CHARGERFAN

Kickoff is just over 30 minutes away.

But, on the other hand, if Sheffield wins, we would have to travel to their place and there would be a matchup of MR. football candidates Radarious Jackson and Skylan Smith. That would be of interest.

Well, if Covington wins tonight, the outcome of Ripley @ Sheffield is important to us. A Ripley win would have them them playing at Covington next week.

But, if they only had two or three schools, they would be so large that they would be in 6A. And, if Memphis did that, so would Nashville, Knoxville, and Chattanooga. I think that some of the 3A schools in Memphis now have the talent to be really good if they had booster groups to provide extra funding, weight training facilities and year-round coaching staffs to man them, etc. Logistically, it would be a huge problem to consolidate to 2 or 3 public high schools in Memphis. The closest we actually see to what you describe is the largest private schools in these cites. Schools like MUS, Ensworth, Lipscomb Academy, etc. can recruit and pull together the “best” athletic talent in a city. That’s why the TSSAA was forced to break out the privates into separate classifications. Letting them “cherry pick” the best talent in Memphis, provide these players with scholarships, etc., gave them a totally unfair advantage over public schools.

Weather at kickoff - clear and 54 degrees, cooling to the high 40’s by the end of the game. Bring a blanket and come see some playoff football!

Here is my disclaimer: I don’t know who any of you posters are on this board, aside from @stacmot, who I do know, and @ManOfMillions, who I have met. I personally try to speak to other posters the way that I would like to be spoken to. It’s called “The Golden Rule”. Because of my own upbringing, I will not be snarky or cut somebody down. Sometimes it’s hard not to jump in with both feet, but I’m gonna zip my lip.

Well, it’s a fairly recent development that Memphis media considers our Tipton County schools as “local”. I think that corresponded to Munford /Atoka becoming a significant bedroom community for Memphis. The Daily Memphian publishes weekly stats for local players. They have been tracking these two guys in their stats all year. I assume that if you ask John Varlas directly, he’s going to tell you that Dyersburg is not in their “area”. It’s what newspapers do. I quit my on-line subscription to the Jackson Sun because they don’t consider Covington as a “local” school to them. They pick some list of top ten or top twelve football teams, but they ignore Tipton County schools just like they ignore Memphis. You can discuss directly with John Varlas if you find his e-mail online. I just posted what the paper had. Don’t shoot the messenger.

The Daily Memphian has this info on the two local candidates: https://dailymemphian.com/section/sportshigh-school-sports/article/39590/tennessee-titans-memphis-mr-football-semifinalists-2023 Two players were also named in Class 3A. Running back Skylan Smith led Covington to an 8-2 season and led the area in rushing, with 1,703 yards. The junior had 27 touchdowns on the ground and added four more receiving and two on kickoff returns and will look to add to his totals against visiting Hamilton on Friday. Radarious Jackson, meanwhile, has done a little bit of everything for Sheffield, which hosts Ripley at Kirby Friday. The junior caught 30 passes for 682 yards and 13 touchdowns, ran 51 times for 629 yards with eight scores and completed 11 of 17 passes for 302 yards and seven TDs. If that wasn’t enough, Jackson picked off eight passes — taking three to the house — and scored once on a punt return.

Here are the semi-finalists for Mr. Football in 3A https://www.commercialappeal.com/story/sports/high-school/2023/11/02/tssaa-mr-football-semifinalists-named-2023-tennessee-high-school-football-award/71420792007/ CLASS 3A Kalen Edwards, Dyersburg Radarious Jackson, Sheffield Skylan Smith, Covington Whittman Whaley, Gatlinburg-Pittman Brandon Winton, Jr., Alcoa

Massey predicts Crockett Co. 34 Millington 22

The Covington Leader said this about the game: What: Covington (8-2) vs. Hamilton (6-4) in the first round of the Class 3A state playoffs When: Friday at 7 p.m. Where: Covington Players to watch: QB Braden Gover, RB Skylan Smith, RB Azarion Harris, WR Aden Deverell Key storylines: This is Covington’s ninth straight state playoff appearance and 13th in the last 14 seasons. That’s a stat few programs in the state can match … Skylan Smith is the latest in a long line of Covington running backs to put up huge seasons. The junior has 1,703 yards and 27 touchdowns and is averaging a whopping 8.7 yards per carry. What’s next: The winner faces Ripley or Sheffield in round two next week.

You wouldn’t know that from reading this thread, would you? Still, they did take down my Covington team 24-0 this year. Can there be a rematch in the playoffs? We will see.

