divepix

Any response to this post is pure speculation and opinion, but here goes: 1. Smryna - they would have beat Maplewood worse than Maryville did. Maryville is great but wouldn't win 60 in a row or 4 titles in a row in 5A. 2. Maryville - Top 2 in state for sure the last 4 years. Wouldn't have won 4 in a row in 5A. 3. Alcoa - Great athletes, great coaching, greats speed - a machine 4. Maplewood - proved they are a good team in Maryvillle game. Lots of speed and good athletes. 5. Independence - Mistakes overshadowed their quality. They are a good team that had a bad night. 6. Lipscomb - only above Fulton because they beat them. In 2 out of 3, I believe Fulton wins 2. 7. Fulton - Only behind Lipscomb because they lost. 8. Goodpasture - Deserved rank as #2 2A team. 9. South Pittsburgh - best 1A team by far, but if they are better than teams listed above, the multiplier never would have been established in 1A. Before multiplier, the teams that were multiplied dominated 1A finals (DCA,Boyd, CPA, Ezell, USJ) and Goodpasture consistently beats those teams. SP has always had a great program that dropped out of the 1A title race when the now-multiplied privates started winning the 1A titles. They can now compete for state again. 10. McKenzie. No disrespect to any of these fine teams that had a great accomplishment to get to Murfreesboro. They deserve all TN. football fans' respect. When you are one of the last 10 playing, you have had a great season.

Actually, I am a CPA fan. Hoped to see GP put up a fight, but Alcoa is in another league. GP is a great 2A team, and without the 2 TO's in their territory and breakdowns when they had a chance to score, they didn't play that bad. Not saying they could have beat Alcoa - they couldn't, but they had a chance to make a game of it. Alcoa is a freak for 2A. They would have smoked anybody else in 2A just as bad or worse.

No, never said he was. I just disagreed with a poster who said he wasn't a good coach. Rankin has proven he is one of the best ever in Tn. history. Coach Martin's record over his career is one a lot of coaches would gladly trade theirs for. He can't beat Alcoa but who can except Quarles?

The wing-T is fine if you don't get down 14-0 before you ever run it. Then you are doomed. 35-3. Should have been 35-14. Really question GP's play calling and gut-check when they got inside the 5 twice, but also great D by Alcoa. Of course, Alcoa could have score again at the end if they wanted to. Also, when the weakness of your team is defense and the other team has the best offense in the state, why do you defer and kick off to start the game? Immediately behind 7-0. I don't get it! Congratulations to both teams, but especially Alcoa. 4 in a row is a fantastic record that probably Alcoa is the only team who could ever equal it. And only 9 seniors. Can you say 5 in a row?

Oh, that's right - you're the smartestpersonalive by being one of a group of everyone who picked Alcoa. And you have played such a big part in it, sitting at your computer and bragging about how smart you are while the real Alcoa contributors are on the field and in the stands. We are all so humbled by you. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

GP fumbles on first play, can't score on 3rd and 2 from the 6, then throws an intercept (terrible pass) after coming out and moving the ball on 1st possession of 2nd half. So Alcoa has 2 good drives and 2 short drives on TO's. THis is really disappointing (wanted to at least see a good game), but 28 points by Alcoa halfway through 3rd is no big surprise. What is really a surprise is how fast and good Alcoa's defense is. Never thought they could shut out GP's offense. That is IMPRESSIVE! On 4th down play from the 5, GP ran the same play they always do in that situation (Rogan sweep). Alcoa hasn't gotten where they are not being able to watch film and figure out tendencies. Cobb is the difference. They win without him, but game would be closer.

Sir Francis Bacon - Not really an artist, but the English Philosopher and statesman of the late 1500's and early 1600's. He also served as British ambasador to France. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" />

Hey, Alcoafan72, been enjoying the pre-game posting as a CPA outsider but HS football junkie. You seem to be a huge Alcoa fan, but a reasonable poster. Curious as to your pick of the score? You may have already posted it but i don't want to go back and search. I say 35-21 Alcoa.

