GC Grizzlies

I think the final was Claiborne over Grainger 69-60. Two evenly matched teams and Claiborne just simply played better tonight.

I agree totally! Most people have not seen the new gym at Grainger unless they have played there this season. It truly is awesome!

We didn't fare too well against Cocke County, but the girls went on the road and split with Seymour and GP. Those are usually two tough places to play at. Good job ladies getting into the WIN column Friday night.

Great start for the Grizzlies! Looks like a total team effort and a big road win. How long has it been since we won @ GP? Grainger has a couple of home games next week and I think one of them is against Claiborne. They defeated M. West 57-51, that has the makings of a great matchup in the new gym at Grainger High. Good luck guys and keep up the hard work.

Grainger looked like they could blow this game wide open early on, but they seemed to go away from Skylar early in the third period. CC came back and cut the lead to around 5 before he was able to get involved again. I didn't think CC did anything special outside of spreading out the zone some. Other players took the shots they have to take, but just were not making them. McBee has to stay involved in the offense more whether its shooting or passing. He needs to take more shots but he is very unselfish. He will pass the ball if a teamate has a better look. This team is his team, but night in and night out Farmer and Humphrey will need to both be in double figures too. There are a couple other guys that can score and occasionally will step up and have big night as well. If the Grizzlies shoot the ball well from the perimeter, they can compete with a lot of teams. Good Luck Grizzlies!

I saw where pigeon forge defeated Hancock by 25 points.

I think we will get better as the year goes on, but this week will be a good test for the Lady Grizzlies. Buda(PG) will be a formidable test for the young ball handlers. We definitely can't forget the post play of Shannon Depew from Cocke County either. Crews, Acuff, Roach and Waudrop will all have to play strong inside to slow down Cocke Countys strength in the paint. If we do this we will have a chance to play with and compete with a strong CC team. Games later in the week will be big road games that are always tough. (at Seymour and at GP. ) Good luck ladies!

This could be the weakest year for district 2AA as a whole in a while. Sounds like a district filled with .500 teams this year. Grainger (Rutledge) has two starters returning...Crews and Acuff. The rest of the team is primarily role players with a couple of freshmen getting some quality playing time this year. Don't know what to expect from the rest of the district, but we will find out soon...

The Grizzlies should be able to compete again in the district. The three you mentioned are definitely double figure scorers, night in and night out. One question with this team will be how well the rest of the team performs. Also, the Grizzlies have a lot more outside weapons than they do inside ones. If they are to continue their past successes they will have to have some inside play from Humphries and Sophomore Aaron Carter. The rest of the team is made up of role players that can score, defend, and handle the ball. Junior PG Cody Glasscock can take some of the pressure off McBee if he is able to handle the ball and allow Skyler to play off the ball some. This team should continue to work hard and make strides, and who knows maybe...three peat.

I agree with you whole heartedly, KevB. As you notice I said the same thing about McBee. Do you know anything about next years schedule for the Grizzlies? Greenvillefootball.com has the district schedule, but who will Grainger pick up for the 4 out of conference games? Since only one of the three (4A) schools in the conference are guaranteed a playoff spot, it will be important to finish 2nd or have a good overall record in order to make the playoffs. Any thoughts?

More than likely Greenville will dominate the new district. I am basing that on the fact that they are already into the third round of the 4A playoffs and they won their 4A district this year. Does anyone know if the school of attendance is a students choice in Green County? If so, could all the Green County schools begin to lose their best athletes to GHS? This has happened before in other places when one school or team begins to be highly successful in a particular sport. I think the district will be very competitive and exciting with the exception of Greenville probably dominating next season. Do you know anything about what players you guys will have back next season? Grainger loses QB (McBee) and most playmaking WRs...but several Juniors and Sophomores received a lot of playing time at RB and on the line. They don't look to have any standouts currently, but a winter in the weightroom often brings a few of these out. Still don't know what to expect from the Grainger Grizzlies next year. What about everybody else?

