WreckingCrew

The Meigs coach said after the game that she told her players to not get into foul trouble in the 4th quarter because they had no bench to speak of. So although they doubled up on #14, even in the 4th quarter, they didn't play as an aggresive of a defense in that quarter as they had the previous three quarters. I think they were willing to let #14 do her thing as long as they were scoring on the other end.....keeping a 5-7 point cushion If Seuqatchie had closed the differential down to 2-3 points in the 4th period I'm sure you would have seen the Lady Tigers be more predatory on defense. Everyone there (including the Meig's coaches and players) assumed who was going to handle the ball 90% of the time for the Lady Indians, so your coach missed a great opportunity to use #14's presence on the floor to open things up inside for other players since they were cold on 3 point shooting . And to be honest, I also wasn't impressed with Sequatchie's coach in not taking advantage of their significant size advantage and having her team be more patient on the inside stuff on offense. The only time they seemed patient was in the last 2-3 minutes of the game, when they should have had more of a sense of urgency!!! Take nothing at all away from #14, though, she's a very good player and she WAS the team late in the game even though she was extremely tired. Her freshman sister, #24?, will be a good one too!

Well, I'm a McMinn Central fan but I went over to Dunlap last night to see the Meigs/Sequatchie game. I didn't want to see the Chargerettes of Central destroy another team, and since I have a friend who's daughter plays at Meigs, I thought I'd go watch a pretty good game - thinking Central may face Sequatchie in the Region finals. So I can say I did see the Lady Indians play at least one game. My assessment is that I was very disappointed with Sequatchie - they would have been about 5th or 6th place in our District this season. #14 for Sequatchie is certainly a great player. Although Meigs had smaller players than Sequatchie they were much quicker overall, fundamentally superior, and had a better shooting team. 4 of the Meigs girls played the entire game and they appeared to wear down #14 by the end of the 3rd quarter as she was really sucking wind. One major point you are missing is that the Lady Tigers of Meigs had a losing record this year, and I'm not being critical of them.....I'm actually bragging on them for what they did last night. They dress out 8 players - YES I SAID 8 PLAYERS - and only start 1 senior. One of those 8 players was in an automobile wreck this past week and didn't dress out for the game.....leaving 2 freshman subs on the bench. The starting point guard for Meigs has played with a seperated rib cage several weeks now. Prior to the season, Meigs had several defections and injuries decimating them, but not one time this year have I heard any Meigs fan give excuses about why their team lost so many games. Oh yeah, wanted to let you know it was a clean sweep for our District.

In AA, McMinn Central, who lost to Marshall County last year in the semifinals, has all of their starters back, as well as the first, third, and fourth players off the bench.

Jordan transferred to McMinn County High and is playing basketball for the Cherokees. The basketball coach at McMinn may not be that good of a coach, but unless he's changed he won't tolerate much crap......so I hope Mr. Jackson will take advanatge of the opportunity to start anew. I seriously doubt that he'll get any college offers other than at small places.

All the Owls need to do is what they did the lat time they played Farragut - smack the Admirals around early and often, and challenge them to respond.......and I suspect the Admirals will once again back down and play in fear the rest of the game.

Go Ooltewah!!! If you punish the Admirals early their ship will sink quickly just like it did last time they came to YOUR HOUSE! /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

I'm curious as to what's happening myself. I read on here that Gene Davis is leaving, but don't know of any other changes that are certain. Any Meigs' fans know the facts? Or is it all rumor and speculation? I'll try to find out from my Meigs' connections this week.

As much as I'd like to see the Golden Eagles win this game, my Rhea County firends, it just ain't gonna happen. If Rhea happened to play as good as the best game they have played this year, and Maryville played as bad as they did in their worst game, the Rebs still win. Just too many weapons and too much quality depth for the Golden Eagles to match. But I will still wish Rhea County much luck!

