PowerSet

When & if the schools merge.....Don't be surprised if Union City creates a private school and keeps the students they want and lets the county have the rest. There are more than enough people in Union City with the recources to make that happen. Some of them would do whatever it would take to keep their kids from having to associate with the county kids. The private school would draw kids from UC, Obion County, Martin, Dyer County, Gibson County, and other areas. Then, if the school is DI, they can hand pick the athletes and dominate rural NW Tennessee. If it is DII, it would still compete with and beat most small DII schools. Its a win/win situation for Union City. As was said earlier, the county would pay for the education of the city kids and the county would have to take up payments for the new school in UC. All this while the "in kids" get a private education. The rich get richer, and ............

Easy with the "Powerhouse" talk. The talent is there. Will they be good? Absolutely. Great? Possibly. But, the Powerhouse talk has to be proven and is a little premature. Best of luck to whoever is the next coach, and good luck to Spencer wherever he may go. Go Rebels!

Just so you know, Westview and Obion Co do play tough non-district competition. This year, Westview played Harpeth Hall (27-5), USJ (29-5), Chester Co (26-9), and Dyersburg (19-11). All of those made it to at least Sub-State. HH played in the Div II State Championship. Westview also played in a Tournament in Oxford MS, and one in South Carolina. Obion County played Bolton (21-10), Livingston Academy (37-2 AA State Champs), Oliver Springs (32-6), and Dyersburg (19-11). They also played Metropolis, IL who regularly goes deep into the IHSA tournaments. Both of these are in addition to the others in 13AA (Gibson Co & Crockett Co, both state tournament participants this year.) Im not saying that 13AA is superior, but to say that we don't play any outside competition makes you sound like you need to get your racket re-strung.

I would bet that some of the local colleges (UT Martin in the West; TN Tech in the East) would be willing to host such an event. It would be great opportunity for the colleges to see talent that might be overlooked on recruiting lists. Universities are always looking for Community relations ideas. They could keep concessions and a cut of the gate. Everyone would get a piece of the pie and that would make them all happy. Just a suggestion. Im all for it.

Obion Co will scrimmage Crockett Co next Thursday or Friday, February 26 or 27 in Alamo. Not sure what time. The scrimmage will be on Thursday, unless the weather is bad, in which case it will be played on Friday.

Not tuochy, just repetitive. I told WesCharge the same thing after the game. I guess he had his head in the puke bag. j/k WesCharge Go 13AA

Large & Small dividions only exist in Middle & East TN. West Tennessee only has a large division. http://www.tssaa.org/MiddleSchool/home.htm Scroll down to TMSAA AREAS & SECTIONS. We have no choice but to play in the large division. I hardly consider a K-8 school with 375 students (95 students in 7th & 8th grade) a large school. Our school does feed a AA high school. There also happen to be 4 other feeder schools (we are by far the smallest, by almost half) for the high school, and the HS draws students from a near-by citiy that has its own school district. Why are the rules different for West Tennessee??

It wasn't kneel down mode. With over two minutes to go and 3rd down on the OC 9 yard line, a kneel down would have brought up 4th and 20 at the 7. The punter would have been in his own endzone. A block and subsequent TD by Westview could have resulted in a 3 point game. A successful onside attempt and the Chargers have 1 1/2 minutes to go 25 yards to get West into FG range. I know that is all irrelevant now, but at the time there were too many variables to chance a blocked punt. Think what you want, but the game was still undecided considering field position. And, it wasn't a kneel-down formation. It was the same formation OC had been in all night long.

Dyersburg won. I'm not sure about the score, but I do know that DMS was victorious.

If the TMSAA is going to FORCE me to play in a district, they had better do a better job classifying us. If we are going to play a schedule based solely on location, I'll save the $300 a year (which we pay) and schedule my own games (like I do now). TSSAA doesnt put 5A schools in a 1A district because of geography. TMSAA had better not either (like they do now). The current alignment is inconsistent. We play in a district with a school 62 miles away. There are four other TMSAA schools within 25 miles in another district, three of them being 20 minute drives. As far as there being large and small classifications, they're not in West Tennessee. There is only one tournament, regardless of size. This should be changed. TSSAA reclassifies when enrollments change, why not TMSAA? TMSAA does have its good points, such as the catastrophic insurance, but in other areas, there is room for some much needed improvement.

