2023 Dark Horses

[EnterpriseBulldogsFan]

7A

Meridian

NW Rankin

Madison Central

6A

George Co

Pascagoula

Callaway

5A

Clarksdale

Vancleave

Holmes County Central

4A

Quitman

McComb

Amory

3A

Magee 

St Stanislaus

Hazlehurst

2A

Hamilton

Eupora

Lake

1A

Baldwyn

East Marion

McEvans

 

 

 

[maroontide06]

The thing with George County and Pascagoula is is that one will wind up beating the other.  Will those two and Hancock make the playoffs?  Probably so, but depending on who eats who will determine the seeding.  I just don’t see them as dark horses because they are playoff worthy already.

[maroontide06]

Maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t a dark horse team one that would make the playoffs and possibly make some noise once they got in, but they also have to be a team that wouldn’t be expected to make the playoffs in the first place?

[pancho]

pretty dark picking Amory who is coming back up to 4A.  they'll be pretty good but likely finish 3rd behind IAHS and Ripley. Shannon has a new HC so they will likely be more organized and play more as a unit and always athletic.

[slicklizard]

1 hour ago, EnterpriseBulldogsFan said:

6A

 

Quote

Pascagoula

 

 

 

 

 

[Vott]

51 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

Maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t a dark horse team one that would make the playoffs and possibly make some noise once they got in, but they also have to be a team that wouldn’t be expected to make the playoffs in the first place?

 

51 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

Maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t a dark horse team one that would make the playoffs and possibly make some noise once they got in, but they also have to be a team that wouldn’t be expected to make the playoffs in the first place?

I'm going to go out on a limb and say Natchez makes noise in 5a. They always have athletes. 

[EnterpriseBulldogsFan]

A Dark Horse is a team that may be a surprise and be better than expected .

 

[maroontide06]

47 minutes ago, EnterpriseBulldogsFan said:

A Dark Horse is a team that may be a surprise and be better than expected .

 

Let me see if I've got this straight here.  For example, if PRC quadruples their win total from last season (even if it's Florence style cupcakes) which would be a surprising amount of glucose on the gridiron for them, they would definitely appear to be better than expected.  Maybe not playoff worthy by any means, but a dark horse.  I guess being a dark horse is an easier feat to achieve than it presumably sounds.

[Dubaction]

That’s not a dark horse. That’s a just a team that improved from the previous year. A dark horse is a sneaky threat to make a deep playoff run or win a title that we wouldn’t automatically think of.

[maroontide06]

2 minutes ago, Dubaction said:

That’s not a dark horse. That’s a just a team that improved from the previous year. A dark horse is a sneaky threat to make a deep playoff run or win a title that we wouldn’t automatically think of.

Exactly.  I was just trying to have a little fun LOL!

[BrickCity]

3 hours ago, EnterpriseBulldogsFan said:

A Dark Horse is a team that may be a surprise and be better than expected .

 

South- Gulfport

North- Madison Central/ Tupelo 

Edited May 12, 2023 by BrickCity

[maroontide06]

9 minutes ago, BrickCity said:

South- Gulfport

North- Madison Central/ Tupelo 

For a 7A North dark horse, give me Germantown.  Year 2 of the Russell Mitchell era may still be a transition, but I think they will be much improved from last year.

[BrickCity]

4 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

For a 7A North dark horse, give me Germantown.  Year 2 of the Russell Mitchell era may still be a transition, but I think they will be much improved from last year.

I like this pick, but I think year 3 is the magic year for Mitchell and company

[maroontide06]

6 minutes ago, BrickCity said:

I like this pick, but I think year 3 is the magic year for Mitchell and company

There's just not a whole lot of breathing room in region 2-7A.  You better hit the ground running.  It's big boy football to the max.

[BrickCity]

56 minutes ago, maroontide06 said:

There's just not a whole lot of breathing room in region 2-7A.  You better hit the ground running.  It's big boy football to the max.

basically the SEC west of high school football

[maroontide06]

6 minutes ago, BrickCity said:

basically the SEC west of high school football

No doubt.  I think the key to have success in region 2-7A is to make the playoffs, regardless of where you are in the standings 1 thru 4.  Because once you are able to lock up a playoff berth, you then have a little bit of breathing room.  It's one of those rare regions where the regular season district play is actually tougher than the playoffs.

[Rebel Bert]

Well let's add Enterprise Clarke to that list.

[Chunky6617]

Quitman is not a dark horse. They were good last year and will be good for another couple years as well. 

[s1nglewing]

1 hour ago, Chunky6617 said:

Quitman is not a dark horse. They were good last year and will be good for another couple years as well. 

6-6 is good?

[Chunky6617]

5 minutes ago, s1nglewing said:

6-6 is good?

Didn’t realize they were 6-6. Their sophomore class is really good. They will be good this season, and compete for south state in 2024. 

[Arashatora]

I wish you were right about Eupora in 2a but they lost almost their entire offense. Gray is a great coach and they will be fair but it could be a down year.

[EnterpriseBulldogsFan]

4 hours ago, Chunky6617 said:

Didn’t realize they were 6-6. Their sophomore class is really good. They will be good this season, and compete for south state in 2024. 

Quitman is a year away from being a serious contender in 4A; Jimmerson knee they would be loaded the next two years and dropped them from the schedule.

[EnterpriseBulldogsFan]

6 hours ago, Chunky6617 said:

Quitman is not a dark horse. They were good last year and will be good for another couple years as well. 

Quitman is a dark horse; they have an outside chance of winning 4A next year they will be one of the favorites.

[FBdude]

10 hours ago, EnterpriseBulldogsFan said:

Quitman is a dark horse; they have an outside chance of winning 4A next year they will be one of the favorites.

You really think Quitman will win a championship? Talent doesn’t mean everything. They have been having more talent than the teams in their division, aside from mendenhall, and yet consistently coming in 3rd or 4th. Maybe they turn the corner. But championship is a huge jump. Beating McComb and a down moss point isn’t impressive.

 

if jimmenson did take them off the schedule after whipping them two years in a row then that’s not right. Take your lumps. But there could of been other reasons for the game not being scheduled.

 

I do think Quitman will be improved but I wouldn’t put them in championship conversation yet. Mendenhall, poplarville, Columbia are still there.

[EnterpriseBulldogsFan]

12 hours ago, FBdude said:

You really think Quitman will win a championship? Talent doesn’t mean everything. They have been having more talent than the teams in their division, aside from mendenhall, and yet consistently coming in 3rd or 4th. Maybe they turn the corner. But championship is a huge jump. Beating McComb and a down moss point isn’t impressive.

 

if jimmenson did take them off the schedule after whipping them two years in a row then that’s not right. Take your lumps. But there could of been other reasons for the game not being scheduled.

 

I do think Quitman will be improved but I wouldn’t put them in championship conversation yet. Mendenhall, poplarville, Columbia are still there.

I said Quitman had an outside chance:; they are a year away from being a serious contender in 4A.