2014 Menchville Monarchs Preview
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href="http://matthewhatfield.com/Football/2014_VHSL_Tidewater_HighSchoolFootball_Schedules.pdf">
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Schedules
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style='text-decoration:none;text-underline:none'>2013 Tidewater Football
Schedules & Results
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mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>Peninsula
District, Class 5A, Region 5A South
Head Coach: Glenn Tidwell
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mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>Recent History
class=GramE>:
2011 - -
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>2-8
(missed playoffs)
2012 - - 3-7 (missed playoffs)
2013 - - 1-9 (missed playoffs)
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Rewind:
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style=>
line-height:115%;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'>For six straight seasons
from 2006-11, the Menchville Monarchs finished with a
record of 2-8 overall. They snapped that
by going 3-7 in 2012, but only achieved one win in their first season under
Tidwell in 2013. That victory came in
mid-October when they edged Newport News rival Warwick, 17-13.
style=> In the six games prior to that, the Monarchs
were outscored 308-3.
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Offensive Outlook:
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style=>
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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>Of the 49 public schools in our coverage zone
in Tidewater, Menchville's 32 points scored were the
fewest in all of 2013. They scored only
three touchdowns the entire season. The
guy that had two of them, junior tailback Torey
Guilford (5-9, 175), is back.
Guilford broke off a 73-yard scoring scamper against Warwick and ran for
135 yards on 14 attempts that day. He'll
be featured heavily in the run game in their split-back veer system along with
fellow junior Malik Dixon (5-7,
155). Menchville
has four returnees on the offensive line, headlined by senior left tackle
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Kenneth Kirby (6-5, 270).
style=> Certainly, building depth on the offensive
line will be important.
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>One
major plus to have in their blocking efforts is at tight end in
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>Elijah Murphy (6-4, 250), who holds an
offer from James Madison and also is an accomplished basketball player.
style=> At split-end, junior
normal'>Maurice Johnson (6-1, 190), "has gotten a lot stronger," according
to Tidwell, and senior Keavin
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'> Good (5-10, 170) could develop into a
viable option in the passing game. What's
very much up in the air is who ends up getting the majority of the snaps at quarterback
with as many as five players battling for the position.
style=> Senior
style='mso-bidi-font-weight:normal'>NaiQuan
normal'> Cooper (5-10, 165) and a pair of sophomores,
normal'>Shemar Butts (5-8, 150) and Anthony
Wyatt (6-0, 160), are the main candidates.
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Defensive Outlook:
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minor-latin'> Stopping people was a
problem for Menchville last season, too.
style=> They surrendered 44 points and 234.5 rushing
yards per game. However,
class=SpellE>Tidewell vows that the Monarchs will be, "a lot faster on
defense this year than we were last year."
In their base 4-3, Murphy is a force that was chosen Second Team All-
class=SpellE>PenSouth Conference.
"He has a very quick first step, is coachable and hasn't learned bad
habits, which makes it easier to teach him some things," Tidwell said.
style=> "He's got good hands and really good feet."
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>Senior
Isaiah Bryant (5-9, 150) was the
team's lone All-Conference First Team selection a year ago and returns to
anchor the secondary, which outside of him is relatively thin.
style=> A newcomer to watch that Tidwell is very high
on is senior linebacker Richard Smith (5-11,
195), someone that figures to see time on offense in the backfield as well.
style=> Junior Ray
Savage III (6-1, 190) has the ability to be a significant contributor at either
outside linebacker or defensive end.
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Date to Circle:
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minor-latin'> October 10th vs. Warwick.
style=> Besides the Raiders being the only team that
class=SpellE>Menchville beat last year, it's a city rival with a new
Head Coach. Much like the Monarchs were,
Warwick is undergoing a transition and it'll probably take some time for them
to build towards being a competitive factor in the PD.
style=> This game also comes six days after playing
Phoebus, a team that hasn't been too kind to the Monarchs in recent years with lopsided
results going in the Phantoms' favor. We'll
find out about their mettle following that one and a good showing in this spot against
the Raiders is critical to a positive finish to the season.
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Hat's Hit:
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mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'> The
last time Menchville finished above .500 was
1995. It's a program that has produced
an NFL player before in defensive back David Macklin, but they've fallen on
hard times lately with a 23-117 mark since 2000.
style=> A total of 16 seniors graduated from last
season, although only 11 of them played and not many were key
contributors. In addition, the current
roster has been with this coaching staff for a full season and off-season, so
that ought to make for fewer growing pains.
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>"The
biggest difference is having the whole year to get them in the weight room," he
commented. "Strength-wise and
understanding what we're doing offensively and defensively, we appear to be in
better shape. We've also got some bigger
new kids that are going to help us out at some point as far as the offensive
and defensive line goes. They've just
got to learn how to play football."
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>How
quickly the maturation process is for those players in the trenches will likely
dictate the type of season the Monarchs have.
It could be a musical chairs situation at quarterback, although they won't
be passing a ton and have up to four capable rushing options with Guilford,
Dixon, Bryant and Smith. Murphy is the
linchpin of the line and arguably one of the most underrated prospects in the
area.
"Verdana","sans-serif";mso-bidi-font-family:Calibri;mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-latin'>Don't
expect them to be a playoff contender just yet, but unlike last season, they
should score their first offensive touchdown before October arrives.
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115%;font-family:"Times New Roman","serif";text-decoration:none;text-underline:
none'>Matthew Hatfield
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