Attention, please. This is the Drive with Josh Graham podcast. Tune into the Drive 3 until 6 p.m. weekdays on the Sports Hub. I love it.
It's brilliant. It is Friday. Take a deep breath. Cam Newton is going to be all right. You made it through the week.
You made it through the summer. And your reward is today. Football is back. Folks, welcome to the drive. Desmond Johnson here.
I'll be your tour guide for the next three hours. Josh Graham's still on vacation. He'll be back Monday. Loaded show today. We're diving deep into football.
Sports Hub Triad is your source for high school football for the 2019 season. And tonight is opening night across the entire triad.
So just for you, We've got a number of guests today that are going to help us get ready for high school football. Joe Serrera from the Greensboro News and Record, Pat Ferlise from the Winston-Salem Journal, and SportsHub Triad's very own Dave Pulaski will all be on the show today, getting you hype and locked in for high school football action across the triad. WSGS Sports Oxner and Permar game of the week tonight. West for Scythe versus Dudley, 7 p.m. pregame, kickoff at 7:30 with Dave Pulaski and Drew Brackett.
I know they are revved up and ready to go. You can listen to it on any of our platform stations tonight over the air or at sportshubtriad.com. 336-777-1600 is the number to call to chime in on any of our topics today or hit us on Twitter at SportsHubTriad. Sawyer Dylan is my producer. Aaron Gabriel is manning our social media.
Let's jump right into it. Three takeaways from preseason game number three last night: Panthers versus Patriots. Number one, The Panthers dodged a huge bullet last night. Cam Newton only played eleven snaps. But on the 11th snap, Cam injured his left ankle.
the same ankle he had surgery on in 2014. Head coach Roden Rivera, when asked last night what happened, didn't have immediate answers. about what happened to Newton's ankle. Joe, I I I can't tell I don't know. I don't know.
I don't know. When I when I get a chance to watch tape I might know. But I don't know.
So everybody take a deep breath. Walk away from the ledge. Reports this morning from Panthers camp is that Cam's x-ray on his foot came back clean. And the Panthers dodged a huge bullet. I'm going to be super real with all of you right now.
This Carolina Panthers team is a six or seven win team without Cam Newton, and that's being generous. Even with the defense, even with Christian McCaffrey, even with Luke Keekly, Cam Newton is what makes this Carolina Panthers engine go. The people that ran to social media last night that I saw that want to proclaim Will Greer, the next, the future quarterback, the chosen one, happy that Cam got hurt. claiming that Uh that he was being A sissy They couldn't take hits. It's just ridiculous.
You should be ashamed of yourselves. Cam is the Panthers. The Panthers are Cam Newton.
So, understand this for a second. We go as far as he goes. I am sick and tired of Cam Newton haters. Ken Newton doesn't really deserve this. When the day comes when we lose Cam Newton, when he...
Either goes off we send him off and don't sign him to a huge contract because some fans don't like the way he dresses or they don't like the way he answers certain questions or they don't like the way he looks. It's going to be the saddest day in this franchise's history. There's no team in this league with a quarterback like Cam Newton. He may actually be one of the most durable quarterbacks. In our current history, he's only missed six games in eight seasons.
Think about that for just a second. This is the guy that gets ragged on for trucking linebackers and receiving more contact than any other quarterback in the league since 2011 by far. And he's only missed six games in eight seasons. And one of those games he missed was because he flipped a truck on a highway in Charlotte in 2014. After that, he missed one game.
I don't care what he's wearing. I don't care if he's wearing a headscarf and a kilt and a straw hat with some Tims. I don't care what he wears. You shouldn't either. If you're a Panthers fan, you should only care about Cam's availability.
Because when Cam is available, the Panthers have a shot to win no matter who they're playing against.
So that's number one. Number two, I've been on this boat for a while, but after last night's first quarter, I'm definitely the captain of this ship now. We don't need four preseason games. It's pointless. It made sense back in the day when coaches could run two a days, everybody's running pads all preseason, and you wanted to find out who the bottom.
Third of your roster was going to be. It's 2019. Pretty much every team knows who 45 of their 52-man opening week roster is going to be. Right now, they've known it since July.
So, why are we playing four preseason games? The starters for most of these teams don't even play until week three. And even then, it's just for a few series, maybe a half, you know, enough to get a lather going. That's it. Cam got 11 snaps last night before he got hurt.
And honestly, he was probably about to come out after that play anyway. He had already ran two or three series. The Panthers weren't really moving the ball against the Patriots' first string defense. And the Patriots were blitzing in preseason. They were coming after Cam pretty much most of last night.
Luke Keekly only got 17 snaps last night before Ron Rivera decided to pull him. And even on the last snap he got, he came up shaking his wrist. The Los Angeles Rams aren't playing any starters this entire preseason. Head coach Sean McVay bet the healthiest team going into the star of the season. And the preseason games were pointless for starters and vets.
Guess what happened? Last year. The Rams were the healthiest team in the league by far last year, and they made it all the way to the Super Bowl. And McVay didn't play a single starter the entire preseason. I have been on record.
Cam shouldn't have played a snap this preseason. None of the stars for the Panthers should have. Luke Shaq Thompson. See Mac. KK Short.
None of them. Send them all. I don't care if you need to see Cam. I don't care if you need to see if Cam can throw the ball. Or How does he look out there?
Does he look comfortable? Who are you supposed to be? You're a fan. You're not a coach. You're not a beat writer.
All these beat writers for the Carolina Panthers who have been on this show, the drive with Josh Graham, for the past two or three months and have tried to reassure fans that Cam's shoulder is okay, they've seen it. They've been there. They've watched him uncork forty and fifty yard passes. For the past Since April. For so for the past four months.
So why does he need to trot out there and play in a meaningless preseason game in Foxborough? By the way, the last time the Panthers played a preseason game in Foxborough in 2014, Cam got hurt. Missed week one. They don't need to play. They don't need to play in these preseason games.
What's the point of putting your marquee starting quarterback? Out there in a meaningless game. Or your best running back, or your best wide receiver, your top left tackle. It does nothing for week one. Preseason is for the bottom of your roster, not the top.
Every year, it seems like one of these two teams in the Super Bowl is the healthiest. Look at our twenty fifteen season. It was the healthiest season the Panthers had probably had up and down the roster since two thousand three. In both years, coincidentally, the Panthers made the Super Bowl. Ron Rivera had thoughts on preseason last night.
After watching his franchise quarterback limp off the field in Foxborough. Here was Ron Rivera with his thoughts about preseason. I've always felt that this it's just tough. I mean, it's it's part of the game, unfortunately. But you know what's happening now and we just got to take a look at it.
I mean, we'll see what the the league decides. But you know, th this this is this is this tough. The third thing I took away from last night Cam Newton's shoulder is just fine. In the 11 snaps we did see of Cam, he was 4 for 6 for 30 yards. He was making great decisions.
He looked even more comfortable in North Turner's offense. There was a play where he could have took off on a scramble past the line of scrimmage. And Smartly threw the ball out of bounds. He lived for another day. He wasn't really holding the ball long.
I've seen online incorrectly that he was holding the ball too long on the play he got injured on. When really it was a coverage sack. DJ Moore. Curtis Samuel. We were out on their routes and could not get separation.
Cam was trying to wait for them to get separation in their routes. There was no one open. And the and the Patriots were blitzing him. He was trying to get out of the way, and even with that, he tried to get to the ground. And when you look back at the play, it didn't really look like anything major happened to his ankle.
But again, we dodged the bullet. Because if Cam comes out of that with a broken ankle or a torn ligament or something that puts him out for the whole season or half the season. I don't know what you guys have been watching the past three weeks, but the backup quarterbacks for the Carolina Panthers are dumpster juice. They are not good. Taylor Hanke.
Kyle Allen Woolgrier They're not ready. They are not ready. And this team takes a huge dip if Cam. Jarrell Newton is not out there underneath the center. I saw Cam complete crisp, tight spirals last night.
