ghost

The TSSAA does decide the dates, region participants must agree and get TSSAA approval to move.

Once again the format is not terrible, it does put a lot of stress on smaller schools. This is my main concern the Region Tournament and the Sectionals are to close to each other. The TSSAA set Regions for Friday and Saturday that gives you no room for weather, because even with good weather a team could possibly lose 2 pitchers to be available for The sectionals on Wednesday. Give the Region Tournament the full week to play then everyone that makes the sectionals would be at full strength. Another concern is the financial concern, for the host school, a three man crew for 5 games plus mileage is over $1500 and TSSAA gets 18% off the top, most of the small schools will lose money hosting, not to mention paying book keeper, announcers, and gate workers. My suggestion would be Monday District #1's host first round games, Tuesday Winners play at higher seed or host year, losers same situation. Wednesday Losers bracket final. All teams have a full week rest before Sectionals.

Agree, the format is alright, but the region should have started Monday, this would give room to move games and adjust for weather. Also something that most have not thought of, lets say Saturday in the loser's bracket a team is in a do or die situation and their #1 pitcher throws 106 pitches to send his team to Sectionals. That pitcher will not be eligible until Thursday of the sectionals meaning his team would have to win 1 of 2 on Wednesday for that player to get back on the mound. The format is not bad but the timing of it is not good at all.

What is wrong with #2 for South Pitt? Is he injured?

I agree, that the play-offs need to be revised, but if all you look at is overall record that is not fair either. Gordonsville has struggled and has many injuries since the second game, but also look at their schedule there is only a handful of 1A teams in the state that could have had a much better record. A good 3A school, two top 3 2A schools, and 3 top 10 1A schools. There is not another school in 1A or 2A that has played that type of schedule, much less having between 8 to 9 injuries to key players for the majority of the season.

Scotts Hill: defending state champs and return the 1A Player of the Year Evan Russell. Lorreto: Returns their entire team, and they are loaded with arms with Weathers leading the charge. Columbia Academy: Are getting better and better each year. Coach Esteep does a phenomenal job. Jackson Christian: They are in the mix every year, should not change. Knoxville Grace: They have been a fixture in Murfreesboro the past few years with runner-up last year and state champs in 2015. Goodpasture: They are a staple in Murfreesboro, and return several good bats, pitching might be a concern. Gordonsville: Made it last year and return almost their entire team. East Robertson: They have the arms to break through this year, just need to find a way to break through. Boyd Buchanan: Missed it last year, but have been a main stay for many years, and they return a strong nucleus. Forrest: They are always a factor in the tournament, but must replace Alex Brewer. Summertown: Traditional power missed the tournament last year, but will bounce back. South Pitt: Returns a lot of players off last years team with some strong arms and a great transfer. Watertown: Could be a dark horse with Price and a Senior heavy team. These are just some of the teams, it is usually the same 6 or seven teams in the tournament every year, and several of the teams listed will have to beat each other to get to Murfreesboro, next year will be very interesting with many of the teams on the list moving to D2 or up in class.

Lawless opens up things for their athletes to run and make plays. Most teams say well he didn't do anything to us, but look at the penetration he gets which causes runners to go sideways (helping their athletes run the ball down) or if he gets blocked how many blockers did he tie up which frees up their athletes to run to the ball unblocked. No he does not make a ton of tackles but we enables others to do is tremendous.

Well I got to personally see this young man compete in the State Tournament this year and there is no doubt, that he can play. He is as competitive of a player as I have seen, he plays the game right and he is a "bulldog" he will do great at the next level. I am very happy for this young man. Good luck Evan.

