Friday Night Lights (Degen style) + CFB 8/25-27

[Riff-Raff]

Hi All,
I do hope everyone had a relaxing summer, as I know I did by hiking into some cool wilderness areas where I saw more bear than people...
I'm bringing back my High School Football Degenerate Picks again as I'm officially a glutton for HSF and have been actually looking forward to some of these HSF games and how they play out than college...
I managed to turn a healthy profit last year in HSF, so it's back to the grind.


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Fridays HSF Plays: Final: Aquinas 9 Bosco 3

STA +10' over Bosco.... (2 units)..WIN *Nothing like two high school heavyweights going at it to kick things off for the ESPN extravaganza. I played St Thomas Aquinas +14' when the lines first came out as I couldn't resist the offer. I still like the points even though the number has dropped.... I make no qualms that Bosco is my fav HSF team and I was very happy to see several pundit polls have them #1 in the nation, however, asking a bunch of kids to travel coast to coast and blow out a team of Aquinas status is pushing it.

Bosco returns their prolific QB Re-al Mitchell, who threw for 30 tds last year and ran for 15 more. He finished with 2,932 yards passing and as a true dual threat ran for 1, 058. He is electric and the Raiders must account for him every play... He completes 67% of his passes. Bosco finished #2 in the National Rankings (behind Gorman). Braves HC J Negro has them playing one of the toughest schedules in the country... This isn't their only cross-country trip, as they travel to Wash DC later to play St Johns College Prep... They return numerous talent on both sides of the ball. Besides Mitchell, who is Iowa St bound, they feature RB Demetrius Flowers who ran for nearly 1, 000 yards w/20 tds as a back up ly (heading to Arizona St) The Defense is strong and the secondary might be the best in CA. Safety Jaiden Woodbey, is the #35th ranked player in the nation (going to Ohio St)(he had 70 tackles - 48 solo, 4ints ly).. Bosco has over 35 players with FBS scholarship offers...The Oline and D line are huge.

STA Raiders are no slouch either. Last year, this team came within a preseason hiccup and a 3 OT loss to the National Champion to have carried the National Champ title themselves.... Of course the 3 Overtime loss was to Gorman (25-24) and the hiccup was to a very good Booker Washington squad (27-23) a team Raiders were able to enact some payback on later in the season. The last time a powerhouse from CA played Aquinas, they sent DeLaSalle back to CA with a 30-6 hurt in 2011.....
Raiders have replaced Qbs as the new starter is Jr Curt Casteel (6'2" 195 lbs) who opened last week against Dillard in the Kick - Off Classic that STA stumbled in last year against Washington... Casteel had a good showing by going 9-16 for 179 yards w/3 Tds... Aquinas is loaded with their own Div 1 prospects and recruits.... The Defense is dangerous, CB AL Blades Jr (6'0" 170 lb Sr) is going to Miami, where coincidentally his Uncle, Brian and Dad, AL also played.... CB Asante Samuel (5'10 165 lb Sr) is heading to Florida St (happens to be the Son of the NFL Pro Bowler and Super Bowl Champ, Asante Samuel).... DE/LB Nik Bonitto (6'2" 205 lb Sr) has over 26 FBS offers.... The roster is stacked with Div 1 talent... The Defense has played against high octane offenses before..

Both teams have tremendous players and tremendous pedigree. STA won the State Title last year as did Bosco..The opening line in this match-up was grossly over shot... Must remember that even though Bosco arrived Tuesday, there is going to be some lag and rust... Aquinas opened last week with a full tilt game and even though Bosco has scrimmaged twice against other CA schools, I don't believe those looks will match the speed of what they will face today... Aquinas has too much pride and history and add in home field and I think this one will be tight with Bosco eeking out a W in the 4th.... Grab the generous points IMO...

*Haven't seen a total for this game, but anything less than 50 would be my play with 2 very stingy Defenses going at it..