He was hitting his targets.
Now did it help that the 2019 season You know, you got to calm your nerves about Cam's shoulder in a meaningless August preseason game in Foxborough against the Patriots. For me, I trusted the words of Jordan Roderick. Darren Gant. Pretty much all the Carolina Panther beat riders that this station and that Josh Graham has had on this show in this time slot. And pretty much all of them have said that Cam Newton is fine.
Not a single one of them have been worried about his shoulder. going into this twenty nineteen season from what they have seen. Ron Rivera seemed to have the same thoughts last night regarding how Cam looked before he got injured. Here's Ron Rivera on Cam Newton's shoulder.
Well, I thought he threw a couple of nice balls. I mean You know, and the unfortunate part was we had also had a screen pass that we had set up that was probably going to go for a a big gain and unfortunately we didn't connect on that. I mean, it's you know, it's it's hard to evaluate that when when those things happen. But again, like I said, I thought he threw a couple of really nice balls and unfortunately we didn't get to see any more of that.
So kids, what did we learn out of all of this? The entire franchise dodged a bullet. Not just that, the entire franchise, the city of Charlotte, the state of North Carolina. The National Football League, dodged a bullet regarding Cam's ankle last night. Cam is the franchise for starters.
He is one of the most recognizable faces in the entire National Football League. If you lose Cam Newton, You were losing someone. The equivalent Recognition-wise of an Aaron Rodgers or a Tom Brady, Antonio Brown. Odell Beckham Jr. Cam Newton is one of those guys, whether you like him or not.
He's one of the most recognizable figures in the entire league. And if we lost him last night, This team wouldn't have been able to recover. Matter of fact, it didn't look like they recovered after he went out in the first quarter of this preseason game. We don't need four preseason games. We definitely don't need stars of the team playing in any of them.
And Cam's shoulder is just fine.
Now by all accounts it looks as if Cam We'll probably be ready for week one. I'm not betting against them. They basically had to keep my man. Locked up on the sideline so he wouldn't play four days after flipping that truck in 2014.
So if it's a mild. Mid-sprain, they're calling it right now. I'm thinking he's going to probably play week one. Sawyer Dillon's our producer on the ones and twos. Aaron Gabriel in the house, man in our social media.
Give me your thoughts on what you saw during the Panthers last night and Cam's injury, and your thoughts on what I just mentioned with everything with preseason and Cam Newton. 336-777-1600. If you want to talk about the Panthers or the preseason, Cam, any of it, we've got you back for the next three hours here on Sports Hour, Sputs Hub Sports Excuse me, Sports Hub Triad. Coming up. I love football.
But there's one particular brand or class of football that I've grown to love more than any other. Plus, I unveil a brand new weekly poll that's powered by sportscarlana monthly.com. You'll be able to hear it weekly on the Saturday morning show, The Rundown. But we'll unveil it on the drive.
Next. Listen to previous episodes of The Drive with Josh Graham and my show, The Rundown with Desmond Johnson, on the go. WSGS SportsHub Triad shows now available in all major podcast formats, including SoundCloud, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, and more. Simply search the full name of the show, download, and enjoy, or just go to sportshubtriad.com to download the latest episodes. They're right there in front of your face on the homepage.
That's at sportshubtriad.com. There are a lot of polls and ranking systems out there, but none of them. are the top five. The number of the day scheduled to arrive, the number of the day is... Top 5!
Top five! Top 5! Number 5! Five. The Sports Carolina Mumphy High School Football Top Five.
Our inaugural poll will give you the top five high school teams in the listening area for Sports Hub Triad. And we start off with number... Five. And that's West for Scythe. Last season they finished 8-4.
They lost in the 4A. Playoffs first round to rival Reagan, right there across the county. There, the Titans have a bad taste in their mouths. The 2018 season ended with a loss to conference rival Reagan a week after defeating the Raiders in the 2018 regular season finale. Titans head coach Adrian Snow has a potential state contender on his hands.
West Vorsyth is known for having a very solid run game annually, and this year will be no exception with senior offensive tackle Jared Wilson and senior running back Jamoni Wilson, who both hold multiple Division I offers between the two of them. West Vorsyth. hosts another team that's on its way, Dudley. To open the season in Clemens, you can hear that game tonight on Sports Hub Triad, the Oxner and Permar game of the week. Four.
Southeast Guilford last season they finished 14 and 2. One of the best seasons in school history. I think it was the best season in school history. They lost in the 3A state title game to Weddington out of Matthews. The Falcons came one win short of capturing a state title last year.
On offense, they'll lean on junior star running back Jalen Fairley, who rushed for 1,133 yards in 2018. And he averaged a whopping 6.2 yards per carry. There were a lot of seniors on this 2018 team, so it will be interesting to see how the Falcons start 2019. Their season begins, oh goody, with a 2018 4-A runner-up Scotland County. Three.
Tidal Town Reidsville last year, 16-0, won the 2-A state title over Elizabeth City. Reidsville won its 20th state title in 2018, submitting their nickname of Title Town in the state of North Carolina. Junior quarterback Kyle Pennix returns. Reidsville also has junior wide receiver, defensive back Breon Pass. And uh If you've not seen past before, you need to go check them out.
Reasonable has them, and you don't. Pass became the ultimate do-it-all guy for the undefeated 2A State Champs last year, totaling over 1,300 all-purpose yards as a receiver and returner with 15 touchdowns. He also made an impact on defense with 32 tackles and seven interceptions. Reidsville opens the season with a matchup on the road versus High Point Central. Two.
Greensboro Dudley. Last season they finished 10-4. They lost in the third round, the three AA playoffs to our number four seed, or excuse me, number four ranked Southeast Guilford. Head coach Stephen Davis has another monster brewing in East Greensboro. Returning players in skilled positions include senior wide receiver Michael Hyman and senior quarterback Alston Hooker.
On defense, the Panthers have defensive lineman Peyton Page, who finished his sophomore season with 80 tackles, 26 tackles for loss, and 10 sacks to earn a North Carolina Associated Press All-State honors for last season. The Panthers averaged over 270 yards in the rushing game last year, and they'll attempt to do the same this year. Dudley starts with a tough road game against our number five-ranked West Versailles tonight in Clemens. And again, you can hear that on the Sports Hub tonight starting at 7. One.
East Forsyth. Last season, they finished 15-0. They won the 4A state title over Scotland County. The Eagles, fresh off of their second state championship in school history, look prime to add another one. A large portion of last year's state title team returns, led by junior quarterback Ty Lyles.
who had over 2,200 yards passing, 25 touchdowns. 400 yards rushing last year and senior running back Amani Marshall, who had over 1,100 yards rushing himself and 20 touchdowns. They're both back. The coaching staff, led by head coach Todd Willard, returns as well. East for Scythe opens on the road tonight, traveling to Asheville to take on AC Reynolds.
We do not have their game tonight, but starting next week, we will have dual coverage, two games on the Sports Hub every single week, following East for Scythe as they attempt to defend. Their 4A state crown throughout the season, and the best games of the week. every week on Sports Hub Triad. I love football. I really do.
It's become my favorite sport to watch. It's kind of overtaken basketball. I can easily watch a regular season football game before I can watch. uh regular season NBA or anything of that sort, just from the love of the game, the uh the drama, the hits, the spectacular plays. But it's not pro or college football that warms my heart like this.
It's high school football.
Now, I got a chance to get into high school football with WSJS Sports Hub a few years ago, filling in, doing color commentary, and I was immediately hooked. Doing games with Dave Pulaski, traveling around, kind of learning the ropes. Only in high school football will you find 165-pound defensive tackle. or a five foot six wide receiver. These kids are playing for the love of the game only.
They haven't been quote unquote corrupted yet per se. If you've ever seen any given Sunday, Jim Brown's character in that movie said it best. He wanted to go back to coaching, but he wanted to go back and coach prep football. He said the kids are still pure. They don't know any better.
