PackOfWolves

This year will not be status quo. Can't speak for any other teams, but East talent is coming back up. There were a lot of young guys playing. The seniors were the let downs. They get the big running back back from knee injury. The QB was a first year starter that got very little protection last year (Looks like they corrected it this spring). East has a new $10K + weight room that the players have been in since the season was over. They have doubled their coaching staff. I don't know how this year will go, but their future is bright. You will see a difference this year. Melrose will have trouble beating Fairley. I would not be so quick to hand it to Melrose. Kingsbury depends on their line and how well they can pass and defend. East will come down to its defense. I would not be so quick to dismiss East. They were not that talented last year and were physically weak and undisciplined. All of those issues have been addressed. Only time will tell wtnoff. I can't wait.

Melrose has essentially the same team coming back from last year. The QB will be a 3rd year starter. I don't know of anyone that has seen them since the spring. Fairley has speed. They did well in the Briarcrest 7 on 7. They will be the team to beat. Kingsbury will rely heavily on their running game and defense. East looks to have a vastly improved offense. Need some work on the defensive side though. They need to fill some holes in the secondary. Raleigh Egypt looks to be much more improved from a year ago as well. Only time will tell. All this means nothing until the pads come on Monday. Everybody looks good in shorts. I believe that this will be the toughest region to sort out. It will not go quite how people think. Remember, Kingsbury had a good year last year when they were 1 - 9 the previous. So, can't judge these teams based off of last season.

The first weeks will not kill us. Pearl lost those good receivers. Wooddale is regrouping from their coach's departure. Fairley is overrated! That is a must win. We will see how Melrose fairs in the long run. Greenwood has been replaced with Independence HS in Thompson's Station. White Station will be the true barometer. It will be the fourth game and will truley determine the strength of the team. I think the top four in the region are not as far apart as people think. Yes, Melrose is the team to beat, but I wouldn't say that they are head and shoulders above the rest. I'm interested to see how region 7 will shake out. There are a lot of question marks. In 5A, Whitehaven is the wildcard. Will their talent reach its potential. They are loaded as usual, but what will they do with it?

All I can say is we will see. Remember that the coach took over in the middle of the time they usually have spring practice. Also, all the equipment was packed in trailer because of construction. They were not able to have spring practice. He was trying to figure out during the season who could play. A lot of the players, even seniors, had never touched the field before. The team on week 2 was totally different from the team on week 10. On top of that, coach said that they were very undisciplined on the field, and up front they were physically week. He clearly states that the undisciplined play was his fault. He will have that problem fixed I assure you. This year they are young up front but are in much better shape and more athletic. It will definately depend on the line this year (on both sides). Coach had to change defenses in the middle of the season because his line couldn't do the job. They are prepared for that problem this year. East has plenty of interchangable skill guys. We will see who controls the number two spot early because East plays Fairley on week two. It will be a good close game like last year. Fairley does have a lot of good athletes. I can't wait.

Amazing! What a difference 2 points makes. If I recall, Fairley beat East by two points last year when East truly was not very good. East blew that game with tons of mistakes and poor execution on offense. Nonetheless, East lost and Fairley won. Two points is the difference in talk of Fairley challenging and not East. The sun sets to rise again. East has good young talent (Freshmen and Sophomores). If they make noise this year, the region or 4A in general will be in trouble for years to come. You must smolt them now or your own futures will be in jeapardy.

Why make excuses for Olive Branch. East has a lot of players going both ways, so O.B. being fatigued is just an excuse. They (EAST) beat MUS in 7 on 7 previous to that game. Whitehaven beat East in the last game because of match ups. They had true LB's in instead of all DB's. Young guys not ready yet. Why can't a team just get better as they get rep's. That is what it is for. OB won the first game because of Defensive mistakes and the QB making poor decisions. Second game really was not close. So, write East off in July when everyone has on T-shirts and helmets. You will be surprised I'm sure. Anyway, who has seen Melrose do anything this year?

wtnoff, I am not convinced that the same old Melrose that we are used to seeing will show up this year. In their last game of the season, they were dominated on the ground by a less talented team. Kingsbury will be vastly improved. They have the athletes. East is playing a tough schedule this year to gear up for a playoff run. They get Melrose week 10. Fairley was a close second last season and are looking to improve this year. I'm just saying that I don't see Melrose just running through the region this year. I'm a mustang fan and may be bias, but I can't just hand them the #1 spot. I don't think that is goint to happen this year. I could be wrong.

