Gettysburg

You could say that about any game played on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Other than that, Greenville must get pressure on #4 or he may eat them up. Kicking game is a key because SS has feasted all year on good field position. They make you pay. The first game was close at the half, 14-12 and SS came out and dominated the 2nd half....Greenville can't let the SS offense wear them down. The fast track will not be a disadvantage to SS. Their receivers need to catch the ball and get separation. They settled in the zone nicely against ME but had some drops. Should be a great game but SS wins.

I don't know about anyone not giving Morristown East a chance in this game. Every one I talked with knew it was going to be a battle. IF East could develop a semblance of a passing attack, they would be VERY difficult to beat. Their inability to execute the passing game ultimately cost them. YOU CANNOT BE ONE DIMENSIONAL AND BEAT SOUTH. The quarterback was throwing at an area, not a target. It was a matter of time before he threw a pick and that pick was a back breaker. Johnson is a load to bring down. No one wanted to take him head on. With the score 30-27 and East around their 30 and after another tough run by Johnson, East decided to throw the football. There was about 1.30 left on the clock. I was surprised they aired it out but I guess the East coaches felt they needed to get it down the field faster. Dylan Ellis just made a big play. The turning point was the 5.00 minute drive by East that ended on the fourth down run by #10. He hesitated and tried to cut back too late and South closed the gap. Then on 2nd and 6 Fletcher rips off a 30 yard run. What a big run. Big players make big plays at big points in the game and that was big. Then he rips off another. That ultimately led to the INT by Ellis. And you can't forget the safety on the snap over the punter's head. That really got the crowd into it. The crowd was loud. That game had such momentum swings. At 27-13 I never would have guessed watching the ebb and flow that SS would score 24 unanswered. They just never quit. I know it was an emotional week at school but they channeled that emotion and to me, bonded as a football team tonight. I think Johnson rushed for over 150 and Fletcher rushed for over 150. Davenport showed great leadership on the field. East had over 300 yards rushing on over 50 carries. SS had well over 200 rushing. Very physical game. SS had one penalty. Just a great HS football game. Go Rebs!

To me these are some key points to beat South or stay with them: Speed - they seem to struggle with speed. They haven't faced a team with real speed. Elizabethton had some fast players that gave South trouble. I don't know the overall speed of THS, but I have seen Shepard run. He needs to get the ball in space. This is where the loss of Phillips hurts because he could run sideline to sideline. Pass defense- If THS can't throw the ball and get yards after the catch it will be a long night. They will not beat South being one dimensional. They must have balance to take advantage of the South secondary. THS must be able to put pressure on Davenport and close his lanes when he tries to run. He has killed teams this year dropping back to pass and taking off. You gotta contain him. North did a good job of rushing Davenport off the ends and closing his lanes. He threw his worst passes of the year. Problem was that once South adjusted, North couldn't maintain and Davenport got more time and carved them like a Christmas ham. THS must play ball control. South strikes so fast. Their average drive is probably less than 2 minutes. Down and distance have meant very little to South this year. They have eaten their opponents alive on first down all year. They dictate the flow, can THS shut them down and force them to 3rd and longs. THS must play good special teams and limit mistakes Elizabethton used their speed to get good field position and flip the field but they still lost 44-14. And even though it rained, the field wasn't slippery. Turnovers and penalties helped stop Elizabethton. All year South has feasted on poor punts, turnovers and good field position. Their offense hits quick and boom you are down 14,21-0. Johnson Co. scored first, stuffed South and then committed turnovers and it was 56 points by half. South is so opportunistic. And once you are down to them the sense of urgency to catch up kicks in and that is when mistakes are made. Teams have tried to force it against South and died on the Rebel sword. THS must play the 3rd quarter. A few teams have played with South for a half and then get left behind in the 3rd quarter. I think South has scored 90+ points in the 3rd quarter this year and given up about 7. Teams don't make adjustments (South does) and it is lights out. Limit the big play on South. Can THS do this? South has dozens of plays over 20 yards. They have so many players who can make big plays. Other than SHHS, no one has taken South late into the game. How will they respond? They have a veteran team but they haven't really been tested this year late in the game. If the game gets ugly, then South rolls. Their offense is very disciplined and their D makes plays. THS had better be ready. My prediction: I haven't seen a team in NETenn that is as complete as South. You may get up on them, but you just don't have enough fingers to put in the dyke. South 35 THS 13 This South team will ultimately be measured by how they fare against Maryville.

I have not seen THS this year. South struggled somewhat vs Elizabethton with Betsy's speed and quickness and Betsy was surprising through the air with yards after the catch. Can THS do the same? Not sure, but they better be ready to put up at least 35 points...or they are toast.

South in another romp and it might be close for a half but South again wins going away. 42-7

South is just too explosive to be contained for long against the local competition.They are fun to watch. The first half was a bit uncharacteristic in that they had no sustained drive, just scores on a short field provided by two fumbles. But, that has been the MO all year...special team errors by the opponent, SS gets a short field and makes them pay. SN also got pressure off the ends on Davenport and he looked a bit rattled as he was chased and made some bad throws as he couldn't find any open receivers. I think he as 3-9 for 34 yards at the half. The coaches got that under control in the second half. You cannot be one dimensional and beat this SS team. It was obvious SN could not throw so SS crammed the line with the Safety 10 yds from the line of scrimmage. The first series of the game had SN run 7 plays and then they had 8 straight 3 and outs...including the last series before the half. In the second half SS found the rhythm with all three backs. From there it was lights out. South needs someone to give them a game for 4 quarters. The last game was the Science Hill game but I don't think Science Hill could stay close to SS now. Nor could DB. Look for more of the same against Betsy and TH. South is just too good.

