sportshooter

Don't think a middle school scrimmage has any bearing on this game.... poor analogy IMO.

Tuscola said because of the economy they cannot afford to make the trip and cancelled. Bowers won't be able to find another opponent this late in the game.

BGA elects to play up in DIIAA although they have enrollment for DIIA. Therefore, they play MBA, BA, Ensworth, McCallie, Baylor, and Father Ryan this year. I would put those schools on par with Franklin. The fact BGA tied Indy in their scrimmage gives them some hope of not being blown out by Franklin. BTW, I hate the Kibler kid broke his collar bone. He was looking to get a scholarship so hope that can still happen. This game provides a lot of excitement in the community opening week and hats off to Franklin for scheduling it. I have kids at both schools so will be interesting at my house.

BGA's last scrimmage took place last night vs. Independence. This was normal game conditions other than the whistle was blown before contact with the kick returners. BGA coaches stayed on the sidelines vs. being on the field with the players. Indy coaches called plays from the field. Point being this was as close to a real game as you will find in a scrimmage. The first teams played for three quarters and the score was 14-14. This is very encouraging for BGA as compared to their first two scrimmages vs. Giles and Blackman. There was a light rain most of the scrimmage and BGA's first team offense did not have a turnover. BGA has issues on defense. The D had trouble stopping Indy on third and long and gave up several long runs. I am concerned that BGA is too small at linebacker and safety to stop the run. Open field tackling has been poor. I hope the coaches will address this before next Friday's opener. Otherwise, I think it will be a long day vs. the two RB's at Franklin.

Don't know where you received info on BGA scrimmage but BGA and INDY tied 14-14 with first teams after 3 quarters. Second teams played the fourth quarter and that was a 7-7 tie. Indy scored a long TD on the last play of scrimmage when BGA had freshmen on defense. BGA has problems on defense. Secondary is very small and young. Once backs break into the secondary they don't seem to have any problem going all the way. That does not bode well for BGA vs. Ford and Lee.

All young QB's are going to make mistakes. Be glad it is in a meaningless scrimmage. I doubt Graham Nichols was perfect in his sophomore year. No reason for the poster to call this 15 year old kid out by name. Give him time.

The person who wrote this has no idea what they are talking about. I was at the scrimmage and BGA never made it to the red zone in the first scrimmage. Yes, many turnovers from the second and third team but not in the red zone. Franklin should have no trouble with a very young BGA team. Next year may be a different story.

The Wade kid is a sophomore.

I am a BGA parent and was at the scrimmage. The teams played for about 2 hours going down to third string. They took a long break for dinner and came back and scrimmaged another hour with just the first teams. Giles County had their way with BGA in the first scrimmage....28-0 or something like that. The second scrimmage was a 7-7 tie. Pictures of the scrimmage can be seen at www.bgapix.com. Giles looks to have the team to win it all this year with a great QB and fast, aggressive defense. Good luck.

Giles County looked good and has a stud at QB. Ole Miss is interested in him. Their defense kept 8 in the box and came after BGA. It was a mismatch in the first scrimmage. After a long break the teams came back and scrimmaged again for an hour simulating real game conditions with their number 1 teams. BGA looked like a different team in the second scrimmage and drove the field to tie it at 7-7 when the scrimmage ended. BGA is very young and made a lot of mistakes in the first scrimmage. I bet we see a lot of improvement in their next scrimmage at Blackman next Wednesday.

I saw the new stadium Saturday and it is awesome. Are they planning on adding visitor bleachers or will this be like BA with visitors and home on the same side of the field?

I think you are going to see Centennial overtake Franklin in the coming years due to rezoning. Many of the star athletes Franklin had in the last few years would have been at Centennial under the current zoning. Franklin has also lost some strong talent from Grassland who would be juniors and sophomores to Ensworth, BGA, and CPA i.e. Awahd, Genovese, Martin, and Thomson.