They can still be taught. Molded They just want to play. Last year, I got a chance to follow my alma materies for Scythe, bring home the second state championship in history, going 15-0 in the process, and the feeling of watching videos online of Kernersville residents standing in a cold rain to send off their team to Durham And then seeing videos of even more people lining the streets at midnight and even colder weather to welcome the champs home, that stuck with me. We've got some really, really good to great teams in our listening area.
Southeast Guilford made it to the 3A state final last year. Reidsville made it to the 2A final and won it their 20th. 20. They've won 20 state finals, state championships in football. That's just ridiculous.
There are Division I prospects sprinkled all over the triad right now. I remember as a kid and then later as a teenager, the running commentary was that the Triad had good high school football teams, but they couldn't compete with Charlotte Macklinberg's schools. Schools like Charlotte Independence. and West Charlotte.
Nowadays it's newer schools that have been built that way like Mallard Creek. or Weddington out in Matthews But the paradigm has shifted. You've got schools out here like Greensboro Dudley, who have won 10 games minimum in a season for the past four seasons and counting. East Precise's been a perennial state title favorite for at least the past four or five years, breaking through last year. Wes Versaif and head coach Adrian Snow, they are a problem.
They will run it down your throat, and they dare you to run it on them. I mentioned Reidsville already. They're affectionately called Tidletown. You have a high school that's affectionately called. Title Town.
20. They have 20 state championships, and they've got a good chance to win their 21st this year. Greensboro Page has history. Northern Guilford has state titles. Parkland has this kid you need to check out named Cammy and Schell.
If you have not seen him play, do yourself a favor and watch him play sometime this year. If you haven't been out to a high school football game recently, this is the year to go. Go support our local schools, our coaches, and most importantly, the kids. Sports up try at game of the week 7 p.m. Tonight, West for Scythe vs.
Dudley, stream it live at SportsHubtriad.com. Coming up. Cam Newton is this generation's John Elway. I see y'all looking at me funny in the control room. I'll explain it next on the drive.
You are locked into the drive with Josh Graham. I am Desmond Johnson. I'm guest hosting for my buddy Josh. He is on vacation. He will be back Monday.
Don't forget to check out the rundown tomorrow morning, 10 a.m. to 12 noon on Sports Hub Triad. We'll get you ready for. College football, ACC. Big four preview.
We'll run down the scoreboard for all the high school games that are going down tonight. And some more surprises too. We'll talk a little bit more about that later on. Today Cam Newton is this generation's John Elway.
Well, that doesn't really make a whole lot of sense, Des. Lay off the crazy juice. But it's true. It's damn true. And I can actually prove it.
But to do that, you have to go all the way back to 1983. John Elway had a reputation coming out of Stanford as a, quote, mobile quarterback with a strong arm. Does that sound like anybody else that we know? Elway's career is remembered differently because of winning back-to-back Super Bowls behind Terrell Davis in 96 and 97, but we got to go before that. Early in his career, From 84, his rookie year through 92.
John Elway never ranked higher than eleventh in quarterback rating. He never finished higher than fourteenth in completion percentage in that span, except for one outlier year in 1990 when he finished sixth overall. But When it came down to it, what was the one thing John Elway was known for early in his career? In winning time, Elway would shine. He seemed to always find a way to get a win for his squad by any means possible.
A late throw, a scramble, whatever it took, Elway always seemed to be on that side of the ball. In those 10 years, Elway had 21 fourth-quarter comebacks and 25 game-winning drives.
Now I'm old enough to remember my first real exposure to Elway. And that's the drive versus Cleveland in the AFC Championship game in 1987 to advance to the Super Bowl. Uh don't mention that in Cleveland, by the way. I've got in-laws up there. They still Don't want to hear about that.
In 87, the L L Way won the league MVP. He led the Broncos to the Super Bowl. and they were promptly embarrassed forty two to ten by the Washington Redskins. Elway would lose his first three Super Bowl appearances in horrific fashion. They got destroyed by the 49ers, 55-10.
That 49ers team might be one of the best teams of all time, though, so there's not a lot of shame there. And then they lost 39 to 20 to the Giants. The Broncos were starting to feel like John Elway and then everybody else. The year after his MVP season in 87, Elway would have one of the worst years of his career stat-wise. He had 17 touchdowns, 19 interceptions.
The Broncos got back to the Super Bowl the year after that in 1989. But again, L.A. was going against Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, John Taylor. Ronnie Lott's out there hunting for heads in the backfield. I mean, it was probably one of the best teams in NFL history, the 89.
49ers, and that hurts my heart 'cause I hate the 49ers. At least top five. 55 to 10, they end up losing that game. In 93, a change was needed. The Broncos felt stagnant.
Dan Reeves is fired, and good old Wade Phillips is hired. Jim Fossell, Elway's offensive coordinator from Stanford, is brought in to be the offensive coordinator for the Broncos. A change in offensive play calling. Led to Elway having the best season passing with over 4,000 yards and a 63% completion rate. That's 8% higher than just the season before.
Now, Elway didn't really become John Elway, the Elway that we talk about today, until he got Mike Shanahan for his head coach in 95, and they started giving him pieces in the offense. Terrell Davis, a running back that Elway could lean on, that racked up 2,000 rushing yards in a season. He's a Hall of Famer. Shannon Sharp, one of the best tight ends ever, Hall of Famer. Rod Smith and Ed McCaffrey had wide receiver.
Elway finally had weapons to help him. And in nineteen ninety seven, the Broncos finally broke through. Davis ran for 1,700 yards. Elway had a career high in touchdown passes. Denver upset Brett Favre and the Packers in the Super Bowl.
Elway finally had his ring and the perception of his career immediately changed the moment he put that ring on his finger.
Now the Broncos would win back to back. Winning again in 98, I think they went 14-0 in 98 before they lost their first game. Clearly, the best team in the league that year. Elway was named the game's MVP, and he retired, walking off in the sunset a two-time Super Bowl champ. His legacy was cemented by how he finished his career, not how he started.
Now, what in the world does any of that have to do with Cam Newton? Elway's first ten years mirrors Cam's first eight. In Cam's first seven seasons, he only threw for 60% completion rate or higher twice. 2011, his rookie year, where nobody had any tape on him. In 2013, he was He didn't even crack 60% completion rate in his 2015 MVP campaign.
In that season, he was throwing at fifty nine percent for the year. He's only thrown for more than 4,000 yards once in his career. But the stats between the two are strangely similar. Last year, Cam got a new offensive coordinator, Norv Turner. That resulted in an 8% jump in completion rate over his career average for the twenty eighteen season.
He was thrown at a hot 67% clip. Even with the later weeks in the season before he was shut down with a hurt shoulder. He still finished the season at 67%, suggesting that he probably would have finished at 70 or higher if he had been healthy the full 16 games. Elway got help. A running game with Terrell Davis that could get you 2,000 yards from scrimmage.
Newton got help. A running game with Christian McCaffrey that can get you 2,000 yards from scrimmage. We had two wide receivers, and Rod Smith and Christian McCaffrey's dad, Ed McCaffrey. They could plead each other, they complemented each other and were cogs in the Denver offense. Cam has DJ Moore and Curtis Samuel, who complement each other and are cogs in the Panthers offense.
Am I saying Cam's going to win back-to-back Super Bowls? No. I'm saying guys that were nitpicked and poked at early in their careers can go on to do great things. And John Elway and Cam Newton's careers up to this point look crazy similar. On our recent episode of the Franchise Player Sports Podcast, that you can now check out on all major podcast formats.
We discussed if Cam Newton retired today, would he be a Hall of Famer based on his crazy resumes? Phil, if you've never seen this before, go look up Cam Newton's Wikipedia and just scroll down it till you get to his records and achievements. My man already has like 40, 50 plus different records or things that have never been done before. He's the first to do this, the first to do that, the first to do this. And it's just this long list that just goes down and down and down of all these things that Cam Newton's already done in eight years.
