jerbear

Who won between OS and Jellico?

Midway returns most of their starters and the 1 and 3 leading scorers on the team. Much of the team have been starters (some even as freshmen). Why are they not considered contenders?

I'd just like to say WAY TO GO TELLICO! I predicted ya'll would be 1 and 9. You proved me wrong (most everybody wrong) really quick. I think most people would have called this an upset....I don't really think it is so much of an upset as a shock. Not only did you put up 42 points (when's the last time TP put up that many points?) but you also shut Sweetwater out....Offense AND Defense! I'd be surprised if there is a single person, that is not connected with Tellico, that thought ya'll would win this game. Very impressive....ya'll desire to be proud. Rockwood's easy road to the play-offs just became a whole lot harder.

WARTBURG: Over the last 4 years, Wartburg has won 1 game. Last year WB, beat Coalfield. No other games were even close (at least final score) over the last 4 years. In 2002, Wartburg was GOOD. They beat Alcoa that year.....but still lost to Oliver Springs. 2009 may be a turn-around for this program. If WB plays like they did against Kingston and Karns, respect will follow. If they get down and get frustrated...could be another long season. Wartburg scrimmaged Taft last week and apparently the outcome was disappointing....they won 7 to 6...but clearly expected to do a lot better (Maybe this is a good Taft team....). I still think this will be a multi-win season...and play-offs are possible. Monterey: Monterey was 2-8 last season and did have some close games. Monterey also returns most of their skill players. This is an extremely important game. If WB plays like they did against Kingston, WB will win convincingly. If WB loses, it will be hard to have a winning season. I saw a good WB team both offensively and defensively during the Webb scrimmage and believe that WB will win. Midway: I stand by my previous prediction. First loss for WB. Oneida: I stand by previous prediction but WB has a chance (previously said they didn't). Loss 2 for WB. Harriman: I don't get Harriman. Maybe they just hold back, but a lack-luster showing at the jamboree and losing to Stone 19-0 (I think) in a scrimmage makes me wonder what the problem is. This game is a toss-up. History would certainly say that Harriman wins (as my previous post) but now I'm leaning toward the second WB win. Oakdale: Stand by previous post. W for WB. Coalfield: In my previous post, I had Coalfield winning. Not any more. Wartburg wins this one. Rockwood: Stand by previous post. L for WB. Jellico: Stand by previous post. W for WB. Oliver Springs: I had OS winning previously. I think this will be a very hard fought game but now think that WB will get the win. Sunbright: Stand by previous post. W for WB. OUTLOOK FOR WB: 7-3; 6 AND 1 in the district and on to the play-offs. If the first game is a loss, the season could be 3 and 7.

TELLICO PLAINS: TP has a lot to prove before any respect can come their way. They went 0-10 in 2007 and 1-9 last year. The 1 win (a dominating one) was against Grundy Co. They had 2 competitve games against Meigs Co and Norte Dame. The rest of the games were whippings. This year TP is in a different district....but not necessarily an easier one. There are 4 1A teams but none could be described as cupcakes (OK, some could describe them as cupcakes but all of these programs have been good over the last couple years). The question is NOT will TP have a winning season but will TP win a game. Honestly, I know little about TP other than their record....haven't heard about any scrimmages or jamborees or read any newspaper articles about them.....but maybe there's a reason for lack of news. First 3 games are against Sweetwater, Sequoyah, and Grace Christian, I don't see TP having much of a chance against these 3 (GC will have a better record than what I predicted earlier....will be interesting to see how they do against CAK next week). 3 losses for TP. Coalfield: I still believe Coalfield will win but based on how Coalfield has looked in scrimmages and such, this will be a closer game than I previously thought and could be an upset win for TP. Still, my money is on Coalfield. Rockwood, Meigs, Harriman, Polk Co: No opportunities here. 4 losses for TP Greenback: From what I have gathered GB is going to be way down this year (GC will beat GB...I had previously predicted otherwise)....I had also predicted GB would beat TP. I believe this is TP's best shot for a win....however the game is at GB....a hard place to win. Because this is TP's best shot....I'm saying they will win this one. Midway: another loss for TP. OUTLOOK TELLICO PLAINS: 1-9 on the season and 1-4 in the district. No play-offs for the next 4 years....TP would have to beat Rockwood. Okay TP.....make me wrong. Monday or Tuesday...the last team in districts 3 and 4: WARTBURG

