MWL Predictions for Sept 16

Three significant games this week....

   Eagle Point at Willamette.  We'll be down to at least three undefeated teams in league play after this game.  This game is tough to call.  Eagle Point was blown out by #3 ranked Mt. View and then squeaked by Churchill 21-20.  Willamette blew out South Albany (what team won't) and then tried to fumble their way to a loss against Springfield before prevailing 40-35. 
   I'm going with Willamette.  Start with home field advantage for the Wolverines.  Add in Visarraga's running and db play and Leber's solid qb play so far.  Willamette can't fumble away two touchdowns again, can they?  Defense is a big question for Willamette, but Eagle Point has yet to get their offense going, scoring just 3 touchdowns in 8 quarters of regulation play.  Both teams picked up a few votes in the latest OregonLive poll  .  (I'll write about that later in this blog)  But I can't imagine either team will be overconfident for this game.  Bottom line, this is a game of whether Willamette's defense or Eagle Point's offense steps up.

    Ashland and Churchill. Two southpaws will be on the mound. How often do you see that in high school football?  Danial White for Ashland and Mitch Reese for Churchill. 
    White paid his dues last week against Marist.  Reese had a nice day against Eagle Point.  Reese was 20-31 for 173 yards, but no td's through the air, although he picked up two with his feet.  Even though the Lancer's scored three td's on the  ground, Churchill's running game was anemic, averaging just a little over two yards per carry.  So I'm thinking Ashland can focus a little more on pass D and give up a few more yards to the Churchill runing game than Eagle Point gave up. 
    Ashland couldn't move the ball against Marist last week.  But that's going to be the fate of many MWL opponents this year.  Grizzlie running back Jon Volz did the most damage against the Spartans, so look for Volz to do well at Churchill.  Ashland's receivers were bottled up all night.  If you think they would have to do better against Churchill, remember that Churchill picked off three passes against Eagle Point.
    I'm going with Churchill.

    Springfield at Marshfield.  This game is huge for a couple of reasons.  The first is historical.  The Millers have never beaten Marshfield two years in  row.  The Millers won last year, 50-6.  Secondly,  Springfield has high  hopes this year.  The Millers have a huge line and have a wrecking ball that runs out of the backfield in Daysean Price-Clark.  The Millers need this game if they are to work their way into the top two or three spots in the MWL.
    Marshfield looked good out of their no huddle offense last week, but their defense was porous against North.  The Pirates also have to tighten up their special teams play. 
     This games is a match up of Marshfield's no huddle and running backs against Springfield's size.  I think Springfield is going to make some history.  I'm going with the Millers.

North Eugene at Marist.  David versus Goliath. 
    Yesterday, I wrote that coach Geske should put the Marist boys through a refresher course by referencing Samuel I, Chapter 17.  Someone emailed me and wrote, "Shouldn't you have said the North coach will use David and Goliath for motivation?."  Well, beings that my wife is a principal in a public school and I taught at Marshfield High, I was thinking that North's coach Rivera might get in a little trouble bringing out the bible in a public school.
   Coach Geske could use it to try and not repeat history. While we think of the size and weaponry disparity when we think of the David and Goliath story, it should be noted that Goliath was a real jerk.  Goliath would have earned more than a personal foul for his 'taunting'.  I'm sure he would have been ejected. 
  Have to go with Marist.  But enjoy this game.  It'll be interesting to see how Marist's qb progresses.  Smith certainly had a better game in his second game in a Spartan uniform.  And it's always fun to watch the speedy Marist receivers.  Hopefully, North will be as sneaky as they were last week against the Pirates.  And if the Highlanders can cut down their penalties, they just might be the first MWL team to score on the Spartans this year.

My votes in this week's OregonLive poll. Followed by OregonLive rank.

1-3.      Mt View (Can't believe they crushed our Eagles)
2-1.      Sherwood
3-2.      Marist
4-4.      Corvallis
5-7.      Crescent Valley
6-6.      Bend
7-5.      Wilsonville
8-11.    Lebanon
9-9.     West Albany
10-10. Eagle Point

    I dropped Ashland from my top 10 watch list.  I'm watching Willamette, Churchill and Hermiston.  I don't have Silverton on my watch list, but they are ranked 8th after beating Springfield 46-14 and Woodburn (by 1 in OT).  I consider that I'm peeking at Silverton, not watching.
    Notice I gave Eagle Point a vote, yet I predicted a Willamette win over Eagle Point tomrrow.  When I voted, I didn't have Willamette or Eagle Points stats.  I still haven't seen any stats on Eagle Point, but I liked the solid stats of Willamette's qb, Leber, and Visarraga's running stats.
   Mountain View and Sherwood play each other this week.

   I just want to remind everyone that there are no MWL quarterbacks who are seniors, and only one qb had starting experience last year. So give them some time to develop.  Each quarterback will improve every time out, but some will get better faster than others.  All of the qb's look like very good athletes, so how rapidly they improve probably depends on how good their line is at protection and whether or not their running  backs can take some pressure off of the passing game.  In any event, the offensive schemes throughout the league are pretty exciting to watch.  Don't be surprised if we have several teams who stumble early in the season, yet do well at playoff time because the qb and the team have jelled.
  And needless to say.  Wait until next year!

  Some reminders:
    If you have any comments about my blogs, you can comment directly on the blog page or you can email me at mwlnow@yahoo.com. 
    I'll be at the Ashland-Churchill game this Friday.  If you're going to be at another game, I'd appreciate it if you'd text me the score.  My cell is 541-337-1311.
    You can receive my tweets of the Ashland game and retweets of other games (thanks Chris Park for Marist scores) by following the MWL Twitter or the MWL Facebook page. Don't forget to 'like' the MWL Facebook page.  You're son can tell you how to set up your phone for tweets or Facebook emails.
    Also, if you know of a player who isn't listed on the college or pro pages, please email me at mwlnow@yahoo.com.  I've expanded the college list beyond D-1 schools.  It now includes Linfield.  Marist has at least six kids playing college ball!