We kinda came to the conclusion by the end of that episode That if he had just one Super Bowl ring, He's a first ballot Hall of Famer. based on his resume right now. He's literally in the same position that John Elway was in in 97. John Elway was pretty much kind of considered a Hall of Famer. He had some Good seasons.
Had some records, great teams, had a league MVP, which helps definitely to get to the Hall of Fame. But he didn't have that ring, and that was the knock on him. When he got that ring, John Elway automatically got elevated to this upper echelon of quarterbacks. In two seasons where he wasn't even the focal point of his offense, Terrell Davis was. That's just kind of how perception works.
So now Cam and the Panthers just have to get one. 336-777-1600. Am I crazy here? Am I grasping at straws? I'm going to pull in the control room here: Sawyer Dillon, Aaron Gabriel.
In the house. Am I nuts to suggest that Cam Newton and John Elway are on similar paths? Uh am I just being a homer or or is there some meat to this uh This conversation here. I see what you're getting at. But you sound like a fan, bro.
You sound like a fan. I mean, I see the comparisons you're trying to make. It's just a little bit of a stretch there. A little bit of a stretch. How so?
How's it a stretch? I mean, the Super Bowl wins. Yeah. Like, that's a very integral part of comparing the two.
Now, if Cam comes along. This year, next year, whenever, and wins the Super Bowl. Then, yeah. That's my point. But that's that's exactly my point.
Right. I'm saying up to this point in their career, at this point in his career, John Elway hadn't won one either, and he had lost three in a horrible fashion.
So that's my point. It's not comparing. John L. Way's complete career. To what Cam has done so far.
I'm just comparing Elway's first 10 years to what Cam's done so far. I still think John Elway got a little more credibility and respect. than what Cam has gotten. Back then, They were kind of put. I mean, granted, John Elway wasn't shown up in a press conference wearing a headscarf and like a Hawaiian shirt or whatever.
John Elway got a little more respect. Um than than Cam has gotten thus far in his career, but Yeah, it just sounds like wishful thinking, and I really hope he winds up like John Elwick. Ha ha ha. The um I remember In the the 80s into the the really the mid 90s. The narrative for John Elway started to turn and say he's never going to win the big one.
You know, like it was. Yeah, he can. He can do this with his legs, and he's got a strong arm, and yada yada yada, but he's never going to be able to put it all together. to win The big game. Like Peyton Manning before he won his.
Right, exactly.
So I guess, really, my point is. NFL quarterbacks. They hit this circle.
Well, if you've got the resume, first of all, because this is like saying Brad Johnson is an upper echelon quarterback because he has a Super Bowl ring. That's not true. If you've got the resume to go with it, A Super Bowl ring. into a legend. You have to be really damn good.
To get elevated to a legend without a Super Bowl ring, Dan Marino comes to mind. And people still throw dirt on his name. Exactly, because he got to the Super Bowl second year, never made it back. That is not his fault completely. I mean, he plays for a team with fifty-one other guys on it.
But That's kind of the point. That's kind of where I'm going. I think Cam gets a lot of dirt thrown on him. because they did not win in 2015. I think people don't really realize How close that 2015 team was to immortality.
If they had won that Super Bowl, you're talking about an 18 and 1 Carolina Panthers team that had like a top 10 defense, the league MVP on it. The the coach of the year on it. Like there's only a handful of teams that have made it through a season with one loss period. They caused some bad breaks in that Super Bowl. They picked a bad day to have a bad day.
And then. I think more glaringly you look at the fumble that That Cam gets um ostracized for. That a lot of people still talk about that to this day. And to me, that play was more of a bang-bang. It's easy to say what you would do sitting on your couch watching it.
It's a whole other thing to say what you would do when there's three 300-pound defensive tackles diving at your legs and you're trying to find a football with a football helmet on. That was also what? A biggest cam. He's 6'5, like 240, 250, something like that. He's a small man, either.
Yeah, but. I mean, would you do that? Seriously. That argument works for me, yeah, because I'm not 245. You know, I'm 6'6, 6'5, maybe.
You know what I'm saying? But Missing a few pounds there. I don't really hold that play against him. That didn't lose the Super Bowl. There wasn't one play that particularly lost it.
No, right. And even if he had jumped on that ball, it would have been fourth down. Right. But these are the types of things that people harp on about Cam Newton. You know what I mean?
And he gets harped on a lot. Like I said, I don't think John Hailway got harped on quite as much. Is what Cam is getting harped on. And then I will compare. Not necessarily the mobility thing.
But the career thing, I will compare him more closely to the paid man because people gave John Elway. Great quarterback respect. Just, he may not win the big one. Just like we gave Peyton Manning, like, oh, he's regular season. He's regular season king.
But he can't win the big one until he did win the big one. And then it was, oh, he's been great. He's been great this whole time. I respect that logic, but I would push back on it for the sole reason of Peyton was more cerebral. Him and like Tom Brady, there's like a four-step box they won't leave in the pocket.
That's what I was saying. With the mobility, with the mobility aside, you know, but their career art. You know, they were regular season kings. You know, John Elway was, you know, looked at as a great quarterback, even though he didn't have that one ring. And that was the thing that people harked on him about, like you said, before he got it.
And the same thing with Peyton. 336-777-1600. It's the number to call if you want to chime in. Is Des nuts for comparing Cam Newton to John Elway, or am I right on point? I want to know.
You can hit us up on Twitter as well at SportsHub Triad. Coming up, tonight marks the start of the 2019 high school football season in the state of North Carolina. Sports Hub Triad is your source for high school football. We've got the Greensboro News and Records Joe Serrera coming up to talk about the teams to watch for in Guilford County next. Welcome back to The Drive.
I'm your guest host, Desmond Johnson, in the studio. Sitting in for the buddy Josh Graham, who's out on vacation. He'll be back Monday afternoon. I'm so excited for high school football that's going to be starting here. Um Tonight.
You know, across all platforms, all over the air stations, West for Scythe versus Dudley. Dudley traveling out to Clemens to take on West for Scythe. That might be one of the biggest games. In the area to kick off the 2019 season. And on the line with us right now, he's one of the best in the business when it comes to prep sports in the area.
He's also a member of Sports Hub Triads High School Huddle. That will be back next. Week for the season premiere. That is Wednesday at 7 p.m. Joe Serrera from the Greensboro News and Record joins us.
Joe, my friend, what's going on, man? How are you? I'm excited. I'm excited. Looking forward to the huddle next week.
Already got a game under my belt last night with McMichael at High Point Andrews. Awesome. Awesome. So, before I start picking your brain on what you think is going to be happening out in Guilford County this season, I got to give you the Sports Carolina monthly poll that we unveiled earlier today and see how you agree with it.
Now, what it is, we basically take the top five, who we think the top five teams are for that week out of the Sports Hub triad listening area.
So, it actually covers both Guilford and for Scythe, and then parts west and parts east. I have East for Scythe number one heading to this season, Greensboro Dudley two, Reidsville three, Southeast Guilford four, and West for Scythe five. Am I on point or am I totally off base, Joe Serrera? That's pretty similar to what we've got. Our first poll of the season, which we actually did a week early because we had a private school who's ranked high point Christian playing last week.
We had Dudley at number one, Reidsville at number two, Southeast Guilford at number three. And we don't rank East and West, but you've got to look at East for Scythe with all that they've got coming back from an unbeaten state championship team. And until someone proves otherwise, they've got to be the top of your poll. And West is always strong, and this year should be no exception. Yeah, I'm super excited for the game we have tonight.
Our second-rank team Dudley traveling to Clemens to take on number five, West for Scythe. Who would you say just off the top of your head right now? Who do you think the best team in Guilford County is going to be this season? I would say Dudley, but the big question mark with that team, as it has been for a couple of years now since Hendon Hooker graduated, is quarterback play. It's going to be probably one of two sophomores starting for the Panthers.
