[gapman]

Johnson Central's chances don't look good to me. If the Golden Eagles manage to hang close, I will be pleasantly surprised. I expect that Belfry's run defense is better than Ashland's and the Pirates are more experienced at most positions than Johnson Central. An upset in this game would give Johnson Central a lot of momentum heading into the playoffs but much more experienced JC teams have had trouble winning at Belfry in the past - and that is a huge understatement.

This game is always a hard hitting affair and I hope both teams manage to come away with all of their players healthy for the post season.

Belfry is tough to run against between the tackles. The second level plays tight and they key well. If Matney stays with the usual game plan the Eagles will probably lose this one. Without a viable passing threat it's Jude or bust and that's not meant to be harsh but that's the way I see it. What helped make JJ such a devastaing threat last year was the running threat Hall brought to the table plus I think the most underrated force coming out of the backfield last year was Ousley. If he didn't carry he was a very dependable blocking back which was huge and pivotal to JC's offensive scheme.

On the other hand, if Belfry can't put together any kind of passing attack and are forced to stay up the gut I can see JC bending but not breaking. Belfry is strong and their team speed is all it is advertised to be. They really surprised me in those areas. So many times you see a really big team that has grossly overweight down linemen that have a hard time lifting their heads to even see their blocking assignment and mobility is an issue. Belfry is not in that catagory.

It's past the point in the season when you could look for a letdown by either team so it will be a matter of who wants it most.


Belfry -21
JC - 14