Tom had a previous commitment to do the Friday night Food City 250. Usually the games are on Thursday for race week. He will return for the next game.

Good points skunk. However, I mean relegated in the fact that Tom tried to get Citadel to broadcast DB on WGOC as opposed to KIN because of the better coverage. They would not. When the Monster came on board he tried to get DB on the Monster as he is the best game announcer in the area calling the winningest FB program in the area. Citadel wanted nothing to do with DB, they kept it on because of the advertisers Tom had...that is my opinion. But it is all in the past now...DB will survive as they have a great program...they are lucky to have Coach Clark...South is up and coming and as skunk says...they will be able to support a broadcast...I think advertisers will be eager to advertise in the Colonial Heights area...as Skunk points out it is good business, the demographics are in the area....and the area is growing... I felt it important to say that Tom didn't jump ship and isn't a traitor. He loves the kids and coaches at DB, BUT he will do his best for South and become quite a promoter for South sports. A new era, a new direction for him. That's how you grow professionally..I wish both programs the best.

Another reason to feel good about South and the other DB (Boone) is that newcomers are tending to move to Colonial Heights (Warriors Path) and Gray...this area is getting an influx of people trying to escape the cost of Florida and other places...to me that bodes well for South, Boone and Volunteer...

According to Stacey, he feels this year will be a better team...especially defensively..

There are quotes on here about the WHCB jumping ship and others emailing the radio station to complain. You are going in the wrong direction. Tom made the move to WHCB because it was the right move professionally. His morning show was relegated to WGOC (Citadel gave away the rights to WKIN). When he signed on with 91.5 he felt that DB would be happy because of the increased coverage area. You would be able to literally sit in the stands in Jeff Co. and listen to the DB broadcast... but DB balked. The AD felt Tom went over his head. Egos got in the way. Citadel made it seem like they were being shortchanged by Tom when in reality Citadel has always kept DB on the back burner with 5000 watts. One can??™t hear the station at night past John B Dennis. Citadel may tell you different but they have a station that touts itself as the Sports Monster but it broadcasts Tennessee High Football over SHHS and DB. That makes no sense, especially when they had DB in the fold. The winningest HS FB program and I think BB program in the state but you put them on the smaller station? Tom went to the Citadel brass to cover the DB-Farragut playoff game in 2007 (since Tennessee High was finished in Football) on the Monster but they declined and went with South-Maryville. You can make your own conclusion as to the love at Citadel for Dobyns-Bennett. It boils down to this. Being a public school, DB cannot say who can and can??™t broadcast their games. With Tom's move it puts 3, sometimes 4 stations providing coverage since Citadel wants to be a player. What a problem to have. However, DB does control the the press box. So, who gets to use the press box? No one will take a stand. Another dilemma is an away game, who gets to do what at away games? Most press boxes don??™t have enough room for one visiting station, let alone three. Ever been to Campbell County ? There is a lot of animosity and jealousy of DB at other schools and no one was going to be sympathetic to three stations for DB. One, sometimes two, will be left out. Tom, as do the others, has advertisers. If he doesn??™t get to the visiting stadium by 2pm for a 7.30pm kickoff he could be out in the cold, literally. The last thing an AD wants to do on a Friday night is referee bickering stations representing the other team. And, if you don??™t do the games, you owe your advertisers. Tom is 3 time AP broadcaster of the year from covering DB sports. He is a good game announcer. I dare say only Mike Keith might be a bit better and he does the Titans. He is much better than Kesling. You can??™t compare WKPT or WGOC's announcers to Tom. Lord that just isn??™t fair. He has been offered college gigs but stays in the area because of his youngest child and his wife. Quite frankly, he is the best live game announcer in East Tennessee and he was doing DB. Tom did more than the other announcers as he promoted the kids at DB. He was up at 7am on Saturday after a game on Friday night doing the Band Fruit Sale or he would cover a wrestling match or a volleyball game or Robinson vs. Sevier. He covered the band's 9/11 tribute. He would interview the band boosters at halftime or the track coach to help that coach promote his or her sport. He was all about the kids and promoting the school. Why would he just "jump ship?" What South gets is a guy who will promote the teams and the kids. He will give them 100%. The fans will get a quality broadcast on a quality station. Tom is turning his back on no one. But he is turning the page in his career. Tom is a pro and he keeps his eye on the ultimate prize. He knew three stations could be an issue but he had to do what was right for him in the big picture with his morning show. DB could have come out and said these are the one or two announcers we will allow in the booth. They didn??™t. Maybe they couldn??™t. But you would think that covering a team for 17+ years providing nothing but quality coverage for the kids would build equity and loyalty. Tom interpreted the lack of response and became pro-active in his approach to his future. He had to as he has advertisers to think about. You must sell advertising now for the fall season. Some fans have written the station and called him a traitor and the like but it isn??™t that at all. Not even close. To think he or the station is jumping ship just isn't the true story. Wes Moricle would not have let this happen.