KP9481

Let's take a look at this statement, shall we? "If a Melrose player is timed at running the 40 in under 4.4 then he gets gold cleats. About 7 players had gold cleats, including 2 linebackers. The speed at which Melrose plays is unbelieveable. I think I tore an ACL just watching the cuts their running back made. " Seven Melrose players run the 40 yard dash UNDER 4.4 seconds. Sorry. I find that very hard to believe. Who timed them? What method was used? Was their best time clocked and taken as a given or was an average of several times used? How reliable was the timing device? What were the wind conditions and altitude? What was the running surface? Was the coach certified to do the test? There are standards that have to be applied to these tests -- like what are used at NFL tryout camps -- that legitimize the results. Don't get me wrong. the gold painted cleats signif one heck of a good athlete and likely the fastest kids on the team. Your Quarterback (Antonio Heffner?) had on a pair of these last year in the semi-final game and he deserved to be singled out for his qb abilities alone. I don't think you realize how few athletes in the WORLD legitimately run the 40 y/d in under 4.4 seconds. We're talking Olympic caliber sprinters. Seven of these guys don't go to Melrose HS, either. Sorry. Hillsboro 9 Melrose 6

Beat Melrose before the Burros have to host the West Region winner and I'll be happy.

Stan Trott Here's the unequivocal way to determine if time did indeed expire before the snap. Have a sound engineer run the game tape with full audio, locate the sound of when the HORN sounded -- not the time on the blasted clock. The horn sounding off is the official expiration of play! Remember what was done with the Zapruder film; they heard the cops radio (with mic on) record a gunshot! Did TSSAA get a sound engineer for their final determination?

4A--Hillsboro After two near misses, nobody else really matters.

Forty years after the grassy knoll, "magic bullet theory" and Zapruder film. Conspiracy pundits are having fun with this one, too.

But how many VU signess regardless of wehre tehy come from -- are legitimate Div. 1-a talent? The 'dores only have a few a yearat most that they "steal away", hence their constant losing seasons. As unstable as VU's athletic program is now, I'd advise my kid to play elsewhere (DIV. 1A).

I agree in part to your assessment of the Tennessean's HS coverage. They do tend to cover winning teams' games, however they more often pick games that are likely to also be competitive. Hillsboro is a winner 90% of the time but more often than not (this year in particular) the Burros have far outmatched their opponents but earned scant coverage. The final scores reflected their projections. Since the newspaper has limited writers, teams that feel they are still being left out can offer to provide a "stringer" to report their game(s) for the Sports desk. That's one way to get more coverage.

Interesting. Pearl-Cohn would be a tougher game any year but we always alternate with those bohemoths. Other than PC the rest are gimmes, including -- with all due respect -- Hillwood. Hillsboro 54 Tullahoma 10

Last year we had to travel to White County and Tullahoma. Again this year we have to play these two away. What gives?

Congrats to LC on a decent record so far this year. I remember when we traveled to LC a few years ago and desppite a lopsided burro victory the fans and players / coaches were good sports. Tonite could be closer than some think -- but the burros will prevail. Look at it as having the privilge of playing against one of the best 4A teams around.

murvilrebs What are you tired of, finally getting some stiff comp and it has to be in the state finals? Or do you think Melrose has prettier uniforms?

Jeez, we lose to Maryville twice and it's already a curse? Heck, that matchup hasn't even become a bother yet, much less a habit. We had room in our trophy case for silver footballs anyway. As for Melrose, my guess is they still don't have a kicker who can get a PAT, so the odds are most 2-point conversions fail anyway. M-East had the same problem the year before, and probably still do. And whomever from the west gets the nod has to travel to Middle TN. With that said, this should be the most interesting early rounds of the playoffs for the burros in some time. BTW--Melrose's qb, Antonio Hefner is the real deal. The kid's a high school prototype of Michael Vick.

Calvin "Fridge" Bryant is a senior at Hillsboro. 5'-11", 260 pounds. I think he clean jerks the junkers at driver's ed for fun. When fridge gets a head of steam he's tuff to stop, often dropping would-be tacklers like so many wet noodles. He had better O-line blocks last year with all seniors paving the way, which is why his numbers are off this year. He's a great kid, though and will go 1-A next year.

Take a poll here, jerk-o. If you bother you'll find most people on these boards are alumni of the high schools they talk about. And the so-called "35 year olds" you think are out of their element are often the ones you'll see attend all the games (even for teams that don't win much); drive their kids to and from practices and games; support the boosters; take tickets at the gate; run the concessions; report on the games to the media; not to mention referee and coach the games. And if you can't see the humor in my posts, well who cares? And it ain't trash talking when you back it up. Burro's 42 Hillwood 10

Being associated with a successful program (GO BURROS!!!) it kinda goes with the territory. That is, success often breeds copious amounts of arrogance v. contempt. Be it a person, place or thing we usually have human nature wanting an antagonist and protagonist to keep things intgeresting.

nopers. middle tenneshoe, circa '90.

dapig: That was funny and quite original.