I believe this region will be very interesting this year. Fairley has emerged as a top contender. There are whispers that Kingsbury is poised to be good this year. Memphis East made strides late last season and hopes to keep that momentum going headed into this season. Melrose, is still the favorite I assume. What are your thoughts?

My realistic view is that the better team always wins!

I agree, your defense is tough. Cover two kills Wooddale. I think you guys win.

When we played Wooddale, we were not a good football team in any phase of the game. I do know that you have to make them one-dimensional. You cannot allow them to run the football. If Ridgeway can stop the run with a seven man front, then I think they win easily. If you are forced to bring 8 in the box, it will be a tight one.

Cause our linemen are not fast at all and those were the only people in front of you when you intercepted the ball.

Hey, you all won, this is true. No excuses. You all made the plays and we did not. BUT, do not sit there and act like you all were this great team that should have blown East away from start to finish. We also left a lot of points on the field. First, East did not execute its gameplan for whatever reason. The short passing game was there all night, but the QB chose to throw deep for whatever reason and our receivers dropped a ton of balls since you want to talk about drops (dropped a TD in corner of endzone, 2 other drops led to INT's run back to our 1 yrdline). Our QB's could have booted on you all night, but trotted instead of using their speed. Receivers running the wrong routes on plays we've run all year. Defensively, the D-Line started getting trapped because they became undisciplined and went too far upfield (when they knew to wrong shoulder the pullers). This is why your running game came alive. Hey, all of these things were our fault. We knew better, but we will learn from these mistakes. Yes, rest assure that we will be working while we are off so that we can meet again next year. This will be the last time you see East High blow a game because it is an undisciplined football team. Congrats to HC!

I see Melrose winning this one unless they make a lot of mistakes. The HC - East score does not reflect how close the game was. Late in the fourth, East scored to go up 22 - 20 but the score was called back (WR blocked in the back on the 5 yardline - good call) and received another 15 yrds for the receiver diving in the end zone in a playoff game (Wow). Two plays later, the ball went through our receivers hands and was picked off and run back to the 1. That sequence made it 27 - 16 HC. They scored one more late because of mistakes trying to get a quick score. A matter of fact, they caught a couple of INT's off droped passes by wide open receivers and ran it back. East killed themselve and HC took advantage. I don't see Melrose, although almost as young as we are, making those mistakes that we made. Our offense is more dangerous than Melrose's, but their defense is better. Defense wins championships. I could be wrong. Good luck to both teams.

Hey that was a great game. It really could have gone either way. Both teams made a ton of mistakes and the officiating wasn't that great for either side. Being undisciplined on offense cost us the game. I wish Henry County luck next week. We had a great year and a good foundation for the future. We look forward to future battles with the Patriots and the rest of 7-4A.

Hey all the talking is over with now. It has been fun though. By this time tomorrow, one of these teams will go on to the next round. Each side seems to be confident. May the best team win.

This means what exactly? East players don't have respect for themselves? You lost me on that one. Anyway, Respect is coming!

