What Does Wilkes Central’s Loss Mean?

Your voices have been heard, and they can be ignored no longer. Ever since the West and Central article that got nearly 1,500 views (and people continue to look back, likely to reminisce), then people have been clamoring for me to cover more high school sports. I even did a followup article (including a video) after the game was postponed to Monday, also giving my predictions with it. I inserted a poll, asking what you wanted, and over a quarter-percentage (25%, for the students not taught math) wanted me to cover more Wilkes Central Football. I then felt the urge after Central’s 35-7 loss to Ashe County, to speak up, so here we are…

Wilkes Central began the season, impressively, at 5-0. They began the season with an overtime victory, on the road, at North Iredell. Then won their next four games by a total of 70 points, including a 41-14 rout over the rival Blackhawks. The Eagles then rode their high white green and gold horses into West Jefferson to face Ashe County, where they appeared to be a completely different team than what we’ve seen this year.

Now let’s backtrack here. The fortunate thing is, I was around most of the guys on this Wilkes Central Eagles varsity team, back when they were a bunch of 7th and 8th graders. I had the honor to stand on the sidelines, nursing a collarbone injury, handing out water, to guys like Austin Call, Will Jarvis, Andrew Foster, Corey Burkhart, Andrew Bynum, and Dalton Combs, just to name a few. It was a privilege to watch these boys practice, watch them go all in on the field on crisp Saturday nights, and be able to see everything they were putting in. That team back in 2011 had to put everything they had, without the tools others possessed, such as weights.

That 7th-8th grade team in 2011 had the duty of playing Ashe County twice that year, one in the regular season, and the other in their first playoff game. I can remember the regular season game, the players around were talking about how big Ashe was, and I didn’t believe them… That was, until I saw the Ashe County players arrive and they were humongous! We made a joke they were on the juice, because these guys couldn’t be as big as they were. It’s still a mystique that I’ll likely never wrap my head around. The first game, the Ashe County team overmatched us. And in the playoffs, the team had to go up to Ashe County in the cold, on bad turf, and it got worse. The matter was, physically, the team couldn’t match Ashe County.

So Wilkes Central lost 35-7 when they traveled to Ashe County four years later. Does that surprise me? Not at all. All across sports, there’s a Team A that matches up against Teams B and C. Does that make Team A the best? Not per say, but on that night, Team A will look like the much better team, and that’s what I believe happened on October 5, 2015.

The students can ask me, what can they take away from Central’s four-touchdown loss in West Jefferson? A lot more positives than negatives.

It’s much more difficult to deflate balls than to inflate heads and egos, because after you see an undefeated season begin to take place, and you crush your rival, it’s easy for those “We’re going all the way” thoughts to creep in. Not to say they were, I have no insight on that, but a 35-7 loss in these cases are always humbling. You can put away the undefeated aspirations, and begin focusing on championship aspirations. It’s a chance to refocus. The Eagles have 5 more games left on their schedule. These games are going to prove more vital than the Ashe County game ever could. How does the team handle adversity, and how good is this team after a reality check?

May I remind people, there’s only been one Super Bowl winning team to go undefeated, the Miami Dolphins back in 1972, when they didn’t even have a 16 game schedule. That tells me it took Joe Montana, John Elway, Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers, Eli Manning, Drew Brees, and Ben Roethlisberger to overcome adversity, and yes, even some losses, to get where they wanted to be. Tom Brady couldn’t even help himself with an undefeated season!

The Wilkes Central Eagles host the Starmount Rams tonight, so be loud and proud fans. They need your support now more than ever! Don’t turn your back on them after one bad loss like some of you did last week. May I remind you once again of all the people who had lost a game? All the Super Bowl Champions since 1973 to lose a game?

 

If you enjoyed this article, I ask you to share. As well as, there’s a comment section down below. Comment with your MVP of tonight’s game, one who needs to step up in order for Wilkes Central to improve their record to 6-1.