Cletus

Who cares if Bearden falls out of the top 10? Yes, anyone who has seen them play could see what was coming. It was almost as brutal as last year's 5A semifinal on the east side of the bracket. Unbelievably, at least one uninformed poster on this board saw the Bulldogs as the better team: "I will go with Bearden, for I do not think that Maryville is ready for Big Time 6A football yet." Brilliant!! Despite being without Williamson, I expect a much better performance from Bearden against Farragut. The kids from both schools will play their guts out in this one. Here's hoping for a close, injury-free game!

West needs this one badly to keep pace with Catholic in the race for a playoff spot; a WB win and the Governors remain in the hunt. Should be easily worth the price of admission.

In case you haven't noticed (this year and in years past), the people around here and in upper East TN voting on this stuff are clueless. I wish Bearden well, but I think they're soon to be exposed. What about Maryville? They were impressively improving week to week, but since the McMinn game it seems they've fallen off. I know this team isn't as loaded as previous Maryville squads, but the precision the Rebels are known for hasn't been there the last couple of weeks. This is one of those district matchups that could be the difference in making, or not making, the playoffs.

Yeah, the most important games are still ahead of West. The Rebels just need to keep playing hard.

Though I doubt anyone will claim these games pit the Vanderbilts against the Rockefellers, maybe that's all the more reason to attend. Fulton at West should be a good one. William Blount at Heritage will be an emotional cross-county rivalry game (and a fantastic place to watch a game). TN High at Greeneville is one outside the immediate Knox area that promises to be interesting -- plus, Greeneville's a great town.

I agree with you, Starpower, on Farragut's skill people. I just think Rutherford Co. plays a more physical brand of football. I also suspect Riverdale's team speed is superior to Farragut's. Then there's the long bus ride and unfamiliarity with the wing-T to boot. Riverdale's win at Oakland, the defending 5A state champ (who annihilated Ooltewah the week after the Owls ousted Farragut) with 2/3rds of its starters back, easily trumps anything Farragut has done so far. Finally, there's that no. 1 ranking that assures Riverdale will be keyed up despite coming off a victory over their arch rival. As for an earlier post that seemed to be saying Farragut should have lost to Catholic -- I couldn't disagree more. I made it a point to attend that game, and Farragut earned its win. Both teams turned the ball over down close to the goal line, but Farragut forced the Catholic fumble. Farragut executed its PATs (when they chose to kick them); Catholic did not. Simply put, Farragut made the plays to win. I was really impressed by the environment of that game and the passion both teams played with. I thought it was obvious Catholic wore down as the game wore on -- which I wasn't expecting, at least not to that degree. I don't think Farragut will be wearing down Riverdale. As I stated earlier, though, I hope they pull it off.

Gotta say Coach Quarles doesn't strike me as a "vengeance is mine!" kinda guy. And even for 16-18 year olds that's quite a stretch. Maybe Maryville wins simply because the Rebels are better right now? The more I think about it, the more I expect Oak Ridge to have, far and away, its best performance to date. I still don't think it will be enough to get the win against an equally focused Maryville team, but I can imagine it being one of those "easy-to-build-on" losses we're hearing so much about since Saturday.

Should be a good one -- at least, I hope so. Will be interesting, too, with both teams being led by new head coaches. The streak is at 12, right? Does it seem as though William Blount's pass defense has improved over the last couple of weeks? I know Jefferson Co. is only going to throw it a few times per game, but Catholic only had so-so passing numbers (though some would say it was poor weather for passing). As for Heritage, I'm still wondering exactly what took place at Seymour -- according to The Daily Times, 15 minus yardage plays! I couldn't help but notice there hadn't yet been any mention of The Bell. Hopefully it's still around. If not, maybe someone could locate Coach T's own Heather Harrington for a hard-hitting investigative sideline report this Friday. I don't want to sidetrack the thread, but I would be curious to read the opinions of William Blount followers in regard to how they feel Sevier Co., Bearden and Catholic compare. Maybe a separate thread? With those 3 teams being ranked, WB offers a pretty unique perspective. So for those who actually attended all of the games, please chime in. After all, opponents aren't nearly so sensitive as some home folk.

I would not be. If you are using the Farragut game as a benchmark, we are much, much improved on defense from that game. The key will be if our offense can move the ball on Maryville's defense. If we can't then this will get ugly, however I still see this as a competitive game until the final whistle. No, I'm thinking of personnel for each team and their entire "body of evidence" to this point in the season. Oak Ridge will continue to improve, but Maryville has improved as well since its opener. Besides Alcoa, I can't think of another East TN team I'd take over Maryville right now. Hoping for a well-played, injury-free game.

I'll be surprised if this is a competitive (on the scoreboard) game in the 2nd half. But in the years to come, assuming the schools continue to play one another, it should be one of the best in East TN.

First off, the people voting on that stuff are sheep. I wish Farragut the best and hope they can somehow pull off the win, but I'd bet it's much more likely they suffer a beatdown similar to the one they got at Ooltewah in last year's regular season.