AP - Why do you keep saying Johnson iwill end up at Lincoln County? There is no way Lincoln County could pay him close to what he makes at BGA. I know he is from there but the economics would not make sense for him. If he left BGA, I think it would be to go to a higher paying job like an Ensworth or MBA. What Ensworth pays their coaches is unbelievable.

I heard they moved up because of baseball and coach Myers. Don't know if that is true just what I heard. It won't happen but my preference would be for BGA to play in DI with CPA.

I was really addressing the depth issue more than trying to make an excuse. I think BGA was competitive last year and will be as long as Johnson and U are there. You are correct - Ensworth is not much larger than BGA. I believe they still meet the enrollment requirements for DII AA and did not have to request to be moved up like BGA. Ricky Bowers is the master of attracting top athletes (notice I did not use the "R" word). Players like Tavarrus Jefferson Orleans Darkwar and Antonio Richardson can make a huge impact on a program. As for keeping the kids in school comment, BGA lost one of their best football players in the spring because he broke the honor code (had to do with receiving answers ahead of time on a test). This is a kid who started as a freshman and sophomore and was being looked at by some mid majors. He was a huge loss because he would have started at tight end and outside LB. BGA also lost a really good lineman to academics last season. In addition, they have lost two high potential players to Ensworth. One is Drew Parker whose brother starred on BGA's basketball team. He will be the no. 1 or 2 QB at Ensworth as a Junior this year and went to BGA until his freshman year. Then the little brother of Jamal Ramsey, BGA's starting QB last season, is transferring to Ensworth from BGA this year. He will be a freshman and is supposedly set to be a future star wide receiver.

BGA's depth is directly related to the size of the school. BGA has around 120 male students in 10th, 11th and 12th grades. Compare that to an MBA which has more than 300. BGA elected to play in a classification above their enrollment level and that is why they are no longer winning state championships like they did when they were in Division 1A or single A before the reclassification. BGA has great coaching and Johnson and his staff get the most out of the kids they have. If they can keep their kids in school, BGA should be able to compete for a state championship in two years as the current Sophomore and Freshman classes are physically bigger with some good athletes.

As it stands now you have Thomson starting at QB. He is a 6'2" 190 lb. sophomore. Sophomores Amos, Beathard, and a transfer from Blackman along with Tyler Campbell (who started at Springfield last year and will be a junior) are all battling for the starting job. Beathard is the grandson of Bobby Beathard who was the GM for the Redskins and Chargers. Thomson is headed to the Manning Passing Academy outside New Orleans today and also camped at University of Georgia where he worked with Mike Bobo and Football University in June where he worked with Jack Trudeau. The 7 on 7 starters were Bass (RB), Jordan Smith (WR), Josh Smith (WR), Wes Johnson (TE), Thoni (center), and I don't recall the other WR. Michael Moore was not there but will be starting in the backfield. Thomson went with the first team offense in the first game against Smyrna. Amos went with the first team in the second game and Campbell went with the first team against Independence. On defense you had the Smith brothers at corner, Kenny Bass and Michael Smith at safety, Johnson, Butler, and I think Meadows at LB.

BGA played in the 7 on 7 at Indy last night. I thought Independence looked really good. Their QB, Heckman, started his Sophomore and Junior and has a strong arm and good accuracy. Smyrna's starting defense was very physical and fast. BGA receivers had some trouble getting off the line of scrimmage against Smyrna's DB's and they were not getting a lot of separation. Kenny Bass looked good and made a really nice TD catch against Smyrna. First team Defense looked good but the second team was burned a lot. Young QB's have a lot of work to do. The Smith brothers are solid DB's and Jordan Smith made a really nice TD catch. White and Michael Smith made nice interceptions. Hopefully, there will be a lot of improvement in the next 7 on 7 at Lavergne next Tuesday. Looks like BGA's biggest concerns are depth at all positions and young, inexperienced QB's. There are five QB's battling for the starter role (four sophs and one junior who started at Springfield last year).