Region 2 '08

[Hinsa]

A place to discuss the happenings in Region 2 now that the region season is upon us.

Showdown this week - Richland vs. Hillsboro. It's only one game and it's early, but this one has huge seeding ramifications. Looks like Richland has figured out a passing game this year. That could give Hillsboro trouble. But Richland has to figure out a way to stop Hillsboro's running game.

Wyndmere-Lidgerwood at Northern Cass - Northern Cass can take a huge step forward for their program if they can knock off W-L, but I don't see it. W-L is too tough in the line. I think Ruben Perales is a beast on the D-line. He'll have a field day in the Jaguar backfield.

[BballFan1307]

at the beginning of the year i didnt expect FSHP to be that bad, but they have struggled much more than i had thought they would.... they are going to need some guys to step up on the line ihry is gettin crushed.

[Hinsa]

at the beginning of the year i didnt expect FSHP to be that bad, but they have struggled much more than i had thought they would.... they are going to need some guys to step up on the line ihry is gettin crushed.

I was very surprised with the Thompson vs FSHP result. After FSHP beat CV and Thompson got whooped by Hillsboro I thought FSHP would have no problem with Thompson. What surprises me most is that Thompson put 36 on the board.

Ihry getting crushed just shows the value of a good offensive line. If you don't have the grunts up front opening holes it doesn't matter how good your backfield is.

[BballFan1307]

yeah, and its not like the dominated CV either. Only won by six points. Hopefully the O-line can come around so they can get turned around.

[booyah]

A place to discuss the happenings in Region 2 now that the region season is upon us.

Showdown this week - Richland vs. Hillsboro. It's only one game and it's early, but this one has huge seeding ramifications. Looks like Richland has figured out a passing game this year. That could give Hillsboro trouble. But Richland has to figure out a way to stop Hillsboro's running game.

Wyndmere-Lidgerwood at Northern Cass - Northern Cass can take a huge step forward for their program if they can knock off W-L, but I don't see it. W-L is too tough in the line. I think Ruben Perales is a beast on the D-line. He'll have a field day in the Jaguar backfield.

i think richland can stop hillsboro's running game. it will be extremely tough because the veer offense that they run is tough to stop no matter what....and they run it very well. in richlands first game against edgeley-kulm they allowed only 27 yards in the second half. granted....the first half was 225 but once they started doing the little things you see what happens. and i agree with the passing game....i think passing may come as a big part of fridays game.

i agree 100% with what you say about the W-L at NC game. wyndmere always has an outstanding line. thats their coach's trademark.

[Hinsa]

Anybody besides Enriquez getting ground yardage for Richland? And are they running some spread this year?

[homer]

watched the edgley game and it looked like a little of everything

[Hinsa]

Wow - things got interesting this Friday!

Wyndmere-Lidgerwood beats Richland, Hillsboro bombs Northern Cass, Hankinson beats FSHP, and BCN bombs GCC.

W-L is in first with Hankinson (I think). Richland had the letdown that they had to avoid against W-L. This sets up a huge game in Hillsboro next week against W-L. If W-L wins, they are in the drivers seat for the region title. If Hillsboro wins, that really sends things into a fun mess. Hankinson will have a lot to say about the region title before it's all over too.

Whew - exciting stuff!

What really confuses me is that W-L only beats Northern Cass by one, then beats Richland by 14. And Hillsboro loses to Richland by one but beats up on Northern Cass big time.

Anybody care to try to explain all this?

[booyah]

i can explain it. richland did not come to play at all. they had 4 fumbles and wyndmere recovered all of them. richlands line didnt seem like they were blocking too well. in the second half they did a little better.....but not much better. ugly game.

[Region 2 fan]

These kids are high schoolers. Richland beat the number one team in the state. so what goes into the heads of the kids....we're the number one team in the state. Coaches always worry about that coming off a huge win to a great team. Richland came in thinking they could just win with little effort as possible and got their butts handed to em.

I'm very interested to see how this region ends up. My guess is Hillsboro wins out and wins the region. W-L will finish second and Richland third...