It's either going to be Jameer Slade, who got a few snaps last year as a freshman, Where Manny Elliott probably splayed. That's the big question for them. They also may have a little bit of an issue against West with snaps, their center. broke a finger on his snapping hand about a week and a half ago, and he had a little bit of trouble in their scrimmage at Charlotte Vance last Friday. They're going to do everything they can to either get that hand right or they were even trying having him snap with his off hand a little bit That's going to be key, especially with the young quarterback.
But that team is loaded on defense. They've got a deep, talented, stable of running backs. They've got offensive linemen. It's going to be quarterback play that's going to determine how far the Panthers go. On the line with Joe Serrera from the Greensboro News and Record with us on the drive, and we're chopping up a little Guilford County High School football action that's going to be starting tonight across the area.
And I do see here an update on Greensboro.com regarding some games tonight due to. Possible weather. I say that I'm looking out the window here in Kernersville, and all I see is sunshine and birds flying and everything else. But I know there's a threat of thunderstorms later this evening. And it looks like here, you're saying the Northwest Guilford at Smith game will kick off at 6 p.m.
The Kerabis High Point Christian game has been moved to Saturday night, and Reidsmill's game at High Point Central has been changed to Monday, correct? Those are the ones that we're aware of at this time. there there could be some late changes, but I think once you get past about the four o'clock hour, teams are going to have to be getting on buses, bands are going to have to be packing it up. And I think at that point barring weather that could interrupt a game or delay a game. what you're seeing now is pretty much what you're going to get.
You don't want to get into a situation like they had down near Charlotte last night. They had one game that because of lightning didn't start until after 10 p.m. And they had a midnight curfew there. And they retire at midnight, so they're going to resume the game today. That that that sounds delightful.
Yeah, yeah. And you don't want to get into those kind of situations if you can avoid them, but you also don't want to start moving games off of opening night on a maybe it's going to rain. But the way the storms have been, you've seen it the last week or so. It can be a horrific thunderstorm, wind, hail. We had that at our office here in Greensboro on a day earlier this week, and I live about five miles east of Greensboro.
We didn't get any rain there.
So You just don't know from game to game, from site to site, what you're going to get. But I I already we had some predictions for the season, and I've already predicted that the state championship games are going to be pushed back from December 14th to the 21st, because we're going to have one or two wipeout weeks this year, and that's what's going to happen. Oh, Joe, no, no, Joe. If that happened last year, I mean Dave Plasser was talking about it. I mean we miss last on December 21st.
I mean y y that's your Christma your early Christmas present is basically it. That's that's late. How many ga how many weeks last year got affected by weather? Like three? Two or three of them?
I think it was more than that. There were a number of weekends where games were moved up to Thursday. There were games. played on Monday. We had a couple of Saturday games with private schools.
I mean, it it's crazy. I understand the concern for safety. That's got to be number one. I also understand the concern that these games Generate the bulk of the athletics revenue for the high school program, so they need to be. on a night when they can get maximum number of fans there.
But boy, it it's crazy. We had we had games on three or four different nights of the week last year. Yeah, and and then even the state championship week, I remember an ice storm came through here and a lot of these area teams were boxing in in the in the ice or in a gym somewhere. Yeah, the day they had the state championship news conferences at Carter Finley Stadium in Raleigh, there was two inches of snow still sitting on that field before they cleared it off.
Well, I'm hoping we won't go through that. this year 'cause last year was Was crazy in terms of all the scrambling and last-minute scheduling and everything.
So, hopefully, we won't have that. And, like I said, as I say that, I'm looking out the window. The sun is shining. Everything looks good.
So, hopefully, we'll be able to get through this gaming of games tonight. Joe Serrero on the line with us from the Greensboro News and Record talking high school football as it kicks off tonight across the state. Joe, who are some players to watch for in Guilford County as we kick off this 2019 season?
Well, we had a feature story on our website Thursday in print today. We have three defensive linemen, a sophomore, a junior and a senior in Greensboro, who are all four star or higher recruits. Are two of them at Dudley? Defensive tackle Peyton Page, a junior who's 6'4, 6'5, about 325. You've got Miles Murphy, a defensive end for Dudley.
He transferred him from Southwest Guilford this year. He's a senior. He's 6'4, 280. And maybe potentially the best of the bunch, a sophomore at Grimsley High School, Travis Shaw, already 6'5 ⁇, 6'6 ⁇, about 3'15, and he does not look heavy. He was a good basketball player for the varsity for Grimsley as a freshman.
And the two who haven't committed yet, Miles Murphy committed to North Carolina back in the summer, the two who haven't committed yet, Travis, Shaw and Peyton Page have offers from Alabama, Clemson, a number of other programs. If you're a defensive lineman and you've got offers from Alabama and Clemson, you have the good housekeeping seal of approval as for a defensive lineman. Those schools don't recruit guys they don't think are going to end up in the NFL. Those three kids are where you've got to start. The fact that two of them are at Dudley, along with another pretty good defensive lineman, Christian Lane, is the reason that Dudley is number one in our poll.
We don't really have a lot of running backs and quarterbacks this year that have big numbers coming back. Kyle Pinnix from Reidsville threw for over 2,000 yards last year and was the MVP of the Class IIA State Championship game. He's only a junior and he's back. Javandre Page at Page High School is back for his senior year, pretty good dual threat quarterback. But offensively, we just don't seem to have the monster guys like we had a few years ago.
We don't have a Hendon Hooker really this year, a Will Jones, the quarterback from Page. Connell Young, who's up at Western Carolina, played at Dudley, ran for nearly 3,000 yards his senior year. A few years back, we had Reggie Gillaspi at Southern Guilford, who went on to NC State and just wrapped up his career there. It seems like the bulk of the talent this year is on the defensive side of the ball in Guilford County. And I think it's cyclical.
It kind of comes back around, I think, Right now, we just have a really good crop of defensive players, particularly on the line. Joe, is there a ⁇ now I trust your judgment more than anyone that I know when it comes to prep football and kids and their stats and what they can do here in the area. Is there a team out there that you just can't shake the feeling that they could be a sneaky dark horse and make a long run into possibly December outside of the regular suspects like Dudley and Paige and all these other guys or teams that we talk about? Is there one team that's kind of out there in Guilford County that nobody's talking about, but you've kind of seen the talent that they have, the coaching level they have, and you think, you know, you just can't shake the feeling that they might be able to do something in December?
Well, the the the team that is definitely on the rise. The program that's definitely on the rise in Guilford County is Grimsley. They finished actually just ahead of Page in our poll. They're number four, Page is number five. That rivalry goes back decades.
I think Grimsley has almost become kind of a sexy pick to be the up and comer this year. They won a playoff game last year for the first time since twenty eleven. They've got a lot of senior talent. They have that great sophomore defensive tackle, Travis Shaw, who I mentioned earlier. A very good coach in Daryl Brown, who had tremendous success at Southern Guilford.
And this is the first. senior class he's had. This is year four for him. It's his program completely now. The kids have been bought into what they're doing off the field in the offseason and the whole program.
They're a rising team, but I think they've kind of been a little bit of a sexy pick this year to knock off page. The other team I'll throw out there, and it's a team that has had success through the years but hasn't quite been at the same level this year as North or until this year is Northern Guilford. They went 8-4 last year, but one of the wins was a forfeit win because of what happened with Paige last year with some ineligibility. And this is the first time since Eric Westberg has been the coach. They are also in year four for him that he's had a big senior class.
He's got twenty eight to thirty seniors, and a lot of them are contributing. That's the kind of senior numbers they had back when Johnny Roscoe was the coach, and they were playing for and winning state championships every year. I think the talent at Northern Guilford is such, and Eric Westberg and his staff are good enough coaches, that that's a team that could be a breakthrough team this year that could make a deeper playoff run.
