RedSwarm

It'll be a good game. Centennial has played Henry County and Southwind in two physical, hard-fought games these past 2 weeks. Brentwood won't be any easier.

That's the beauty of the playoffs. Sometimes you gotta do it twice. Can Centennial do that? Can they do that tomorrow night against Brentwood? Coach Crawford has that team looking better lately..

No doubt. I still believe Centennial is a great team, and they are obviously capable of beating us. Don't think they instilled an ounce of fear in the team, though. If anything, they gave the boys more confidence, especially with how the 4th played out.

That wasn't aimed straight at you, or any one fanbase in particular. I'm all for another Henry County fan joining CoachT. In fact, I don't disagree with some of what you're saying. We became a different team in the 4th of that CHS game. Some can say that Centennial took their foot off the pedal, but the fact of the matter is they were sweating bullets until the clock hit 0. They had the chance to put us away, maybe even a running clock. Instead, if we have to make the drive over there next week, those boys will know they took all the body shots for 3 quarters and still finished stronger. Centennial has to get past Brentwood first. As far as Indy goes... Like I said, if they drill Hendersonville like they did CR, I think that says a lot about any other team in 5A's chances. That doesn't mean I don't think they CAN be beat. We as Henry County fans should know all about a team that couldn't be touched on Friday night... And then just had a really bad Friday night when it really mattered.

I understand that pretty much any post on this forum will be subjective, but I'm amazed by the amount of members that join this forum every year with such lack of knowledge about good teams beside their own despite the amount of resources we have at our disposal to be better-informed fans of football across the state. Opinions are what make this site fun, but educated opinions give it substance.

East played us as tough as anyone except possibly Knox West in the championship that year. Didn't know that they were mostly sophomores then. That's scary.

I'll try to spice this up with a little analysis, at least for regions 5-8... Hendersonville @ Indy - Commandos are always dangerous in November, and won't be intimidated. Indy is the favorite to win 5A this year, and is probably one of the best teams in the state regardless of classification. I've seen good defenses look lost against the option attack, though.. Hendersonville is built to grind out games, and if Indy struggles early the Commandos pick up the slack and run with it. Not a game to take lightly, but if Indy puts the same type of whipping on Hendersonville as they delivered to Cane Ridge I think that says a lot for this discussion come Saturday. Beech @ Hillsboro - Two good banged up teams beating up on each other. Hard to know what the winner of this dogfight will have left in the tank, but I still wouldn't want to face either team in the quarterfinals. I think Hillsboro would pose more of a threat to Indy just by virtue of athleticism, but Beech has a quality football team that won't shy away from a big game. Brentwood @ Centennial - Brentwood played Centennial much closer than expected in week 8, then lost at Henry County on the final drive in a game where they were just as physical as HC. Thumped Clarksville, then destroyed Memphis Central last week 52-7. Centennial jumped out to an early lead on Henry County in week 11 at home, then held off a 3 TD rally in the 4th to win 28-20. Southwind gave them all they wanted, but Southwind was a really underrated team. Brentwood seems to be improving every week. Could they pull the shocker? Clarksville Northeast @ Henry County - Henry County beat NE in the 3rd game of the season 43-0, but NE has won 4 out of their last 5, including the upset at previously 9-1 Brighton last week. Henry County's offense seems to be evolving by quarter, but it's far from a polished product. Northeast has a history of always peaking at the right time. Hard to not see HC winning, but I doubt it will be such a blowout this time around. Not gonna make predictions. Indy is the clear favorite in 5A, and I don't know enough about East Tennessee to speak with too much confidence. Weird things happen in the playoffs. Just thought I'd throw out a few views on some of this week's games.

Since there's not much discussion so far, here's the highlights from last Friday night..

Can't claim that anymore. Sorry.

Henry County is a geographical oddity. Don't get much love from the West press, don't get much from the Mid. I used to think we represented West TN football but now I'm not sure.

Extremely surprised about this one. Congrats to Lexington. Also, Ridgeway has traditionally been one of 5A Henry County's toughest games since 2012. I'd say there down....

Good win. I hated to see #3 go down. Hope he's alright. Really interested to see our offense next week. If there's one thing I've got faith in this team doing, it's learning from a game and getting better. They've done it all season. Our offense looked incredibly different this week, and you could tell that the coaches were trying to stretch the kids and let them learn on the job. If they continue to improve, this should be a really fun November. How about Region 7?

I hope there's a good crowd tomorrow night. I remember last year's home playoff attendance not being what it usually is. This is potentially the last true home game for the seniors barring any major upsets. Looking forward to a good game. Munford is a better team than what they were last year, but I just have a hard time thinking any offense that is essentially one-demensional and reliant on the run can do much against the defense. We'll see.

