Cactus Jack

Its time to play, from what I understand, OR has been sluggish and inconsistent in scrmmages, they did not play well at all against a fired up Anderson County team in the 10 minute quarter at the AC Jamboree. The Mavericks played like it was a real game and the Cats played like it was a Spring Practice Scrimmage and got knocked around like rag dolls. Well, no more efforts like that...Fulton will be coming into this game like it is their State Championship, they will bring out all the old heroes and CSS to see a big Falcon win so the Knoxville News Sentinel can produce banner headlines in Prep Extra next Saturday morning (if Oak Ridge wins, they will put it on the back page). SO, the Wildcats will need to match the intensity, this is the real deal!! Fulton is a quality program, and even though they lost a lot of good lineman and Dennis Rogan, they will be no less dangerous, since they will have good speed on defense and receivers. The winner will be the team that has the fewest turnovers and is in the best condition at games end. This will be a playoff type atmosphere and each team's season will depend on how well they do here. In the end it is not the coaches, but the players playing the game, and those who play the hardest and the best will win. To all who say this is a bigger game for Fulton since they are 3A, don't believe it, it is a very big game for Oak Ridge too. Time to play!! Lets go Cats!!!

I heard the score was 25-12 in favor of Father Ryan, but I agree that no one really wins scrimmages....I would have loved to seen this scrimmage since I regard both Head Coaches as good friends....

Where in Cookeville?? One year it was at Cookeville HS, next year at Tennessee Tech Stadium, and this year I hear it is at Tennessee Tech Practice Field, and is that time EST or CST?? If it is CST, then that would be 7 EST...and if it is 6 EST, that would be 5 CST...

Looks like there will be some coaching changes, did hear Coach Adams has decided to return. Coach Speas will take over the Freshman Program, which is a good thing!! He will do a great job there and that is very important to future teams. I would like to see Ron Gray return to coach the offensive line since the current line coach is leaving. His experience there would help improve a problem area from last season. The changes are settling out now and that is good since Spring practice starts soon, Oak Ridge has scrimmages, best I hear, at Powell, on or about May 4 and here against Bearden on May 11. Should be able to get an idea of how OR will be. Both Powell and Bearden will be good tests. Powell is always big, so one should be able to tell how well the off season weight program is working by how they match up on the lines. Bearden was pretty good last year under Bill Wilson. I hope things go well and the Wildcats and Coach Stevens can enjoy a better year in 07. The schedule is tough, opening at Fulton, and then a trip to DB for game 3. I think OR needs to be at least 7-3 to 8-2 and in the playoffs. Ooltewah would have to be the favorite to win the Region, with Benny Monroe really getting that program up and running. He could win the state this year. McMinn County had a lot of talent, but their coach left, so they are a wild card. William Blount is the same, hard to tell how they are going to bem heard Maryville got their stud linebacker. Farragut will be good, they lost some good players too though. Bradley, Soddy and Heritage will be a little better and OR faces the last two on the road. OR needs to get off to a good start, winning at Fulton, which will be a tall order, but important to gain momentum for the season. Also, I would like to see STRONGER administrative and school board support for the football program AND for renovations at Blankenship Field, they should remember that a strong football program, with good attendance pays for the other sports, and should be supported as such!!

I TOO HAVE HEARD THAT GRADES ARE DEFINATELY AN ISSUE WITH THIS GROUP, ESPECIALLY SOME OF THE YOUNGER PLAYERS!! I HOPE ALL THE GUYS REALLY HIT THE BOOKS HARD THE REST OF THE YEAR. YOU HAVE TO PASS ENOUGH CLASSES THIS TIME TO BE ELIGIBLE NEXT FALL, YOU CAN ONLY MAKE UP ONE CLASS IN THE SUMMER AND THAT MAY NOT BE AVAILABLE DUE TO THE CONSTRUCTION. IT WOULD BE A SHAME TO LOSE ANY PLAYER TO GRADES, ESPECIALLY WHEN THERE IS HELP FOR THEM TO DO BETTER IF THEY WILL TAKE IT!! GET AFTER THE BOOKS GUYS, THE WEIGHTS ARE IMPORTANT TOO, BUT IF YOU DON"T HAVE THE GRADES IT WON'T MATTER!!!

I think either Ron Gray or Jeff Minor would make a good coach for Karns, if indeed they have applied and are interested. In my opinion, both are good guys, and good football coaches. Karns would be OK with either.

