tandem

Nowhere near machine status yet. Lots of work to do at qb, both O and D line and secondary. They lost a starting corner from last year to Pearl Cohn. (Head-scratcher) Also lost their best returning D lineman from last year who chose not to play this year. If they can improve anywhere near as much as they did last year during the season, they should be in good shape come playoff time. I don’t know anything about Jax Northside, but I do know we will find out exactly where they stand after Henry Co comes to Shackle Island on Aug 31. I have faith in Coach Crabtree and his staff.

Beech ties Smyrna 1-1 best on best. Offense still trying to find itself. Revolving door at qb. D played decent.

Brentwood @ Beech Brentwood dominated the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball most of the night. They were simply bigger and more physical. Beech rotated a lot of kids at qb and there were a few bright spots there. A few too many drops, one cost them a td. Beech never got into much of a rhythm with their run game. Lots of work to do. Best on best: 2-0 Brentwood JV: 1-0 Beech Freshmen: 3-0 Beech.

So glad we’re getting close to football season. I’m hearing good things about the new staff in G-town.

Brentwood @ Beech 8/2

For what it’s worth, Sumner Co has not paid for any athletic field at Beech. Nor has it paid a penny for Beech’s field house. It also didn’t pay for Beech’s track.....oops, forgot, they don’t have a track. Every field, football included, is there because of the fund raising and hard work of parents and faculty at Beech. I’m in favor of turf at Beech. Not sure it will ever happen.

Glad to see Beech/HC will continue. Heard neither coach was real happy with the APSU thing.

I get it. Go get you another gold ball next week.

Beech loses 36, 87, 71, 70, 51 and 32. Everyone else is back. I have a feeling these two teams will do this again next year.

Things I love about going to Henry Co: Praters Taters! My new go-to in Paris The passion of the HC fans. It’s how Fri nights should be. The one thing I hated about going to Henry Co: The police siren and flashing blue lights in the student section what seemed like every other play. Y’all are loud enough without that cheesy extra The game was about what I expected, but I didn’t expect the Bucs to gift wrap it and hand it to the Patriots on a platter. One of the most fundamental parts of the game (center qb exchange) bit the Bucs in the butt again. As eers said, the fewest mistakes won. Eliminate the 5 or 6 misplayed snaps and I believe the outcome is different. Both teams only had one sustained drive all night. Congrats to HC. I’ll be rooting for you next week. Hope you bring the 5A trophy back to (sorta) Middle TN where it belongs.

As for predictions, I didn’t think Beech would beat Page or Hillsboro. So I clearly know nothing. What I do know is this group of youngsters has grown up quite a bit in the last few weeks. And the future is bright as this year’s freshman class may be the best Beech has seen in a while.

Summed up perfectly. Two great programs that do it the right way and know each other well.

Hurd ran for 451 that night, as I recall. I don't remember anybody from HC coming close to that.

Regarding mental toughness, there were a couple of games earlier this year where I thought our young guys were a little overwhelmed with the situation. However, I think those same kids have grown leaps and bounds over the last few weeks. One of the things I love most about high school football is to watch young men mature as their coaches pour into them and as they learn from players that have gone before them. Most of these starters stood on the sidelines or played some special teams last year as they watched a group of seniors carry the team all the way to Cookeville. That experience is priceless. And there is a talented group of freshmen that will be standing on the sidelines Friday night learning from these kids. When the system is right, as it is at Beech and HC, it's really cool to watch. To your point, will HC's kids be mentally tougher? Maybe, but this group from Beech has come a long way.

90% chance of rain in Paris Friday night. Who does that help/hurt?

The field at Overton was awful too for the Beech/Hillsboro game. Plus the play clocks weren’t operating. Teams deserve better than this when they make it to the quarter finals.

Hillsboro clearly had more size and over all athleticism. (Although Beech’s sophomore tailback, Jefferson, outran their entire defense on the game winning 50yd td run). Hillsboro was just very undisciplined all night (coaching) and must have had over 100 yards in penalties. Hillsboro’s sidelines looked in total chaos on their last drive. I really believe their players and coaches were in shock that Beech got up off the mat and took the lead from them when they had them down 19-6 in the fourth quarter. Hillsboro’s kicking game was a mess also. (Shocker) They had a muffed snap and several punts of less than 20 yds. Even the PA announcer sounded in shock when they hit their first PAT. I’ve never heard a PA guy say, “We got a kicker, ya’ll!!”

Heck, Beech is a winner in my book regardless of the outcome in Paris. Frankly, they were fortunate to beat Summit in the first round. But something seemed to click after that and they’ve played two of their best games of the season the last two weeks, particularly on defense. My guess is this coaching staff would’ve been happy with 6 or 7 wins and maybe a first round win with the inexperience this team had coming in. They will start somewhere around 16 underclassmen (6 sophomores) and give it their best shot. One thing these youngsters do have is the benefit of growing up in the Shackle Island community and knowing that this is what Beech football does-go deep in the playoffs. Much like the HC kids do I’m sure.

The guy last night wasn’t terrible, just annoying much of the time. There were times he thought he was doing a play by play on radio describing the play while it was happening. Yapped all night long until Beech made its comeback and then didn’t say a word when it was apparent Beech would win.

Heard a Hillsboro player got into an altercation with his head coach.

You hadn’t heard? The Bucs are now running the west coast offense. Slingin it all over the yard.

What an amazing job by Coach Crabtree and his staff. Replacing 18 starters from a year ago with mostly sophomores and juniors and still making it to the qt finals. Best game they’ve played all year. Picked up the win without completing a pass. D stepped up big to limit a good Page offense to 2 td’s.

“worry about beating Page”...wow, thanks for that little nugget of wisdom. It means so much coming from a guy whose team is 2-4 in the playoffs and hasn’t made it past the second round over the last 6 years. Please keep blessing us little 5A guys with your vast knowledge.

I was told that both Carter and Napper's college careers were shortened due to injuries. I don't know them personally, maybe you do, but to say they weren't "college ready" because of the system they ran in HS seems a bit of a stretch. They appeared to both be fairly successful there while they were healthy. As for Hurd, he was 440 yards away from becoming the all time leading rusher at UT in just 2.5 seasons when he chose to leave. Seems to me he picked up the college game fairly well. Crabtree's system also produced a three year starter for UT Martin at QB in Jarod Neal. Last year's qb at Beech, Nelson Smith, is the starting qb at Maryville as a true freshman. Somehow, they have overcome the handicap of having to play in Beech's offense.

3000+ yards rushing (state record), 2 thousand yard rushers.....I don't know, maybe if they had gone to another high school they would've played 4 years at the college programs they were a part of?