Riverview (7-2) is coming off of a pointless 63-0 victory over hapless Summit Academy while Melvindale (7-2) took a beating at the hands of powerful Taylor Truman 58-28. These two teams last met in 2001 when the Pirates won 38-33. These teams have met thirteen times with Riverview winning eleven including six straight over a five year period that started in 1997.
Riverview is led offensively by the RB combination of Josh Smith and Marcus Samuels. Both of them have blazing speed and have combined for 2,400 yards and 39 TD’s. Junior Drew Kroll is an opportunistic QB who has thrown 7 TD passes with 4 of them going to junior wideout Nolan Glime. The Pirates have rarely turned the ball over since their week 2 meltdown against Milan when they turned it over 4 times.
Defensively, Riverview has struggled with anyone that has had a offensive pulse this year. They managed to begin and end the season with shut out victories over bad opponents but the good teams on the schedule have been able to score virtually at will on the Pirates. Senior LB Jake Walsh leads the defense in tackles while DE Jake Mazer and speedy DB Trevor Boike are solid as well.
Melvindale finished the season in three way tie for 2nd place in the Downriver League. The Cardinals opened the season with an impressive 40-13 win over 7-2 Allen Park and surprised many by giving undefeated Wyandotte their best test of the season in a 17-10 loss to the Bears.
Offensively, the Cardinals are averaging 33 ppg and are led by QB Jason Doyle who has thrown for over 1,400 yards and 19 TD’s. His main targets are Malik Boynton and KC Clark. The two have combined for over 60 catches and 13 TD’s through the air. Quincy Gibbs leads the running game with over 800 yards rushing and 9 TD’s.
Defensively, the Cardinals give up just 16 ppg but gave up a whopping 58 points to Taylor Truman last week. The defense is led by LB and senior captain Ben Konarski along with DL Roderick Tubbs. Melvindale’s overall team speed on defense may be the best that Riverview has seen all year.
This game features two of the best players in all of the Downriver area with Riverview’s Smith and Melvindale’s Boynton. This game could end up being a track meet with the first one to 50 winning the game. The legendary Bear Bryant was quoted a long time ago as saying that offense fills the seats while defense wins championships. This week I am going with the team that has the better defense. Pick: Melvindale 44 Riverview 42
No wind right now.
If you have noticed the weather today at 45 mph winds…do you think melvindale will have trouble passing efficiently?
40-something points allowed in a playoff game?
if so, then neither of these teams will go very far in the playoffs.
D-rules.
"he isn't outstanding but he is a great player"…wow, did you read that before you posted it?
unless your sons team was milan, he hasn't had a bad game he isn't outstanding but he is a great player you gotta give him that.
chris is he the 2nd best center? is he good enough to get honorable mention since friese has all huron locked up
watching the center from the view from the stands and what he lacks in some speed he has in power. the reason why he might not look so good is because when the D faces riverview they shift to the strong side and it looks like there is a LB over him and they ask him to block him every play..
when i seen borgert play at jefferson he dominated them. he had linebackers 20 yards down field. yet that is jefferson but i heard he did that vs airport and he has to be doing good when he is one of the best lineman for the view and they have 2,400+ rushing
I hope we find out next friday if Melvindale can beat Milan. I just dont think a team that relies so much on running the QB draw like Milan would do well against the upper tier of the Downriver League.
The better D will win, especially in the playoffs.
I agree with a couple other bloggers that while View will score with potent backs, Dale will run up the score on a porous D with just as potent set of backs.
Running clock….I wouldn't bet against it.
SITOFN
Running clock? Do you actually watch football or just hate Riverview? Anyone in their right mind knows Riverview will have a tough time on defense. But running clock? That's just ridiculous.
That is speculation right now. I say they would have beaten AP and Melvindale.
How would Milan do if they played in the DL this year? I say they go 5-4 with losses to Wyandotte Truman Melvindale and Allen Park.
Where is your sons team playing this week?
someone for the view must be blocking in order to get all those rushing yards. No matter how fast those backs are there must be some blocking going on.
Not certain about the center position but would take 7-8 other offensive linemen over him.
best centers have got to be friese (milan) and gilliam (grosse ile), borgert didnt impress me when he played my sons team
There are only 8 teams. Can't be 5-4
Friese is the best center in the Huron League.
No way would Carlson beat SMCC Milan Riverview or..Carlson at best would be 5-4 in HL.
is borgert that good? could he be in the running for All huron league at center?
Carlson had a bad year not because of injuries but because they just are a bad football team. I watched SMCC totally kill them last year and the year before. The coaching staff is not that good and they just don't have the players to play against the good Huron League teams. I do like that Marvin Franklin kid ! There is some serious speed there ! To bad he is wasting it at a poor program !
Carlson would finish second to last in the Huron League. I watched SMCC pound them in the preseason games the last few years. SMCC also whipped Trenton severely this year in the preseason. The downriver league is horrible. As soon as they play somebody outside the downriver area they get beat. What about Wyandotte who was the almighty then they took a licken from Bedford a couple years back. Carlson was in the Huron League and they sucked. They were the class A school that lost to B and C schools. Large enrollment does not make your school better. And I agree with Chris that the two fastest kids on the field are probably from Riverview. Next time you should know what the hell you are talking about before you make such stupid comments like Carleson and Trenton. I feel better now !
If Riverview wants a hint of a chance, tbey better put two corners right up on Malik, and a safety over the top.. It looks as if Melvindale's Offense comes from the air, where Riveview stuggles the most.
I'm saying 49-42, the win goes to who ever gets the ball at the beginning of the game.
