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
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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.