bedford vs. ridge rivalry

[TheAnalyst]

I totally agree with foghorn and southpaw. Other than I personally never felt superior to any of the county schools. But I think things are different now than they were 20-30 years ago. Just my opinion. Everett used to be the biggest county rival, but their sports programs have declined over the years in football and wrestling. And Ridge has improved and kinda taken over that role.

And as southpaw said, some of my best friends are from Ridge. This is mostly a rivalry that takes place between the students and parents/admin and is forgotten about after high school. But I still don't want Bedford to lose to them. It will be an exciting game.

I do have a question about Ridge. Do you think it was a good move to take out last years qb and put in a new kid? I thought Kauert did ok last year and that he would be the guy for the future. And I understand they may need him in other places. Just thought I'd ask your opinions. Ridge will need to play physical to stay with Bedford. They have the kids to do it, so this could be an interesting game.

[Lefteyelouie]

True Bedford's rivalrys when I played were FH, BM and westmont. CR was basically an after thought. It was always a fun game to play in because of the local rivalry, but we were always expected to win.

Analyst is right. I never looked down on CR as much as I feel CR looked down on themselves. I think they have always just had an inferiority complex when it comes to Bedford. Its really ashame because they usually have the athletes to match up well with Bedford.

Sothpaw, you are right most of my closest friends are guys I played against from CR. Athletically I would have taken about any of them on my teams. That's never been what's held CR back. Its the mentality that kills CR football.

You are also right on the Feaster thing. If you stop him you will have a good chance of beating Bedford. I think the biggest advantage Bedford has going into the game over CR is the competition level they are used to compared to that of what CR is used to. Because these to teams do match up pretty well position by position. Bedford plays in a conference with teams that are very physical, big and fast. I don't think CR sees much of that.

[CRCheerleader_58]

thanx left eye ill tell my buds on the team that....i just want to kno is there one specific story behing the rivary..u kno how some schools they r rivals becase back in the 50's some toilet papered some1 elses scooh, or they were in a car wreck and the other schoold teammate got hurt and couldnt paly....is there a specific story????i do think that ridge's non-c0nfidence is mental, if they would stop saying bedfords going to kill us and start saying, oh yea itll b tough but we can do it, they might actually win!

[foghorn]

So what the Ridge community needs is a good shrink, right Lefteyelouie?

I don't think Ridge has played anyone as fast as Feaster. I don't even remember anybody on Tyrone being that quick when we scrimmaged them. Klotz from NBC seemed pretty fast, though.

There's no question about the LH competition giving Bedford an edge, but I would politely argue that the upper tier ICC teams are no slouches, especially sizewise. Those teams are probably a little better than some people are willing to admit.

I personally think Deffibaugh has done pretty well. And a lot of people who have watched practices, scrimmages, and games would argue that Deffibaugh actually beat Kauert out for the position, even though Max did play well at qb last year. It's a question people can debate for a long time. Obviously Coach W and his assistants were thinking only about one thing: what's best for the team, overall -- not the stats and glories of one kid. That's as it should be.
From my perspective, though, there's a kid for Ridge that would have been better than either Kauert or Deffibaught at qb, and that's Tomavich. Of course, he's capable of playing almost any position on the field. With the year Tomavich is having at running back, it's hard to criticize the decision to play his there -- but there's no doubt in my mind he would have beena real triple threat qb.

Next year, and certainly his senior year, Deffibaugh has a chance of being one of the better qbs in the area. One other thing about the kid some people don't realize is that he's a tough cookie. He doesn't bail out or get happy feet. He's taken some big time shots and has gotten right back into the fray, though once or twice it took an adjustment by his old man to get him back in. At any rate, I think his toughness has earned the respect of his teammates.

Of course, Deffibaugh's relative success has allowed the Lions to play Max fulltime on defense, where he seems to be improving steadily.

Ultimately, though, it'll probably be the lines that determine how things will go. With Tomavich, Hess, and McDannelll getting big yardage Ridge line has played well, certainly better than I thought they would.

I don't know much about Bedford's line except it seems a lot of people have played this year.

[Lefteyelouie]

Foggy,
I have to argue that CR faces any competition the likes of BM, FH, PC, J-town like Bedford has faced. Bellwood would be the only team even close to that caliber. I really don't think Bellwood would be close to beating any of those teams this year. I think Central, Richland and BC which are near the Bottom of the LHAC this year would all be around 6-3 in the ICC. CR may face some teams with nice size on the line. But what about speed at the skill positions and the physical football with the size that the LHAC gives you most weeks. CR hasn't had the chance to see it and it will be a factor in the game.

I like what CR did with the QB position. I think that Kaurt is prob able to play several positions compared to Defibaugh being strictly a QB. This gets your 11 best on the field which is what you want in HS football.

Bedford's line has been up and down. They are just OK by LHAC standards. But as I stated earlier. They are used to playing big, fast, strong and physical kids week in and week out. That will be a big advantage in this game.

Foggy, don't take what I said as the problems with the CR program being "mental" personally.

[ham55]

If you stop Feaster you've won a 4th of the battle. Westwood can make great plays from the QB position. I think he has 1 or 2 INT's at the most this year with over 10 TD passes. Levi Clapper and Zach Forgas are very good at getting deep and catching the ball once they are open, and Westwood can get the ball there on the money when he has the opportunity to. The TE for Bedford also has playmaking ability over the middle as he has shown against CC and last week vs. J-town. Line Feaster, Forgas and Clapper outside and spot Arnold across the middle on a quick hitter, uh oh.

As for the speed of Feaster...
Central Cambria has played Bedford for what seems like forever. They've played against the Harris' and the Marshall's. They're used to speed when it comes to Bedford. Feaster, this year up there, looked like he was contained 5 or 6, maybe more times, and he just outran all the defenders to the sideline and got great yardage. They knew the speed, our offense, and still couldn't contain him. Ridge is going to get the first serious look at our offense in 5 years, with a great speedy guy like Feaster getting the bulk of the offense in an option style. How many option style teams are there in the ICC that run it with effeciency with a good playfaking QB? Not a cut, a serious question. And if you get worried with Feaster outside, Groat or Jaber will slam it up the middle all night for 5+ yards each time. Ridge will have a hard time matching up with our offensive scheme in this game more than they will with matching up with playmakers.

I never had the opportunity to play Ridge in Varsity football, the last time we played them was in JH my 9th grade year, and we won, of course. It's expected of you to win that game. Plain and simple.

It will be one CRAZY atmosphere there in 9 days...

[Redemption]

Bedford @ Ridge

whats the line?

[foghorn]

Yuk yuk yuk.

[chunky_2425]

Bedford is the A?@hole and Tussey, Ridge, NBC, and Hyndman are the cheeks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Just wait until all the Hyndman kids are sent to Bedford and they have to move up a class or two and play some real teams. Then we'll see if Bedford always wins Opinionguy!!!!!!!!!

[ham55]

And Ridge plays teams of the same class...?