SUNBRIGHT: This season, SB plays 6 teams with losing to dismal records. SB should beat all of these teams if SB stays healthy. I saw SB scrimmage a much less enthused Harriman team last night. I don't think either team scored but both got close. Harriman kept Inman on the sidelines when on offense; otherwise Harriman probably would have scored; regardless SB looked good on both offense and defense. The scary thing for any small school (and I think that SB is even smaller than Oakdale now) is depth. I only saw about 10 players on SBs sideline. SB has a very good QB and WR (sometimes running back). These two accounted for the majority of SB's yardage. If either one of two goes out, SB will likely lose some games that otherwise they wouldn't. They do have some other good players but the two aforementioned players are clearly stand-outs. North Greene: NG is the worst of the greenes. They've won 3 games in 3 years. They haven't really been competitive in games they have lost. SB should start the year with a relatively easy win. Whitwell: Whit did not have a good year in 2008 (1-9) but they have been a little more competitive in a tougher district than NG. All the same, SB should get this win. Coalfield: The game is at SB. This game is basically for the play-offs and will be a close hard fought game. Coalfield has beat SB for the past several years. I'd say that SB has the two best players of these teams. But I'm going with history and pride....this will be SB's first loss of the year. (could be an upset though) Jellico: SB wins. RBS: Lots of talk and excitement about RBS getting a win this year. It won't be against SB (unless injuries strike). SB win. Kings Academy: Don't know much about KA. This will probably be a fairly close game. Going with SB for the win. Oakdale: If SB's two stars stay injury-free, should be a win for SB. Earlier I had predicted Oakdale to win a close game.....I haven't seen Oakdale scrimmage but have read that their numbers playing are down to 20 something but that only 14 were at a scrimmage. I'm changing my earlier prediction based on observations of SB's scrimmage last night and it is a home game for SB. This win goes to SB. The final three games will be losses for SB (Oliver Springs, Oneida, and Wartburg). An upset by SB is possible but very unlikely. SUNBRIGHT OUTLOOK: 6 & 4; 2 & 4 in district. Unlikely to make it to the play-offs. Even with the wildcard, the six wins would be against losing programs.

Aug. 21st at Oliver Springs 5:30 Wartburg MS v Norwood MS 6:00 1st Qtr Harriman v Sunbright 6:30 2nd Qtr Rockwood v Cumberland Co. 7:00 Halftime OSMSv Cherokee 7:30 Competition 8:00 3rd Qtr OS v Cumberland Co. 8:30 4th Qtr Midway v Coalfield Should the date be the 14th....this Friday...coachT has Coalfield playing Bledsoe Co. on the 21st. Sunbright is playing North Greene on the 21st.

ROCKWOOD: For the last 4 years, Rockwood has only had one winning season (6-5 in 2007). Despite this, Rockwood is a good football team/program. They beat the teams that they should beat most of the time (upset by Harriman last year). Larger schools should be able to beat smaller schools simply because larger schools should have a greater selection of atheletes. Now some larger schools don't win the games they should...but Rockwood does and this is most likely because of good coaches who have built a winning program. At least for the last few years, Rockwood hasn't really had the super athelete, but what they do have are a good group of blue collar football players...they have a "team". This should be a great year for Rockwood football. The re-districting has been very kind to Rockwood....no more Alcoa. Rockwood just needs to beat Tellico Plains and they are in the play-offs.....the road to the play-offs can't get much easier. For the past 4 years TP has only won 3 games. I'd really be surprised if there is any team in the state that has an easier road to the play-offs. Yet, Rockwood's schedule is not as easy. Sweetwater: SW has a new coach. The games with SW are usually close but Rockwood has held the edge winning all games back to 2003 except for 2006. The game is at SW. Rockwood has been looking good in scrimmages. This should be another win for Rockwood this year but history says it will be close. Greenback: GB is down this year and what I've gathered from scrimage results suggest that GB won't do as well as I predicted earlier. Another win for RW. Kingston: RW typically loses to Kingston in recent years. I saw Kingston scrimmage against Wartburg last Friday (tied with Wartburg). Kingston being the bigger school should have dominated but they didn't; Wartburg was impressive against Kingston. I believe RW will get the W this year. Tellico: Expect a blow out win for Rockwood. Coalfield: W for Rockwood. Grace Christian: GC is a little bit of a mystery. Haven't heard much substantial so don't really know what they've got....I know they lost some good skill players. Regardless, RW should still get the win. Wartburg: Game will be closer than I thought 4 weeks ago, in fact it might be won by a touchdown. I still have to go with RW for the win. Midway: W for Rockwood. Bledsoe: W for Rockwood. Harriman: Rockwood gets revenge for last year and wins by 3 touchdowns. WOW: Rockwood goes 10-0 for the first time since ?????? Closest game, probably Kingston. So the road to the play-offs might be easy but if RW goes 10-0...they deserve it.

