Flat Rock/Grosse Ile: Flat Rock has won 3 in a row against the Red Devils including last years shutout 32-0. Grosse Ile has proved all year that they can move the ball on anybody.
The Rams are fresh off an impressive win over their main rival Huron. Look for the Rams to run the ball virtually every play while sprinkling in a pass here and there. Defensively the Rams will need to contain Grosse Ile’s three-headed monster of White, Teen and Cameron.
Grosse Ile piled up 500 yards in offense against against SMCC last week. The problem is they gave up a mind boggling 61 points to the Falcons. The Red Devils will need to stack the line of scrimmage to stop the Flat Rock running game that came to life two weeks ago.
Both Grosse Ile and Flat Rock feel pretty good about themselves coming into this game. GI has proved that they can compete. The Rams have won two in a row and seem to be playing with confidence. This is basically a pick’em game and may come down to coaching which gives the Rams an advantage. This game may just come down to special teams as well and I would give the Red Devils the advantage there and a win this week 21-20.
Jefferson/Riverview: Riverview is leading in this series 17-13. The Bears won last year’s game but the Bucs won in 2007. The Bears have struggle lately and Riverview is still trying to give their new coach his first win.
Jefferson was on many people’s preseason favorite list but the Bears have fallen on some hard times lately. The Bears need to get their running game going and start defensing a little better in order to stop their three game losing streak.
Riverview ran into a finely tuned machine last week in Airport but the Bucs may be getting Jefferson at an opportune time. Jeff Stergalas knows how to stop a good running game. The Pirates just need to be able to score some points and take care of the football.
Jefferson could be ripe for the picking and the Pirates desperately need a win. This may be another pick’em game but I will go with the team I thought would be playing well all year. Jefferson wins 27-21.
Why is everyone down on riverview the team has so much talent you cant expect a new program to change things within a summer next riverview will be on top watch
In 2004 GI made their Defensive mark by stripping the ball and their Offense was off to the races, and made it to the Semi Finals. Now they are hitting the ground up front and waiting on the backs to make it to their linebackers and D-Backs to be tackled. Maybe now that the Offense is back to 2004 form, maybe the Defense should return to their old ways also. Just a Thought.
If I were a coach I would however take the stance of "the kids win the game but the coach loses the game". Only a poor coach would see it any other way.
ahhh the beauty of the high school alums blogging, you should all learn about the subject matter before speaking on it.
hey keep picking against the rams every week it makes us work that much harder and we love playing as the underdogs and after those eye openers are first 3 games of the year we take no one lightly so dont worry we'll strap it up tight and be ready for Gi
Wasn't coach bashing in the least. I've noticed that they do not use their bench to their advantage and YES that is a coach error. GI has improved over the last years – let's hope this is a trend and we see much more competitive play in the HL over the next few seasons. Love this blog.
I don't understand how you see GI winning, Flat Rock is just coming off an easy win against Huron, GI is coming off 61-24 blowout loss. FR wasnt supposed to be able to beat Riverview, they did. They couldnt stop Huron either, they did. So now they can't stop GI? We will see.
I do not like coach bashing… never solved a thing.
So here's, my BUT…..GI does need to address some things that are tripping them up from having a storybook season, and for the most part….coaching em' up issues:
-Special teams; no excuse for "hold your breath and pray" kick-offs. It is truely one element that coaching is key…not alot of assignments to remember, but simple execution. 3 KO's for TD against this year, terrible starting positions, shanked punts galor….you make the call.
-Defense adjustments; no team should EVER be able to run 6 TD's over 50 yards (mostly untouched) in one game…E V E R
-JV plucking; this is GI's biggest coaching offense. Leave the kids in their pier group unless it's an obvious College talent that will contribute to success NOW. Otherwise hands off and use what you got in their pier group…GI has the numbers this year to make it stick.
– Bench use; several comments on this BLOG about GI running out of gas in the 2nd half (especially Jeff and Milan). Granted 2 way players are a fact of life in HS football, but you need to find ways to effectively use your bench. It gives your key buys a blow and gets your up-and-comers valuable game time.