— View Grad
Tubbs is a bad dude.. but what people can't see is riverviews borgert, that kid can play.. thats a match up to watch on the front line. one of the best DT's in the DRL and one of the best o-lineman in the HRL.
Eh, upon further inspection, I would say both Carlson and Trenton probably beat FR, Jeff and Air only.
-bn
I think Melvindale would be right there in the thick of the league championship this year. Team speed would give them a good leg up. Trenton would have most likely finished with Huron/Grosse Ile.
Calpreps.com takes into consideration strengths of leagues over a period of time. Look at Trenton and Melvindale in the past against Huron League teams. Just because the league is bigger it doesn't mean that every team is better. Trenton was okay in the DRL and Carlson wasn't as good as them. Obviously Wyandotte is the class of that league and certainly better than anyone in the Huron by far.
In 20011 at 2-5 in the Huron League Jefferson beat Bedford which won a playoff game against Brighton. They also won their other non-league game against Tecumseh that year.
How does the Huron League compare to the DRL in other sports? I think in general the DRL is better but not by leaps and bounds.
At least I provided some sort of tangible proof using calpreps your simply speculating.
On another note, I loved Woodhaven's team last year led by the best player in the league in Nick Maher. Maher lived in Huron and went there and played with the Chiefs until 8th grade. Then mom made a decision to go to Woodhaven. A good decision for him and for Huron the difference between 3-6 and 7-2 in 2012.
Make that 4-4 in the HL
-bn
SMCC scrimmaged Trenton for a half and won 28-10. I think Trenton probably goes 4-3;3-4 in the HL.
-bn
Chris it is hard to project the drl because their schedule does not allow for non league. You have seen these schools. What is your honest opinion between he leagues? Melvindale will beat 2 huron league schools and they beat Trenton in a very close game. Trenton would easily qualify in the Huron League.
So I ran the hypothetical games on calpreps.com. This site predicts at a 80% clip during the regular season. They pick at an even higher rating for playoffs.
I ran projections for Trenton and Carlson both on neutral field.
Grosse Ile 24 Trenton21
Riverview 46 Trenton 26
Huron 28 Trenton 21
Airport 27 Trenton 21
SMCC 42 Trenton 14
Milan 40 Trenton 7
Trenton 48 Flat Rock 14
Trenton 35 Jefferson 28
Ypsilanti, Ypsi Lincoln, Tecumseh and Bedford all say Trenton loses. I'll concede the rest to Trenton
Airport 28 Carlson 21
Carlson 46 Flat Rock 19
Grosse Ile 27 Carlson 20
Huron 31 Carlson 20
Milan 42 Carlson 7
Carlson 31 Jefferson 30
Riverview 48 Carlson 22
SMCC 44 Carlson 14
Let's just assume the non-league fall the same way.
This isn't a perfect model but you get the picture. It takes emotion and loyalty out of the argument. Obviously I took Melvindale but cal preps.com picks this as a Riverview win 33-31.
Carlson WAS in the HL. THEY SUCKED!!
-bn
Riverview will keep it close for a while, but i see Melvindale pulling away in the 2nd half. Melvindale 45 Riverview 28. EM
Historically Trenton has had a very difficult time with Huron League teams in the playoffs. It's like they hit a brick wall against Airport, Jefferson and Riverview. Finishing 4-5 in a mediocre Downriver league is hardly impressive.
Trenton or Carlson:
If you had FR schedule you would have losses to GI (prior to all injuries), SMCC, Milan Riverview and possibly Huron. 5-4 or 6-3
If you have Huron's schedule you would have losses to GI (prior to injuries) SMCC, Milan, and Riverview. 5-4
If you have Jefferson's schedule you would have losses to Tecumseh, SMCC, Milan, Riverview, Bedford and possibly Huron. 4-5 or 3-6
If you have Airport's schedule you have losses to SMCC, Milan, Riverview, Tecumseh and possibly Huron. 5-4 or 6-3
If you have Riverview's schedule you lhave losses to SMCC, Milan and possibly Huron. 7-2 or 6-3
If you have GI's schedule you have losses to SMCC, Milan, Riverview and possibly Huron. 6-3 or 5-4
If you have Milan's schedule you have losses to SMCC, Ypsi Lincoln, Riverview and Ypsilanti and possibly Huron. 5-4 or 4-5
If you have SMCC's schedule you lose to Milan, Riverview, Lansing Catholic Central and possibly Huron. 6-3 or 5-4
It's funny because SMCC dominates Carlson in every preseason for the past several years sans this year…
To 12:45, your crazy. Melvindale is pretty good but they won't get a running clock against the view. The view will play them tough and might make them turn the ball over more than they want. I'm a Milan fan with a lot of respect for the league. I have 100% confidence and faith in Riverview. I know it's going to be tough, but I believe they get it done.
Huron, view, smcc, gi, flat rock for sure. Airport, Jefferson most likely. Milan schedule is the toughest.
Traded with which schools? Seriously it makes a difference.
Carlson and Trenton would both finish 1st or second in the Huron League. Trenton is the smallest school in the DRL and Carlson had a bad year with a bunch of injuries.
Carlson and Trenton would make the playoffs if they traded schedules with Huron League Schools.
No offense but Lincoln Park, Kennedy, Carlson and Trenton aren't very good. I don't care how big they are.
Melvindale gets a running clock going with Riverview and then beats Milan in a closer game next week. Melvindale plays against teams with much larger enrollments in the downriver league and will handle both these teams.
I like the more informative write up for the masses!
This is going to be a last possesion type of game. He who scores last wins. Will be a good one to watch I am sure.
Melvindale wins by 21! Riverview's defense is terrible-talk about some inflated defensive stats.