Sadly ironic that this crap pops up (for the 3rd time) while trying to read this thread. For a couple of weeks now I've had what volntn describes above occurring -- the gray background loads but nothing else. Usually "refresh" loads the page properly, but sometimes it requires multiple refresh attempts.

You know The Cable Guy's comedic line, "I don't care who you are, that's funny!" Well, after hearing of Maryville's 350+ yards in the 1st half, I don't care who you are -- or who you're playing -- that's impressive. Maryville just served notice to its remaining 7 regular season opponents.

Fine, I'll take the bait. First off, I'm not at all convinced that the privates are "so much better" than the publics. If they're not, then the appropriate question is, "why in the world aren't they?"

Congratulations to Seymour! I certainly can't say I foresaw that result. Sounds as though the Mountaineers were doomed by turnovers and field position.

Championship support also involves having respect for and showing courtesy to people who have invested their blood, sweat, and tears into the program and into the school for a lot longer than you've been around it. I don't "claim to be a fan" ... I AM a fan. And all the people said ... "Amen!"

For a more speedy reply, ask the Ooltewah folks how bad their own offense has been.

I like the direction Heritage is going in, both overall and, specifically, as it relates to this game. The Mountaineers had a nice 2nd half to defeat Karns, carried that over into a big 1st half against South-Doyle before maybe relaxing a bit after halftime. Then last week they start slowly only to crank it up in the 2nd half vs. Lenoir City. So given the early season pattern, Heritage should start strong this week. I'd be willing to bet the coaches are preaching 4 solid quarters. If the players can do that -- put together 4 solid quarters -- then they should go to 4-0.

Finish first or second in the district or, failing that, finish ahead of Karns and Hardin Valley, and Oak Ridge is in the playoffs. Karns/HVA???? Sorry, no offense to those schools...the talent level just isn't there today. Likely in the future, especially for HVA! But it's laughable that some on this site (RK) whine about losses to schools with clearly more talent and potential and then you say beating the likes of Karns and HVA will put you in the playoffs!! Says quite a bit about the pussycats schedule, eh? I'm not sure it says anything about Oak Ridge's schedule, but it certainly says something about how the TSSAA messed up realignment. Because there are 9 schools in District 3 AAA (six 5A & three 6A), Oak Ridge has only 2 non-district opponents on its schedule -- Farragut and Maryville. To their credit they wanted to play top notch competition in their non-district games while, at the same time, maintaining an old rivalry and establishing a new one. As for the ridiculous playoff scenarios, District 3 AAA has plenty of company. In District 1 AAA there are only two 6A schools (D-B, Science Hill), and the same is true of District 2AAA (Jefferson Co. & Sevier Co.). In District 4AAA it's the 5A schools (namely, Catholic) that have the easy path to the playoffs. How the TSSAA can justify the fairness of schools competing against one another in the regular season but not the post season is beyond me. All they had to do was 1) leave well enough alone, or 2) return football -- regular season AND POST SEASON -- to the 3 classifications that work for all other sports (and worked fine for football in years past).

Congratulations to Oak Ridge and Coach Blade. Roll up 500+ yards on anyone and you've had a pretty good night. Hate to see Central struggling so.

Both teams made crucial mistakes and/or came up with crucial stops. In a nutshell, a truly great high school football game as both teams laid it on the line as if it were the playoffs. I was glad to be there to see the emotion and feel the energy. With this whole new TSSAA alignment, Catholic isn't hurt at all by coming out on the short end (yes, I know it hurts now). A win always helps but was much more critical for Farragut. Yet despite getting that big win there are still plausible scenarios in which Farragut misses out on the postseason. I'm not looking to rain on anyone's parade; I'm just reinforcing, I suspect, what most on this board already know regarding the inconsistent and convoluted postseason. I was proud of both teams for their heart and wish them good fortune and good health the rest of the way.

He's a talented Young man, no doubt. But "most explosive player in TN" is some serious hyperbole. Is there a high school Heisman campaign underway?!

Finish first or second in the district or, failing that, finish ahead of Karns and Hardin Valley, and Oak Ridge is in the playoffs.

While both teams have some top notch skill position players returning from last year, Catholic has the benefit of an off week, compounded by a short week for Farragut. From what I can gather, Catholic is more experienced, bigger and deeper in the trenches. I don't believe Catholic is going to be at a disadvantage "playing up"; obviously, Coach Meadows wasn't worried by such matters back in May. If I'm perceiving things correctly, it's a widely held misperception that Farragut should be considered the favorite. Catholic is eager to make a splash, and it looks like the Irish have the team to do just that. This should be a good one for years to come.

It seems obvious to me that Bearden is going to be tough for William Blount to handle. The Bulldogs' passing game should be substantially improved over a year ago, even with the unfortunate loss of WR Davis Tull. And while, normally, I wouldn't consider Bearden's offense one that forces the opposition to pick its poison (at least, not yet), given the Governors defensive achilles playing the pass ... Of course, if Bearden has another 100+ yards in penalties William Blount's chances are greatly enhanced. I'm curious to see this new William Blount offense and wish the Governors a successful 2009. After the off-season they endured, they especially deserve it.