Back with Gorman/Dematha pick

 

[Subcloser]

agree with you here...:0074

 

[Riff-Raff]

Friday Night Lights HSF Degen for 8/25

Friday Night Lights HSF Degen for 8/25

Nt

 

[Riff-Raff]

Well I'm pretty perturbed... Had a lengthy write up as to why I played Gorman -7' over Dematha in the desert.... Just looked and noticed somehow I pasted the damn Bosco game again....... Fok... Sorry folks.... What a waste of time.. But hey, at least Aquinas covered for +2 units.... Working on tomorrow's hsf games.. Back

 

[hedgehog]

Im a degen gambler too...where you bet these games? My site doesn't have hs foots or little league ws I'd love to bet on both :lol: Best of luck riff raff, you are one of my fav posters here :0008

 

[Riff-Raff]

Im a degen gambler too...where you bet these games? My site doesn't have hs foots or little league ws I'd love to bet on both :lol: Best of luck riff raff, you are one of my fav posters here :0008

I bet then at 5Dimes.... Only problem is the extra juice and cap on games, however, I have to remember that it's just hsf.. :shrug: I'm still a bit tilted that my post disappeared for the Gorman/Dematha game... Won a couple of units on it as Gorman puts it away in the 4th.
Good luck hedgehog on the Football season

 

[Riff-Raff]

Saturdays HSF plays...

Tulsa Union - 16 over Broken Arrow... NP (No Play) Final: Union 26 Broken Arrow 15
*This is the first time ever that 2 Oklahoma Schools will face off on National TV.... As part of the ESPN Kickoff Showcase... Union Redskins are the #1 ranked team in Oklahoma. The team has won the 6A State Championships 8 times, including last years romp through the playoffs. Redskins are recognized as having the most talent in the state. Coach Kirk Fridrich only returns 9 starters, but 3 of them are major college talent and recruits. Maybe the biggest unknown is having to replace 4 starters on the OLine.

4 Star Recruit, CJ Moore (6'4" 175 lb Sr) is a All State WR (he's heading to Okie St).*Moore actually tore his meniscus during the season opener last season but worked hard to return and ended up catching 45 passes for 654 yards and 12 TDs (the kid has heart) in last years title game he 7 catches w/3 TDs. ... 3 Star commit to Oklahoma is Jordan Kelly (6'3 290 lb Sr). Redskins have top 11 recruits in the state.

Broken Arrow is an up and Comer... The Tigers return 19 starters. Last year the team went 6-5. They lost twice to Union once in the regular season (42-7) and again in the playoffs (40-24....They are the 15th ranked team in Oklahoma. In 2015, HC Dave Alexanders team reached the title game, although came away empty handed... This year he feels he has the talent to return and get over the hump. His Defense is anchored by Div 1 recruit DLine Derrick Shaw and Safety Gary Mossop has offers... The offense is now utilizing a 2 QB system and with new Offensive Coordinators, opponents should expect many new wrinkles and surprises... WR Matt Kaiser is a big play threat and should feast on the spread attack. Olineman, Andrew Raym is considered to be the #2 ranked OLinemam in the state...

**This rivalry is growing and the competition is getting better, but it is still a one sided affair. Union has won the last twelve meets against the Tigers, that includes wins in playoffs and regular season. Broken Arrow needs to find its identity. For the fact that their are two new coordinators running the offense and no QB is leading, I feel history may be repeating itself despite the returning starters for BA.... Union has the best secondary in the state..... The true test will be Tigers passing attack against Union secondary.... Since 1990, Broken Arrow has only won once (in 2008) I fear more of the same...

No Play

 

[Riff-Raff]

Saraland Spartans -14 over Heard County Braves.....

Alabama travels to Georgia to play a team that went 8-4 ly in AA Div, but opened last week with a healthy win against South Atlanta (42-15)....while Saraland went 6-5 but made the playoffs although they were bounced in the first round..After looking at the records of these two, one might wonder what the ESPN committee was smoking to put these two together... This is a match up of Top Tier QBs, both are heavily recruited.

Saraland Spartans are coached by HC Jeff Kelly (55-21 in 7th season) He was a QB himself and played at Southern Miss and in the NFL. Offensively, Kelly is having to replace some key pieces off his offense that averaged 27.4 ppg and on Defense gave 24.3 ppg.... But should be improved this time around.... QB is the #2 Sr prospect in the State of Alabama... QB Jack West (Sr 6'4" 210 lbs) is committed to Stanford as one of the earliest candidate athletes ever to be accepted by the school... He received his first full ride scholarship as a Frosh... His Coach heaps praise on his Pro Style signal caller... Coach states "he has tremendous drive, tremendous motivation to be elite and excellent on and off the gridiron" .... He is currently ranked #6 Pro Style QB in the Nation... As a Soph, he reached the Class 6A title game 2 years ago...he played backup to the Coastal Alabama Player of the Year... In his 22 games as starter, Saraland is 14-8 (with 2 first round playoff exits) He has thrown for 2,960 yards w/27 TDs... He has ample talent to throw to this year.

