In Case You Missed It: West Monroe (LA) @ Madison Central

1. I'll start out of synopsis of what happened last Friday night by saying this: West Monroe is clearly one of the top teams in the states of Mississippi and Louisiana, if not in the southeast. Yes, it's pretty obvious to me that Madison Central was thrashed (56- 28 to be exact), but let me be very clear. Madison Central is not the only team that would lose badly to West Monroe; they just happened to be the only team in the state that had the guts to play them (Coach Hall said in his post-game radio interview that he plans to make this game a annual rivalry.). In fact, I'll make a bold statement about the Louisiana powerhouse. West Monroe would beat any team in the state of MS, period. So to all of my fellow media members (I count as the media, don't I?), if you think that losing to Olive Branch (6A champion), Petal (6A runner-up), and West Monroe (LA 5A champions) is worth forgetting this Madison Central team, you might want to read what I just put in parenthesis next to those high schools. By no means has this team achieved its potential, but has it lost to teams that would automatically qualify this season as a "down season"? I certainly don't think so.

2. With all of that said, Madison Central definitely deserves some of the flack that they're catching. There are some major problems on defense and special teams. There have always been assignments missed and coverages blown in high school football, but tackling has been horrendous and is, in my opinion, the biggest problem that the defense and special teams has had this year. Bad tackling, or more candidly, lack of tackling, leads to these kinds of stats: West Monroe's QB had three long runs for touchdowns on Friday night (56,56, and 61 yards). Tackling must get better if the jags have plans of beating better teams in the playoffs. For what it's worth: West Monroe's 56 points is the most points Madison Central has given up in school history. Also, penalties. You know it's a bad night when it seems like every 1st down starts with 1st and 15.

3. Now it's the offense's turn to listen to me complain. No one doubts MC's offensive prowess, but, in the past weeks, people have started to question MC's ability to sustain long drives. That is not to say that the jags haven't had long drives or aren't capable of long drives, but big plays caused by defensive miscues have frequently bailed out the offense. Other than that, turnovers or punts have ended drives. Frankly, I think a lot of this is due to the quality opponents the jags have played.

4. Now, not all is bad. Among other things going well for the jags, Doug Ball has emerged as a go-to speed back, especially this past week against a stout rebel defense.  On the year, Ball is averaging nearly 11 yards a carry. Here's how I see this: Give the man the football some more, duh.

5. And lastly, Keith Williams had a ridiculously good night. 6 catches for 170 yards and 2 touchdowns. With stats like that, Williams' will most definitely get more and more looks from college scouts. In the meantime, vote for him to win the Blitz16 Player of the Week here: http://www.wapt.com/blitz-16-player-of-the-week. I'm sure that he'd appreciate it, plus he deserves it with those kind of numbers.

Friday Night Writes: West Monroe (LA) @ Madison Central

NOTE: Like the Madison Central football team, I took a week off last week. Because I didn't write a "In Case You Missed Friday Night" column, here's a quick review of the MC @ Petal game: Nearly everyone knows that football is a 2-half game. The Jags simply did not play 2 halves of football. Petal did, and, consequently, they won. If MC had played the second half like they did the first half, the jaguars would have won by 17+ points; they dominated the first half.

In a rematch of a defensive standoff last year, Louisiana powerhouse West Monroe will visit Jaguar Stadium tomorrow night to seek revenge for a 14-13 loss handed to them at their home field last year. Junior RB Steven Jones is the spark of this West Monroe power running game offense, and the WM fundamentally-sound defense gives up about 27 points a game, a number that is neither astounding nor horrific. West Monroe will not overpower you with its offense or with it's defense, but rather the rebels will force you to play a complete game, something the jags struggled with last week. Offense, defense, and special teams. The rebels play every down solidly and they rarely make stupid mistakes. Coach Don Shows, who has lead West Monroe to 8 state championships and 2 "national championships" (which are merely a matter of opinion because there are many national high school polls), teaches his teams to play solid football.

Pertaining to strategy for this game, basic football technique will be very important. To play the brand of football the jags want to, MC will have to play relatively mistake-free. The defense will have to play tough defense yet must still be sensitive to the play-action pass. The offense will have to keep the fumbles and interceptions to a minimum, which they had trouble doing against Petal. Special teams will have to keep contain on returners. Giving up easy touchdowns on special teams is the easiest way to lose a football game. The Rebel's defense has the size advantage over the jags, but this creates a mismatch. The jag's offense, based on speed and spreading the football around, will be quicker than WM's defense. The question is to what degree will this mismatch help the Jag's offense?

Keys to the Game

• Madison Central's offense- Keep WM's larger, slower defense tired. Create mismatches to get the ball to an open player. Make the rebels run sideline-to-sideline and keep them off balance by not only utilizing your passing game but also mixing in the running game. O-line, keep WM's front 7 off of Jake Schwartz. Key Player: Jake Schwartz
• Madison Central's defense- MC's defensive line will have to be stout but also agile. Their linebackers will have to tackle well. And their defensive backs need to watch for the play-action pass. Key Unit- Defensive Line
• West Monroe's offense- Pound the football. If West Monroe has any advantage, it's size. Use it. Key Unit- Offensive Line
• West Monroe's defense- Get ready to substitute players into the game. You suit up 137(!!!) players. Get ready to use some of them. You're starting 11 on defense will be tired during this game. Key Unit- 2nd String Defense

Prediction: This prediction is an abnormal one because I can see two plausible outcomes that both hinge on the turnover battle. If the Jags win the turnover margin, Madison Central 24, West Monroe 17. If the Rebels win the turnover margin, West Monroe 13, Madison Central 10.