I would urge all who support and love Oak Ridge Football to question School Board and Administration future support of the program above and beyond who is coach. There are some rumblings that they may be on the brink of de-emphazing football. This great tradition may be in trouble and it may not be just because of coaching, so check it out, question them. As an example, I do think it is nice that we are getting a new basketball arena, it is long overdue and will have a positive impact on basketball in Oak Ridge, however, there never seems to be funding available for major upgrades that are needed at Blankenship Field, and most of the upgrades that have been completed have been paid for by money raised by the Boosters Club and the Quarterback Clubs, who have taken on capital projects that they really should not have to. SO, if football is really going to continue to be important to those I question here, there should be some money spent on Blankenship as soon as the ORHS Renovation is complete. Also, I might point out that not much was done for the football area at ORHS except some cosmetic touches and they actually lost space in the renovation, while basketball gained new offices...so go figure....but question and vote if you support ORHS Football's future!!!! No matter who is coach, the support he needs may not be there...

Coach Mullins has some excellent ideas for updates at the Ship, I only hope that they don't fall on deaf ears or empty pockets for football at the School Board, if his plans are followed, the Ship would be a first class facility and possibly could draw some small college games such as Carson Newman to play here to make extra money. I think they should proceed once the Chuck Dome is finished, probably summer 08. Bounder is right also on two counts, he and others put in an unbelievable amount of time and raised a ton of money to build an improved restroom at the facility, pave the track around it etc. School money investment pales compared to what these guys have done. Its time for the younger fans and the schools to step up and update this facility, possibly including the new surface Old Dad mentions which would save them money in the long run dealing with upkeep and rain...also, would like to mention that Big Cat and Company did the best job ever in maintaining the current playing surface this season, those guys really cared and did a great job...(maybe they could sub out to Farragut too).....

We do need to improve the employment picture here, the plants continue to decline with constricted budgets and we are not getting the industry due to a picky City Government that only wants "high tech", would be nice to get a car plant or something that blue collar workers to work at, Maryville has Denso and Smryna has Nissan, I am sure there is some link there to the talent they have...if we get the employment back and retail back, then we can get the talent back.. On another note, there will be no coaching changes and no one is leaving on the staff this year as far as is known at this point, and Ron Gray will not be coming back. SO, we got to go with and support what we got. I wish the staff all the success this coming season and hope we will get back to where we should be....in the playoffs with a chance to win...I hope the talent gaps can be filled this spring and one more thing, the guys need to hit the books as well as the weights!!! PS: Tank, you need to talk to Old Dad off line...you will better understand his agenda

Bounder does have a good point here, the Oak Ridge economy wobbles as places like Maryville and Farragut grows in leaps and bounds...we are closing stores here while stores open in other areas..the latest exodus from Oak Ridge and Clinton is to the new developments opening up at I-75 Exit 122. We need young families moving in here with kids who play football, that means affordable housing and places to shop, work and have fun. We need improvement from our feeder programs that he mentions and more good players coming from especailly the Jefferson side of town. All the school football programs need to be strengthened and it is the School Board that needs to do that through budget and facilities (check out Maryville's and Kingsport's facilities sometime). Our Boys Clubs have done a great job over the years, and I hope that will continue, but they need young kids coming in and playing football and other sports. I sincerly hope that Coach Stevens and his staff learn from last year adjust, and make a great comeback this year and bring Oak Ridge Football back, the football program has been a tremendous source of pride here, even with the town going down around it, it has given people something to cheer for, so if it does go down (and hope with all my heart that it does not) then Oak Ridge may truly become the ghost city that was predicted years ago by that Morristown fortune teller. So, lets hope all things get better and football does too.

Me too Bounder, let me know when you guys go....

Lost the QB, both running backs, one receiver and 1/2 the lines on offense. Lost one good linebacker in Troy Venable and most of the defensive line, 1/2 the secondary. The kicker, who is excellent, Will Hudson is back, in the secondary and at receiver, kick returner DeMarcus Rogers returns, he has a lot of ability and can be a game breaker. Tyler Clark # 18 could step in and could be pretty good at QB as he split time the last five games after Connor got hurt... Need to find running backs, but the lines got to get a lot better for them to run behind. The freshman team was pretty good last year and I would expect the ones that come back out should see a lot of playing time mixing in with seniors and juniors, heard a lot are mumbling around about not playing so that needs to be taken care of...get em out there....any player can contribute...any player can make a difference!!!