I can't wait to watch a game in the new gym. It will be an interesting year for the Grizzlies. They will really miss Merrill in the low post. I think they will have more scorers than some people think. I think the biggest weakness will be if they can have some guys step it up inside. If they are able to guard the post and get some points in the paint they will be very competitive again.

Thanks to all the seniors for their leadership and hard work. This team made a lot of improvements as the year went on. They were able to go a long way with as many injuries as they had this year. The Grizzlies had a minumun of 5 starters out by the end of the season and many more playing banged up. Unfortunately they ran into a better team, in the form of A-E, in the playoffs. The Grizzlies still had a good year winning five games and almost finishing second in the district. It will be tough to replace argueably one of the best QBs and football players in Tennessee. Skylar McBee did about everything for them this season. And regardless of what you read or hear, he is one of the classiest and outstanding young men you will ever meet. I think Grainger will be able to regroup next season after the new districts are set. They will have a good chance to continue where they left off. With a lot of hard work in the weightroom we will see another exciting Grainger Grizzlies football team. Thanks guys for an exciting season! GRAINGER...GRIZZLIES!

I had everything right but the acutal score. Grainger played an outstanding game considering they have soooo many injuries. I realize Carters QB was out, but Grainger had three starters out and lost three and possibly four more during the game. They dominated the game except for a couple of drives that Carter ran it right down their throat in the second half. We were tired and having to play several backups during the second half. Carter played a strong second half though. Hats off to them for coming back the way they did. Grainger lost the long snapper during the game and missed on three extra points. This was a huge factor in the outcome. I just hope they are able to get some of those guys back for Friday night, but it looks bleak on a few of them. It sure would have been great to host a playoff game in the first season at the new stadium, but I believe we will go to AE and continue to play tough and give our all. Good luck Grizzlies!

Grizzlies are headed to Carter in about three hours. We are pretty banged up right now. I know Carter does not have the QB because he smarted off to the referee or something, but I believe Carter will probably still get us 35-13. We don't even resemble the same team that started out the season. One thing you can always count on is the Grizzlies will scrap and hit you till the buzzer sounds. I hope the guys can pull it off and get a few people healthy by next week. Who do you guys think will win the AE/Kingston game? If Kingston wins who gets the three way tie breaker...AE, Kingston or Anderson County?

The Grainger/Union game will be played on Saturday. This is after the tragic loss of the coaches wife from Union County. All our prayers go out to the family, friends, coaches and players. I believe Grainger will win a tough fought game. This is usually a very physical game. Next week I still think Carter will defeat Grainger, even without the QB. They just have too much speed...and speed kills. A sweep of the last two games would give Grainger a home playoff game. That would really be nice in the first year of the new school.

Cosby has a good football team and don't let anyone tell you different. I think you proved that last Friday when you put it on Hampton. Good luck the rest of the season. Grainger will go into Union County pretty banged up. I still think they will be able to take care of UC though. This is usually a pretty physical game. 27-7 Grainger over Union County.

I would like to host anyone...or maybe travel to some new scenery this year in the playoffs. As far as Carter goes, I am just being realistic. I love my Grizzlies, but we are probably a solid .500 team. I think Seymour and Carter are far better than the rest of the District. That being said, I do believe Grainger is definitely the third best team in this district. I know anything can happen in a game, so we cannot take Claiborne or Union for granted. Also, Carter cannot take Grainger for granted. After Rutledge almost (and should have) defeated them last year, I think Carter will be ready this year. I do think it would have been an interesting season if this coaching staff could have already had this team (running their offense/defense)for a season before this year. I wonder if we even lose to South Greene or Gatlinburg-Pittman. This team could have easily been 7-3 if that was the case. Senior night friday against Claiborne. Gonna be sad to see some of these guys go. I think the Grizzlies will be fired up for Claiborne. Should be an exciting game. What can you tell us about Claiborne?

Grainger is 2-1 in district play. They have Claiborne @ home Friday night and then they finish up on the road @ Union County and Carter. I predict 4-2 in district play with losses to Seymour and Carter. This would give them a #3 finish in the regular season. They would then have to travel on the road in the playoffs. What are everyone elses thoughts? Who does it look like will finish 1-4 in the other district?

