Pigskin preps bi-district playoff picks for all of 4A

[waterboy]

Melissa sounds like the team to beat in Region 2 if everything that is being said is spot on. It's really hard to tell how they will match up with the beasts from the East, though. I know historically they haven't matched up well at all. Maybe this year is different. We shall see. I just hope the Buckeyes continue to play. I honestly think the Buckeyes will get their rematch with Pleasant Grove in the Regional Finals. I've been wrong before, so it wouldn't be the first time I'd be wrong. Pleasant Grove has a really special team this year. I will say that. It's going to take a heck of a team to beat them. I will also say that the Buckeyes are starting to put it together defensively this year. I've been encouraged by what I've seen the last couple of weeks. They're not there yet but they're not really far from being good enough to continue playing deep into the playoffs.

[orange machine]

Melissa sounds like the team to beat in Region 2 if everything that is being said is spot on. It's really hard to tell how they will match up with the beasts from the East, though. I know historically they haven't matched up well at all. Maybe this year is different. We shall see. I just hope the Buckeyes continue to play. I honestly think the Buckeyes will get their rematch with Pleasant Grove in the Regional Finals. I've been wrong before, so it wouldn't be the first time I'd be wrong. Pleasant Grove has a really special team this year. I will say that. It's going to take a heck of a team to beat them. I will also say that the Buckeyes are starting to put it together defensively this year. I've been encouraged by what I've seen the last couple of weeks. They're not there yet but they're not really far from being good enough to continue playing deep into the playoffs.

Good post. Melissa has been rebuilding the last 4 years just like Celina maybe doing the same.

[d0tc0m]

Good post. Melissa has been rebuilding the last 4 years just like Celina maybe doing the same.

Celina has good kids on the team right now. They're really just a few key pieces from being a legitimate title contender, and those pieces will be coming up next year. Celina's JV team went 11-0 and really took the opposition to the woodshed this year. They played some very stout competition, too. The other underclassmen teams did really well, too.

The sophomore QB who captained that 11-0 mark is pretty good. In my opinion, he should be the QB for the varsity, but I completely understand the coaching rationale in keeping him with the group he's with and letting him develop with them. Ross, Celina's QB all season, has all the tools you would want a QB to have. He is super quick and shifty and has a strong arm and decent size. But he has just not progressed at all this year the way you would like to see. Some of that is within his control and some of it is just a lack of feel for the game, in all honesty. He's a really good kid, from what I hear, and a good teammate. But, my hope is that next year, they utilize his sheer athleticism and abilities in other ways besides QB. He could really put up some big numbers as a hybrid running back/receiver type, and could honestly play on the defensive side, too. I would like for the coaches to develop Watson, the sophomore, and let him have two good years as the varsity starter beginning next year. With him under center, and with Ross being utilized in a different offensive role, you could have quite the explosive tandem, in my opinion.

But, I trust these coaches. They know far more than me, that's for sure, and they know their kids really well. They'll do what's best for the team and the program.

[d0tc0m]

With all that, I have written off the Bobcats from this postseason, yet, so don't misread anything I've said. I actually like the matchups for Celina in the bottom half of the Region II bracket. I think they matchup better there, in all actuality, than they would have if they had won the district and been put in the top half of the bracket.