What Lincoln is Thinkin - Pondering the Playoffs

What Lincoln is Thinkin' - Pondering the Playoffs

I'm thinkin' that there will be few surprises this week. Our teams are just too good to get knocked off at this point in the playoffs. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised to see some blowouts this Friday. I'm thinkin' Marlboro, Dillon, Lamar, Chesterfield, Myrtle Beach and even Lake City on the road move on easily.

I'm thinkin' Hartsville better be careful. The 4A playoffs are always tricky, and the Foxes drafted a tough matchup with TL Hanna for their opener. Hanna is 5-6, but all of their losses came to 4A teams who are now in the playoffs. There is no question they are battle-tested, but then again, going 0-6 against playoff teams is not necessarily something to hold your hat on. I'm really not sure how far these Foxes can go in the playoffs - they have a talented offense that I think gives them a shot to win about every game they play in (as long as they don't get down by a lot early). I'm thinkin' this Hartsville team is hungry, and they'll win this Friday.

I'm thinkin' Carvers Bay vs. Hemingway will by far be the best game of the night. I really like what the Tigers have done, they are big and athletic defensively, have a super sophomore running back in La'Michael Pushia and can hurt you throwing the ball. Plus, they beat the Bears in their previous matchup 7-6 at Big Bear Stadium. But! Clayton Geathers did not play in that game for the Bears, and he's going to be the best player on the field Friday night. Carvers Bay knows how to win at Tiger Field in the playoffs, they just did it last year, and Hemingway had arguably a more talented team then too. I'm thinkin' Carvers Bay finds a way to win again in Hemingway.

I'm thinkin' Manning has a good chance for an upset win over Burke. The Monarchs certainly struggled in the middle of the season, and did not even show up to the stadium to play Timberland. But this is a team that has been focused on getting to Columbia (Coach Robbie Briggs voicemail even says "I'm not here, I'm busy trying to win a state championship.") Burke played a soft non-region schedule.. including three 1A's, and did not look good. They lost to St. John's, only beat C.E. Murray by 7, and only beat Scott's Branch by 16. They get kudos for going undefeated in region play.. but with the other top teams in the region being Woodland and Cane Bay, I'm not sure how good they are. I'm thinkin' the Monarchs go on the road and advance to the next round.

I'm thinkin' right now is the first time all year that I thought Myrtle Beach was better than Lake City or Marlboro County. Let's be honest, putting Chesterfield aside, these three teams have been the best teams in the Eastern Carolinas. At first, I thought the Panthers were the best. After they lost to the Seahawks, I thought the Bulldogs had taken over the throne. But right now, Myrtle Beach is playing better than anyone. While not big, they're defense is physical, and they've got a great secondary to mask the fact that they aren't huge on the D-line. And that offense might not be better than last year, but I think it's clicking right now at a level which puts it at where it was when they won the state championship. Meanwhile, Marlboro's offense has regressed a bit. The Bulldogs averaged 42 points a game in their first six matchups.. but only 26 in their last five. I'm not saying that 11-0 Marlboro is not a great team, and maybe a 41-0 win over Dreher last week will get that offense rolling again. All I'm saying is that right now, I'm thinkin' Myrtle Beach goes back to the state title game.

What do you think about this week's games?

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