Having seen some of the scrimmage at Webb, I'm going to have to change some of my predictions regarding Wartburg (District 3-4 Outlook). True, Webb whipped them......3 plays 3 TD's in a row for Webb and then on Offense...I don't think Wartburg got enough yardage for a first down. However, I doubt that any other teams in Districts 3 and 4 (including Oneida) would have done much better. I was impressed with Wartburg's offense against Kingston. Wartburg has 3-4 skill people that do a really good job. The defense was pretty good against Kingston (Kingston seemed totally out of sync) but the pass defense is still a little suspect. Kingston misfired on several passes before finally completing one. Most of the times the receiver was behind the defenders. Anyhow, Wartburg just might be gaining some respect this year.

"JB, I think Wartburg is a district game & Greenback moved to a different district this year. Other than that I hope your prediction comes true with 1 exception . You are correct, my bad. I realized that later when I was trying to think of the 4th out of district team.

ONEIDA: It's a good thing that Oneida has 3 out of district games with some fairly good competition otherwise O's road to the play-offs would be just too easy. It's probably going to be pretty easy anyhow as the combined record of the other district teams last year was 13 and 50 (that's 21% wins). Not a single other team had a winning record and only Coalfield made it to the play-offs with an upset win over Harriman. The 3 out of district games are with Gatlinburg-Pittman, DeKalb County, and Cumberland Gap. These teams are no cupcakes and O could potentially lose all of these (or win all or these). GP: GP has had a number of good years recently but they apparently lost quite a bit from last year.....so did O. GP is an intimidating place to play. I had initially thought this would be a loss for O but I know think O will pull this out in a close game. Win 1 for O. DeKalb Co: This game is away as well. Their is a lot of hype about DC this year. DC returns some exceptional skill players....QB like Greenback's Bunky. Apparently DC's defense is a little suspect. I believe this will be a close game but I'm predicting this to be a loss for O. Wartburg: Wartburg doesn't have a chance. Win for O. Cumberland Gap: CG and O have played the last two years. CG won the first year; O won last year. CG certainly has some talent but I believe O will win this year but it will also be a close game. The rest of the teams are district teams and O will roll over all of them. Greenback lost too much, Oakdale too small, OS too slow, Coalfield too small, Sunbright too in disarray, Jellico doesn't expect to win for than 1 game a year. OUTLOOK ONEIDA: 9 and 1; 6 and 0 in the district. One of the easiest paths to the play-offs of any local teams.

Coalfield scrimmaged Polk County and Midway. Polk County was the easy winner. PC has had a pretty decent football program for several years and is picked to win their district this year...I believe PC is 3A (play-off level). PC scored on both Midway and Coalfield in the long field part of the scrimmage and then scored fairly easily on both teams in the goalline offense. Coalfield did score on PC in the goalline but I don't believe that Midway did. Coalfield only scored once on Midway and that was with Coalfield's best back (#42) against Midway's second team defense. Midway scored once during the long field and twice on goalline against Coalfield.