I rather enjoyed your analysis. We HAVE gotten better. Believe me. We would love to play these teams again right now. I guess you are under the assumption that teams can't become significantly better over time. Though some of the scores do not reflect it, East is a good team right now. I remember you all lost to a Mumford team. Should I judge you on that game. For you all to be so physical and so on means you should have beat them, right. They lost to Millington. I mean week 1 - 10 really doesn't matter. I don't think we will be intimidated by a team that is big and slow. Yes you have the advantage in the kicking game, but your defense is average at best. East will be more efficient in the passing game than you think. Um, Small was one of the highest rated QB's last year. So he is capable. As for the defense, I stated earlier that it is not the same defense from the Millington game. Drastically different, believe me. O, check your stats, East can run the ball a little bit too. Hey, just watch for the homeruns. Don't mind me. You have it all figured out. Sometimes box scores don't tell the whole story, but you will see soon. Respect is coming!

Thanks wingman!

kwc, Man I like you, you are a realist. No we are not overlooking anyone. We feel like everyone is judging use from our first two games. We have come a long way from week one to week ten. We have made numerous personnel changes in that time span for the better. We had to find an identity on offense and change our philosophy on defense. We are a much improved team since then. The majority of the personnel on defense has changed since Millington. As you know from the score (49 - 30), it had to. That side of the ball is much improved. The concentration now is eliminating the mistakes made. Mistakes is what kept Mitchell and JNS in the game. We can score. We are no juggernaut, but we are hard to contain even with the mistakes that we make. We keep those to a minimum and it is a long night for an opposing defense. So, the guys are hearing the predictions that they will be crushed in Paris by 30. They have been hearing stuff like this since Melrose. Coach tells them all the time, "It's us against the world!" It is motivation! They are coming to win, not take a butt whoopin. Respect is coming!

Red Warrior, It disturbs me that someone would make this accusation with just hearing one side. I asked him about this today. He says that no one has ever called him to swap except for Kingsbury. He knows in the past that teams refused to swap, so he figured getting some tape would be impossible. It has been according to him. He did say that he did not call them (HC). Also, he says that the coaches (from HC) were taking pictures or video taping at his Mitchell game. So, he figured they weren't going to trade either. Maybe both sides are going off assumptions.

I heard HC coach received some tape from Ridgeway and NS. All they had to do was call him as well. He is willing to trade tapes with anyone. I asked him about any phone calls. He said he has received none from HC. So lets not act like it is just going one way here.

I think it is hard to say who can beat who. The top seeds in both regions have not played any good team from the other region. Region 7-4a was more competitive as a whole, but that doesn't mean the top teams in region 7 are necessarily better than the ones in region 8. Friday will tell a lot. MemCityCoach is right about East. We are a young talented team, but we have enough veterans to pull us through if they step up and continue to lead the team as they have the last few weeks. Just saying that I would not concede victory so quickly to HC. Beware of an underdog that has nothing to lose and everything to gain. See you Friday. Get those bells ready HC. Respect is coming!

Sorry, not into rankings. Mean nothing. This is not the BCS. That is why we play the games. Win or go home. I have given HC there respect. I have stated that they are the best team in 7-4a in my opinion. I have also said the winner of this game will go on to the semis. That doesn't mean I am going to concede a victory for HC. You are the ones already talking about Melrose, not us. We have been looking towards HC for weeks. You are right, we will see Friday. We will show up to play some football. Trust me!

TraderB, Your analysis was correct about last year and this year to a point. Last year we were good in the secondary, but very week in the front seven. This is why we had trouble with teams that spread us out. This year started off with much of the same. Craigmont was a start, but by no means were things completely corrected. I also felt the team gave up after that punt return vs. Melrose. Our offense is legit. Right now we can score on anyone if we cut our mistakes down. The defense will be the difference. You are right, they have not been tested. The coach has made quite a few adjustments to improve the defense. Especially after Millington. HC will be a true test, but I don't foresee the same outcome as last year. Offense is our strength this year, we know that. Remember they have to stop us as well. We learn from our mistakes. You can't run from your competition though. This is why we look forward to the challenge. We have not been completely happy with our performances lately, but we see the potential. We know what we have to do to win. You have to remember that there was only a 2 pt difference between us and Fairley. We weren't as good as we are now on either side of the ball. We will see Friday if we are a fraud. Thanks for you sarcasm though.