Spartansfan

looks to me like a semi-warm up for the playoffs and a good chance to give 2nd string some good playing time. /I think the degree of blowout depends on how long the coaches go before sending in the subs. But these are easy games for the favorites.

Yes it is impressive....I know these stats are relative to who a team plays, and in some cases that could help a team look good when they didn't go against anyone significant. But knowing the way our region is stacked up, we have a couple of weak offenses, but the rest range good to very good, or excellent. BTW, on the top 5A defense topic, you need to post our top rb's....I figure you're the guy with the stats.... /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I'm going to tag along with your predictions and hope you're right! Give a shout out if you make Thursdays game. I'm the fat guy with the camera. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

That's the thing with stats. They don't tell the whole story. WB is 5th, and who knows....playing in a different region, they could be ranked higher. But we all get to see who does what in the playoffs. These top teams will get the chance to prove themselves, so it'll all work out. Hopefully, kwc will do his thing and give us some inside info on 8-5A rb's....we've got some good ones too. /hungry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":hungry:" border="0" alt="hungry.gif" />

It seems to me that instead of crucifying this kid we, as a football community should be rejoicing in the apparent fact (per AirForceOne) that this kid has found a better direction for his life through being involved in a quality football program. We should also be happy for Hunters Lane being able to continue the course of their season. You tell me what team would go 7-2 and not feel crushed to be told they had to forfeit everything they've worked for? There's way too many of our youths that have misguided lifes and never get the opportunity to get some good solid leadership and positive examples to get things turned around. Chances are pretty good that this kid won't play at the next level. (he may, I have no idea, but the numbers say most h.s. players don't play in college) So what would you think he'd become if his life didn't get changed? And didn't Hunters Lane earn their 7-2 record? Do you really think one guy made so much difference in their season? Potential playoff opponents...do you fear facing Hunters Lane? And, no, I certainly don't condone the "putting his hands on a teacher" thing. But I don't have all the facts there. And again, it seems his story is one of learning from past mistakes and turning to a more positive direction. Seems like a success story for our football community to me. C'mon people!

I guess Hunters Lane is over-rated and all the rest of the teams are under-rated..... /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> Who knows... I can say the 8-5A teams are playing against good offensive teams, so their defenses are being tested. So to come up with 4 in the top 10, I think it speaks highly of 8-5A and I also believe the stats are credible.

Well, the tough games started with our Collierville game. And now we don't get a week off. Houston will be tough, then into the playoffs with tough opponents. For me, the hardest part is waiting on the games to get started. I have to come here to dissapate some energy about these games! It's great we're in, and I dure hope we continue the winning ways!

Here we go into the last week of the regular season. White Station vs Houston- WS wins, they get the 8-5A crown. With a loss, it's 3rd place. I don't knopw what Houston would do with a loss, but with a win, I assume they'd be in 2nd due to losing to Whitehaven. Whitehaven vs Woodale- I think Whitehaven wins this easily enough, although Woodale can be dangerous. They did give Collierville a tough game a couple of weeks ago. Collierville plays Kirby, and I imagine they'll roll on this one. At 5-4(3-3) currently, 6-4(4-3) assuming they win, would they make the playoffs? I believe they would, but I'm not certain. How do you see 8-5A shaping up heading into the playoffs?

I agree totally! So I suggest we all jump on the Spartans bandwagon and pull hard for them! /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> Seriously though, Germantown and Houston have a bit of 5A recognition. The rest of us haven't been close enough, often enough to get much thought. Although, since WS did make semis last year, there's some current knowledge of us. I've seen some people put us down in the title game in the 4A and 5A championship topic. We know we have some good footall going on here, but to get the people further east conscious of us, and to take us seriously, someone is going to have to start getting to game 15 and at least being competitive once they get there. This year is as good as any to get started on that, eh. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I'm nervous about the rest of the season! But consider the alternative.....there's teams that are out of the running for playoffs, or don't really have any expectations of going beyond a round or two. I think we're in great shape because we do control our destiny (for now anyway). And we know, along with a select few other teams, that we can compete with the best in our area. Nervous? You betcha, but it's the good kind!

We were close to getting 21 on C'ville, but had a foolish penalty that cost us the long run before the half. We made some mistakes like that, and areas where we lacked execution, such as a missed block or dropping a catchable pass. Those thing happen at times. But when you play lesser opponents, you can still win comfortably. In these big games, those little mistakes can cost the team in a big way! I hope your right on the Houston score. And yes, it's crunch time.....no more easy ones.

stuman...you got a typo on the WSHS score. we had 14. But you were right on the game being played so close. I expected it to start tight, end with us getting things done offensively. It turned out we jumped up 14-0 after the 1st quarter, then did little the rest of the game offensively. C'ville got their defense turned up and did great! I was also impressed with the way our defense responded to the need to step it up. That defensive stand late in the 4th quarter with C'ville having a 1st and goal was pretty was pretty special! Whitehaven left no doubts in their game with G'town.....congrats to them on a big win! For WS, Houston is next, short week to prepare (Thur game) but I'm glad it's a home game for us. I don't even know what to think about it yet, other than it's going to be a tough game to get through!

Actually, I recall hearing about Millington having some decent football teams in past years. In 8-5A, G'town and Houston were always the ones to beat. White Station has gradually gone from 0-12 on up to 4 years of play-off appearances. Whitehaven has had its ups and downs too. And anytime a team from our area makes it to the state championship game, we're always the underdog. That makes sense too when you look at who's most consistent at winning the games. If you're referring to the local media not showing the respect, you may have a point. But I haven't seen much attention towards WH or WS either. It's good you feel Millington's time is this year, but I feel that way about WS, kwc feels it about WH. It shows who we support, and honestly, all 3 teams do have a realistic shot at it. But only one team gets to win game 15. That will be settled on the field, not in the media, nor on this message board. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I think MUS should be able to win it. Should be interesting to watch, but I think somewhere around 24-17 MUS.