Oliver Springs has had a couple of pretty tough and lean years (1-9 in '08; 2-9 if you count the Bowl win against Sunbright; 2-8 in '07). With the new district/region shake-up, things are looking up for OS. Hancock Co: HC was 2-8 in '08 but got beat by Sunbright 6-20; OS beat Sunbright 37-20. OS has plenty of size but not outstanding speed (although if memory serves, OS has a fast sophomore running back that did a lot of damage in middle school). Game is at HC; regardless, OS wins their opener by two touchdowns. Oakdale: see earlier post. OS wins. Grundy Co: OS has been a winning football team in the past and will be ready. GC has not had a winning year for quite a while. Game is at home. OS wins. Coalfield: Having seen Coalfield scrimmage Friday evening, I'm sticking to my guns and saying that OS will suffer their first defeat against Coalfield. Speed will win out over bulk. Midway: see earlier post Jellico: see earlier post Oneida: This game might be closer than I think but I really don't think that OS has a chance. Sunbright: Sunbright does have some good athletes but their program seems in disarray. OS wins. Wartburg: OS must win this game to ensure a play-off spot. Wartburg is young; OS is seasoned and ripe. OS wins. Clay Co: OS will already know whether they are in the play-offs before this game. The game is at CC. CC has been a decent team in the past and had a pretty good year last year. CC got creamed by some really good teams (e.g. Trousdale Co.) but CC also creamed some weak teams (e.g. RBS). What happened last year doesn't really matter that much, it's what you've got coming back. I beleive CC has more quality players returning and has the bulk to match OS. This game will be a loss for OS. OUTLOOK OS: 6 and 4 but 4 and 2 in the district and on to the play-offs.

OAKDALE: Going back to 2001, 2 and 8 is their best record. Other teams with losing records are looking forward to playing Oakdale because the bottom line is somebody will notch a win. I don't think that Oakdale is going to be the muffin that some of these teams think. I predict that this will be Oakdale's best year in the 2000's. Red Boiling Springs: RBS is hoping to get their first win after something like 70 losses. The game is at RBS. I don't know much about RBS but I do know that Oakdale has some pretty good athletes and a QB that can pass effectively and scrabble. RBS might get a win this year but not against Oakdale. Pickett County: PC was 4 and 6 last year and before that 2 and 4 and before that.....no records. PC did beat RBS the last 2 years so they might be a little tougher the RBS but I still don't see PC beating Oakdale (who has played in a tough region for several years). Oliver Springs: Oakdale could beat OS via passing and quickness but I really don't think this will happen. OS (size) gives Oakdale their first defeat of the year. Wartburg: This could be a fairly close game but I believe Wartburg will win. Hancock County: Although HC hasn't had much success in the years they've been playing football (2-7 in '08; 0-9 in '07; and 0-4 in '06), they appear to be a tougher team than Pickett Co. Last year HC beat Jellico 41 to 7 whereas Oakdale beat Jellico only 29 to 7. Oakdale also got beat by Sunbright worse than HC did. I don't know what talent HC lost but Oakdale still has enough talent left to win a close one. Oneida: No chance for Oakdale. Sunbright: This should also be another close game. According to numbers I saw recently, Sunbright actually has fewer students than Oakdale. Both teams have good QBs that can pass the ball. Oakdale's QB is probably a little better runner and I'd give the running back advantage to Oakdale as well. Sunbright's QB might be a better...more accurate passer and the game is at Sunbright. I'm picking Oakdale in a very close game. Kings Academy: This should also be another close game. I'll give the edge to Oakdale. Jellico: Oakdale wins this year. Coalfield: Tradition runs deep. I don't think Coalfield has lost to Oakdale for many years. Coalfield wins. Outlook for Oakdale: Maybe a bit optimistic but I've got 6 wins and 4 losses; 2 and 4 in district. Play-offs maybe but not likely. I don't see my predicted district record changing much but the overall wins could be fewer. Still, this should be a good season (relatively speaking) for Oakdale this year. NEXT WEEK: OLIVER SPRINGS AND ONEIDA........ONLY 3 MORE WEEKS TIL KICK-OFF!