I saw that game, too. Oneida did have their way with Grainger in the game. I'm not sure how much better Oneida could play than what they did that day. Grainger, at the time, was trying to install a new "I" formation offense and just trying to learn a new 4-4 defense instead of their usual 5-2. Since that time they have scrapped the "I" entirely. Now, they run 60(+)% of the time from the spread with McBee running and throwing the ball. They are back to their old faithful Veer when running the ball. This takes advantage of the QBs running skills, too. I don't think they would beat Oneida, but they would probably be able to make it a competitive game. (Unlike the pre-season scrimmage)

Good job Grainger Grizzlies on your 17-5 win against Cosby. I think the Grizzlies showed everyone they had a few more athletes than Cosby thought. Yes, Grainger did have the best athlete on the field, but some highlight catches and runs came from a few of their other athletes. Cosby played a hard game, but their lack of depth was a big difference in the game. Thats usually the difference with 1a team vs a 3A team. No disrespect to Cosby though they fought hard the whole game. Good luck the rest of the season to them. Also, the Grizzlies are looking better each week. They get Claiborne and Union before traveling to Carter for the season finale. Right now 2-1 in the district has them tied for 2nd. Good luck Grizzlies the rest of the season! GRAINGER..GRIZZLIES..GRAINGER..GRIZZLIES!

Losing Josh Hart has been a big blow to the defense and offense. At 6'3" and 220lbs. he was a great TE/WR target for McBee and a vicious hitter from his LB position. Also, if they continue to have to play McBee both ways as much as they have, he will be a lot less effective as the season wears on. Blanken did step up the running attack Friday night as he pounded out yards against GP. A second half knee injury halted his effectiveness. Grainger has to play so many more players both ways this year, than what they have been able to do in the past. I think Carter/Seymour will be 1 or 2 depending on who wins the head to head. The 3/4 slot is anybodys to win. Grainger and Claiborne have wins in Conference. It looks like Grainger, Claiborne, Gibbs, Pigeon Forge, and Union County will all be playing each other down the stretch. Injuries will play a key role. Lets hope all the teams can stay healthy and give us all a good chase down the stretch. Grainger has to go to Gibbs for their homecoming next week. This is a big rivalry and Gibbs will be fired up. Lets hope Grainger can right the ship and take a 1-4 start and finish 4-1. If this happens, I predict Grainger to finish 3 and Claiborne or Pigeon Forge to finish 4. Not much has been said @ Grainger after a 1-4 start. I think some fans are starting to wonder if all the young coaches need some veteran leadership on the staff right now. I just don't think they have found their identity as a staff or as a team. They have run the spread offense, the veer, the power I, and the I formation. They have a new defense in place that like you said needs to improve. I haven't noticed the front on D making a lot of plays. I wouldn't be suprised if some of the DBs were leading the team in tackles (and thats not good.)

Rutledge beats Elizabethon 3-2 in eight innings. What a game! 0-0 till the top of the 6th. Elizabethon gets a run in the top and Mudd drives in a run in the bottom and takes 2nd on throw. Brabson hits what most thought was the game winner with two outs, but left fielder throws out Mudd at the plate for 3rd out. One run by Elizabethon in 8th and Rutledge answers with two in the bottom. Ball four to batter gets away from catcher and Fifield scores from third. Roach hit the ball hard all game. This was a tough game by both teams. Its tough either had too lose. Proud of you Lady Pioneers! Mudd, Brabson, Roach, Fifield and Greer all had good games. But, it was a good TEAM win for Rutledge. Everyone played solid.

Rutledge beat Pigeon Forge tonight 10-0 in six innings. It was a great team effort with several players contributing key hits and Mudd pitched a terrific game. They play Elizabethon on Monday @ Rutledge and Pigeon Forge will go to Unicoi County. Good luck to both Rutledge and Pigeon Forge next week.

Rutledge @ Pigeon Forge on Monday. The Tigers look too strong for the Pioneers, but I know Rutledge will give it their all. To be going through what most said was a "down year" Rutledge has proven that the winning tradition is still alive. Good luck Pioneers!