If it looks like a duck and quacks like a duck... Well, for several years we have beat the crap out of hillwood. not always the case with pearl cohn, overton and a few others -- namely the memphis teams and -- ahem, our pals from maryville were the stiff comp but that's another story.

okay throw in the band and cheerleaders.

Pearl Cohn was all the wake-up call the burros will need this year. Congrats on the perfect record and all but the only team they have beaten with a wining record is columbia-- and barely at that. We beat a mighty tuff 5A Antioch squad. So bring your 25 fans and prepare to get your medicine hilltoppers.

Case in point. For strength in schedule Hillsboro is ranked 29th and Maryville 59th out of 61 total teams measured in all state classifications. For schedule + success rank Maryville is 9th and Hillsboro is 12th. Seems these two systems should mirror each other more than that -- am I missing something? How can these two teams be ranked in at the top in state AAAA polls but not fare any better in these others polls?

I can't remember when Hillwood had a record like this: was dutch president? We'll see how good the 'tops are in a few weeks when they come over and play with my Burros. YES. BEAT US. THEN YOU'LL HAVE SOMPTIN' TO WRITE HOME 'BOUT.

I'd say a couple things happened. Going into week one, Hillsboro was not near as good as most thought they would be. Mentally some of their kids prob. thought all they had to do was "show up". But Jimminy, the burros graduated 21 seniors from the state finalist team last year! Pretty much their entire OFF / DEF line was new kids. Bryant, Doss, Merritt and Tibbs did not have the gaping holes to run through like last year. New kicker / punter, long snapper. Terrible punt and k/o returns team. Horrid mental mistakes and lack of senior leadership -- especially at QB. AFTER A YEAR W/O PLAYING BALL, WALTER FISHER DID NOT LIVE UP TO THE HYPE. And there is more... but as a result... Pearl Cohn was not that good after having beat Hillsboro. With dang near kitchen appliance-sized kids on the line, they controlled the line of scrimmage. They also forced key turnovers and made some other big plays resulting in + /- points. Made very few mistakes. Their kids were pumped up for this game the whole way, no doubt. All in all, Pearl Cohn gave a Hillsboro the wake they needed close to home. They shouldn't have to wait till the playoffs for some good comp. This time they didn't. Heck, just when the burros are feeling good again here come the bears. I fully expect Antioch to be tough to beat Friday.

There were some shocked people all around last Friday night at Pearl Cohn -- and not because a mini riot broke out in the parking lot afterwards (with complimentary gunfire to boot). No, it was Hillsboro's proud 3-year football reputation appearing in dangerous peril of being flushed down the proverbial commode that did it. A seemingly close 32-22 score did not do justice to this game. Sans an opening play punt return for a Burros TD, it was a green and gold train wreck all the way. Burros In Trouble: We need our experienced offensive and defensive lines back. The Burros basically graduated its best line ever with a group of 3-year starters last year. Amazing how little credit a great line can get while they're playing out there (now we know) while undue credit goes to the backs who may have thought they were better than they really are (now we know). The Burros have some major shoring up and blocking drills to perfect with their line personnel if they hope to make it deep in the playoffs. The QB question: Brad Doss is a senior with one year as a starter. Without a vastly improved line for the rest of the year, Doss will continue to panic in the backfield and his running backs will have little time to get going, much less have the holes they were used to running through with ease last year. While under extreme pressure, Brad's playmaking ability and judgement are scary to say the least. He's gotta learn when to eat it, throw it away and scramble for dear life. Oops, first we need a relaible center to QB exchange. Senior Leadership-- The Burros graduated 21 seniors last year. Okay, bad enough. Even though we've been lucky to pick up a few big, athletic senior transfers it will not make up the fact they have not played on a Hillsboro team before. Time for Fisher, Bryant, Doss, Tibbs and the others to show what they are made of. Special teams and Kicking game: Really scary. With graduate Elliott Holt last year we had 90-percent of his kickoffs go into the endzone unreturned, guaranteeing prime field possession. Elliiott was equally reliable as a punter and was a lock for FG's inside 45 yards. This year's team isn't starting its backup kicker form last year. We have a converted soccer player doing the kicking duty. He can handle extra points okay, but hardly kicks off past the 20. Graduate Chris Russell was a leader in the kickoff and punt return teams. Our guys this year are afraid to catch the balls in the first place -- much less run with it at all. The rest of the season: unfortunately Hillsboro won't have another test the likes of Pearl Cohn until the playoffs. And they are the one to beat. Glad at least this wasn't a region loss but, heck at this point I'm not taking teams like Shelbyville and Tullahoma for granted, either. I heard the Burros practice yesterday was a real killer and the rest of this week promised to be no different. Aydelott (like so many of us) HATES to lose; especially so early in a year the Burros thought could finally reach Gold status. Go Burros; learn from Week one and Move on!!!

Couldn't resist commenting here. How Blake Fulton has a job -- any job-- in this town -- or any town -- pretty much dumbfounds me. Everyone I've run into where the WTN fiasco comes up that know him can not get far enough away from the guy. Being a 'tattle tale' and 'pot stirrer' puts it mildly. Personally? I "met" Fulton after the Hillsboro / Overton comcast game last year and, w/o going into the details was very unimpressed. For as they say, nothing lasts like a first impression.