thePITman
Well-known member
I predict Rittman wins that game, but could be a decent game. Probably the best matchup this week in the WCAL.
WCAL Football 2023
- Thread starter Bobcatsfan2016
- Start date
WrestlingGuy285
Member
I'm not so sure. Dennis has that defense firing on all cylinders right now, albeit against not the best of compettion, and to say the Golden Bears offense has been underwhelming would be an understatement judging off the final scores of games alone. I think Sonego continues what's been a great start to his junior year and Rittman wins by a couple scores at least
thePITman
Well-known member
Very possible. Of the 4 matchups, which will be the closest final score?
Chippewa @ Hillsdale (ouch)
Norwayne @ Northwestern (ouch)
Dalton @ Smithville (probably an ouch)
Waynedale @ Rittman (?)
CasualFan24
Well-known member
Careful though....feeling awful confident after Rittman beat a Northwestern team that played their best WR at QB for most of the game last week and attempted actual run plays all of 4 times in the entire game. Northwestern is probably the worst team in Northeast Ohio right now....
I expect Rittman to win tonight....but it is most definitely the best game on paper in WCAL. The other 3 games are running clocks at 15:00 to go in the 3rd quarter.
How many WCAL teams are playing JV games every week? I am sure that Dalton, Norwayne, and Hillsdale have plenty of players for a JV team. Do any of the other WCAL schools even have enough numbers to play JV every week? These participation issues are probably not going anywhere. It's really too bad for the schools at the top of the league who have reputable football programs. I am sure they scramble every week trying to find JV games for their players to get some game reps. It sucks for the lower level programs too as their younger players are playing varsity when they have no business being on a varsity field from a physical safety standpoint. Then kids coming from the middle school see what it's like for young players in their district at the high school level. Many will choose not to participate because of the beatings that await them. It's a vicious cycle.
CasualFan24
Well-known member
I know for sure the Northwestern does NOT have a JV team.....
I honestly think it's just them and Chippewa not playing JVs right now...
Oldsmithie
Active member
Waynedale 12 Rittman 7
Dalton 35 Smithville 0
Norwayne 70 Northwestern 12
Hillsdale 40 Chippewa 0
Dalton 35 Smithville 0
Norwayne 70 Northwestern 12
Hillsdale 40 Chippewa 0
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Oldsmithie
Active member
Went to the Rittman game. Sloppy play and many penalties! 3 personal fouls on one play! (one on Waynedale and two Rittman). After seeing these two teams in person, In my opinion, Smithville "should" beat them.
Bobcatsfan2016
Active member
As much as I want rittman to win I think they finish with a 5-5 record . At best 6-4
CasualFan24
Well-known member
Agreed - losing to Waynedale is no bueno....they'll probably beat Chippewa, but that's it. Not beating Smithville.
Bobcatsfan2016
Active member
I would have loved to them come to norwayne 5-0 lol
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Oldsmithie
Active member
Lets look at this week. I think two of these games will be close.
Smithville @ Waynedale
Hillsdale @ Dalton
Rittman @ Norwayne
Northwestern @ Chippewa
Smithville @ Waynedale
Hillsdale @ Dalton
Rittman @ Norwayne
Northwestern @ Chippewa
Bobcatsfan2016
Active member
Smithville vs Waynedale and northwestern vs chip your two ?
Oldsmithie
Active member
I think you are right! Neither has much of an offense.
BobBBaulzack
Well-known member
From listening to you guys I expected Smithville to be terrible with a lot of discipline issues Friday night. I didn't see that at all & thought they played hard & were very physical.
iveseenitall
ne nothi tere te
From what I have heard, Hillsdale was driving the ball on Norwayne before both pick 6's.
Yep, I thought the same, although they simply weren’t very talented.
CasualFan24
Well-known member
Didn't help that they're QB must have hurt his throwing arm or something. He only played the first 2 series for them I think. Then #12 played QB the rest of the game and I'm pretty sure he's only a freshman. The original starter at QB did finish the game playing defense though...so not sure what the injury was...
BIG ED
Well-known member
Watched the game on replay. The Smithies played hard, but early in the first half Dalton was their own worst enemy. Penalties, penalties and more penalties stopped their offense from gaining much momentum. The Bulldogs look to have a deep playoff run coming. Hillsdale and Norwayne look to be their only possible hiccups.
I saw some rivalry spirit for sure, but that isn’t something you see every game, It’s just part of the perplexing part of Smithville football. If you watched the Lucas or Chippewa game, you would see a much different attitude. The discipline was better but I think some of that has to do with issues that happened the week prior
Oldsmithie
Active member
Smithville used to be good at developing talent (the Schrock era) but not so much anymore. I think the talented "fast" kids are playing soccer at Smithville. I hope Olsen is encouraging the 7th and 8th grade football players. Smithville has been in down cycle for 12 years now.
Oldsmithie
Active member
Time to get a better offensive coordinator!
CasualFan24
Well-known member
The MS teams last year and this year for Smithville ran rough shot through the league. They were by far the best teams. They have a full grown man playing RB for the 8th grade team right now - expecting him to make some noise as a freshman next year!
That 8th grade class at Smithville is really talented, led by the running back that you mentioned. Is the Smithville program good enough to not waste the talent in a group like that? I am not convinced that Smithville has the program infrastructure and coaching to consistently knock off programs like Dalton and Norwayne even with the influx of talent coming up. When good classes are mishandled by bad programs, you usually see several kids quitting during the first year or two of high school and then the more talented players leveling off as they progress through their high school years. For the sake of the league, I hope this Smithville group can stay together and flourish as they go through high school.
I think some of the Smithie faithful share the fear that this coaching staff will ruin / waste the current 8th grade talent.
Smithville has always struggled to develop a prototypical quarterback. You have to look back to the early 2010’s to find a true playmaker under center… This current offense puts a lot of weight on the QB to make plays, and it’s just not working… Instead of using the biggest strength, which is running backs. Same can be said for receivers, you just don’t see much talent there.
Far to often, players just look lost.. Running plays take forever to develop, which leads to a ton of negative plays and there’s no consistency in play calling. Offensive overhaul is definitely needed to see any success against the top half of the league
Smithville has always struggled to develop a prototypical quarterback. You have to look back to the early 2010’s to find a true playmaker under center… This current offense puts a lot of weight on the QB to make plays, and it’s just not working… Instead of using the biggest strength, which is running backs. Same can be said for receivers, you just don’t see much talent there.
Far to often, players just look lost.. Running plays take forever to develop, which leads to a ton of negative plays and there’s no consistency in play calling. Offensive overhaul is definitely needed to see any success against the top half of the league