Monday Gordonsville vs Trousdale 4:30/Goodpasture vs Watertown 6:30 Tuesday: Losers Bracket 4:30 Winners Bracket 6:30 Wednesday: Losers Bracket 4:30/ Game 1 Championship 6:30 Thursday: 6:30 Championship Game 2 (if Necessarry)

Goodpasture ran the table going 8-0. Gordonsville had two relatively close games with the Cougars both were 3 run games. Trousdale, Gordonsville, and Watertown all split during the regular season with all games being 2 runs or less except for the 11-1 win by Trousdale over Watertown. Gordonsville won tie breaker with Trousdale third and Watertown 4th. Watertown and RBS play to get in this Thursday. The Tournament should be a dog fight. Trousdale is the most seasoned with a ton of seniors, Watertown swings it well. Gordonsville is young and has fought injuries to their pitching staff, but at times this year has swung it well. RBS is scary enough but has a lot of injuries to their pitching. Should be an interesting Tournament and while Goodpasture is Goodpasture, they have the best pitching staff in district, they are not untouchable when they have to dig deeper into their staff.

Lets look at how tough the western bracket of 1A will be. Union City 2014-13 and 2009 Class A Champs. Trenton Peabody 2014 Class AA State Champs. Trousdale County 2009-2013 Class AA State Champions and 2008 Class A State Champs.Wayne County 2011 State Champs Class A. Gordonsville 2012 Class A State Champs. Nashville Christian 3 consecutive Class A Semi-finals. Monterey 2014 Class A Semi-FInals. Dresden 2011 Class AA Runner Up and 2012 AA Semi-Finals. Jo Byrns 2009-2010 Class A Runner Up. The WEST may be as tough to come out of as I have seen. I know some of these schools are down but these traditional powers won't be for long.

Region 5 complied 60 wins and counting this year, 7 of the 9 teams made the playoffs, 4 of the teams saw the second round, 3 of the teams made quarterfinals, and 2 are still alive in the semis. Pretty amazing considering two of the traditional powers Gordonsville and Jo Byrns were very down this year. So to say that this will produce some epic battles across the board. You better have your chin straps tight every Friday in region 5. There will be some very good football teams not going to the playoffs each year. Can't wait to see these battles and see some new rivalries emerge.

This is ridiculous that they did the regions like this. Jo Byrns got the shaft not only a ton of travel and cost, but talk about a tough region 7 of the nine are play-off teams this year, 4 teams were district champions this year, and 4 of the teams are traditional 1A powers over the past 6 years. There will be 2 to 3 teams each year out of the play-offs.

Region 5 looks to be a monster Trousdale, Nashville Christian, Gordonsville, Jo Byrns, MTCS, Monterey, Red Boiling, Clay County, Pickett. 4 perennial top 10 teams and 4 rapidly improving programs. Looks to be a DOG fight for 4 spots could be 2 or 3 very good teams out of playoffs every year. It looks like it will create some great battles in the future and some very lengthy travel. Pickett or Clay to Jo Byrns or NC is gonna be 3 hour drive easy. Plus gonna go west in playoffs talking about 4 to 5 hour drive for some first round matches. Maybe T$$AA is gonna start helping with travel. HaHaHa

Goodpasture clear cut leader, starts the season 4-0 in district play before first pitch. The rest of the district should be balanced with the majority of starters back on the other 4 teams. Trousdale has everyone except their catcher back off of a sub state appearance last year. Watertown has a solid group returning with the big lefty back on the mound and a very good freshman. Gordonsville only lost 2 starters. Red Boiling returns every starter. Last year it was very competitive for the 2 through 5 spot I would expect the same this year, with Trousdale having the advantage they have controlled second for the last 10 years and have the most experienced pitching staff.

109 Points against the two Smith County Teams is a good accomplishment for this season and you guys have a fine ball club, and you should be proud since you guys have only scored 72 points since 2001 combined against both Smith County Teams.

If Purvis has applied then it is a no brainer. Proven winner at a high level. I think Atwood and Caven would would both do great jobs but Purvis has proven himself already.

While we are on the topic of cups,after the Gordonsville/South Pitt game some people accused Coen of punching a South Pitt running back in the private area. After watching the film Coen was about 5 yards away from the play when it the play was over so unless he was Rubber Man he did not touch him.

Region 4 has been broken up. District 8 will consist of Goodpasture, Trousdale, Watertown, Gordonsville, Red Boiling, and Merol Hyde (Basketball) in all sports.