[Ocho Siete]

Not only did Richland beat the #1 team in state, it was a back and forth, emotional win for them which took alot out of them. You see this kinda thing all the time, even in the pros, when the team beats a division rival emotional in a up-and-down game, and then has nothing left for next week.

Where is the Hillsboro-WL game at? That could be a good one to go to...even tho I might be bad luck

[homer]

in hillsboro i believe

[homer]

these early losses are probably a good character builder for teams. end of the year will be interesting if everyone wins out. 3-way tie with the nod going to W-L probably. and yes hankinson could be the big spoiler laying in the weeds waiting to pounce

[Hinsa]

So who woulda thought that Hankinson would be alone atop the region at this point in the season? Now the road gets a lot tougher for the Pirates - W-L up next.

It sure looked like W-L missed Perales against Hillsboro. Not that he would have made a 40 point difference, but without him W-L looked lost. Can the Warriors pull it together and knock Hankinson off their perch?

Anybody think FSHP has a shot against Richland? Northern Cass played Richland tough, can the Spartans do the same? Hmmmm.....it will be tough. I think the Colts defense has proven they scheme to stop a top flight runner when they held down Andrew Grothmann. With Ihry being pretty much THE threat for the Spartans, I think the Colts will find a way to contain him.

[BballFan1307]

the only way fshp will beat richland is if their o-line performs... they have to limit their turnovers and play some solid D and play their best game of the year

[football45]

Interesting couple of weeks in the region. Heres my take on the region, take it and run with it.

Hillsboro - Is hands down the best team in the region if not the state. Offensivley they can score whenever they want and defensively they play a tough zone def that is hard to stop esp. with the run stoppers they have. Ya they overlooked Richland, but as it showed against Ncass and W-L, they arent in the same league as the other teams. They would mop up Class A teams. They are my pick for to win it all hands down

After that it is going to be a fight for #2 and #3. W-L and Richland have proven they are teams that can be at the top and they have also shown weaknesses. For them it all will depend who shows up come playoff time. Richland i would say has a edge on W-L even though head to head Wyndmere beat them. Richland beat Hillsboro, we all know that, but wyndmree didnt even have a chance against Hillsboro.

Hankinson hasnt recieved much respect. They are a tough team, but their schedule so far has been pretty cupcake. Wait and see when they play wyndmere, richland, hillsboro and ncass and then they can brag about being undefeated.

After that there isnt much talent or hope for the playoffs......sorry

[Hinsa]

Football 45 - I have to agree with your assessment of who will make the playoffs. As for where those 4 will finish - that is a wide open question.

Hankinson is really the wild card in all this. They completely control who finishes where because they have yet to play W-L, Richland or Hillsboro. Tons of ways this could go yet.

[busch3434]

Interesting couple of weeks in the region. Heres my take on the region, take it and run with it.

Hillsboro - Is hands down the best team in the region if not the state. Offensivley they can score whenever they want and defensively they play a tough zone def that is hard to stop esp. with the run stoppers they have. Ya they overlooked Richland, but as it showed against Ncass and W-L, they arent in the same league as the other teams. They would mop up Class A teams. They are my pick for to win it all hands down

After that it is going to be a fight for #2 and #3. W-L and Richland have proven they are teams that can be at the top and they have also shown weaknesses. For them it all will depend who shows up come playoff time. Richland i would say has a edge on W-L even though head to head Wyndmere beat them. Richland beat Hillsboro, we all know that, but wyndmree didnt even have a chance against Hillsboro.

Hankinson hasnt recieved much respect. They are a tough team, but their schedule so far has been pretty cupcake. Wait and see when they play wyndmere, richland, hillsboro and ncass and then they can brag about being undefeated.