Southeast Guilford was the one last year, got all the way to the three AAA state championship game. They had tremendous graduation losses. They still got some talent, but If I had to pick one of those two teams, I would say that the upset would be Grimsley knocking off Page this year, which hasn't happened in a while, and maybe Northern Guilford making a run. I'm not mistaken. We've got Page and Grimsley, Page versus Grimsley, on our schedule this year and the gamut of games we're going to be running on the Sports Hub.
Real quick, Joe, before I let you go, where are you going to be tonight? There are a number of logistical reasons, but I'm going to be in Moxville for Page at Davie County. Originally, I was going to be at what clearly is the best game in Guilford County tonight. Northern Guilford is opening their season at Grimsley, the two teams I just mentioned. That should be a tremendous matchup.
But for logistical reasons, in terms of getting freelancers, it was difficult for us to get a freelancer to drive to Moxville from Guilford County.
So that's where I'm headed, but we will have coverage of both of those games. will also be at Eastern Guilford, Northeast Guilford. We were going to be at Reidsville's game at High Point Central, but that got pushed back to Monday.
So we're still kind of tweaking a little bit on the schedule. But I'm going to be making the run over to Moxville. And our good friend JT Mundy is going to be Not far from his home in Clemens to cover Dudley at Westbrasside. Awesome. Hey, since you're going to Moxville, you're going to pass a Popeye, so you might want to try one of those chicken sandwiches they've been talking about because they're sold out all over the place.
Yeah, they might not even be available. They're not going to be available. Joe, thanks a lot, man. I will see you Wednesday for a brand new season of High School Huddle here on Sports Hope Try. Thanks so much, man.
Always a pleasure, Tess. Thank you. That's Joe Serrera from the Greensboro News and Record. You're listening to the Sports Hub Triad 93.7 Greensboro, 101.5 Winston-Salem, 104.9 High Point, and 104.5 Burlington. Can we talk here?
Can we talk here? Let's talk about it. This is the sports hub at AM 600, AM 920.
Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. Big, big night here at the sports hub. Kicks off our fall programming schedule. WSGS Sports Hub brings you the Oxner and Permar High School Football Game of the Week. Tonight.
West for Scythe hosting Dudley. 7 p.m. pregame. Our kickoffs at 7:30 with the voice of Sports Hub Triad, Dave Pulaski and Drew Brackett. Looking forward to that.
Might have to. Head out that way and get some of that Westforside hospitality for a little bit, start of that program. And then here, Sawyer Dillon will be on the producing board. Aiden Jensen will be making his debut as a studio host. Uh for that.
Matchup, and he'll be in studio giving you highlights, stats, scores before the game, halftime, and after the game as well in the fifth quarter.
So, definitely stick with us tonight for all of your news, high school action across the entire Sports Hub triad listening area. On the line right now, I have from the Winston-Salem Journal Patrick Ferles, who has been covering prep sports here in the area since he joined the journal a couple of years back. Patrick, what's going on, man? How are you doing today? Hey man, great to be on the show.
Thanks for having me.
So, real quick, before we get into for Scythe County teams, I want to give you the SportsConMonthly.com. Top five. It's our new poll that'll be every Saturday morning on the rundown with Desmond Johnson. And this is the inaugural one here. It's our top five teams in our listening area for Sports Hub Triad.
I've got East for Scythe at number one, Dudley at two, Reidsville at three, Southeast Guilford at four, and West for Scythe at five. Am I crazy, Looney Tunes, or does that sound pretty accurate to you? At least the Forsyth County schools I can speak to, that sounds pretty accurate.
Now, um Of course, the elephant in the room is East for Scythe, 15-0 from last season. They've only lost, if I'm not mistaken, like three games in the past two years. They won the four A State title over Scotland County in a thrilling Game last December in Chapel Hill. They return, it seems like. Everybody from this team last year.
They lost some in the backfield for defense that went off to Division I schools, but. Is East Forsyth the best team in Forsythe County this season, in your opinion, as we start off this 2019 campaign? You know, I definitely think just on the surface looking at it, I think Um it's fair to say they could make uh pretty deep running the playoffs once again. Of course, you know, in the backfield they lost In the secondary, they lost Coleet Martin, that was a big one. they had to replace, I want to say, four DBs But really, they return a good chunk of their team.
Of course, they have a Monty Marshall back there, their running back and committed to Wake Forest recently. And they've got their now junior quarterback, Ty Lyles, who led that team to the state championship last year as a sophomore.
So I mean, I'd say that's it they have a fair shot this year, for sure. It seems like I remember last year, especially when we were doing high school huddle, it seemed like the sophomore class of quarterbacks last year, especially in Forsyth County, was kind of the future going forward. Like you mentioned, Tyler said East Forsyth was a sophomore. He's a junior this year. A kid that.
Really turned heads last year was Parkland's Cammy and Schell. And he's back this year. He's a dual threat. He actually might be better playing basketball, but he's the quarterback for Parkland. What's your take on Cammian Schell and the Parkland program this year?
You know, I like it. Of course, you've got Lamar Marshall in there this year since Martin Slamick left for Rollsville. I think he's really going to do a good job with that program this year. As far as Canyon Shell goes, definitely a dual threat quarterback. He had a Phenomenal season last year leading that team to its first postseason appearances two thousand seven.
So that was huge for the program. Him coming back for sure is definitely a big bonus for that team. I think another big player to watch is definitely Chase Rory. Uh senior wide receiver and defensive back who had a pretty good season last year with over seven hundred receiving yards. And I want to say 13 touchdowns, and he only played five or six games last year.
So they have a couple standout returners. That could turn some heads as well, for sure.
So I've got Patrick Feliz on the line with me from the Winston-Salem Journal. He covers prep athletics here in Forsyth County and points west in the triad. You mentioned a couple of players already. Who are some other players to watch in Forsyth County? I know you just did a series on journalnow.com that actually outlined a couple of these kids that people should be.
uh keeping an eye out for. Definitely. The list goes on and on. I mean, you've got Gabriel Hollingsworth starting his senior year quarterback this year for Reagan. only his second full season Or aiming for a second full season, you've got DJ Moyer there as well at running back, who is.
a four-time New Bennett's All-American and indoor and outdoor track. Um you've got Nate Hampton at Davey County. Uh I mean the list goes on. Jared Wilson at Westpersite going into his junior year on the offensive line there with nine Division I offers, including Clemson, there's quite a lot of players in this area and a lot of talent to watch this season.
Now we know about East for Scythe and West for Scythe and even Parkland to a certain degree. Is there a team that's out there? Because I'm sure you've seen a lot of these kids in camps and stuff over. You know, the end of summer, and then now the practices have actually started, school starting back on Monday. Is there a team out there that?
Like you can't, it won't escape your mind that they could be a sneaky dark horse and make a long run into December, other than the regular suspects like East for Scythe and West for Scythe and whatnot. Is there a team out there that nobody's really talking about that you've seen their talent, their coaching level coaching staff, and you're just kind of you can't shake the feeling that they might be able to do something later in the year? In First Life County or in the Northwest in general? Um in Northwest in general.
Okay. Uh Of course. There's East Surrey. I think they have a great chance. To go back to the one double-A championship or at least have a deep run.
They returned a lot of their players and also got back Stephen Gosnell the NC State commit who transferred to Carroll County in Virginia in January. They got him back this season. They have Jefferson Boaz. the UNC commit as well back at quarterback. This bike, Mount Airy will be strong again this season.
Um StarMount could be good as well. They made it to the One A West Region final last year. I think a couple of schools that I can tell you about that might have a little bit of a different makeup this year, maybe at least in the Davidson County uh Mm-hmm. I definitely think Ledford and North Davidson will be a little different. I want to say Nort Davidson lost twenty nine Seniors after last year's run to a state championship.
Wow, yeah, that's a lot of fun. Letford had a lot of players. They had to replace as well. think around the range of eight to nine on their defense. And that included Coleman Reich, who's at Coastal Carolina now, who had an offer from UNC, decommitted from there, now at Coastal.
