Had an opportunity to watch some of the games. A couple of observations:
1. While there was lots of green grass on the stadium field, players were slipping constantly throughout the day. Had an impact on the games
2. Southside Christian is much better than anticipated. They play a tough defensive game and have won some big games this year. Very good 1A team
3. JL Mann is hard to figure out. They were preseason #1 in 3A and have a number of Premier club players on the team but most of them are defensive players. They play a lot of freshmen up front and are having trouble scoring against good teams. Their defense may score more than their offense. Lost on PKs against Mauldin after leading most of the game. Had several scoring opportunties but couldnt finish.
4. Riverside is much better than I expected. They play hard and with passion. Lost 1-0 to SS Christian but outhustled Mann in the consolation. They play very tough in the midfield. They play a 9th grader as goalie and that may limit how far they can go in the playoffs.
5. I have watched Mauldin play a number of times this year. They fight and hustle staying in games when teams have more talent but somehow find a way to be competitive at the end. I don't expect them to go far in 4A but they could surprise.
Lastly, I continue to be astonished by how poor the referees are in the high school games I have seen. Because there are only two, they are always out of position, they will make calls from the opposite end of the field when their counterpart was in much better position to make the call. Blatant offsides were not called, calls that questions their knowlege of the rules. What can be done? These kids deserve better
