LEON

Good call Kevin38 , go ahead and toot your horn. Everyone selling Southwind short could be going home early. Should be great game with Henry County . I thought Hendersonville had Big Red on the ropes up 3 having it 1st and goal at HC 5 but HC had great goal line stand and scored on 98 yd drive scoring with only seconds left. Listening on radio the announcers said HC QB was in pain throughout fourth but he took it and took the Pats with the win. HC needs get healed up for Southwind as much as possible they’ll need him to move forward.

If either the first round opponent or second round could pose problems for the Wildcats. No one has challenged Clarksville in a very weak region . The 1-4 seeds in Region 8 are all strong teams not too much difference between 1 and 4 . Beech lost to Collierville earlier in the season by a touchdown. If Collierville keeps it close going into the fourth I believe they pull the upset if you can call it that. Clarksville probably hasn’t played their starters a whole game except for a couple of ballgames. I have seen this play out several times when a team hasn’t been challenged until the playoffs more times than not it hasn’t worked out very well. Just hoping that tailor made region will not be a disappointment for this historic year at Clarksville High. Hope I’m wrong but I see Collierville winning having had several close games against quality teams something Clarksville has not had this season. I see Collierville pulling away 34 -24.

Great effort by the Jackets lots of fight playing your opponents for four quarters when most including myself didn’t think it would be this close. Let’s go to Memphis and pull a shocker. Lots of young players have shown improvement and the Jacket defense has brought it every Friday.

Yes it’s bad lighting etc. SPRINGFIELD has no Middle School but we have 10-15 kids per classroom at a magnet school in the SMS building (Wonder what classroom sizes are at Coopertown now? ) I’m not talking about bleachers my friend. Maybe after that city behind WH Heritage is completed and they need a Middle School. They can combine East and Heritage together for a middle school halfway between Cross Plains and White House. The middle school wings at East can be shut down and the East Middle grades be combined with Heritage. Innovation Academy can move to classrooms in former East middle and Springfield Middle can return to it former building thats more than 90 years old. By the way the county didn’t build it nor did they Cheatham Park which is near 70 years old and still in use housing elementary grades , Springfield was an independent city school system then. I’m talking way more than bleachers , poor misguided decisions will be paid for by higher taxes.

In 2005 Boyce Smith Field was torn completely down rebuilt. Springfield Athletic Club took out a loan to build bleachers press box concrete and paving to make it handicap accessible. Maybe the Innovation Academy should donate to the Athletic Club for use of the stadium lots of us supporters signed a note to secure a loan so SHS could play football because the present stadium was condemned, I’m sure all the coaches at SHS could use extra funds for their respective sports. I know the settlement with DOJ on Springfield schools being overlooked where other school clusters were being built new schools and renovated buildings and then having empty classrooms while a small city of portables were at schools in the Springfield cluster. Now the largest city and school cluster no longer has a Middle School . I’m sure parents would like to have a school in the city where transportation to athletic practices and other school functions are difficult to get to or time to take off work to pickup a sick child. The Middle School closure would NEVER happen at the other school clusters. I hate when the government intervenes with local issues but when things like what is going on now are happening, it is only a matter of time before this issue will be addressed. And while you Beech supporters have no place to sit tonight on our very small visitor bleachers , it was supposed to be larger from my understanding but money for stadium funding was cut back to pay for ADA compatible ( which was much needed) and the law at other county schools . Sorry visiting fans wishing the stadium could have been like it was originally, guess you guys know the feeling when you go to the University of Liberty Creek at Cottontown . while it was portable city at many schools in the Springfield cluster. I know others will say you got a new stadium, yes but all the other schools got money from the stadium funding to make other fields

Would have loved to see 24 in wildcat nothing else to maybe move chains and burn a little clock when we had lead. Wonder if when 24 went out a few plays for injury had any impact on him not running wildcat ? He sure has been our best play maker all season when it is in his hands good things happen. Season not over yet two more to go and it has been about what I expected after losing so many seniors off of last year’s team.

Will be huge challenge tonight. Offensively Jackets have struggled trying to put points on the board all year and it will take more than 7-14 points or it will be difficult to pull one out. Some of the games where we scored more points it was special teams and turnovers that came through. Jacket offense hasn’t put up many points when they are beyond the 50 or 20 , that has to change or it could be a long night. Hope for a good injury free contest tonight and safe travels for the folks from Gallatin , maybe some will take the scenic drive on 25 and see the beautiful fall colors and get a scent of that dark-fired tobacco smoke along the way , traffic jams unlikely through Cottontown and Cross Plains. Go Jackets !.