David Wetherington as well, who Uh-huh. I want to say it was in the top five in two way with interceptions. Last year. So those are a couple of schools that may have a different makeup. as well.
So We've got Patrick Feliz online with us from the Winston-Salem Journal. Thanks so much for doing this with us, Patrick, to give us an update on Forsyth County schools. What are the top games in Forsyth County tonight? And what game will you be attending?
Well, uh I was going to be at Mount Tabor And Reagan, but that game is now pushed back to Saturday at 6 p.m. because of what I assume would be weather. Oh man. Definitely West for Scythe and Dudley. like you guys mentioned, is the game of the week.
Parkland versus North Davidson at Deaton Thompson Stadium. That'll be a great game to watch as well. Mount Airy versus Star Mountain is tonight. Um And also Central Davidson at Bishop McGuinness. That will be an interesting game to see because Bishop McGuinness.
lost a lot of players from last year. They bring back Daniel Cancro, who rushed for over 1,500 yards last season and 17 touchdowns on the ground.
So he'll be a player to watch in that game. Also, they have Charlie Jones as their quarterback or as their coach this year, rather. Uh replacing Drew Hackett.
So that'll be again watch as well just to see how they do in their first game of the season. Pat, I think I'm going to be I'm going to try to go out to West for siphon. Dudley, we have it on Sports Hub tonight starting at 7 p.m. with Dave Pulaski and Drew Brackett on the call. I'm going to trot around there a little bit right before the kickoff and see a little bit of the first quarter and then probably head back here to the studio to make sure that everything is going copostatic here for us.
Love to have you on throughout the season on the rundown. Saturday mornings, we usually open up during football season with a high school scoreboard rundown and a conversation regarding what we saw and heard the night previous.
So definitely we'll keep you in mind, bringing you back on throughout the season, giving us your thoughts on high school football for Northeast North Carolina. And you can actually get to Patrick's work on journalnow.com, click on the sports tab, and it's all right there in its glory for you to get boned up on players and teams in the area. I appreciate you doing this for us today, man. Absolutely. Thanks for having me.
That's Patrick Feliz from the Winston-Salem Journal, journalnow.com. Coming up. The Carolina Panthers dodged a huge bullet last night. I'll give you the latest on Cam Newton's injury and my three takeaways from last night's Panthers versus Patriots contest next. I don't want you to f freak out, freak out, freak out.
This is the Sports Hub at AM600, AM 920.
Now back to the drive with Josh Graham. Mm-hmm. Uh Yeah. You're listening to the drive. Desmond Johnson here, your guest host for this Friday afternoon.
Josh Graham's on vacation. He will be back Monday. Good news Laker fans. Dwight Howard just signed a contract with the Lakers, according to Adrian Warjanowski. A woge bomb here on Twitter just went down about five minutes ago.
He says the deal with the Lakers will be non-guaranteed. League sources tell ESPN Howard had several meetings with Laker officials, and they'll give him a chance to show he's made changes in how he conducts himself. That doesn't sound like that's gonna work very well. Lakers players were involved in the process.
So I assume when they say Laker players, that means that Anthony Davis and LeBron James were in the room. Telling Dwight. Man, you better act right. Act right this time. Don't don't Don't be Dwight Howard, be different, be better.
But I don't know.
They need a center, losing Boogie Cousins. For all the faults that Dwight has, He usually performs wherever he is. He's just... He should have never left Orlando. He should have just stayed in Orlando.
I think it's just that he was so dominant. He's like. Regressing like every other player, but he's just so big, you expect him to be like this big guy. It's just like he's not that guy that he was. He's still good.
The league changed underneath his feet. Like, Dwight Howard never really worked on his game. Like you said, it was all power and dunks and just getting to the rim and being in the paint. He never developed a jump shot. He never really developed like.
real legit post moves like I'll never compare him to like Carl Malone or Charles Barkley in the paint in terms of getting to the bucket. But I mean, he's a body, and we'll see how much he plays. I know Anthony Davis didn't want to play center, so this is what you get. You get Dwight Howard.
So, congratulations, Laker fans. I'm. Actually, one of them.
So we'll see what happens with that. On the line right now. The voice of Sports Hub Triads High School Football. Dave Pulaski getting set up and ready to rock and roll here in about an hour and a half. Out in Clemens, they've got to call him and Drew Brackett for West for Scythe hosting Dudley, probably one of the biggest games in the area tonight.
Dave, what's up, man? What's going on?
Well, Dev, first of all, you're not going to want me in the painting when I'm 5'10 size.
So we'll leave that to Boogie and everybody else with a little bit more height than me. Yeah. Yeah. Man, how's it look out there? Because I think the weather's got some people shook.
But I'm sitting here in Kernsville looking out the window, and all I see is bright sunlight.
So. How does it look out there right now? And have you looked at the weather forecast to see what's happening for later tonight?
Well, literally, does just as I was waiting to get on the line with you guys, I just got word of the severe thunderstorm warning for Scythe County until six o'clock.
So that's the bad news. The good news is that We don't go on air until 7.
So hopefully everything will pass through, and then we'll be able to play this game without any delay. Right now, there are blue skies around, but it also looks like there's a big gray cloud that's about to land on top of us, kind of like an alien ship. But there are blue skies out toward the distance, out beyond the north side of the field, and also to the south side.
So a little bit unsettled right now, I'd say the weather is. But from what I'm hearing, with a 50% chance of showers, it looks like we might be in and out of this during the evening. But overall, I think we'll be able to play.
So sportscolinamonthly.com that powers the rundown on Saturday mornings. We have our initial top five poll, which is basically the top five schools in our. Sports Hub triad listening area. The inaugural poll is out, and I want to get your thoughts on it. Has East for Scythe at number one, Greensboro Dudley at two, Reidsville at three, Southeast Guildford at four, and West for Scythe at five.
Outside looking in, Greensboro Page, Grimsley, Parkland, and Southwest Guilford. Did we nail it or are we just far off from where you think we're at the beginning of the 2019 campaign? I think there's a pretty good and fair assessment of these teams, especially going off of the success last year. Obviously, Eastercy and Reidsville both winning state titles for the triad, ranking them one and three perfectly fair, especially with all the returnees they have from last year's championship squads. Dudley, their defense is stacked, and we'll talk more about that not only in this segment, but also during the pregame show.
They have Peyton Page and Miles Murphy as a dangerous and deadly combo. Page is already getting over 30 FBS offers and a lot of Power Five offers along the way. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State. You might have heard of some of those schools, some of the schools that he's getting attention from. Miles Murphy's already committed to Mac Brown and UNC.
So that's about as formidable a one-two punch on the defensive front as you're going to have. The question for Dudley is whether or not they're going to get consistent quarterback play this year, which is what escaped them last year and why they ended up bowing out in the third round of the playoffs in 2018.
So, a preview of tonight's contest, real quick, because I know we're going to do that at 7 o'clock when you and Drew come on the air. West for Scythe hosting Dudley. tonight, seven o'clock pregame, seven thirty kickoff. What do you what do you what's your sense of both teams after talk 'cause I know you talked to both uh head coach Stephen Davis from Dudley this week and Wes for Syf's head coach Adrian Snow. What are you taking away from both of them uh in terms of like the top two or three keys to this game?
A lot of mutual respect between these two gentlemen. First of all, Adrian Snow in his twelfth season at Westforsyth, his eighteenth overall a year as a head coach. He's won everywhere he's been. Stephen Davis, of course, he has built himself a legendary status at W4 State Championships in sixteen years at the home, one hundred sixty one and forty-nine record as the head coach of the Panthers.
So a lot of mutual respect Davis says that he believes turnovers are going to be the key to the game. West Berside's head coach Adrian Snow, he believes that special teams will end up being a huge key for tonight's contest because he feels that every point is going to matter because these two teams are dead even. When you look at the max preps rankings, doubly thirty, West Berside 31. That's pretty close. Yeah, absolutely.