Lastly to HLF…your comment is fair. The devil (no pun intented) in the details is this, does GI coaching staff/leadership have enough focus on special teams and the side of the ball that wins championships?? Just having some exciting X's and O's and getting smack-ed down for 61 does not make a team or coach.
NOTE: Most people on this BLOG are also not aware GI has 2 key 2-way starters out injured…names you would know in this BLOG. No excuses, just facts that coaches have to work with.
Coach Bodner is learning and his curve is sharply up this year…. he will have GI strapped up tight for FR.
SITOFN
I dont think I said that did I? If it looks like that, that is surely not what I meant. I meant they had talent to work with but didnt seem to be prepared to stop the T. Talent alone wont stop the T… discipline and correct repitition in practice is the only way to stop the T. Most teams nowadays take their D-lineman and have them dive at the O-lineman's feet on the snap (illegal btw) in order to create a big mess at the line and also to keep the guards from pulling. Gi however did not do this… Huron did. Hope I made sense this time. 🙂
Bloodynutter,
So what your saying is; when the kids do well, it's the kids (GI Offense) and when the kids do bad, it's the coaches (GI Defense).
Gi had some nice talent to work with. The QB and the WR are nice. They were pretty big up front as well. Didnt seem like they were prepared to stop the T however… I guesss that falls on the coaches.
I completely agree. I'm not a GI fan but even I can tell watching the program over the last years the problems start AT THE TOP. They have talent over there but the coaching is flat. GI coaches need to change it up or it is time for GI to change up the coaching staff.
I agree with most of the posts here. Defense wins games and without it we will be going nowhere fast. Maybe the winds of change will sweep a new defensive coach in place since what they have been working with the last three seasons doesn't work at all. Time to strap it up from the top on down.
It is GI's homecoming this week and the coaching staff better have the boys ready for a tough win. Yes a tough win. We will only get it if the whole team plays, not just a handful like the last several weeks. You will never win by having less than half of your team contributing on the field.
I know that the coaches do not play a single play in any of these games but it has been past the time that anyone has even commented on the lack of positive changes that the current coaches have made. Better this season does not cut it. If you want to be an elite team you must beat the elite teams and so far we are miles away from doing that. Flat Rock will be a test and if we fail this one things must change from the top on down.
It looks like some clarification is needed after my comments about GI feeling good about themselves.
Should they be happy with their loss to SMCC? No they shouldn't. Can they find some positives in that game? Absolutely, they moved the ball all over the place and they lost to a much, much, much better team than themselves.
Remember folks at this point last year GI was 0-5 while giving up 42 points per game and scoring only 11. This year they are 2-3 and are scoring 24 and giving up 28. Also, those games against Milan and Jefferson could have been won they just couldn't finish. With FR up this week and 2 more winnable games in the last 3 GI should be feeling pretty good about themselves. A shot at 5-4 is a far cry from 0-9.
Spot on comment about feeling good….GI should feel like DOG MEAT. The offense can entertain, but a BLOW-OUT loss is just that….A BLOW-OUT LOSS, just like the last 2 years for the GI faithful except with some offensive excitement.
IF GI decides to show up and play DEFENSE, then maybe there is a chance that this season will prove winds of change….otherwise its the same ol garbage.
I've been clear in all my posts on this subject that Defense will lead any change at GI and 91 pts against in the last two games provided NO CHANGE….In fact it was more like the GROSSE performance of GROSSE ILE football in recent history.
Winning 2 games is not a winning season boys…time to get back to the GI football that this team is capable to bring…like the O did last week. ITS A TEAM BOYS, not just O and hopefully some D… but rather both units with equal responsibility to deliver….!
GI DEFENSE STRAPS IT UP – GI 38 FR 20
GI, Detroit Lions; Win one game and start talking playoffs. Slow down a bit. One step at a time. GI has had a great year already if you consider the past 3 seasons.
I am just happy that Riverview is still playing hard every week. With the exeption of Airport they have been in every game. They will get one eventually, they need to remember how to win.
why should GI feel good coming into this game?? they just gave up 91pts in their last two games?? and about 900 yds??? is this good? i mean they should feel good about ending the 20 game losing streak, but not their defense..Bodner should try to sneak 12 on the field friday