can that be?

 

Mount Hebron lays the smack down on Hammond.  The clock runs.  

 

2 undefeated teams remain: Reservoir and Mount Hebron.  Resi plays a resurgent atholton next week while Hebron gets the hawks. 

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 6

 

Last week 4-2.  Overall 23-7

 

ATHOLTON @ RESERVOIR. UPSET ALERT   I wasn’t high on the raiders early in the year when I saw them lose to Glenelg, but they’ve won their last 3, including knocking off previously unbeaten Howard.  Resi is headed the other direction-Ridge GAVE them the game last week AND they have crucial injuries.  2 teams headed in opposite directions-I give this one to the raiders. 

 

CENTENNIAL @ GLENELG.   Guess I can’t really call it the Centennial bye week-they are hanging tougher with teams than I have seen in the past.  Although they are still winless this year, they were within 5 points of a Long Reach program that has crushed them many times.  

 

MARRIOTTS RIDGE @ HOWARD. MR’s 2 wins have come against winless programs (OM and Hamm) so I don’t have much faith in them knocking off Howard.  Howard should be plenty pissed off after being upset by the Raiders.  Sometimes you need a loss like that to light a fire under your ass.  

 

OAKLAND MILLS @ LONG REACH. The lightning are a tough squad to get a handle on.  They blow out Atholton by 20 earlier in the year, then last week they barely beat Centennial by 5.  They need to somehow get the ball in the hands of Jaylen Etheridge more often.  He’s usually the fastest player on the field.  

 

WILDE LAKE @ HAMMOND.   Some unsolicited advice to a struggling team: Put your QB UNDER CENTER and install about 6 running plays and maybe 3 or 4 passes.  Rep these plays until they become automatic.  If the QB can’t get the snap and your team can’t line up correctly, you have zero chance of success.  For years I’ve seen these bad teams try to run shotgun spread like they see on Saturdays and the QB is running all over creation trying to track down the snap and the play is dead before it even starts.  Anyway…rant over, Cats get the win here.  

 

MOUNT HEBRON @ RIVER HILL. As much as it pains me to do it, I’m gonna pick against my hawks this week.  The injuries are just too much for a squad that isn’t very deep to begin with.  The sideline in Clarksville looks like the waiting room at Howard County General.  Way too many walking wounded.  The Hebron run game, while fairly predictable, is tough to stop when run effectively.  They are moving people off the ball and the H bomb of Hauf and Hallums are running hard.  After what I saw Antoine do to the hawks D last week, I don’t like their chances. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Eagles by 57

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 6 POSTMORTEM 

 

5-1 on the week-28-8 overall

 

What I didn’t see happening was The Ridge knocking off Howard-totally unexpected .  Howard has lost 2 straight after winning their first 4.  

 

Atholton knocked off their second undefeated opponent in as many weeks, beating Reservoir 13-0.  Atholton is much improved from their opening week stinker vs. Glenelg.  

 

Glenelg blanks Centennial 24-0

 

Long Reach beats Oakland Mills 10-0. OM in another close game, but they just can’t get that elusive first W.

 

Wilde Lake rolls Hammond 45-7

 

And finally…Mount Hebron does something they have not done since 2003, and that’s beat the Hawks from River Hill.  Gigantic program win for the vikes and they remain the only undefeated team in Howard County

[Tomgruneberg]

WEEK 7

 

I’m 28-8 overall headed into week 7.  I’m disappointed in that record,  but unlike a coach from Dundalk, I’m not quitting on the season.  

 

GLENELG @ HOWARD-  Both of these teams are 4-2,  but I believe they are headed in opposite directions.  Howard had an all time implosion last week, giving up 36 unanswered points to Marriotts  Ridge.  I will grant you that Glenelg has not beaten anyone since week 1 (ATH), but I’m not sure if the Howard players have just quit on the season or what.  The MR/HOW film is unbelievable-multiple onside kicks recovered and a back who apparently became Barry Sanders in the second half to score 36 straight points.  

 

MOUNT HEBRON @ CENTENNIAL   Saint Duvall looked down from Trumpeter road and said “I have an elucidation-you must run the toss power”.  And baby Doug said “I will”.  And the next thing you know, the Vikings are undefeated.  The H bombs will run for 150 each and the left tackle may have double digit cakes in this massacre.  

 

ATHOLTON @ OAKLAND MILLS.  Much like the Orioles in the postseason, OM is still searching for win # 1.  It’s not gonna be this week.  They do play the golden bears week 9.  Somebodies gotta win that one.  Atholton has ripped off 4 straight, including a shut out of previously unbeaten Resi.  

 

LONG REACH @ HAMMOND.  Hammond scored their first TD in 6 games last week so there’s that.  However, they have not held an opponent under 40 this year.  Nothing should change this week.  As Garth Brooks once said-The Thunder rolls.  

 

WILDE LAKE @ RESERVOIR.  I think the Gators will get back on the winning side here in a close game with the Lake.  

 

RIVER HILL @ MARRIOTTS RIDGE. MR is coming off a huge upset win over Howard and should have beaten Resi the week before.  Hawks are coming off a historic loss to Hebron (20 years). MR gets the win here in a close one. 

[Pedro Cerrano]

Centennial Eagles by 74!