Heard was 8-4 ly... But will only go as far as their QB Emory Jones carries them.... Jones is 6'2" 195 lbs... He is rated as the #22 overall prospect by ESPN... He's heading to Ohio St (which got me to wondering how Meyer is able to recruit these great QB athletes (like Tate Martell (Bishop Gorman) last year.... He is ranked as the #2 dual threat QB in the entire nation... HC Tim Barron (118-55 is in his 16th season)... The Coach was concerned that his team had already played 1 game and 2 scrimmages, which allowed Saraland to sit back and focus on what they were doing.... He stated that Saraland has way more depth and many of his players have to play both ways so fatigue could be a factor....

Bottom Line : This game is being played because both teams utilize a Top Flight QB (2 of the Nation's Best) and ESPN is showcasing their talents...... I played Heard County +14 for 2 units (-120)... WIN as I don't trust that the Heard HC with his 16 years will be rolling over for Saraland.... Gluck FINAL: Saraland 17 H C 14

 

[Riff-Raff]

Bartram Trail +17 over Cartersville.. 2 units... WIN

FINAL: Bartram Trail 47 Cartersville 52


The Purple Hurricane are a very dangerous team... QB Trevor Lawrence (6'6" 210 lbs) is a tremendous athlete. He is the Consensus #1 player in the country (heading to Clemson).... Cartersville is the 2 time defending Georgia Class AAAA Champ... Last week, they soundly thumped on a very good Allatoona squad 35-14...Lawrence passed 12 of 20 for 230 yards... His go to RB Rico Frye (Sr) had 4 tds (3 in the 1st half)... Cartersville is loaded with Div 1 talent... Last year, Lawrence accounted for 1,784 yards.... As the top ranked pocket passer, teams still need to stay in their lanes or he will pull it down and take off.. His only weakness is that he has a tendency to put the ball in a window and forcing things... He has been working on that part of his game..

Bartram Trail is the #19 team in Florida by Maxprep. They were 8-5 ly in Florida's Class 7A... QB Joey Gatewood is heading to Auburn, he is a National Top 50 Player... The kid is a true multi threat that will play WR and returns punts and kickoffs.. The other QB is Riley Smith (Sr QB)has had offers from Ivy League Schools and Devin Ellison is the team's leading rusher... Coach Darrell Sutherland is 122-80 in 17th season... Bartram did win their opener last week against Mindrin 54-15....and put up 48 points in the first half.... The team has several Div 1 players....
"The Spirit of Bartram" is an award winning pep band that has made the trip to Georgia.... Cartersville is a bohemoth and something must be done about Lawrence, however, Florida brand High Schools are very competitive and competent and this team seems to have enough juice to stay within the number..

**Back with Tomorrows College Plays and IMG/Chandler thoughts

 

[Riff-Raff]

IMG Academy -24 over Chandler
*ESPN Kick-off Classic

Not exactly sure how this game may play out I will dive in with a vote of confidence for Arizona's Chandler Wolves... Chandler coming off of a big campaign in 2016 that saw them capture the 6A State Championship....in its last 11 games the offense caught fire and scored more than 50 points in each of the games.... It did lose some key pieces to the puzzle with the exodus of All American RB TJ Green (now at Utah) who was also the states Player of the Year... Also gone are Star Lineman Harold Colbert and Caleb Medina, and RB/Slot Receiver Ryan Johnson....... Still, Wolves retained 2nd Team All State QB Jacob Conover (6'1" 190 lb Jr) who passed for 3,715 yards w/32 TDs (current offer from Alabama).... Also, BYU bound is WR Gunnar Romney (6'3' 200 lbs) led Wolves with 70 catches, 1,309 yards w/9 TDs .. TE Jarrick Caldwell (6'3" 215 lbs Sr) had 26 catches ly for 484 yards w/4 TDs & TE Braydon Liebrock (6'4" 210 lbs Jr) is fast and athletic.... 6'0" 320 lbs Sr Chris Manoa anchors the D line..... Bryce Jackson is a stand out CB (5'10" 190 lbs Sr) is heading to UNLV....