Yes by my records that’s it . Only the actual first game in 1927 doesn’t have an actual score , just stated a Springfield win. The Springfield football history was documented by the late Dr. Floyd F. Traughber in the 1990’s in the local newspaper. He did all the seasons in the Boyce Smith era 1928-1971. He spent many hours looking at microfilms at the public library, he passed before it was finished. He had a local businessman to finish the articles which were published weekly in the newspaper. My understanding is much of Gallatin football history was destroyed by fire prior to the school that was in front of the stadium. Coach Smith kept lots of notes during his time also. I know this game is neither of each schools oldest rivalry, l believe Lebanon is the oldest for Gallatin and Clarksville is the Jackets oldest having played for the 100th time this season.

In 1980 the Robertson County Board of Education tried to force the Springfield football program to drop to the AA classification. At that time only three classifications in the whole state. Springfield always chose to play in the highest classification even though the schools enrollment was always AA since classification began in 1969 , Coach Smith and every coach prior to 1987 played in AAA , mainly because the school could continue to keep its old time rivals. The Jackets were 1-3 prior to the fifth game in 1980 , have beaten Cookeville and losing to Dickson Co.,Warren Co and Clarksville, the howls from the BOE were loud that the school should play in its designated classification. Coach Jerry Pearson and the school administration were strongly opposed as was a large majority of Jacket supporters. It all but went away as the Jackets reeled off 7 straight wins and a Midstate Bowl berth. That Saturday night game on the third Saturday of October with a 14-0 win over the top ranked and undefeated Wave all but put out the fire of dropping classification up until the 1987 season. Coach Pearson was against it but the move down happened and he left to go to Dickson Co . In hindsight it worked for both parties with former alum Coach Pearson winning the 1988 State Championship at Dickson Co. with the Jackets have a strong run through the late eighties and mid nineties and getting a State Championship in 1993 under Coach Randy Thomas in his first season after Coach Donnie Jones left for administration after he led the Jackets to several successful seasons. I know this as ZILCH to do with what happens Friday but for us old timers it brings back several memories , sorry for being so long winded but that’s why it’s such a great thing , that being high school football and the communities that it still means so much to. Over the years the crowds aren’t as big as they once were but on Friday nights all across the state there is still lots of excitement. History class dismissed lol .

Oddly enough back in 1977 it’s a good thing engineers weren’t inspecting bleachers the visitors side bleachers were all wooden on the metal frames with no designated aisles or handrails. At one time there were bleachers in the east end zone built along the block wall ,in 77 and much later the blocks remained (barely) . Of course later all the bleachers were replaced with aluminum. In early 2000 we had our issues with the top half of the visitor bleachers closed off and later removed around 2004 there were more issues with the stadium, the whole stadium was in threat of being condemned. In 2005 Boyce Smith Field had all the remaining bleachers were dismantled and replaced with a much much smaller capacity and a new press box was added . The renovation also was to the last minute of the 2005 season luckily the first two games were on the road or it wouldn’t have been ready for the home opener with Shelbyville with Jackets taking a 30-6 victory. The current stadium had land donated to the school system and a new stadium was constructed behind the current high school in 2017. It is a much smaller venue than the old Boyce Smith Field which at one time seated over 7,000. It has been a great thing for the football program to have a stadium on campus and oddly enough that first season the Jackets advanced to the 4A State Championship game as did the 2019 Jackets.

Yes 17-14 and first round of playoffs 34-21. Gallatin did the same in 1977 28-21 in regular season and 29-0 in the playoffs.

Big game for both teams , the Jackets have struggled with top tier competition going against two unbeaten teams and a one loss Henry County team whom I believe is the best team in the region at this point with huge games with Beech and Hendersonville looming. Portland has played the weaker schedule. The Sonny Moore Power Ratings have Portland a four point favorite. The Jackets have been banged up quite a bit this season , but I’ m gonna take the Jackets in a tight one 28-18 . It’s an old rivalry , with the first meeting dating back to 1922. Springfield leads the series 42-13-1 and have won eight straight against the Purple Panthers.

Not reading me where did I say we wouldn’t get better, I believe we will and always get better with a young inexperienced team . I know they will bounce back but catching with what some are saying the best Clarksville team in years and then a trip to Paris will make us a better team. I picked us fourth and still do despite what Portland did to Greenbrier, we won last week and made enough mistakes to lose , we didn’t help our cause tonight, but Clarksville had a lot to do with that. As for my other statements it is what has happened and it will affect us in numbers and participation . I know it is a concern not just with me put to those that matter within the athletics that is being played. I for one think the Jackets will improve as the season progresses and as you said Springfield will always compete hard which l believe. I expected tonight to be a tough game for us as will next week and beyond I’m not throwing the baby out with the bath water , others are doing that already.