Fond Memories

PHOTO BY ROBERT WILLETT - THE NEWS & OBSERVER

I ran across the following article about University of North Carolina rising sophomore T.J. Thorpe and some of his progress this spring.  The title of the article was enough to grab my attention and it certainly brought back a number of good memories [UNC Screen Game To "Thorpedo" Teams Next Fall" by Haley @ Keeping it Heel].

For those that followed the Jordan  football or simply had the opportunity to see Thorpe in action during his time as a Falcon there is no doubt that on at least one occasion you probably saw him do some remarkable things after catching the 'jail break', 'alley' or 'tunnel' screen.  He had absolutely no fear of working back into the middle of the field, accepting the pass and then finding the seams and exploiting them.  If the majority of the Falcons executed the play, it was over, pure and simple.  But it was when only Thorpe and perhaps a few others executed the play to perfection that one had the opportunity to see how incredible he was on the prep level.  Even when things were breaking down around him - the play typically still went for solid yardage.

Yes, those are some fond memories and I'd imagine that from what I've read in this article that Tarheel fans might just get their own dose in the future.

Photographs courtesy of newsobserver.com (The News & Observer)

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the Work Week Quarterback (WWQB) - Thoughts and Notes

PHOTO BY ROBERT WILLETT - THE NEWS & OBSERVER

the Work Week QB is Here!

The PAC-6 appears to be solidifying their top three berths for the playoffs based on the results from this past Friday.  We knew going into the games that either the race for those three spots would either become incredibly undecided or else the favorites would exert their might and put some quality distance between the top half of the conference and the bottom  half.  The only game that appeared to be completely up in the air was the Northern Durham at East Chapel Hill game [Knights and Wildcats for First Place?], where the Knights showed dominance on the ground, while the Wildcats struggled to hold onto the ball, leading to Northern equaling their conference win total from a year ago and positioning themselves strongly to at worst end up as the third place finisher, unless some crazy upsets occur over the next three weeks, and with it an automatic bid to the 2011 playoffs.

Bull City Alum

The Bull City has been fortunate to see a number of their student-athletes move on to the collegiate level in a number of sports.  The opening picture is of Jordan alum T.J. Thorpe, currently in his first year at North Carolina.  T.J. has been the primary kick-off return specialist for the Tarheels so far this season and the photo by News & Observer photographer Robert Willett is from the game against Virginia earlier this year.

Playoff Odds and Ends

We've hit the blog hard with a lot of playoff talk, so be sure to check out our recent posts to get up to speed on how it may or may not affect your favorite team.  [When Does 4 Wins Not Equal 4 Wins?], [Multiple Endowments, Oh My!], [Talking Playoffs and Conference Winning Percentages], [NCHSAA Handbook Football], and from last year, our description of how the playoff process will work - [T-Minus One Month = Playoff Time] - aside from a few changes over the past year.


Thinking Bull City Pigskin and the Playoffs

Hillside continued its dominance within the Bull City and PAC-6 in general with a convincing 36-7 victory over cross-town rival Jordan.  The Hornets still have three conference games to go with their regular season finale against Northern Durham potentially shaping up to be for the conference crown.  The Hornets sit at 6-1 overall and 3-0 in the conference and would appear to be in a strong position to nab one of the top three slots, unless what most would consider a huge upset here or there were to occur.  Assuming a complete collapse were to occur, the Hornets would finish at 6-4 and 3-3 (0.500) in conference.  With only ten games on the schedule, they'll retain their full record from the reporting perspective and if they had to go in as an at-large would be in a solid position with six reportable wins and the 0.500 conference winning percentage.  These final three games will be about playoff positioning and Bull City Pride.

Hillside and Wakefield Highlight UNC Beast of the Hill Tourney

Courtesy Don Callahan

It didn't take long to recognize that the Hornets and Wolverines were two of the premier squads in attendance this past Friday at the 4th Annual Beast of the Hill 7-on-7 tournament at the University of North Carolina.  Teams were split into four pods of six schools and I was able to take in action for two of the pods somewhat simultaneously that included Hillside and Wakefield.  Both teams on first impression were head and shoulders above the competition within their respective brackets and I actually commented to one of the media members in attendance after watching a few games with each that they were in my opinion 1A and 1B at the event with the Wolverines probably taking the 1A nod.  Of course if I was correct with that early assessment I was even more correct when it ended up that both schools finished the round-robin portion of the tourney at 5-0 and went on to wins in the semi-finals, only to meet for the championship.  Where I was wrong - was that 1A and 1B once the dust settled as the Hornets knocked off the Wolverines late in the championship game with a score that moved them ahead after a back and forth contest that saw a number of ties before the Hornets took the 'ship, 27-21.

