ErikG

Scott, Stan & RobbieðŸ‘

You hear a number of schools citing that concern about filling out a schedule. Forgive me for stating the obvious (again) but maybe, just maybe, TN needs fewer classes which would result in larger districts/ regions. I've been critical of the TSSAA for its part in promoting and perpetuating unnecessary classes in football. But as we've seen with the new restrictions on privates playing in the public division, the collective call for change by the schools themselves can force the TSSAA's hand. What if they did the same where superfluous classes are concerned?

Seems like from the comments I've read/heard over the years the staff at Catholic has been less than pleased with the 1.8 multiplier. If that's correct and still the case, I'd be surprised if they volunteered to move up further -- especially considering the "sweet spot" appearance of class 5A at this time. Are reliable sources indicating such a move by Catholic is being considered?

Now that we know the cutoffs I'm guessing 5A might look like this: 1-5A (6) Tennessee High Daniel Boone David Crockett Volunteer Cherokee Morristown East 2-5A (6) Cocke Co. Sevier Co. South Doyle Halls Knox Central West 3-5A (6) Campbell Co. Powell Clinton Oak Ridge Karns Catholic 4-5A (5) Lenoir City Rhea Co. Walker Valley Soddy-Daisy White Co. 5-5A (6) Shelbyville Summit Franklin Co. Lincoln Co. Columbia Central Page 6-5A (6) Beech Gallatin Hunters Lane Glencliff Hillsboro Hillwood 7-5A (6) Clarksville Northeast Clarksville Clarksville Northwest Kenwood West Creek Henry Co. 8-5A (8) Brighton Dyer Co. Ridgeway Kingsbury Bolton Munford Memphis Overton Southwind

Now that we know the cutoff I'm going to guess that it might break down like this: 1-6A (7) Science Hill Dobyns-Bennett Morristown West Jefferson Co. Bearden Hardin Valley Farragut 2-6A (7) Heritage Maryville William Blount McMinn Co. Bradley Central Cleveland Ooltewah 3-6A (7) Cookeville Warren Co. Coffee Co. Riverdale Oakland Siegel Blackman 4-6A (7) Stewarts Creek Smyrna LaVergne Antioch Cane Ridge McGavock John Overton 5-6A (6) Station Camp Hendersonville Lebanon Mt. Juliet Wilson Central Rossview 6-6A (6) Brentwood Centennial Independence Franklin Ravenwood Dickson Co. 7-6A (5) Arlington Bartlett Germantown Houston Collierville 8-6A (4) White Station Whitehaven Memphis Central Cordova *Alternatively, if there were concerns about an imbalance between East (Reg 1-4) & West (Reg 5-8) Blackman (or maybe Siegel) could be moved from Reg 3 to Reg 4 while Reg 4 loses McGavock to Reg 5 and Overton to Reg 6. That evens the numbers out a bit, but you've then split the Davidson Co schools between not just 2, but 3 different regions. I wouldn't think they'd want to do that, but who knows with those folks.

Merely players celebrating a beloved coach's birthday, a coach who has stared down cancer.

MLK Prep reappears today -- and with a new enrollment figure of 641. I think all schools are now accounted for.

Enrollment numbers are being used for classification in all sports, not just football. So the list on the TSAA's site includes all high schools statewide -- except for some reason MLK Prep in Memphis.

Does anyone know what's up with MLK Prep in Memphis? It's no longer on the list. A few days ago only Fayette-Ware and MLK Prep had not reported a figure according to the TSSAA's site. Then Fayette-Ware's number was posted and MLK Prep vanished (not to be confused with MLK in Nashville, a non-football school which is on the list with an updated enrollment).

Unless something has changed, the multiplier can only bump a school up one class level. If that still holds true and Catholic manages to remain in D1, it would place them in 4A.

District 3's championship is at 7:30 on Tuesday. But even if it weren't, I can't imagine either of these coaches allowing such a thing to occur.