I think this game will be closer than the first one, but with Ooltewah winning by 10-14 points. I know most Farragut fans won't agree with this, but when a team gets beat as bad as the Admirals were beaten by the Owls, the mental psyche' at the age of these players is deeply affected. Ooltewah totally destroyed Farragut in that first game, both physically and mentally. I think the fear of playing Ooltewah again and them having to re-live those moments will outweigh Farragut's desire to get revenge for the annihilation they received just a few short weeks ago. It will be very hard for the Farragut coaches to get their players mentally prepared.

Loudon won 21-14

If true, that's wonderful news! Talk about some big games to enjoy watching. I hope both Polk and Central pound Bradley into total submission. /roflolk.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflolk:" border="0" alt="roflolk.gif" />

I think Brandon not only got outcoached in the second half, but also in the first half when he had many opportunities to capitalize on. I'm still not sure what he was thinking with all of those QB sneaks on 4th down.....especially on his side of the field, when the game was still knotted at 14 all???? Oh well, just shows he's human.

I agree. Brandon told me his first year at Central that teams used to beg to schedule them.....now they won't return his calls. /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

Now that's a little tougher schedule which will test them and make Polk better.....even if they lose 3-4 games. I'm glad to see that Coach Davis is "raising the bar", and hope others in this region will follow suit. By the way, he might want to check with Alcoa to fill that last opening slot. /tongue.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":P" border="0" alt="tongue.gif" />

Again, I'll say that the behavior of football athletes at Central is better than many opposing team's fans would believe, and worse than many Central fans would admit. I hope Brandon will do as he says and thoroughly re-evaluate the program from top to bottom during the off-season, thus bringing forth a more disciplined team and coaching staff for next season....and playing a tougher out-of-conference schedule.

I don't, but since it's a matter of public information you should be able to consult with your local Super to find out. If I'm not mistaken, McMinn County froze the supplement amount over 20 years ago and haven't lifted the freeze yet. I think it's only increased by whatever raise they give teachers - say 3% each year? I was told from someone on the McMinn School Board at one time about 15 years ago that John Mullinax (former McMinn County coach) had the lowest supplement in the region he was coaching.

I don't, but since it's a matter of public information you should be able to consult with your local Super to find out. If I'm not mistaken, McMinn County froze the supplement amount over 20 years ago and haven't lifted the freeze yet. I think it's only increased by whatever raise they give teachers - say 3% each year? I was told from someone on the McMinn School Board at one time about 15 years ago that John Mullinax (former McMinn County coach) had the lowest supplement in the region he was coaching.

Polk has two maybe three paid assistants thats it, when I say paid I say as in very little. I think the latter in your post is the number one reason not the coaches! I'm sure that like most teams in this area, the coaching supplement sure isn't worth it if you based it on dollars for the actual time invested. A couple of decades ago I was in a booster club that directly assisted the coaches with some money, but I understand that these clubs aren't supposed to give money directly to the coaches any more and things are regulated through the school now. Anyone know? Does Larry coach for free at Polk? Benny Monroe made a mint in the early to mid 90's coaching at Cleveland. Not just in actual cash, but also with many other benefits - on top of the best-paying coaching supplement around here.