I think the Riverdale teams of 2003 and 2004 both were much better then the Riverdale of 2005, but stll finally beating them in 2005 was a great achievment. I guess I need to recount Lussier's playoff records: 1999 lost in Quarterfinals to eventual Champion Sevier County at Sevier County, finished 12-1, 2000 lost to a very good Kingsport DB team, (like last years loss of Connor Gulmire hurt the 06 team, that year the loss of Mikel Resnick killed us against DB in the playoffs, in an earlier 21-10 win at Kingsport, Resnick had made 13 tackles, in the playoff game without him Adonis Johnson killed us on sweeps to his side) 2002 lost in 2nd Round at Kingsport, close game. 2003: Great win at Kingsport in Quarterfinals, then lost to Riverdale in the Semifinals, also a very close game, tipped pass on Riverdale goal line with seconds left was intercepted. 2004: another great win at home against Kingsport avenging an earlier loss to DB, then Lost to Riverdale at Riverdale in Semifinals, led the first half, game turned on a Riverdale fumble that they recovered in the air and scored with OR up one score, note that Riverdale went on to blow out Franklin in the finals 35-0 to win the State. This Riverdale team was loaded with great athletes and might have been Gary Rankin's best team. Also, I think the teams in this region are pretty good and what happens is they beat each other, so the records aren't as good, William Blount is dangerous every year, usually do not start well, but can spring upsets, have to their credit two wins at Kingsport in the playoffs in recent years....McMinn County, has a lot good athletes, this year they were very athletic, their problem is inconsistency, if they get those guys to play, you got a dogfight...Ooltewah, calling them average is crazy, they had very good teams in 01 and 02 (Region Champions), dipped a bit and came back in 05 (upset OR) and 06 (State Finals), and Benny Monroe is just going to keep getting better down there...so the argument that Lussier won against a weak district is indeed weak....so 62-14 against these teams is pretty good... So, that is all past now, lets hope the program gets going now, we do have a lot of holes to fill, similar to last year, the main thing to do is get as many guys as you can out of the halls and out there working the weights, running, throwing and then find the players in spring or early fall and surprise people this fall...be solid in the lines, and you can win...Stanton faces the same schedule Lussier did, with the exception of Fulton coming on board if thats correct, and that will be tough with them coming off a State Championship..they are well coached and have good skill position talent.

I hope Coach Stevens can right the ship. Right now its listing pretty bad. I hope the weight room is going with intensity, especially with the lineman. The lines were a weak point last year. I hope he can get coaches to come to meetings (if indeed they are not) and plan for next year or if they don't want to coach then resign and make way for those that do. I hope he can talk to each player, secure who is coming back, make sure they want to play and give them what his expectations are of them for the position they will play, then work hard in the off season and spring practice to be ready for the 2007 season. I wish him success because if he fails, Oak Ridge Football fails. We need to get back to where we once were and Maryville is now. That is a good example to follow on how a strong high school program is run. I hope the School Board and the Administration commit to support the football program better then they have been, i.e. budget and facilities (Blankenship and at ORHS), surely they understand football pays for all the other sports and if they miss the playoffs or attendance drops at games, so does revenue. I really don't think they are tuned in right now and I have heard what was mentioned before that they are anti-football, in the past they just wanted to sit back and let the Boosters Clubs pay for all of it (Blankenship Renovations), and now they have put in rules that hamstring fund raising and projects these clubs want to try. One other thing, Coach Lussier was a great coach, master organizer. The knock they put on him that he couldn't win the big one is bogus. The games lost his last two years to Riverdale could have easily went the other way and led to two State Championships, just that the ball didn't bounce the right way, and that is a huge factor in tight games between fairly equal teams. His record of 62-14 in just the short time (6 years) he was there facing a tough Region 5A and the DBs and Riverdales of the world is a great accomplishment and if he had been able to stay, who knows the outcome of the Ravenwood game...but...its time to move on and I hope Coach Stevens can get the program turned around and headed back to the top....we will see.

Does anyone have any news about Oak Ridge Football in the off season? Are workouts proceeding? Will the 2007 Season see improvement? What is the outlook?

You got a great coach in Bruce Lussier. He will continue to improve this program ans he will work dilegently at it. He is a defensive specialist, and once he gets the offense to catch up, he will be very tough to beat. He was the main reason for Oak Ridge successes from 81 to 04. His defenses kept us in about every game, and when we had an offense to match, we were tough to beat. Good luck to Father Ryan, you deserve it, great season!!!

After watching the Championship Games of 4 and 5A, for this year, I definately feel Maryville is the best team in the state in the Public School class, I have not seen the Private School classes, so I can't say there. There is no secret to how Maryville wins, excellent coaching and organization, getting the most out of the players they have, everybody knows their job on the field and does it. Other teams have more raw talent, but not as well coached. Maryville is a team period!!They also have gotten their program to a point that they get blowouts during the season which enables them to play younger kids a lot and give them game experience so they will be ready when they are the first team, thus the reason they are good even if they lose a lot of seniors. Maryville really should be 5A, and I think eventually they will be. Then there will be some great matchups with Dobyns Bennett and Oak Ridge (if they get back on track), but they will continue to succeed in that class as well...