After that there isnt much talent or hope for the playoffs......sorry

You may want to think twice about that comment. I will admit Hillsboro has a very good team and thats what happens when you get kids to buy into the program and stick with it. HIllsboro has succeeded in this the last what...5-6 years if not a bit longer? But mopping up class A teams? They have a very good chance of competing but by far will they be mopping up. Somebody said something a while ago about in 9-man you can have a few stars and be a good team, class A-AAA all need more than just a few stars to succeed and be good. This region is going to be wide open and you're right about Hankinson being a sleeper. However, I'd have faith in Coach Strenge for W-L if I was you. I've played for the guy and since his first year there, he has never had back-to-back losses, even if the team loses big one week and has lost a few guys. I trust he will get his kids re-focused for that game. Also, that W-L and Hankinson rivalry is big and in that game all records out the window. The kids really get up for this and the last couple times the team that talked the most lost. My senior year playing against them, Hankinson was talking throughout the game and we put up 58 points on them. Since that year it's been a very good series with W-L coming out on top by 1 each year so it's going to be a good game, regardless of record.

[Hinsa]

Busch3434 - what is Perales' injury and how long is he out?

[busch3434]

Talked to the kid this weekend....fractured foot so it's season ending. He said it's getting a cast put on this week and that's on for a few weeks.

[Hinsa]

Oh man, that stinks. Perales is a good player. Ya just hate to see that...

[SUBison]

This is really to bad Perales is hurt. Is there any chance of him playing against Hankinson. Mr. Busch is right records don't matter in this game. This is a huge rivalry in which its basically you cant lose to the other or you have to deal with it the rest of the year. Hankinson also hasn't beat W-L in the last few tries so maybe this is their year but no matter what I am positive this will be a fun game to watch

[football45]

Besides Hillsboro's stupid numbers........who else is putting up All state caliber numbers?

[homer]

you can check the ndhsaa website (its about all they have in there)it has the matchups #1-#2 all get byes.

[Ginsbach]

Interesting couple of weeks in the region. Heres my take on the region, take it and run with it.

Hillsboro - Is hands down the best team in the region if not the state. Offensivley they can score whenever they want and defensively they play a tough zone def that is hard to stop esp. with the run stoppers they have. Ya they overlooked Richland, but as it showed against Ncass and W-L, they arent in the same league as the other teams. They would mop up Class A teams. They are my pick for to win it all hands down

After that it is going to be a fight for #2 and #3. W-L and Richland have proven they are teams that can be at the top and they have also shown weaknesses. For them it all will depend who shows up come playoff time. Richland i would say has a edge on W-L even though head to head Wyndmere beat them. Richland beat Hillsboro, we all know that, but wyndmree didnt even have a chance against Hillsboro.

Hankinson hasnt recieved much respect. They are a tough team, but their schedule so far has been pretty cupcake. Wait and see when they play wyndmere, richland, hillsboro and ncass and then they can brag about being undefeated.

After that there isnt much talent or hope for the playoffs......sorry

You may want to think twice about that comment. I will admit Hillsboro has a very good team and thats what happens when you get kids to buy into the program and stick with it. HIllsboro has succeeded in this the last what...5-6 years if not a bit longer? But mopping up class A teams? They have a very good chance of competing but by far will they be mopping up. Somebody said something a while ago about in 9-man you can have a few stars and be a good team, class A-AAA all need more than just a few stars to succeed and be good. This region is going to be wide open and you're right about Hankinson being a sleeper. However, I'd have faith in Coach Strenge for W-L if I was you. I've played for the guy and since his first year there, he has never had back-to-back losses, even if the team loses big one week and has lost a few guys. I trust he will get his kids re-focused for that game. Also, that W-L and Hankinson rivalry is big and in that game all records out the window. The kids really get up for this and the last couple times the team that talked the most lost. My senior year playing against them, Hankinson was talking throughout the game and we put up 58 points on them. Since that year it's been a very good series with W-L coming out on top by 1 each year so it's going to be a good game, regardless of record.

Joe, I don't know what game you were watching your senior year... Hankinson-FCT (as the team was at that point) was something like 1-4 by the time we played you guys. None of us seniors were too optimistic about that game, and I don't recall anyone talking on the sidelines.

But, I do agree that this whole region is up in the air right now. Should be fun to watch for the rest of the season.