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looks like an interesting upcoming season, the big 4 and the little 4 lol. DB, South, SH, THS at the top, w/ Boone, DC, Volunteer, and Central beating up on each other at the bottom. It's a little early for predictions, but heck why not? 1- Dobyns-Bennett/South- Being an SH grad, i hate to say that DB and SS are the best in the conference, but thats the reality of it. The winner of this one finishes 1st in the conference i'd say. 3- Science Hill- W/Soddy Daisy being the opener, the Toppers will be tested early on. Away games at South, THS, and Mo West will be tough, but winnable. If they take care of business against Boone, DC, Vol, and Central, they should be in prime shape to finish in the top half of the conference. 4- THS- man Sheppard is a beast, however, the Vikings will need someone to look to when the defense stacks the box. Saw much more throwing from the Vikes when they played SH last year. They took a whoopin w/the new system, as opposed to their usual 4 passes a game, but Stubbs knows how to utilize his athletes, and he wouldn't suddenly change his system if it wasn't going to produce results. An easy start w/ east and crockett could help the Vikings and then dates w/ Virginia High and Science Hill should show the Vikings true colors. They'll be good, but I don't see them beating DB, South, or SH, so they're 4th. 5- Boone- IMO, the most underrated team in the conference. Boone always has two things: scrappy kids, and heart. Those two things could combine with some decent talent and produce some upsets. They've got a favorable schedule: Cherokee, North, Central, Volunteer AND Crockett on the same schedule. North is coming off a rare good season, could be a toss up when these two play. If the Blazers can steal one against SH or THS, the last few weeks of the season could be very entertaining. 6- Volunteer- Same story as Boone, tough kids, lots of heart, not the "greatest" talent. If they get overlooked, they'll take a decent team down to the wire, and somebody might slip up. Maybe if they still had that all-galaxy Cradic kid under center they'd compete for 4th or 5th, but it looks like Volunteer will be on the outside this season, playing football in the same over-matched conference that they play basketball in (w/the exception of the absence of East in big 8 football). 7- Crockett- I wanted to place Crockett and Central at #7 and #8 in no particular order, but then I realized, Crockett is better than Central. Crockett ,while not improving much in the win column, has improved on the field over the last two years (compared to where the program used to be.) They won't be challenging South or DB any time soon, but look for tight games against Boone, and Volunteer. A win over either SH or THS would help the team, but even more importantly, establish the program as a competitor. 8- Central- It's an uphill battle for Central, w/ the conference alignment not working to the Cougars advantage AT ALL. Crockett and Volunteer look like the best chance for conference wins this season, they won't touch any of the top 5. Match-ups w/North, East, and Virginia High could potentially increase the Cougars win total, but recent history suggests not to count on it. -Postseason- DB takes the automatic bid from SH, starting a more painful streak than losing to DB every year since the Clintons hit the White House. Now SH has some added motivation to beat DB, but DB has just as much motivation to prevent a loss to SH, especially w/ the playoffs on the line. Boone, South, and THS get the rest of the playoff bids, w/Boone scratching and clawing its way in, South dropping 1, maybe 2 conference games at most, and THS regaining its previous form. Can't wait till August!

Ryan is somethin serious, he's quick and he can shoot the lights out. Plays pretty good D as well. I go to Milligan and I play with him about 4 times a week and still haven't beaten his teams /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

Haha it must be, that or Central is simply rendered speechless. So much crow for them to eat, they're gonna have leftovers for a while too /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />. The moral of this story is: Don't guarantee a victory and then come out and lose by 25, at home! Atleast keep it close boys, jeez... See you at the Palace, Central! /hungry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":hungry:" border="0" alt="hungry.gif" />