I have to disagree to an extent. My school is a part of TMSAA. We play the games and participate in the tournament. Our entire school enrollment (K-8th) is less than 375 students. We are also a rural school. Two of the schools in our district have enrollments (6th-8th) of almost 1000 students. They are located in cities of about 15,000 people. More people means more athletes, usually. Our typical starting line-up (boys) usually has no one over 6 feet tall. Of course, there are exceptions. These bigger 6th-8th schools seem to have half a dozen 6'2-6'5 players. They are usually quicker, more athletic, and physically superior to our boys. If we press, then the bigger teams can throw over the press and shoot lay-ups. If they press us, we usually cannot pass over them b/c of their height and/or quickness. Even if we block out, rebound opportunities are limited. And heaven forbid we try to drive into the lane. People in the stands are in danger of our shots getting thrown at them. We could have the best coach in the nation and practice 24/7 and still not beat them most of the time, despite the lack of trying or hustle or work. Some of this is exaggerated, almost comically. But, realistically, only every 6-7 years do we have a team that can compete with the bigger schools. We get no better by losing by 30-40 points per game. In 7 years of TMSAA membership, our boys have never beaten one of these bigger schools. We will probably stay in TMSAA, but might consider playing in the TNT just to play against people our own size (both player size and school size)just to give our kids a chance. When the kids get to high school, then the playing field is usually more level. TSSAA schools are grouped by size (except for privates, but that is another time and another place). TMSAA has no such distinction. Maybe if there was a way to group TMSAA schools by size, it would be different. As much as I hate to lose, winning isnt everything. Making junior high sports fun is the goal we should all be striving for. Isn't it???

I dont know that there is a HUGE gap between OC and Westview. I'll agree that Westview is the better team. But, the Lady Rebels are more than capable of beating the Lady Chargers. Am I calling an upset in the tournament?? Absolutely not. Am I saying that OC is better than you are giving them credit for?? Absolutely. Anyway, it doesn't matter whose record is what now. Everyone is 0-0. Well, except for 27-0 Gibson Co. If they can make it through 13AA and the rest of the season undefeated, then they deserve to have their record displayed and keep it with them. Best of luck to all the teams in the 13AA tourney.

Crockett Co should be going out sometime this week. Obion Co and Crockett Co are supposed to scrimmage at the conclusion of spring drills. Don't know about others in the area.

Fluke or no fluke, a win is a win. Good job SF!!

And exactly why does Melrose deserve it?? In terms of pure talent, Melrose (and a few other Memphis teams) should win it all every year. Sometimes, however, it takes more than talent to go all the way. After playing for him for 3 years, I would say that Larry Shanks will have JCM's defense ready to play. I look for the game to go either way, and the team with the fewest turnovers wins.

Please don't judge all Obion County Fans by Rebelbabe51's comments. Those of us who know football would trade all the wins over the past 10 years for a win against Brighton last Friday night. Yeah, beating Covington was a big step in the right direction for the program, but it was hardly the high point of the season. We realize that Brighton came to play ball Friday night and basically took it to us. They deserve the credit for doing what they needed to do to win. Hats off to them. Good luck to all the teams still playing. By the Way- If OC and Covington had both won, the game would have been in Troy, not Covington. But, if IFs & BUTs were candy & nuts, we'd all have a Merry Christmas.

Dyer County, Huntingdon, and Humboldt all have pretty good freshman running backs. Obion Co has a freshman kicker, and Crockett Co has a freshman quarterback, and all of these kids have been impressive this year. We might have some pretty good talent in the coming years.