Hey Bounder....it is tough not (Oak Ridge) playing football right now, I have always thought DB had a first class program, Graham Clark is a good coach, first class guy, and according to my friends up there, they had a solid defense, but the offense was a little lacking, they were not able to run the ball on William Blount at all and the game remained close and they lost late..they say and the schedule weakness late in the season hurt them too, but overall, this is a great program, and man, I wish we had that nice new facility at Blankenship like they got opened up last year up there at J Fred, they have nice coaches offices, weight rooms etc there...wish OR could get funding for a ficility like that at Blankenship...

Soccer should never be played on a football field!! A soccer field is wider, longer and should be flat, a lot of football fields have crowns, a soccer field should not. Also the soccer action tears up the field real bad especially in the area of the goals. Oak Ridge did finally realize this and build a nice soccer field at the high school, and got away from Blankenship and its high crown. The soccer field had to be moved for the renovation, but it has nice bleachers and lights, and eventually it will have good grass. Come on Fox Den, there is plenty of cash over there, build those soccer kids a field over there, and it will serve a dual purpose of giving them their own place to play and save the football field too. Blankenship needs some work too, but the field itself was in the best shape this year that it has been in many years, thanks to the school maintenance guys that took special interest in taking care of the surface. By the way, the condition of the field is not the reason OR lost, they lost because of mistakes and an ineffective offense, which was unable to take advantage of Farragut turnovers.

Oak Ridge vs Kingsport DB.....two equals that it goes back and forth, but both have respect for the other, a great game with lots of fans and atmosphere, both at J Fred or Jack Armstrong....keep playing!!!

I would put in a vote for Jack Armstrong, Oak Ridge 1955 to 1968. State Championships in 1956, 58, 61, 62 and a National Championship in 1958. Jack learned under General Neyland at UT in 1946... Also, one for Emory Hale, Oak Ridge 1969 to 1980. 3 State Championships, 1975, 79 and 80. Can't let this one go without mentioning great assistant coaches Chick Graning and Paul Brewster. Others that come to mind, and I am only familiar with East Tennessee, Ted Wilson (Maryville and Kingsport DB), Benny Monroe (McMinn Co, Cleveland and Ooltewah) Red Etter (Chattanooga Central and Baylor) Ones in Middle Tennessee that I would mention are Calvin Short (Gallatin) and Carlton Flatt (Brentwood Academy) And I got to mention the best Defensive Coach, Bruce Lussier!!! Graning was the best Offensive Coach....

Steve Brewer is an excellent offensive coach, the Owls can expect anything and everything, the key is can the Owls drive the ball and keep possession and score, the more the SC offense is on the field the better their chances. Could be one of the best games of Week 2, but I got to go with the Owls in a close one...

I really thought this might be the year that DB would make a good run. They had a strong defense, but kind of a bland offense. Clues to problems could be the struggles they had late with Sevier County. Also, friends in Kingsport tell me the biggest problems for the Indians is a weak late season schedule. Also, Region 1 5A is typically weak, as evidenced this year with Region 2 5A winning three of four in the first round. William Blount had a good physical line and Walker was a hard runner, so I knew they would give DB a good game, and they were used to dog fights such as they faced in this Region. I had hoped the Indians would make it to Round 2 as I was thinking about riding up to Kingsport to see a Farragut-DB matchup and hoping to follow the Indians through the playoffs. I would think DB needs to think about dropping some of those Sullivans and picking up a team such as Gallatin or Ravenwood, or even Maryville, which in addition to Oak Ridge would give them a tougher non Region schedule, and playing one of these teams down around Week 8 would help them going into the playoffs....

I think it cost us two ball games, Farragut and William Blount, we may not have been able to beat Ooltewah even with Connor at QB, but I really thought his best game was the McMinn County Game, he was starting to come around, his passing was better and he was more mobile and accurate then both the sophomore quarterbacks that replaced him. I think the record would have been 7-3 and we would have been going to the playoffs in the 2 or 3 spot....it was a key injury...

I agree with Nick...SS did what most of us would do, he took the job!! I hope he can turn it around next year, the program means more to me then who is coaching it, and as long as he is head coach I will support him...AND if there is another coaching change somwhere down the line, leave TB and KG as far away from the process as possible...leave the selection to the committee next time, if they can get anyone to serve on it!!!