Midway lost two dynamic running backs from last years team. Thus, their running game will not be near as good as it has been in the past (few teams could lose running backs of the caliber of Poe and Ray and not be down in that category). However most of the other teams in the Midway District, also lost prime skill players. So despite the running back loss, Midway could actually have a better record this year than last (8-4 in '08) but again time will tell. Wartburg: Wartburg is young and hungry vs Midway winning program (winning seasons back to 2001) and a few good skill players. Midway wins but not a big as in years past. Harriman: Home field advantage isn't very important here (near each other and history doesn't indicate advantage for home field). If Midway controls Inman, Midway wins. Again, I think the Midway defense will be very good this year. Bledsoe: First meeting of the schools (that I know of). Going back to 2003 Bledsoe Co has not had a winning season. Last year they were 1-9. The game is at Midway. Midway wins. I feel even stronger about this prediction if Coalfield beats Bledsoe. Grace Christian: Grace has 3 pre-season all-staters. More speed for Midway, better defense, and Midway home game. Midway wins but again a fairly close game. Oliver Springs: OS might have a bigger line but Midway has more speed. OS will win more games this year but not against Midway. Greenback: GB lost more starters and has a new coach. Game is at GB which has traditionally been a tough place for Midway to play but Midway pulls it out. Grundy Co: A losing program versus a winning program and the game is at Midway. Midway wins. Rockwood: Rockwood has almost always beat Midway regardless of the speed and skill players involved. I don't think Rockwood will dominate teams this year but history says they will beat Midway again this year. Hancock Co: Another losing program versus a winning program. Midway wins. Tellico Plains: Game is at Tellico but Tellico hasn't had much of a football program. Midway wins. MIDWAY OUTLOOK: 9 and 1; 4 and 1 in District and on to the play-offs.

Just a suggestion: When the magazine makes it to a certain region (Knoxville for me), please let others know. Thanks.

Next week Midway and Oakdale.

Jellico was 0 and 10 last year. 2007 was the only winning season they have had for the last 5 years....back to 2003 when they were 0 and 10. I didn't go back any further. I doubt if things will change this year. Williamsburg, KY: They haven't played the last two years but every year before this ....back to 2003, Williamsburg has dominanted. Williamsburg wins in 2009. North Green: North Green's football program has not been very successful either. NG has not had a winning season in the last 6 years. NG did beat Jellico in the only match up between these teams in the last 6 years (28 to 6....not that this means anything in 2009). Looking at the 2008 records and scores for both teams in 2008, I have to give a slight edge to NG. NG wins by a touchdown. Kings Academy: These two teams have played since 2005 and have alternated wins. KA won last year by a point. I'm probably wrong but will give Jellico this win. Sunbright: Although Sunbright hasn't faired very well in their district for the last several years, they do have some good talent and are hungry. Sunbright wins fairly easily. Harriman: Harriman wins easily. Oliver Springs: OS should dominate this game but I don't see a huge blow-out but a good solid win for OS. Coalfield: Hungry and fast and history is with them. Coalfield wins. Wartburg: Like OS, Wartburg's record hasn't been very good in the last few years but they should overpower Jellico. Oakdale: This could be another close game. Oakdale does have some very good talent....especially at QB but suffers from coaching loss year after year. The game is at Jellico. I'm leaning for an Oakdale win by a hair. Oneida: nuf said, honestly Jellico doesn't stand a chance. Jellico Outlook: 1 and 9, no play-offs

Last year Harriman went 5 and 6 with a 2 and 4 record in the district and missed out on the play-offs. I believe things will be better this year but time will tell. Kingston: Harriman almost upset Kingston last year. I don't see that happening this year and don't think the game will be very close. Kingston wins. Midway: This is a tough one. All of the teams in 1A district 3 lost key players and I don't really see any team dominating the others. Harriman will excel on the ground and Midway through the air. I think Midway's defense will step up. I'm going with Midway in a close one. Wartburg: Wartburg has some speed but Harriman has more. I don't think it will be a blow-out but Harriman wins. Greenback: If GB lost as much as was commented on earlier, then I believe Harriman dominates and wins big. Jellico and Tellico: Harriman wins both of these fairly easily. Bledsoe: Bledsoe county may be working to improve their program but they aren't there yet. Harriman wins. Grace: Harriman wins (comments under Grace). Coalfield: Harriman wins (comments under Coalfield) Rockwood: I believe Rockwood will be too strong and better defensively. Rockwood wins. Harriman outlook: 7 and 3 with a 3 and 2 district record and on to the play-offs

I get the schedule info from coacht. I guess with the district restructuring it happened this way.