Mighty big words coming from a former LC principal's son.....and what is YOUR record against Obion County? Exactly. As far as State Championships, you should be proud of the 3 silver and 2 gold balls the Falcons have earned. Those were good teams. I actually saw LC's 94 team with Michael Crawford, Jewel Flowers, and the crew scrimmage OC. They beat our brains out, and were the 2nd best team I've seen, ever (behind Humboldt '95). You never saw OC fans on here (or anywhere for that matter) bashing Lake County while they were struggling. Coach Barger has things going in the right direction, and with the young talent he has, should make some noise in the next few years. We never complained or whined or berated Lake County when you went to the Clinic Bowl in 94 and we were at home. In fact, I was listening to the game against South Pittsburg on the radio and rooting for the Falcons. Wes, you must have played for Stallings; you seem to be in the same "class." By the way...has he always refused to shake hands after a loss or is this a new practice he has adopted while at Brighton? It was really funny to see him tuck his tail and head for the locker room while our boys and coaches were shaking hands after OC had beaten Brighton. That shows his kids a real sense of pride and class when he is too cowardly to face the opposing team. After the hand shaking was over, he came back out to the field to talk to his team. Was he ashamed of his players or something? That's what it looked like from our stands. Sounds like a great coach. This isn't aimed at Lake County as a whole or their fans; Coach Barger is a great coach, and should restore the Falcons proud tradition. Until we play each other in the future, we in Obion County will cheer on the Falcons as we always have. Go Rebels!

I never dreamed that Brighton would beat their #1. Brighton has a pretty good football team. When a team, lines up and comes straight at them (like Hillcrest did) , Brighton's defense is tough. Believe it or not, Hillcrest wasn't even the toughest team in 8AAA. Raleigh Egypt and Kingsbury were both better, but in the unpredictable Memphis season, both ended up losing crucial games they shouldn't have, thus giving Hillcrest the title. Raleigh Egypt proved that by taking Covington down to the wire. Either way, it says a little about the strength of 7AAA, at least this year.

Flagg really is special. He looks bigger than 225, but not at all fat. Rarely do you find a player with that size who can actually run. I think he will play linebacker at the next level, because as good as he is running the ball, he is even scarier tackling the person with it. Its good to hear that he is a good person as well. Too many players have a "me-first" attitude. He should do well in college

Just drop the # 4 seed from each region and take the top 3. Rarely do the #4 teams compete, whereas the #3 teams are usually decent. Leave the brackets like they are and give the #1 seed a first round bye. Its their reward for winning the region. It drops the teams from 32 to 24, and still gives us 5 rounds of games. It is 8 fewer games, so the T$$AA wont go for it, but it would make the playoffs a little more of an accomplishment, and it would eliminate most 1-9 or 2-8 teams. Just a thought.

Obion County's Wes Moore is 55-114 for 1156 yards and 7TD this year despite his team running the veer and him only throwing about 12 times per game. He has also rushed for 450 yards and 9 TD. After 2250 yards and 21 TD his sophomore year and 3200 yards and 36 TD his junior year, Wes in nearing 7000 yards and 70 TD passes for his career.

Its not that the rule is too harsh; its just that the TSSAA does not remain consistent. If a team like Gallatin has followed the rules and then TSSAA makes a mistake, then the team shouldn't be punished. If the team knowingly does wrong, then forfeiture is just. The TSSAA just needs to know their stuff from the beginning so that this nonsense stops.

Dyer Co's guard around was very similar to the fumblerooski. We also ran a play where one of our receivers would pretend to be confused and then the coaches and sideline would start yelling for him to get to the sideline, that we had too many players on the field. He would sprint toward the sideline before the ball was snapped, but when he got outside the DB, the center would snap the ball and the QB would hit the receiver going up the sideline. We called the play "Screw-up." That was appropriate because it never worked. And, this was obviously before the "illegal participation--12 men in the huddle" rule was in effect.

Dyer County used to run a "guard around" play that was basically like a reverse. They would either have a quick guard or put a back in at offensive guard for the play. When the ball was snapped, the offensive line would stalemate and the quarterback would put the ball on the ground beside the guard's foot before coming out from under center. Then the QB would fake a handoff, pass, or fake a fumble and while this had the defense's attention, the guard would pick up the ball and take off around the end, away from the QB's distraction. It was almost like a naked boot. You could count on them running it once or twice EVERY game. We actually practiced against the trick play in our weekly drills. It was dangerous, because it was really a fumble, but if the defense was napping, it could turn into a big play.