While I agree with you about discipline being an issue, I still contend that if you're never really contested by a quality team during the season, you'll have that false sense of believing you can compete with anyone. Backpatting and assurance from family and people in the community that you're great and invincible can be detrimental to what the coaches are trying to convey to the players. Don't get me wrong, I do believe in congratulating the players for a job well done.....but there were many people up this way constantly telling the players they would be playing for the state championship. After the preseason scrimmages I saw the potential for this years Central team to win 2-3 games in the playoffs, but ONLY if they improved each week and became more disciplined in carrying out their assignments. And from watching a few 3A state championship games, I felt that Central wasn't anywhere near the league of these teams......for many reasons I don't need to elaborate on. So, yes, I do feel that strength of schedule plays more than a minor role. Now, back to the discipline. I had noted some discipline issues due to the number of penalties Central was committing earlier in the season. I even commented on this to Brandon as a concern when he had asked me if I had been at a certain game. I don't profess to know it all and I don't constantly try to tell Brandon what to do......but I told him I felt that these silly penalties were from lack of discipline and would bite him big time somewhere along the way. He agreed, but said he felt that they were improving with each week in this area and it was too early in the season to be a major concern. Well, although I didn't say anything else, I thought he wasn't addressing the issue enough with his assistant coaches and players. I think he, too, felt they could overcome their mistakes by being the better team than their competition......thus, things would work themselves out (this is my opinion, and I'm not stating it as fact). Honestly, I felt like this mindset would only cause things to regress....based primarily on what I have witnessed for many years in playing, coaching, refereeing, and watching football at several levels. If you read his comments in the paper, Brandon even alluded to how sloppy and undisciplined his team had played in the big games this season they had lost. In my opinion, it's something you should notice more in practice and even in early blowout victories. I know this isn't just a thread attributed to Central, but I'm glad to see that Brandon is going to totally re-evaluate the entire program this off-season. Perhaps he'll seek and get some outside input from some knowledgeable people and he'll become an even better coach than he is. I agree that for the most part Coach Davis gets about all he can with what he has. With the exception of some terrible offensive playcalling against Central, his team did all he asked of them in that game.....and obviously they dug down and gave him even more in the playoff loss.

I was at that game, and I believe you're correct on the year.

I assume you mean by "on paper" that because Central was the #2 team from region 3, and Dekalb was the #3 team from region 4? How would that have meant Central should win, since the last #4 teams from region 4 have beat our #1 team from region 3 the last 3-4 years? I did think Central would win, but with a most cautious optimism based on what I've witnessed the last several years when these two regions meet in the playoffs. Plus, someone from Greenbrier warned that they thought Dekalb was playing the best football in region 4, and was the team they would hate to face if they were coaching in region 3. Sure, that was just his opinion, but the guy has pretty much been spot-on in previous posts, so he had my attention. And, by the way, he made that assessment BEFORE the last game of the regular season for the teams from both regions, meaning that it's not an excuse I'm trying to fabricate. Central was outplayed and outcoached in that game - plain and simple.....and the best prepared, more focused and disciplined team won last Friday. Central's 11 penalties for well over a 100 yards was a contributing factor, BUT that's mainly due to being undisciplined, so no excuse from me about the huge difference in penalties assessed for each team. Central was bigger, I agree, but I'm not sure about being stronger. And speed is only good if it's used properly. Sometimes a better coached team can offset much of the speed differential if their players execute what they're coached.

How do you make kids good when systems, society and situtations are in place that doesn't support that? Parental discipline and home lifestyle is the primary place for that to successfully happen. I'm not saying it's impossible, and I fully agree with your premise, but in reality most of these problem children will always exist in certain areas. Inheriting these type of individuals at the high school level and trying to help them is compounded by the problems and situations these children have been exposed to since they first started school and/or first started playing sports. I think playing even little league sports is a privilege, and one that a parent needs to determine based on their child's attitude and how well they're applying themself in school. When the parent doesn't care about anything but the fact that their child scores the most points or touchdowns, then the child is already being rewarded for the wrong things and they're missing the most important lessons of life being ingrained in them. Forget the fact that a lot of little league coaches don't have a clue about coaching, but many times they, too, contribute to a child's problem by making them think that winning at any cost is acceptable. I've watched various little league sports before, and some of the players have terrible attitudes and tempers even at that age......yet the coaches or refs did absolutely nothing to correct these problem children. Many moons ago when I first started out as a referee I was reffing a little league football game comprised of 8-10 year old boys (I believe), and there was this one particualr player who had the absolute worst attitude and sportsmanship of anyone I had ever seen at any age. I had already flagged him for two obvious personal fouls in the first quarter alone, and watched as he berated and shoved his own teammates, calling one of them a f__khead, and even talked back to his coaches with total disrespect. I finally called the head coach over to the edge of the field - away from everyone - and suggested he take the kid out of the game for awhile to let him cool down. The coach told me he couldn't win the game without him. I just shook my head in disbelief and asked him if that was all he was concerned about. He said both teams were undefeated and this game would determine the championship. I again asked him if that was all he was concerned about, and he didn't reply. Now, back to the two personal fouls penalties I had already called on this one particular player. After I called threw both flags, the parents of the kids from that team booed and called me all kinds of names for throwing the flag on their team. Now bear in mind, reffing a game of kids at that age, one could legitimately throw a flag on virtually every play.....but we were understandably taught to be lenient on some nebulous infractions. But obvious, flagrant, acts of violence and bad sportsmanship were always called. Well, early in the second quarter this same player intentionally got up and started kicking the player from the opposing team who had tackled him. I immediately ran over to pull this problem child away, then he jerked away from me and tried to kick me. I ejected him from the game, and he said "f__k you and flipped me a bird"! My goodness, I had never even heard that word until I was about 13....and yet this kid knew it fluently. Wonder where he learned it? Anyway, the whole situation was a mess and I received all sorts of threats and foul language from this kids parents (who reeked of alcohol) after the game because their team lost......and they said these things right in front of the players. Now, being that this one particular kid wasn't being taught values at home, this coach certainly didn't help this young man to learn them either. Our society is so driven about winning at any cost, and when you couple that with children not being taught right from wrong at home, you can quickly see how a child like this isn't going to change until possibly it's too late for him. And then there's the problems with public elementary schools not discipling these children properly, and passing them on the next grade because it's easier to do than explain/justify why you need to fail them and have to face angry, worthless parents, as well as a wimpy principal and school board. But since I've been so long-winded, I'll not go into any more detail other than to say these problems already DO exist at some places, and they seem to be growing.