2008 was a great year for Greenback. Because of key skill position losses, 2009 was not be as good but should still be a winning season. Greenback's first 4 games are all against larger schools. The percentage wins during those 4 games will be very close to the final percentage wins. The only no brainer that I see is a loss to Oneida. Oneida did lose some very good players but they still return a lot of skill and speed. Meigs: This should be a win for GB. If its a loss, then I don't see GB having a very good season. I saw Meigs scrimmage this spring and was not very impressed. Meigs has some athletes but I saw a lack of heart. Pigeon Forge: Should be another win for GB. For a larger school, the football program should be able to dominate smaller schools. PF did not do this last year althoug they did seem to improve toward the end of the season. Rockwood and Sweetwater: Both of these are probably going to be losses for GB. Fairly good football programs and larger schools that can more easily fill in positions. Sweetwater does have a new coach so this game could be close. Harriman: Again, I think Harriman returns more skill athletes and the win will go to Harriman. Also the game is at Harriman. Midway: This will likely be a close game especially since the game is at GB. GB beat Midway bad last year at Midway (after the barn burning and loss of key players). I believe Midway gets revenge this year. Lookout Valley: LV was a decent team last year. They beat weak teams pretty bad but then got beat pretty bad by good teams. GB should get this win in another fairly close game. Tellico: Sorry to be picking on Tellico but the program needs to show something to get respect. GB wins. Grace Christian: GB wins as in previous post. Greenback outlook for 2009: 5 and 5; 2 and 3 in the district; if true, no play-off berth.

Grace Christian had a very good year last year but lost two very good running backs and the quarterback and I'm sure a few other stand-outs. Many teams in their district also had major losses. Grace's 2008 schedule was not that tough; this year its tougher especially due to the players lost. 2009 will not be as kind as 2008 was. I think there are 3 no brainers. These will be losses to CAK, Rockwood and Johnson County. I think Johnson County is the biggest no brainer of the 3. Grace Baptist: I think this will also be a loss. Grace Baptist competed pretty well last year and it is a home game for Grace Baptist. Tellico: This should be a win for GC. Tellico just doesn't seem to have much of a football program. Gibbs: I believe this will be another win for GC. Like Tellico, the football program doesn't appear to be very good. Midway: Like GC, Midway lost two very good running backs and their quarterback as well so the game might be close but I believe that Midway's defense will dominate and Midway will win. Taft: Should be an easy win for GC but you never know what Taft will have. Harriman: Too many athletes at Harriman for GC. Harriman wins. Greenback: GB lost the quarterback that really made things work well last year...also lost some other stand-outs. But I think the country boys are better at filling in the gaps than the city boys. GB wins over GC. Grace outlook: 3 and 7, no distict wins, no play-off berth in 2009.

There are 43 days (or so) until the first games on August 21. Coalfield schedule first then every 3-4 days another teams schedule will be assessed. My opinion; and not worth much, but really wanted to generate some discussion. Coalfield was 4 and 7 last year. The following seem to be no brainers: Coalfield will lose to Rockwood and Oneida but will win against Jellico and Oakdale. Bledsoe county: I see this as a loss for Coalfield. True, Bledsoe was 1 and 9 last year but they had a tough schedule and they played some decent teams pretty tough. Sunbright: I see this as a win. Coalfield just seems to have Sunbrights number year after year. Tellico Plaines: Another larger school with a 1 and 9 record. However Tellico did not have as tough a schedule as Bledsoe. This should be a win for Coalfield. Oliver Springs: I'm going with Coalfield on this one. I saw the game last year. OS does not seem to have the speed that Coalfield has and I don't see that changing this year. Wartburg: Wartburg's only win last year came against Coalfield. This is a tough call but I'll give the revenge edge to Coalfield. Harriman: Coalfield beat Harriman last year to knock Harriman out of the play-offs. I believe that Harriman has the better athletes but maybe not the heart. Home game for Harriman; athletes win this year, loss to Coalfield. Predicited record for Coalfield: 6 and 4 and on to the play-offs Next week Grace and Greenback.

I'm from Midway and love the style of basketball played/coached at Grace. I would love for Midway to play the same style of basketball and truly beleive they could.....they just don't. I can honestly say that I don't feel any animosity toward Grace basketball coaches who have been very successful. This is why I am a little mystified that no one from Grace seems supportive of Coach Lamb.....maybe he's terribly different "off camera".

>When and where does Midway scrimmage Oakdale? What are these two teams returning? Midway did not scrimmage Oakdale. Not really sure on the reason but heard that it had to do with Oakdale not having enough players and not having a head coach. Midway did scrimmage Meigs county last week. Ended up 1 to 1. Midway probably had double the yardage but had several bad snaps. Midway scrimmages Kingston this Thursday at Midway.