Former44

Are you suggesting that kids from Village Green, Stonecrest, Thornton Heights, Thornton Hills, Kings Gate, etc., that go to Farragut Middle are zoned for Hardin Valley high school? I have family with kids in the subdivisions around Farragut schools and they are zoned for Farragut middle school and Farragut high school. Where do you get your information that these kids are zoned exclusively to Hardin Valley? This simply is not accurate.

Farragut has been surrounded by four popular private schools for many years (ALL of whom NOW can offer financial assistance) and has lost considerable impact players to them over the years. And, let’s face it, West Knox County kids are the primary resource to populate those private schools. If anything, I believe Eddie kept the football program from completely unraveling by successfully keeping at least some of the more talented kids in the program. Quite simply, in my observation and opinion, Eddie is a very good man and an outstanding mentor for young people; parents and kids respect that. I have every reason to believe Geoff will maintain that environment and mentorship.

Congratulations to a gritty bunch of Admirals! What a great way to send the Seniors out. Depth at spots has been a challenge the last few years and it certainly reared its ugly head in key games, but the kids kept battling. Outstanding effort by the Farragut offensive line. Also, congrats to Wyatt Drummy; 38 carries for 166 yards and 1,000 yards for the season - great accomplishment after losing his backfield mate. Also, what a way to finish a great career for Jack Alley - #2 all-time in tackles at Farragut.

Yes. It will be a considerable blow moving forward if he is unable to play.

Sloppy game for Farragut. Way too many penalties, high snaps, dropped passes, etc. Offense still missing Mohr and Collins; hopefully, they will be back next week. Really hoping the Alley injury is nothing serious.

Happy the Admirals could get out with a win, especially with 4 turnovers. You can throw out the records when these two teams get together. Gibbs deserves a Purple Heart playing on that ankle. A couple of young guys really stepped up in the secondary with injuries there. Have to get healthy for the playoffs. Getting Mohr back next week would be a big boost for the OL.

Farragut is playing without perhaps the most versatile offensive lineman in Mohr. I am also a bit surprised to see Gibbs playing on that ankle. Fingers crossed he is OK.

It would be helpful to the DL and the defense overall, especially against the run IMO, if Farragut could rotate a couple of the bigger bodies from the OL to get some reps at DT - like Walker did last year but with a rotation of a couple of players rather than just one. Sentell played well at DT last year prior to his injury and Mohr’s push was instrumental in the goal line stand against Beech. Of course, there is always a risk, particularly with Farragut already thin at OL and a starter currently out. However, with the meat of the region schedule coming up, it might be something to consider.

As is often the case when these two teams get together, the score was not indicative of the game and the outcome was determined by inopportune penalties and turnovers. The Farragut offense wasn’t able to do much running or passing against the Oak Ridge defense in the second half. I actually thought both teams got away from the run a little too much at times. The Oak Ridge 4th down option play was a bit of a head scratcher for me, for the most part because it hadn’t been run at any other time in the game and, if I remember correctly, it was into the boundary and I thought the QB/RB pitch relationship was a bit tight. At the same time, Farragut was up by 3 scores in the fourth quarter and started two drives off with incomplete passes… why throw it at all? I was glad Farragut was able to capitalize on a couple of the mistakes, but I came away thinking the Admirals were fortunate to get out with a win. If Oak Ridge doesn’t turn the ball over in plus territory (back to back penalties on the one possession didn’t help either), the outcome might have been entirely different. Good luck to the ‘Cats the rest of the way. Clean up the offensive mistakes, because that defense will keep you guys in every game.

Coming into the season, I knew Farragut would be thin in spots and that is certainly the case. I don’t know what the Admirals would have done without Corey Walker playing iron man football last year at 300 lbs; the kid was a warrior… rarely coming off the field. It is also my understanding, Farragut will be without a starting offensive lineman for a “few” weeks. Playing against Scott Cummings has always made me nervous. I am a big fan of veer run concepts and dividing the field in half with split backs from time to time puts pressure on the defense IMO, particularly the second level. I watched the Oak Ridge/Clinton game back on YouTube and I was impressed with what Coach Cummings has already been able to incorporate offensively in a short amount of time. Oak Ridge has excellent skill players and the defense was flying to the ball with 33 standing out on video. For Farragut, I hope to see Sheppard’s role increase on offense as the season goes on -the kid has big play ability. Tackling and overall play on the defensive front end must get better if the Admirals are to have any chance to slow the Oak Ridge run game. I really hated to see Hill go down early against West - I liked how he was progressing at DE. It will be a close game, as it usually is, I am sure. I hope both teams can escape without any additional injuries as there is still a lot of football to be played after Friday night.

West will be a considerable challenge. They are physical up front and talented at the skill positions. West’s defensive speed minimizes big plays, which is huge at the high school level. The West QB has big play targets, but he also does a very good job of tucking it and getting up field when the situation calls for it. The Admirals will need a better performance this week from the defensive front and LB’s. Farragut will also need to take care of the football to have a chance in this game.

Nice win for the Admirals. It is never easy to overcome losing the turnover battle against a good football team. I hope Farragut will consider some personnel changes on the DL, i.e., rotating some occasional help. Farragut never gets the 4th quarter 4th down stop if Mohr isn’t inserted at DT in the goal line package, IMO.

If I recall correctly, the final “score” of the scrimmage was 38-7 Farragut, if one puts much stock in a scrimmage score. I know Farragut was missing a few key players (not sure of their status for Beech) and I am sure it was the same with Walker Valley. As has been the case for the past few seasons, Farragut is very thin in spots. The Admirals will need to stay healthy through a very challenging schedule. It was good to see Sentell back for the Admirals after losing him last year to injury. Although he is playing OL, I think the team would definitely benefit from him getting some reps at interior DL as well.