Kinda what I've been saying in this thread. Southwind is scary. Theyre the one team from region 8 that I think could make noise.

I'm all for this discussion as long as it's educated. It's good for the site. There's good football played all over this state, but we all know there's certain regions/classifications that are a notch above the standard.

Southwind and Cane Ridge would give many of your great ET teams a game, and would DESTROY just about any 3/4 seed in region 1-4. Centennial and Indy have to play them in the first round, and it doesn't get any easier from there. I can pull plenty of stats, but that seems like a waste of time at this point. I'll be here crow or not.

Very true about the 1A and 2A teams. Patrick Willis (Bruceton) was fun to watch carry the ball around the parking lot, though. I once saw Chad Clifton physically move a car out of its parking spot in the Westview parking lot so they had a regulation size playing area. Trezevant's down to 2A, but they gave Fulton all they wanted last year. At least Fulton won't have to see them again this year. Memphis East happened to beat that same team soundly this year. Memphis East is in 4A. You're so far off on 5A it's laughable.

R8 vs. R7 Centennial vs. Southwind Memphis Central vs. Brentwood Brighton vs. Clarksville NE Henry County vs. Munford Combined W/L - 59-21 R6 vs. R5 Indy vs. Cane Ridge Hendersonville vs. Shelbyville Beech vs. Lincoln County Lavergne vs. Hillsboro Combined W/L - 61-19 R4 vs. R3 combined W/L is 54-26. R2 vs. R1 combined W/L is 46-34. Good luck to Knox West, MoWest, and Ooltewah as they prepare to do battle with sub-.500 teams this week.

1A is all West TN with the exception of Wayne and NCS. There's a team from Union City that seems to fair well in Cookeville. 2A was all West TN last year. Would love to know who from East TN can beat Trezevant in Cookeville this year. 3A is more balanced in West TN, though Alcoa is always going to be king. CPA and Liberty are no joke. CAK is traditionally always good as well, although I've never been a fan of privates playing on the multiplier. 4A is Fulton. Pretty simple. Name me 3 more 4A East TN schools better than Memphis East, Ridgeway, and Pearl Cohn. 5A is spread out across the state. Independence, Centennial, Hendersonville, Henry County, Beech, Hillsboro... Just be happy they're all on the other side of the bracket. 6A is Maryville, and then everyone else. Who else in 6A over there would you confidently pick over Oakland, Blackman, Whitehaven, or Ravenwood? I'm sure I'm leaving some great teams out, but my point is that your argument is played out. There's great football played in this entire state.

He uses a formula. Don't think he is picking, rather his formula is. That produces some head scratching picks, but as a whole it's pretty accurate. Personally I think Camden should win, but with as volatile as they've been I don't think an upset is impossible. East Nashville had played some good teams close. If they can contain y'all's stud I actually think they can win. They won't be out-talented.

By my quick and probably inaccurate count, there's 29 5A teams in the top 100 and 22 6A. The percentage of teams is higher for 6A, but most with that many kids should be good enough to be competitive enough to be around the top 100. 5A has a lot more outliers. Put it this way: Maryville Oak Ridge Oakland Independence Blackman Rhea County Whitehaven Sevier County Ravenwood Centennial Science Hill Henry County Smyrna Moristown West Franklin Farragut White Station Ooltewah Cookeville Hendersonville That is the top 10 for each respective class according to Sonny Moore. The only team not listed in 6A that I believe is a worthy team is Cordova. His 5A top 10 doesn't include Knox West, Hillsboro, Cane Ridge, and Beech, who are all great teams in their division. If all of these teams played some crazy hypothetical season with their 2015 squads, I think the results would be surprising. Maryville would still be top dog, but I think a few 5A teams would be towards the top of pile. If you threw in Sonny's next 5 best, I think 5A would have a better winning percentage than 6A. Just something to think about. Edit: Just wanted to mention something else about the hypothetical 6A/5A season. Personally, I would switch a couple of the East TN 5A teams for some combo of Hillsboro, Cane Ridge, and Beech. Cane Ridge is a very good team. Obviously Indy should beat them, but I wouldn't be surprised to see CR give them problems.

Well put. Year in and year out that staff does a great job. I think theyre better when they commit to running the ball. Lexington should get a decent dose of that counter play they run so well..

East is probably the best team out west in 4A, but Haywood has the potential to be a scary game if they don't come out firing... That program should be good as long as Hookfin is there.

If this RW team is anything like the last few years, it'll be tough to beat them if they don't turn the ball over. Well-coached, have experience, and are usually pretty balanced on offense.

I'll take it. Henry County has never gone into a game looking to throw 25 times. We haven't been able to move the ball through the air much at all. If we can execute well enough to keep safeties out of the box then it should really help.