Before I expound a bit more on both of these schools, I'll mention that I hope to put another post up in the near future with a bit more about some of the other area schools that were in attendance...so stay tuned in.  It was a great event to check out a lot of local schools and it was also great because of how the event has progressed since it started in its current format four years ago.  Prior to the one-day 'Beast of the Hill' event, the University held a multi-day team camp and a number of schools from the local area as well as out-of-state routinely attended.  The format had group/position instruction and then afternoons and evenings filled with competitive 7-on-7 action.  Everyone typically had the opportunity to play everyone and near the end of the multi-day event, the top schools would face off and in a somewhat 'unofficial' way a school would be the champ.  There was a ton of coaching that went on and the athletes had a great time bonding over the multi-day event.  That was the past and now the one day event dominates the scene.  The Carolina staff had an incredibly organized event from the outside looking in and was treated to some quality competition that yielded two championship games that were decided by a single score after having the games tied late.  As an aside, Leesville Road captured the 'lower flight' championship and in the limited amount of time I was able to see them, looked to be chugging along as though nothing had changed for the Pride (and to be honest - I really don't think much has changed - and that can mean only good things for all those Leesville Loonies out there - y'all go crazy now!!)

For those that are familiar with Inside Carolina, you can grab a ton of information on this event and I've placed a link to an article by Don Callahan, one of the IC staff writers.  I'd also like to thank Don for allowing me to utilize some of his photos from the event -- greatly appreciated!  Hillside is Beast of the Hill (Don Callahan - Inside Carolina.com)

Now onto our impressions of Hillside and Wakefield...

Falcons Soaring in Summer Events as They Prep for 2011

Courtesy J.Clark

The offseason has gradually changed over the years from a time once consumed with building the strength of the program through consistent strength work to a multi-tiered and organized season unto itself. Augmenting a typically intense strength program are extensive conditioning sessions, agility and speed work, and focused skill-development that in many cases is periodically tested throughout the summer at passing league events.  In years past, these events were primarily of the 'friendly' variety where events were held at a local school and a number of programs would convene and work what they had installed with coaches on the field and copious amounts of time allowed between reps in order to coach-up their team.  Over the past five to ten years, more 'competitive' 7-on-7's have hit the scene and it is not unusual to see schools mix up their passing league schedule with a number of the more coachable events with one or two tournament-centric events.  Although both types of event have their positives, the latter of these two events is a great way to strengthen what has been installed during the summer, while adding a bit more 'game-like' pressure and feel in a more Friday Night Lights type environment.

Throughout this summer the Jordan Falcons have been a great example of one of our area teams that has taken part in a number of passing league events, spanning both genres.  The Falcons, coming off a 7-5 campaign in 2010 where they pushed one of the top teams from Fayetteville to the brink in the first round of the playoffs, are looking to gain momentum from the performance they put forth against 71st and transfer it to the upcoming 2011 season.  The continued maturation of the 2011 Falcons has been evident in how they've worked as a cohesive unit this summer in their passing leagues.  The Falcons have participated in a number of events at local high schools, including Carrboro High and Northern Vance, as well as travelling to Greensboro for the Holt Brothers Foundation 7-on-7 and more recently the 4th Annual UNC Beast of the Hill competition.  Reports from all of the events have been positive for the Falcons as they work to adjust in many ways to the loss of an extensive senior class that was highlighted by current Tarheel, T.J. Thorpe.

One of the more impressive showings by the Falcons came just about a month ago when they participated with a number of Triad teams in Torry and Terrence Holt's Annual 7-on-7 Tournament.  More details on the Holt Foundation and associated camp and tournament can be found in a previous article [Falcons Invade Holt Brothers 7-on-7].  The Falcons, after going 4-0-1 at the Carrboro event just prior to the Holt Tourney turned in a solid performance from all accounts in posting an undefeated record and capturing the championship.  The Falcons picked up wins against George Washington Danville High School (Virginia), Greensboro Page, Eastern Guilford, Southern Alamance and Burlington Cummings.

After the event I was able to catch up with two of the rising seniors for the Falcons, Jeff Clark and Nick Drew.  Clark will be one of the wide receivers stepping into a more prominent role offensively with the departure of Thorpe, while Drew will be looking to lock-down half of the field as one of the cornerbacks on the Falcons roster.