Not much to say about the #2 Ranked team in the Nation.... Ascenders are coming off a 11-0 season playing a National schedule... *Not eligible to participate in the Florida Interscholastic playoffs because everyone knows the Mega Giant Football Factory recruits top athletes from around the nation to hopefully win a full ride scholarship to a Power Conference College... As of right now they have 20 athletes with major college offers and a handful of recruits to lesser schools..... They are riding a 28 game as one of the most talented teams in the country.... Top players are DE Xavier Thomas (6'3" 285 lbs Sr) is heading to Clemson, he is the #2 recruit for the Class of 2018.... CB Brendan Radley-Hiles (5'10" 185 lbs Sr) is a transfer from CA Calabasas High School, he is one of the top CBS in the country and will take his talents to Nebraska.... Another transfer from CA is RB TJ Pledger (5'8" 190 lb Sr) he is the #3 All purpose back for the Class of 2018. He came from Chaminade where he rushed for 2,000 yards and 32 TDs last year, he's headed to Oklahoma..... Ohio St committed is Sr Taran Vincent (6'2" 285 lbs) DT.... DE Nolan Smith (6'3" 225 lb Jr) is the #3 recruit for the Class of 2019,he will go to Georgia on a full ride....... And the list goes on and on and on.........

Why then am I backing Chandler? Give me the points with a team and Coach that plays a top flight non-league schedule.... I have kept a pretty close eye on some of the programs in Arizona and I'm impressed..... Last year, Chandler lost to Centennial (Corona, CA) by a score of 56-49....curiously, IMG also played Centennial and came away with a W by a 1 point win 50-49......both games were shootouts.... *Centennial is a excellent school, currently ranked Nationally #5 by Maxprep......Wolves deserve better than a 24 point cushion... After all, let's not forget this is high school football... Even IMG may have some rust and they are traveling for this one.... Chandler took care of Valdosta 44-24 of Georgia in the Geico Challenge
Chandler beat Red Mountain last week 42-14 (a team that made it to the state semi finals ly) so the offense seems to be gear, which gives me courage that Chandler will give IMG all they can handle, so take the 24 points..... 2 units......... WIN FINAL: IMG 27 Chandler 14

 

[Riff-Raff]

God is this an ugly card (college) or what....

Played:

Cal Poly/Colgate Under 60'......3 units.. WIN .. *I think this Bronco team is going to be decent.. Last year, Poly was the #1 rushing football subdivision team in the nation... Colgate was the nation's #1 team against the run.... Something has to give, I think Poly may take a bit to get real comfortable with new QB running triple-option...I like the under here.



Hawaii/UMass Over 61....3 units...WIN . *These two finished the season in a barn burner 46-40....they combined for 938 yards with 48 first downs... Hawaii secondary shouldn't be any good
as Rainbows replaced 4 of 6 starters... UMass returns quite a few starters on D, however, they weren't very good and not sure they will be improved much which leads me to hope we have a continuation of last year's event.


Stanford/Rice Under 51'......3 units.... LOSS .. *hmm, game is being played in Australia so "Land down Under" translates to Under for the game, or something like that.

Best of luck

 

[Riff-Raff]

agree with you here...:0074

Hope you cashed yesterday subcloser.... Good luck to you in Foots this year!

 

[Riff-Raff]

Very Happy with the way these HSF games played out... Uno mas for tomorrow..

Wayne Huber Heights -3' over Pine-Richland ...

*Its Ohio vs Pennsylvania in the final match up of the ESPN Kickoff Classic... The line opened at -7 and has been bet down to -3'...