Oh yeah.....Millington's chanes are excellent! Let me assure you that Millington is being taken seriously as a contender. There's two factors forming my opinion of either WS vs Millington, or WH vs Millington. 1st, since I'm a WS fan, I think it's really tough to give a completely impartial opinion, consequently, WS gets the nod from me if we play you. The 2nd factor is that I have seen WH play, they have also played WS and we have some common opponents. So I feel like I have an idea of how good WH is. Regarding Millington, I haven't seen them play, and haven't seen how Millington competes when playing common opponents, since there haven't been any. You have played C'ville, and we play them tomorrow night. But that's it so far. I feel like Millington is a step ahead of teams like Houston, G'town, C'ville, Cordova, Bolton, etc. I also feel like Millington is right at the level of WS and WH. It's just really tough to accurately assess how good a team is unless you've seen them play other quality teams. So don't take my thoughts on this too seriously.....after all, if games were so predictable, there'd be no reason to play them.

Do they still have a shot at getting in? And if so, is it mathmatically, or realistically?

WS over C'ville 32-14 Ithink this game starts off pretty tight, then WS offense finds its stride and wins going away WH over G'town 28-14 I'm thinking there will be alot of running plays, time consuming drives. Otherwise WH would score more Houston over Kirby 32-13 No doubt who wins, question is when does the second team get in. That will have determine how much the point spread is. Woodale over Hamilton 26-13 Should be an easy one for Woodale

well kwc, I've gone over these senarios as well, and every way I try to spin it, it keeps coming up the same way. I also see Whitehaven/White Station in the 3rd round. I don't really feel comfy about that game, for some reason.... /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=" But I try to think these things through being impartial, and maybe that's an impossible task. But I just end up with the same results. And I'll take it a step further. The Whitehaven/White Station game really stacks up to me as a toss up, with the winner seeing game 15, and having a decent shot at winning that one too. Although I am less prone to give a west team the championship since there will undoubtedly be a proven team from the east or central that will be wanting the gold ball too. I'm not overlooking Millington, I just feel like they'll meet Whitehaven, and won't get past you.

Hey! Good to finally see someone from Millington pop in! I haven't seen Millington play, but have seen the scores and I'd say you have 7-5A hands down. How much of a contender Millington is will become apparent when we get into the playoffs. Maybe you can fill us in on some of Millington's strengths and potential.

5A: White Station over Riverdale 4A: Maryville over whoever

I feel the same way stuman. My son has a couple of friends from middle school that are now at Whitehaven, on JV. That might have something to do with my feelings toward Whitehaven. Of course after our game with them earlier this year, I gained alot of respect for them in the way they played, plus the class they showed before and after the game. Of course, I would much rather see the Spartans bring it all home, but if it isn't us, then I'll be pulling hard for Whitehaven too! ....and I may be naive, but I really feel like one of these two teams has a very real chance to do it this year.

No stuman, you're not laying it on too thick. He runs a clean program that takes the players that come to the school (he doesn't recruit). If you work hard and play hard, you will find success in his program. My son would have had little to no chance even making some of the area teams simply due to lack of size. Yet through the off season work, and simply giving him a chance, he's not only on the team, but sees good playing time. I'm using my son as the example, but this is more the rule than the exception. And he does hold his players to standards of being good citizens. Let's face it, few high school players will be making money at this game. So it's a big deal to give them some positive life lessons while going through his program. So yes, I'd say coach of the year, and the reasons include, but are not limited to, what he accomplishes on the field.

Have you seen any of the west teams (White Station, Whitehaven, Millington for example) play? Just curious. I haven't witnessed any teams outside of the Memphis area play, other than some clips on TV. I base alot of my opinions on the central and east teams on what I read, and what their reputations are. So I am aware of the quality of teams in your respective areas, just not sure how good anyone is this year. And I imagine I'd be echoing your thoughts on 2-5A and 4-5A if I lived further east. But since I am in Memphis, this is what I have to base my opinion on. I really don't mind if the focus is placed on 2-5A and 4-5A. It's actually pretty logical, considering where the majority of the posters are from.

I wonder if 1316 points compared to 1004 points is representing great defenses, or possibly the 1316 means they have superior offenses......hummmm Or maybe even special teams are contributing to that stat.... /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

I don't think the number of "power houses" you have qualify as a determining who will win the gold ball. I think....correct me if I'm wrong.....that there's one team that wins the last game, and they get the gold ball? That being the case, you could potentially have a team from a supposedly weaker region (per the majorities opinions) actually be the strongest team in the state this year. To give you an example of what I'm saying, I believe we can all pretty much agree that the SEC is an extremely competitive NCAA conference year in, year out. Yet the SEC doesn't seem to have the best team in the country every year, even though it could be argued that the SEC is one of, if not THE toughest conference in the country. Now, I'm not saying White Station, Whitehaven, Millington...etc is going to come into Murfresboro and win the gold ball this year. I do think one of these 3 teams will be there, and I suspect they will show up, and surprise some people that either over-estimate the central or east representative, or under-estimate the west rep. Obviously, this is my opinion, and it carries no more weight than anyone else's. But if these games were such a lock, it would make little sense to play them.