There is definitely something to that, Chris is an outstanding player. He might actually be the best overall "player". Josh is just in a better position to put up bigger numbers when he runs the point and signing with UTC puts him in the spotlight early in the year. Chris is just a terrific athlete, he could succeed at any sport he tried. I vainly tried to convince him to play football before I graduated but spring ball would've interfered with tennis and he is also a very good tennis player. Chris has scored in the 20s in his last 3 games, and was recently named POTW. The article is on tricitiessports.com I believe. Having a D1 signee and a potential D1 signee in 2 different sports is a good problem to have, I can't complain /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Josh and Justin are both very good players, and each plays a style that differs from the other. Justin is a system guy who takes what the defense gives him, and makes plays for his team. Josh also makes plays for his team, but in a more freelancing manner because Coach Cutlip allows him some freedom after teaching him the system for the last 4 years. The head to head matchups will determine POTY IMO. DB-SH are usually the toughest games of the year, and how each player shines will be key. Last year, DB beat SH 4 times, and Odem wasn't a big factor in those games. If SH is to beat DB at all this year, Odem is going to have to play very well. Teams can game plan to stop him, but his length and quickness make physically stopping him a difficult task. Sylvester has more polished and fundamental players around him, while SH has athletic, but sometimes sloppy players complementing Odem. It's a toss up right now, but the way Sylvester played last year, he is surely going to be mentioned as one of the top players in the Big 9, as will Mr. Odem. The POTY race should be very interesting this season.

Central had better beat Crockett by 10, the way their fans were talking, they thought they were going to eat Science Hill up in that Cougar Den of theirs. See you later Cougars, you'll get your welcome in the Topper Palace soon enough.. /flower.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":flower:" border="0" alt="flower.gif" /> Good job to your ladies team though, they played very well and simply beat us. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Can I add a couple who IMO will be players to watch?: Chris Smith (SH), Ashlon Adams (DB), Patrick Albright (SC). Also, Isaac Kinley, who took a year off from basketball and has been a 2 sport guy all thru high school (BB & FB) has rejoined the Toppers and should pick up where he left off.

Pretty sure it's O-D-E-M. Don't quote me on that though. Josh is a lefty point, bout 6'4, really skinny, but has a long stride and good ball handing skills. Seems like he is money anywhere from behind the 3pt arc, and his length also allows him to contribute defensively. His brother played at SH and was a good player too, must run in the family lol. But seriously, Josh has good size, good vision, and good decision making skills. If he wants to make it at the next level though, he needs to put on a lil weight, JMO.

I can respect that. But, tell me how you think that the rest of the conference will look? We've agreed on DB 1st, and I'll put money on SH for 2nd, and we've both got Central in the top 4, so let's hear where south, boone, volunteer, crockett, east, and Tn High will end up in your opinion.

You pretty much nailed it tricitiessportsfan. Coach Smith is at his best when he can put the ball into Isaac's hands and let him loose. Personally, I think that he was a better corner than safety, but he is still a very good defensive back, period. He hasn't been as big in the return game as he was last season, but he still makes an impact. He punts fairly well, and having him back there makes teams honor the fake. This is a kid who wants to play, plain and simple. He plays with intensity and a passion that none seem to match. He is very gifted, but he also works very hard, and that has paid off over his whole high school career. Not to take away from the team, because as a whole the team is pretty good, but Isaac is the guy that makes this team work.

Skunk is on it. Pretty accurate, from what I saw, it was around that much time left.

Larry Smith and Jamieson Hamilton are who you're looking for I believe. Also, don't count out Chris Smith. The lesser known of these three, he combines a very strong body type and good size with a very fast first step and great fundamentals. The rest of your list looks pretty good. Maybe Corey Young from TN High, but is he a senior? IDK, but he has been around since before I got to high school, he's still playing and I'm an 08 grad lol. Regardless, he could make all conference.

SC? SC?! Who exactly is this "SC" that you are referring to? /blink.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":blink:" border="0" alt="blink.gif" />

Hey man I'm a Gator fan, and even I have to admit that Peyton Manning got screwed. He faced better competition and made more of an impact on his team. Yes Woodson was a better athlete, but find a corner that is less athletic than a pocket passer, it just doesn't happen. Peyton was one of the greatest in the SEC (again, coming from a Gator), and he will go down as one of the best in the NFL. I agree with you wholeheartedly.

Jeff Co is better than their record states. They've got physical kids with good size, and the offense that they run chews up clock and typically makes most of their games low scoring. Bearden is underrated. They were the 2nd best team in their conference, and they can play with most anybody. Their tailback (a soph who already has 5 or 6 D1s looking at him) is very talented, and in the playoffs, establishing the run becomes even more important. Bearden has a decent line, Devrin Young will be the difference in this game, and Bearden squeaks by.