Pine-Richland Rams are Coached by Eric Kasperowicz, who is feeling pretty good about his team's chances this season... His confidence stems from the return of 18 players that started or played meaningful minutes last season... In the Top 100 High Schools, Rams sit at #48... HC moved to D Coordinator this year as Pine-Richland biggest weakness from last year was its D who gave up 29 ppg and lost the State Title by giving up 60...Coach Kasperowicz has had his offense clicking on all cylinders... So why the hype? It would follow that QB (Sr) Phil Jurkovek (Notre Dame bound) has much of Western Pennsylvania excited and reminiscing about the days of "the Great Arm" that followed in the tracks of Superstars like Dan Marino, Joe Montana, Joe Namath, Johnny Unitas, and Jim Kelly... Who all hailed from the region.... Jurkovek is the #5 ranked Dual Threat in the Class of 2018... At 6'6" he is a load and as a Sophomore he threw for over 2,500 yards and rushed for 1,200.....Sadly, as a Jr Signal Caller he suffered a thumb injury that sidelined his ass for all but 6 games.... Still, he passed for 1,673 yards w/12 TDs... If he can stay healthy he is expected to put up tremendous numbers... Also, joining him is RB Kenny White, a transfer from West Allegheny, who plays both ways but is a prolific runner north to south... Last year he rushed for 1,300 yards w/20 TDs... as he led W Allegheny Indians to the WPIAL Class 5A Championship... He adds depth and versatility to this already Senior laden squad... Sr RB Jordan Crawford, had more than 1,200 yards ly and provides a dangerous 1-2 punch to the offensive backfield.... WR Raymond Falcone (Sr) returns as one of the best wide outs in the WPIAL and led all area teams with 65 receptions and had 1,391 yards (he has drawn the interest of several Ivy League Schools) he will be Jurkoveks prime target in the spread.... Rams also returns 3 of 5 starting Olinemen that come in over 250 lbs..... Another transfer comes from Northwestern High out of Florida is Thomas Burns, who is the brother of Pittsburgh Steelers CB Artie Burns..... He is a 3 Star athlete and is heading to Miami U to continue his defensive acumen...He also holds the fastest time in the 300 m hurdles and is the State Champion out of Florida.... He has clocked the Nations fastest time for that discipline..... Pine-Richland was 7-5 last year...

Huber Heights Wayne Warriors is a Ohio Powerhouse that also features some Div 1 talent on both sides of the ball... One is WR L'Christian "Blue" Smith, and at 6'6" 210 lbs has multiple offers coming in from Ohio St, Michigan, Tennessee, and Wisconsin, he is the Nation's #4 athlete...... DE Alex Reigelsperger is a Kentucky committ.....QB Rashad McKee (2,600 hards w/27 TDs last year.... As a Sophomore... Since HC Jay Minton arrived in 1999 from Florida the Warriors have played in the State Final in 1999, 2000, 2014,and 2015 and won Div 1 State Championship... He feels this team has enough returning talent to make the 3rd Big School State .

No doubt that both of these schools have tremendous talent... Im a little surprised that the Warriors are favored here... I bet 2 units on Pine-Richland just because this QB is the real deal and when you have legitimate Dual threat QB with this kind of size, you can expect that his competitive juices should keep the score in range and I wouldn't be surprised if Pine-Richland walls away with the W here.... Too many questions still regarding Defense and Oline on Wayne's side... Gluck with whatever you do.. WIN Final: Pine-Richland 41 Wayne 0

 

[Subcloser]

Great day man...thanks for posting...rolling with ya again today:0074

 

[Riff-Raff]

Great day man...thanks for posting...rolling with ya again today:0074

Thanks for the kind words subcloser..... I wasn't able towwatch the game today but itsounded like Jurkovek went off for 3 passing tds and 3 on the ground... Very impressive... (I guess he rested the 3rd quarter) Definitely a profitable opening weekend..

 

[Subcloser]

Thanks for the kind words subcloser..... I wasn't able towwatch the game today but itsounded like Jurkovek went off for 3 passing tds and 3 on the ground... Very impressive... (I guess he rested the 3rd quarter) Definitely a profitable opening weekend..

I watched the 1st half...kid is the real deal...nice job on the research

 

[Riff-Raff]

Excellent weekend for the Degen picks :toast::toast:

Looking forward to a big week in HSF and CFB

Think I'm going to head down south to see the big Bishop Gorman/Mater Dei affair... Should be a hum-dinger... Have had this one circled on my calendar for over a year.... Possibly the two best teams in the Nation going at it... Think Gaels days are numbered and the streak gets taken down (but they have heard that before)...