Now, both teams have Division I talent, and we're on the line with Dave Pulaski, voice of Sports Hub Triads High School Football. He'll be on the mic tonight. West for Scythe taking on Dudley at 7:30 kickoff, 7 o'clock is the pregame show.
Now, both of these teams, West for Scythe and Dudley, have Division I talent. Let's start over on the West for Scythe side with senior running back Jamoni Wilson. First of all, I'm even pronouncing his name right, Jamoni, or is it Jamon? Jamani. Jamani.
Jamani Wilson. He's 6'1, 185-pound running back. He's got offers from Temple, Coastal Carolina, and Old Dominion. I know he took an unofficial visit to Carolina recently, too. We all know, if you know about West for Scythe, you know they love to pound a rock on the ground, and Wilson looks to be a big part of that for 2019.
This is his senior campaign. What are your thoughts on Wilson's style of running and West for Scythe's run-first philosophy? I'll tell you what, Des, those offers are only going to increase right now from those three Division I offers that he already has, as you mentioned. He had almost 1,600 rushing yards last year, 15 touchdowns. He also had a receiving touchdown last season.
He's a guy who reminds me the most of Curtis Martin, where no matter when he gets the ball, he's not going to cost you yardage. If he can't make something out of nothing, he'll at least take two, three yards just to make it a more manageable situation. He has about that same size as Curtis as well, maybe a little bit taller, but he has that ability to just use his legs and drive the pile forward to make it a more manageable situation on offense and help keep those chains moving.
Now on the other side, Dudley They're a perennial title contender, state title contender. They've won 10 games a season for four seasons straight now. They won the 4A state title in 2016. What are your thoughts on this year's Dudley team, and how far do you think they can go? They could potentially win the whole thing, especially with the defense that they have.
They are we already mentioned Peyton Page and Miles Murphy. They also have a couple of pretty good additions, including a page transfer of Branson Adams, who came over from one school to the other.
So moved over to the other side of that rivalry. Branson Adams is going to be contributing on both offense and defense. And Doubly has a very deep stable of running backs. Part of that came about out of necessity last year. Miles Smith and Marlon Darby each got hurt during the course of last season.
They had to rely on Neshaum Wilhite and Milan Summers to help Carrie Belode carrying the ball.
Now all four are healthy and returning going into this year.
So that could take a lot of pressure off Jameer Slade as the sophomore gets his feet wet as a starting quarterback for the Panthers.
Now, Dudley has not one, but two kids that are nationally ranked in defensive linemen: Miles Murphy and Peyton Page. They both stand 6'4 or taller, and they both weigh at least 280 pounds. How destructive are these kids, and can Dudley rod that defense to another state title? I know you said that that's going to be the backbone of this team, as it usually is, but it seems like their front is going to be even more stout than it normally is. No question about that.
Those two, and especially getting Miles Murphy as a transfer from Southwest Guilford for his senior season, that was quite the coup for Stephen Davis in terms of. helping to uh Strengthen that defense because you have a little bit of inexperience getting into the secondary. A couple of guys who are seniors but relatively unproven.
So we'll find out exactly what Dudley has to offer when you get into that linebacking core as well as the secondary. But Patrick Murphy can carry the load. And then let's not forget on offense, Michael Wyman's a four-star receiver and he's a South Carolina commit.
So he can make damage if he can get the ball from Jameer Slade. And that was one of the problems for Dudley last year. They didn't give Ryman enough touches, and that's why their season came to an end before they expected it.
Now, um Let's talk a little bit about the lineup this season for Sports Hub Triad high school football coverage because I'm super excited. I know me and you had put together this round-robin side of this. East Resph will be on WSJS starting next week, and we'll follow them throughout the course of their title defense season here. But on the other side, WCOG and WMFR, basically, we're bringing you the top game in the triad. Every single week.
It doesn't matter if it's Guilford County, for Scythe County, just doesn't matter. We're just trying to get the public what they want in the best games. We're simulcasting West for Scythe versus Deadly across all platforms to open this season. And then, like I mentioned before, East for Scythe will be on the SJS side starting next week. What games on our schedule stand out to you the most this season?
I know it's super early. Oh, man. I mean, I'm so excited about this schedule because we don't narrow it down to just a couple of teams going throughout the course of the season. We end up covering, I think last year we had almost 20 different triad schools involved in the game of the week. And that's great for the kids.
That's great for the parents and for the coaches. They all get the necessary exposure in order to try and make an impact and try and get noticed by colleges as well for those elite athletes. And we had a historic season last year in the triad. Five state finalists where you had Eastersyth, Reidsville, Southeast Guilford, North Davidson, as well as East Surrey all reaching their respective championship games. Easpersyth and Reedsville ended up winning it all.
So I think the. Ability to branch out and cover all these schools is warranted. And one of those games that, of course, is a staple in our coverage every year is Grimsley and Page. And Grimsley looks to be much improved from the last couple of years. They keep getting better every single season under Daryl Brown.
That's going to wind up the regular season before we get into the playoffs and start covering all those through the state championship games in mid-December. But, I mean, week in, week out, there's a game to get excited about no matter who you're rooting for. You mentioned Grimsley at Page, and that was actually one of the games that. Our buddy Joe Serreira, who we had on earlier in the show, mentioned As he covered the Guilford County side for us, Grimsley has kind of become like the Cleveland Browns of our triad area. There's a lot of folks kind of jumping on that bandwagon.
They were 7-6 last year, got in the playoffs. They lost to eventual 4-A champ Easter Scythe. But they're bringing back a lot of talent, and the sky's the limit for them. That's the last game on our schedule. Grimsley at Page, November the 8th, before playoffs start.
But you're right, there's a lot of stuff that we have on here. Smith at Dudley, October the 11th. That's more than likely homecoming. Parkland at Reagan, September 27th. Easter Scythe at Page the week prior.
So there's a lot of stuff on here. Eastern Guilford at Reedsville. We tried really, really hard to make sure that we brought the triad the best game of the week, the best two games of the week.
So I'm right there with you. I'm super excited about that. Dave, we've got high school huddle. The season premiere will be next week. Wednesday night.
New time slot, 7 p.m. Everyone can definitely check that out. It'll also be available at sportshubtriad.com as a download after each show. Tonight, West Rescyth versus Dudley. Pregame starts at 7, kickoff at 7:30.
Dave Pulaski, Drew Brackett, on the call. Aiden Jensen in studio giving you guys score updates across the region all evening long. Dave, man, I appreciate you, brother. I'm debating whether or not I want to drive out to Clemens because you know how I am about West for Scythe and their cafeteria and football games.
So that's true. Yeah, I'm debating whether or not to go out there. Have you seen anything with the spread yet?
Well, no, there has been nothing coming out yet in terms of the spread.
So we're just sitting quietly. I'm drinking my tea before the broadcast, like I normally do. We're watching the clouds kind of pass by overhead, a little bit of rain off in the distance out to the east side, but that's not going to get to us. That's going to keep going out toward Greensboro.
So we should be okay there. And hopefully, whatever system we have in the area is going to get out of the way, and then we'll be able to get everything in on time and fully for this broadcast tonight between two of the top teams in Forsyth and Guilford counties, respectively. I'm ready. I'm ready for football. I'm ready.
It's going to be a lot of fun, man. Yeah, man. Hey, I might see you tonight. If not, I will see you next Wednesday for High School Huddle. Have a great call tonight, and I hope you guys have a fantastic game.
You got it, Doug. Thanks, buddy. Appreciate it. Thanks, man. That's Dave Pulaski, voice of Sports Hub Triad.
West Perside versus Dudley. Huge game to kick off the high school football schedule tonight. Listen to Sports Hub Triad at 7 p.m. to get that coverage. Coming up.
Cam Newton is this generation's John Elway. I'll prove it to the entire triad next.
