etfan

I understand. Of course, the Tri Cities metro area is clearly the fifth largest population area in the state. And no football champion in my limited recent memory has come from Memphis. In this case, does size matter?

If your team is any good, most senior HS players end their careers with a loss due to the playoff structure in TN. This is a negative ending for the young men, the coaches, and their parents. But it is not often that devastating. In general, the kids will move on much quicker than the adults. Based on your internalized expectations and those in the community, response to the season ending event will differ. I would submit South is disappointed because they will not get a chance to host M'ville next week and G'ville is just happy to be there. South might even have had some idea on how to compete with M'ville; G'ville will be in hangover mode after beating South until Wednesday and has no chance. Not to dog the Devils, who have a great program. It is just the expectations. By the way, I would submit South was focused on hosting M'ville. I am not so sure they had crossed the threshold mentally of being able to actually beat them. There are some really happy people in Greeneville and some really sad ones at South. Greeneville will be sad next week and Maryville will be sad in two weeks when Henry County ends their streak. HC had their wake up call last night. Everyone gets one, some survive it. M'ville has not had one yet. After HC's 28 - 26 win last night it will be interesting to see how M'ville will respond to adversity in the title game. Not to disrespect G'ville, but they have no chance to be emotionally ready to deal with M'ville next week or to provide M'ville with any adversity. Champions answer the bell and make the plays when they have to. South's FG attempt at the end of regulation last night was their bell. They could not quite answer.

A very strange post. The demographics of the old (current) 4A football tournament are that half of the teams in that classification are in East Tennesee. West of Knoxville does not mean much. Chattanooga and Knoxville compete in R3 and R4; north of Knoxville and NET compete in R2 and R1. South and THS compete with the Morristowns, G'ville, and then the R3 / R4 winner. An analogy for D-B would be for Riverdale and Lincoln Co to be in East Tennessee. They would have even a harder time advancing than they do now. It is just about location and size of schools and their geography.

It was a disgrace that CS was not 1st team all conference.

Best wishes. You have been a joy on this board and your son and the Rebel team has done an outstanding job on the field.

I agree. Great game by both teams. Class act by both sides. Someone had to lose - it happened to be the Rebels this time. Congratulations to the Rebels on a great season and great 4 year run. Congratulations to the Devils on their deepest playoff run since '02. (Is that right?)

The Rebels were the most interesting football story in NET over the past four years. They just could not finish the deal this year. Of course, since we are still posting about them maybe that still makes them the top story.

G'ville vs M'ville will be a great story. Just no coverage in the Tri Cities media or on the internet. TriCitiesSports.com will move on to basketball. The Knoxville and state media will move on to M'ville vs Henry Co. G'ville will still be on a high after this win; I predict M'ville by a large margin. One thing the Devils have, though, is perhaps the best coaching staffing at the top three spots in NET (head coach, off coord, def coord). A great game plan and out coached the Rebels again. I would like to hear some perspective on this.

G'ville and NET should not be embarrassed at all about the Devils win. It was a great football game, I am sure. The embarrassment I was speaking of was South's lack of achieving their potential and destiny. Football in NET will be poorer for it. With all respect to G'ville, no one outside of the town will care about the next round of the playoffs. A rematch of M'ville and South at Death Valley would have been state wide buzz. My comment was not so much about the game itself as about the opportunity for NET football to be in the limelight for a little while, at least.

No, because the (our) Rebels were going to get a chance to slay the M'ville Rebels in Kingsport. Like I said, the worst loss ever.

Agreed. I had also posted that it would be a much tougher matchup than in September.

With just a few minutes more opportunity to reflect, this is clearly NET's most devastating loss in the history of playoff football. As a Viking fan, that does not necessarily bother me but it is bigger than the normal D-B round one meltdowns - after all, in a strange way we all root for you. For every 40 - 0 third quarter score against all of the county schools, we have hope that the Rebels will represent us and that all of our pain with a playoff advance that does us proud. Since all South (and other schools) expectations all season were around hosting M'ville next week, I cannot imagine anything worse for the Rebels. Or as inexcusable. I know the kids and parents actually involved in the South football program are devastated. I am sorry. But, you have really let us down.

No

Congratulations, my friend. A great win by a great program. You guys must be very proud.

I was really surprised by Sensibaugh not making 1st team all conference. What was that about?

I think the differential between Maryville and South is greater this year than last year. South cannot overlook G'ville as they are a much different team now than in Sept. It is almost always an intangible disadvantage to face a team a second time in the mid rounds of the playoffs. No one else is playing from up here. Overall I am disappointed in the playoff performances of Region I in all classifications.

I absolutely love the South thread. It should be on Entertainment Tonight. I wonder if Maryville's threads have this kind of stuff on them? D-B's don't because they are getting ready for Basketball and Band Competitions by now.

Great comment!

Great analysis!

IMO, South was tested by Science Hill and Betsy.

I have not had time this fall to do as much posting and updating of my top NET list. Undoubtedly, SS is the class of NET at this point in the season. DB is second based on the total work of their season, although I realize they are quite upset based on Friday's upset. Back to the thread topic - and if no one cares I understand. I have not had a chance to review the whole thread but was wondering if there was any discussion of the lack of two platooning by GC and that impact on his team's running out of gas in the 4th quarter in the playoffs. With 100 kids out for football, it sure seems to me that D-B could find 25 to play, not just 15. While GC's philosophy of playing the top 11 has served him well in terms of overall success, I think it contributes to his team running out of gas in the 4th quarter of these 1st round games.

I don't think so. You will get to play Crockett and Volunteer. I am particularly excited about the Crockett - DB and South - Volunteer rivalries developing.

i also think GC did an outstanding coaching job last year. Not so in '08

I may be wrong but I also think Sevier Co may have won a title.

I think there is a rule now. It is holding on the offense. The ref crew blew it. If particularly egregious, which it sounds like it was, it could be unsportsmanlike conduct. Again, the refs blew it.