I've not seen these teams play one another this season, but the big key in my mind is how Heritage handles WB's ball pressure. Handle it with composure and the Lady Mountaineers can get easy scoring opportunities and/or play the game at their preferred pace; turn it over and it's the Lady Governors who dictate pace, create possessions, and get the easy looks. Heritage led by 10 at halftime vs. Maryville. I think they need that kind of 1st half again to give themselves an opportunity. Regarding HVA and Bearden, I'll be surprised if it's not nip and tuck. If that's the case, free throw shooting will be big as will avoiding any costly late turnovers. Boys semifinal games tonight should be exciting too (Heritage vs. Maryville at 7:30 and Bearden vs. Farragut at 9:00). Looking forward to an entertaining afternoon/evening of high school hoops. Best wishes to all the semi-finalists as they move on to the Region.

HTV, Thanks for your thoughts and insights on this unfortunate situation. I hope for all involved it doesn't drag out unnecessarily. Wanted to say too that I saw and appreciated the comment you directed to me on a football playoff thread (thought it best not to respond at that time). Your commitment to this area's high school student athletes over the years is admirable, and I'm proud to say we shared a broadcast booth back in the early days of radio! Hope you and your family are well and that our paths cross this basketball postseason.

I’ll tell you, Barney, as a longtime high school sports enthusiast I do typically read a few times a week but couldn’t say if others in similar positions do. I don’t post often and probably shouldn’t have in this instance. Thank you, Rebel Woman, for clarifying (and I’m sorry if I read into something that wasn’t there – though I guess that means we have one less listener) and thanks also, Pep Vol, for your comment. Make no mistake, in what little I have seen of the Eagles, I am very impressed with Rhea. The playback is available on Livestream. If someone can find where Rhea was (in full context) slighted, I’ll be glad to own it. But being confident in what was actually uttered and, furthermore, knowing with certainty what was intended, I can assure you it’s a fruitless search. Having said that: search on, thank you for listening, please continue to tune in, best wishes to the team you support, and being an important game day . . . Go Vols!

Are you kidding me? I'm the "Farragut radio guy" and in all my years covering a number of schools I've never, and will never, call an upcoming opponent "not impressive." In fact we gushed over Coach Pemberton's success, how well Rhea runs his system, and how sound and well prepared the team appears on film (always in position, balanced, etc.). I don't know if you somehow misunderstood a comment, heard what you wanted to hear, or if you're just trying to get a rise out of your team and your community. We probably spent 10 minutes in the postgame show talking up Rhea County both to the Farragut players we interviewed and on our own during a brief preview of next week's game. Trying here to give you the benefit of the doubt, but I know what was said and know too how sincerely it was stated, as off the air while breaking down equipment we were still commenting on how Farragut will have to bring its A game next week. As for Rebel Woman, if she's knows the "source", I guess I should say thanks for tuning in regularly, because I don't believe she knows me personally. And to all the Rhea County folks, you are so blessed to have one of the finest men I know working with your football and basketball players. I love Pete Billingsley and look forward to being able to catch up with him if only for a few minutes next Friday. I'm sure Rhea will bring a big crowd for next week's game. Safe travels.

Grace Christian

More on these players, who compete in Class 5A, beginning with Farragut defensive end/ tight end Cole Strange (SR). Oak Ridge head coach Joe Gaddis (in his 33rd season as a head coach) had this to say about FHS defensive end Cole Strange in the Knoxville News-Sentinel: “He’s special. He’s the best defender we’ve faced this year, and one of the best defenders I’ve coached against in my career.†Cole’s dominance at defensive end is all the more remarkable when one considers it’s his first season at the position. Last year, as a linebacker, Cole was Farragut’s leading tackler with 101 hits in 9 games. Regarding Farragut RB Tanner Thomas (SR), in addition to having nearly 4,700 career rushing yards, Tanner has scored 58 career rushing touchdowns. In 29 of his 30 career starts Tanner has rushed for at least 100 yards. His current streak of 14 consecutive 100-yard games is tied for 6th longest in state history. An earlier 15-game streak is the 5th longest in Tennessee history. Tanner is currently committed to the Ivy League’s Columbia University. I should also mention Farragut kicker Carter Phillipy (SR). Carter is 7 of 10 on field goals this season with a long of 50. For his career he’s 22 of 29 with a pair of 50 yarders. On extra points Carter is 114 of 115 for his career, his lone miss (blocked) coming during his sophomore season. Since then Carter has hit 90 consecutive extra points (44/44 this season), the 2nd longest streak in state history according to the TSSAA State Records page. This year 45 of Carter’s 49 kickoffs have resulted in touchbacks. All 3 of these Farragut players excel in the classroom and are leaders in every sense for their team.