2001 11-2 Quarters 2002 10-3 Quarters 2003 8-4 2nd round 2004 6-6 2nd Round 2005 7-5 2nd Round 2006 8-4 2nd Round 2007 10-3 Quarters 2008 3-7 2009 8-5 Quarters 2010 9-3 Quarters 2011 10-3 Quarters 2012 10-1 Still Going 100-46 over 12 years with 2012 still ongoing. The Bold Print years we had legitimate shots which I feel we were one of op 4 teams in the state.

By the numbers these teams look pretty close. Offensive points per game South Pitt: 43.1 G-Ville: 42.7 Defensive Points per game South Pitt: 23.09 G-Ville: 11.5 Both Teams have 1500 yard plus rusher averaging over 10 yards a touch. Both Teams have a second back with close to or over 1000 yards. 4 of the states top offensive backs in class 1A. 2 of the states top lineman in 1A. Two of the top 1A teams in the state in play-off appearances and play-off wins. Two of the most tradition rich programs with two communities that love their programs and support them to the fullest. It is just to bad that this game is so early in the play-off action.

Once again most of the people who are predicting blow-outs are not tied to that school just trying to get a rise out of people. This is a game between two teams that every year I would say both schools look all year at what the other is doing. Since 2001 there has only been a couple of times they have not met in the play-offs. Since 2007 South Pitt has had Gordonsville's number, but prior to that it was pretty back and fourth. South Pitt's speed gives them a chance to win any game they play. I feel like Gordonsville has the advantage in the offensive and defensive fronts and South Pitt has an edge in the skill positions. This game will feature some of the best backs in 1A this year with Johnson, Lankford, Watson, and Cason with the four backs combined for close to if not over 5000 yards. We will just have to see how well Gordonsville handles a dog fight because they have not had their nose bloodied since August. I just hope which ever team can win this game can rebound for the rest of the play-offs because there will be an emotional letdown.

There is a lot of talk about how Gordonsville will walk through this quad, and most of it is coming from South Pitt. On paper Gordonsville may very well be the best team in the state. They have alot of experience returning they have a good line and good skill people. I seen where someone said SP has not seen a team like Gordonsville this year I disagree. I think SP has teams closer to Gordonsville than Gordonsville has seen teams like SP. South Pitt has something that no other school in class A has a backfield that can score from anywhere anytime with or without blocking. The Pirates may very well give up 40 plus points but they just may hang 50 on you. I do think Gordonsville is better all around but the best team does not always win the championship. Moore County, Eagleville, and Monterey have a huge advantage over SP and G-ville because those two have to beat each other up and whoever wins will no doubt have an emotional let down in the quarters. The team that can keep their emotions in check throughout and handle their business will move on. I think it will be an exciting game between the Tigers and Pirates as are most of their match-ups it is just a shame that is going to happen in the second round.

Watson and Cason have combined for 2347 yards 35 TDs and are averaging 10 plus yards a carry. Watson has over 700 passing yards and 6 TDS. So the two have combined for over 3000 and 41 TDs. The fullback Nic Payne rarely gets the ball but he is one of the better blocking backs I have seen this year. While I think South Pitt has the best backs (3 guys than can go the distance from anywhere) I feel Gordonsville has the best RB/QB combination.

Tyler Coen Gordonsville High School 6'3 250 Senior OT/DT 2011 All-State, All-Midstate, Region 4 Defensive POY, Upper Cumberland Defensive POY, and Mr. Football Finalist. Through 8 Games 43 Tackles 10 Tackles for loss, 3 sacks, and 58 Pancake blocks. Cody Payne Grodonsville High School 6'5 260 Senior OT/DT 2011 All-State, All-Upper Cumberland, All-Region Through 8 Games 42 Tackles, 1 Interception, 6 Sacks, 15 Tackles for loss, and 55 Pancake Blocks. Both have paved the way for an offense that is averaging 39.4 points for game 404.5 yards per game and 8.7 yards per carry. Defensively a team that has surrendered 10.5 points per game.