Actually, there has been a lot of discussion by me and a few others about one of the reasons why Region 3-3A fails to perform well in the playoffs......lack of quality competition. Brandon echoed those same sentiments in his comments given to the Daily Post-Athenian (posted by me a few posts back in this thread). Another reason is just the sheer quantity of talented, skilled athletes who are faster (possibly bigger and stronger) compared to several teams in Region 4.........and other 3A Region teams. An argument could probably be made that many of those teams are better coached because the teaching/coaching pay is much higher than this area, thus attracting the cream of the crop coaches. I still tend to think it's based more on seasonal competition, plus quantity and quality of athletes. I haven't looked that close to next years' playoff alignment, and got confused when I did. I hope you, or someone else, have and will examine it further after the TSSAA finalizes these schedules and alignments.....then will share it with us lazy and less intelligent people. /huh.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":huh:" border="0" alt="huh.gif" /> Perhaps teams in this area just need to enjoy the intense rivalries with nearby schools that exist, and not set their expectations so high beyond a Regional Championship? I don't think you'll find more community pride, support and spirit than you'll find in a Polk -vs- Meigs football game, for example. And if the game is at Meigs, you'll be treated like family to some of the best food around! /hungry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":hungry:" border="0" alt="hungry.gif" />

Since you were a former player at Central, I appreciate your honest, candid input, and personal observation. Anyone doubting Coach Derrick being in control doesn't know him very well. Perhaps he's been too fair, and if he was, it was because he genuinely cared about the young man - not winning. As I've alluded to many times on here, people on the outside don't realize all he's put up with by some worthless parents who didn't care for their children. As Coach Fulmer says, the wind blows the hardest at the top of the flagpole. Being 9-1 in lieu of 1-9 will draw all sorts of high winds.

How in the world did Brandon come up with these ideas? Reckon he reads our posts on here? (from today's Daily Post-Athenian): "No disrespect to the other teams in our league, but we just don't see the same caliber of competition," said Derrick. "Those teams (Region 4) are tested week-in and week-out." "We had a rugged preseason scrimmage schedule and I think showed we could play with anybody in our division," he added. "Then we got into the regular season and things came so easy - we were only really tested once in the first nine games. We just weren't mentally prepared for the adversity we faced in the last two weeks." Derrick said the Chargers will spend the off-season re-evaluating the program and some things will change, starting with the schedule. "We're going to look at how we do everything, but we're definitely going to play a tougher schedule," said Derrick. "Winning is nice, but if it doesn't prepare you for the playoffs, it's all smoke and mirrors. We're going to play two of three tough games to get us ready."