Yeah, it’s a different world these days. The games with Milan and SGC were always competitive, and really did prepare our Region 7-3A teams for the playoffs.

You guys ought to get a room.

So, recalling the Dyersburg 24-0 win over Covington in the third game of the season. I thought the game was pretty even in the first half until Covington roughed your punter. The Trojans then drove the length of the field and kicked a field goal to go up 3-0 at the half. The second half was all Dyersburg, and from my point of view, y’all changed your offense and took it to us with the passing game. Our freshmen and sophomore DB’s either gave up pass plays, or big scrambles by the QB. So, my question is whether Trowbridge was the QB we faced that night? If so, y’all may miss him a lot.

Thanks @ManOfMillions and @stacmot for the replies. I skimmed through the video of Hamilton @ SGC. I also found a video of Sheffield vs. Hamilton highlights. It looked like Hamilton runs the spread from shotgun formation. Against SGC their center snapped the ball on the ground a few times. They appear to be primarily a passing team, with some QB draws thrown in. They did have a couple of successful running plays. No. 1 (McKinney) scored on a 60 yd run against SGC. The announcer billed the Sheffield game as a battle between Sheffield’s star ( Jackson, a Mr. Football candidate with P5 offers) and Hamilton’s McKinney. That game was won by Sheffield 44-38. McKinney had a KO return for a TD, among other highlights. On defense, Hamilton had a good pass rush and pretty solid pass coverage by their DB’s. Their run defense did not impress me. I have a feeling that unless they have a run defense they didn’t show in those videos, Covington’s rushing attack will do pretty well in this game Friday night.

Covington will host Hamilton this week to open the playoff season. Not knowing much about Hamilton, I have dug up their season schedule. Here is their record: Overall record 6-4 Region record 5-2 Home 4-1 Away 2-3 Booker T Washington W 32-18 @ South Gibson L 42-22 @ Wooddale W 42-12 Sheffield L 44-38 Memphis East W 30-22 @ Bolton L 32-6 @ Melrose L 34-0 Raleigh-Egypt W 20-13 Douglas W 36-0 Lakeland Prep W 32-6 So, they come into the playoffs having won three games in a row. I would be interested to see comments from people who have seen them play. What kind of offense do they run? Where is their best talent? Since they played South Gibson County, maybe Man of Millions has some comments.

Dyersburg has been the dominant team all season in 7-3A. What about the QB injury? Are the Trojans gonna be at 100% going into the playoffs? it has looked like their year. Can they close the deal?

Now that the brackets are set, let’s look at Massey’s prediction for each of the four games between 7-3A and 8-3A: Memphis East @ Dyersburg - Dyersburg wins 41-6 Hamilton @ Covington - Covington wins 42-6 Westview @ Bolton - Westview wins 42-12 Ripley @ Sheffield - Ripley wins 35-21 The Massey predictions are solidly in favor of a sweep by Region 7-3A. That agrees with my gut feel, but we will see how the actual games turn out. If the sweep does happen, then week 2 will find Dyersburg hosting Westview and Covington hosting Ripley.

Congrats to my neighbors - The Tomcats. Region champs and ready to enter the playoffs. Hope y’all can go all the way to Choo Choo city.

I agree on the possible sweep, as I had posted in another thread. I don’t see any of the Region 7-3A teams losing in the first round. If that is true, then we are set up to battle each other in rounds 2 and 3.

Since Covington played last night, I was thinking of heading to Brownsville tonight for this game. But, it looks like rain and I like the Haywood radio crew on FM 95.3, so I’ve decided to stay home and listen to the game on radio. Have a great game, Tomcats.

Covington dominated with their rushing attack, while somewhat controlling the Westview passing game, and totally shutting down their run game. passing CHS: 113 yds 1 td MW: 213 yds 3 td 1 interception rushing CHS: 44 for 288 yds 5 tds MW: 19 for 38 Skylan Smith added to his stats as a Mr. Football candidate 23 rushes 167 yds 3 tds 2 passes caught 83 yds 1 td

So, the final standings in Region 7-3A are 1. Dyersburg 2. Covington 3. Westview 4. Ripley In our opposing region we have to wait for tonight’s game for the final line-up. Right now it’s 1. Sheffield 2. Bolton 3. Hamilton 4. Winner of East vs. Raleigh-Egypt The big question is whether 7-3A can sweep 8-3A. I think it’s probable.

Oh, I hate to hear that. I know injuries are part of the game, but you hate it for the kid.