Saw some food mentions a few pages back. I highly recommend Scratch Brick Oven Pizza ( http://scratchbrickoven.com/ ). They have some beverages in house or you can bring your own. Expect a somewhat bohemian atmosphere.

Thanks Former44. Great info.

I'm almost positive the current helmet was adopted the season after I graduated, which would have been 1988. I know for certain that the blue helmet with the grey star was worn in 1987. I was a youngster playing cup ball on the hill west of the home stands during that '81 season. I thought those guys hung the moon! With the rest, getting back into the 70's and earlier, I'm trusting other people's memories. In Clyde's Farragut Football Retrospective he notes the first star on the helmet for the '77 season and the first star on a jersey (based on the Ole Miss uniforms) in 1966. Sounds like you have pretty specific and different recall. Interesting the changes and how folks are usually partial to, and remember clearly, what they knew at a certain age. Using myself as an example, I've never been kicked off with the red in the baseball cap; I don't understand where that came from. These things -- changes and inability to understand -- happen with age! Good win tonight for Farragut.

adalum is right about the first year with the star on the helmet; it was '77 which was Coach Sparks first year at Farragut (Coach Courtney's 1st year, too, on the FHS staff) and the last year playing over on the south side of Kingston Pike. For the Oak Ridge game at the old stadium that year, foreshadowing a similar event that would take place during the Farragut/ Oak Ridge game 20 years later at Blankenship, half the lights were out on the visitor's side the entire night. By the way, the Admirals only loss in that '77 season was to Oak Ridge (21-6 in the schools' first-ever meeting on the gridiron), but that was enough to keep them out of the playoffs. (Thanks to Clyde Floyd for documenting so much of the Farragut football program's history.) As for the star, it's a common navy/nautical symbol (e.g. Commodores). So Bill Bates had already worn the star (albeit a gray star on a navy helmet) for a couple of seasons before making his impactful impression with the Cowboys a few years later. Tyler is as fine a person as you could ever hope to meet. He landed a high school teaching and coaching gig a few years ago, so his Friday's -- and every other day in the fall, come to think of it -- became a lot busier than they were during his time providing truly colorful commentary.

BOYS Quarterfinals #1 Oak Ridge 81, #4 Lenoir City 37 #3 Halls @ #2 Heritage (Friday 6:30?) #3 Maryville @ #2 Karns (Friday 4:30?) #4 Central @ #1 Bearden (Friday 7:00?) My understanding is that the Boys semifinals should be at Oak Ridge. GIRLS Quarterfinals #4 William Blount @ #1 Halls (Friday 2:00?) #2 Farragut 57, #3 Oak Ridge 17 #3 Maryville 55, #2 Powell 41 #1 Bearden 68, #4 Anderson Co. 32 My understanding is that the Girls semifinals would be at Halls if Halls defeats William Blount. A William Blount victory would result in the semis being at Bearden.

Area boys teams still have plenty of time to get their games in. I'm sure getting referees from Upper East TN either A.) in for earlier-than-usual girls games or B.) out ahead of bad weather following boys games was challenging. The questions I have: - On the boys side of things, with the Bearden girls hosting Anderson Co. very early and with officials already on hand, why didn't Bearden and Central play their boys quarterfinal immediately after as was seemingly intended earlier in the day? - On the girls side of things, why didn't the William Blount at Halls game happen? Were there no referees to be found? A team is likely to have to play 2 games in a day now as a result.