Congratulations to Maryville and best of luck next week. I would also like to congratulate a scrappy bunch of Admirals and their coaches. I never envisioned this team making the third round of the playoffs at the beginning of the season, particularly when I heard that Collins would not be playing and a few key players were lost to season ending injury early on. I will sure miss watching Corey Walker on Friday nights. When Sentell was lost for the year in game one, Walker played iron man football with virtually no relief for the rest of the season and, more often than not, he was the best lineman on the field.

This game really could have gone either way. If Oak Ridge scores right before half, then gets the ball back with all that momentum to start the second half, we all might have seen an entirely different game. Neither team ran the ball very effectively and Farragut QB Moore spent much of the night scooping low snaps off the turf, which has continued to plague the Admiral offense. Oak Ridge and Farragut are similar in many respects, but the one element that really stands out to me is lack of depth each team has in places, particularly at the line of scrimmage. For Oak Ridge, I saw 77, 59 and 70 on both sides of the ball all night. For Farragut, 75 seldom sees the sideline. Man, that is a lot to ask of those kids… to be gap sound, win your one-on-one battle, etc. when you are constantly gassed. I can’t speak for the Wildcats, but I’m sure the situation is likely similar; Farragut would benefit greatly moving forward from the return of some injured kids.

Congrats to Beech. There were a lot of first game mistakes by both teams, but a great deal of effort and good things to build on. For the Admirals, just too many mistakes and difficulty running the football on multiple red zone opportunities (the bad/early snap was a heartbreaker). I would really like to see Sentell get more reps on the O Line; I think he could help both the run game and in pass protection. He is tenacious with a motor that doesn't stop and I think he has better feet than other options at OL. He could still play situationally on the DL, because he is certainly one of the best interior D Line options as well. Walker is simply on the field too many snaps IMO and keeping him fresh on D is crucial.

Who needs food options with Ritz and spray cheese already on the menu?

Great to hear from you, Sweet. I do appreciate the kind words and I also appreciate the class and respect you have always demonstrated towards fellow posters on this board - even us old foes from District 4 AAA, Region II 5A, etc, etc. I think the Wildcats will be right in the thick of things in what appears to be a very deep and talented 5A classification. I will be pulling for you guys and Coach Gaddis on Thursday night!

This will be the least experienced team I have seen coming into the season at Farragut in some time. Farragut was a senior dominated team in 2020. In addition, two key contributors as juniors from 2020, Collins (state decathlon champion) and Cosey, will not be playing football at Farragut in 2021; they will most assuredly be missed. There will be quite a few new faces on the field for the Admirals, including several sophomores, that will have to step up in a hurry - particularly with such a difficult schedule. It will be interesting to see the growth of this Farragut team as the season progresses.

Thanks for your service, SS. And, since you politely opted not to use it on this occasion, hope the ‘Cats break out that mop in your honor tomorrow night. I will be watching and pulling for you guys to bring home another championship!

I have been reading quite a bit about the Summit QB. At the same time, I think Gibbons will be huge in this game. Oak Ridge has speed on the outside and they will certainly be looking to get the football to those guys in space. Jackson will draw a great deal of attention; so, I am interested to see if 14 is able to make make some plays with his feet and put added pressure on the Summit defense early.

I never count Coach Gaddis out (or#14); his teams WILL get stronger as the season progresses. That game was also much closer than the score... convert on a couple of missed red zone opportunities by OR and that is a different game... a wide open dig route drop would have resulted in a sure first and goal inside the 5 if not a TD. Neither team could stop the other. However, the OR defense is a completely different animal at this point - flying around and getting after it. The DL doesn’t even look like the same group of kids that started the year as far as technique and motor. #55 is playing like a man possessed and has been a bear for OL to handle. Energy like that has a tendency to get contagious. As far as the Maryville - Oakland game, I sure didn’t see that margin coming. Sometimes things just snowball with momentum in a big game. However, I would submit anyone celebrating that outcome must not have Maryville on the schedule next season. I am quite certain the players and coaching staff now have even greater motivation to come back and take it to another level next year - there will be some new material on the bulletin board I’ll bet. The comparisons between McGill and players that preceded him or from other programs are unfortunate, particularly when one considers how incredibly well he has performed... even when other players were not available to play for whatever reason. He is an outstanding player and a very tough and durable player from what I have observed. I can’t think of a single program where he wouldn’t have been a big contributor and I can’t think of a single program that wouldn’t jump at the chance to have him.

Wow! Congratulations to the Wildcats. I shouldn’t be surprised... Coach Gaddis always manages to have the ‘Cats playing their best football when it counts the most. I have really been impressed with the improved play at the line of scrimmage from earlier in the year. #14 is an absolute gamer. From what I have seen, he definitely gives his ALL for Oak Ridge when he hits the field. Good luck to you guys next week!

I read that Purcell played with a broken fibula. I guess with so many out for one reason or another, he gutted it out for his teammates. Tough kid.

Congrats to Bradley. Good luck the rest of the way. Injury and contact tracing kept many Admiral starters and contributors out of the game; so I, for one, take my hat off to Purcell and Nussbaum for gutting it out with injuries that slowed them considerably. I really didn’t expect to see either of them on the field last night. I hate it for the seniors, but several young Admirals got valuable playing time the latter part of the season. Looking forward to 2021.