I love the jurney into the literary: Here's a couple more for you: "The less people speak of their greatness the more we think of it." - Francis Bacon "Mirrors are the accompaniments of dandies, not heroes. The men of history were not perpetually looking in the glass to make sure of their own size. Absorbed in their work they did it, and did it so well that the wondering world saw them to be great, and labeled them accordingly." - Rev. S. Coley "Reviewers are usually people who would have been poets, historians, biographers, etc., if they could: they have tried their talents at one or the other, and have failed; therefore they turn critics." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thanks to the Alcoa fans who are proud of their team and are confident of a win, but don't belittle their opponent or his accomplishments. Both teams are winners to get this far. One will prove better - that is the nature of sports.

Now there's a post I can really agree with, Antwan. See, we aren't that different. /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

I'm not bashing you for stating an opinion. Reread my post. I am calling you classless for saying the best teams in 2A other than Alcoa are 1A teams. Your original post didn't say they looked like 1A compared to Alcoa. It said they were like 1A teams. There is a difference. GP, CPA, DCA would dominate 1A (like CPA and DCA did before the multiplier. They are good 2A teams. Alcoa is better than all 2A teams and deserve compliments that everyone (including me) is giving them. You are not classless to brag on your team. You are a fan. Saying "we are better than you and will whip you" is different than saying "we are so good everyone else is no good and doesn't belong in our TSSAA division". It is a different thing to say your team is superior versus belittling the accomplishments of everyone else. How would you like it if Maryville called you a 1A team because they beat you every year? And I will aplogize for calling you classless. You may not be, but your comments were.

McDonald is the real deal - the Top Jr. in the state. Bet he ends up at Memphis.

Antwan, you are a very accomplished poster, so don't dig a deeper hole than you already have. Let's look at your last response to my post: 1. You can't make a good argument, so you resort to childish name calling. Well, doesn't surprise me. You have done it before. 2. You don't disagree with my opinions, you misstate my opinions, then criticize what I didn't say. 3. You defend the fact that you don't complain when I never said you did. I was talking to Bigreid, not you. 4. You say the principle of "working harder to get better" is not sound. That's an odd position to take. 5. You say I have complained as much as you. When?? 6. You say you have competed well, but at the same time say that as a rural school you can't compete with the best teams. Which way is it? I never attacked SC in my posts in this thread, except to state my opinion that we would have beaten them bad this year. Since we beat DCA by 16, DCA blew out York, and York beat you twice, what do you think the outcome would have been?

Why didn't Bertier update the contest last week, or did I miss it? I say 65 points in the finals.

Antwan, you read my posts, always take one sentence out of context, then reply negatively to them, but never understand them. Let me help you out on this one. When I say "winners compete and losers complain" I am not referring to winning and losing a game. My point was that winners (in life) play, not complain. Losers would rather complain than figure out how to play. And yes, CPA lost in the first round to GP. Wish we could have played Smith Co. so we could have blown them out, which we would have done.

So your solution is to arrange things so the best teams don't play in the final game? That sounds like a plan. As long as the TSSAA sets the rules, don't criticize the teams for being winners under those rules. Trust me, if Alcoa and the privates were cheating, the TSSAA would correct the situation - just ask Brentwood Academy. Just keep trying to figure out a way to eliminate teams until your team can win. Winners compete - losers complain.

You can't compare Cobb to Harper when they are on two different levels of teams. If Harper played for Alcoa, would he start over Cobb - who knows? One thing is true, if a kid starts for Alcoa they are very good because the competition for starting positions is tremendous due to the overall talent on the team. Alcoa's 2nd team could probably win the 1A title. If Cobb was at Peabody, would Harper be a RB rather than the QB - who knows? I haven't seen Cobb in person, but I don't have to to know he is a great player. he has to be or he wouldn't be the starting QB for the best team, by far, in 2A. I have seen Harper and he looks to be very skilled, but he wasn't the best player on the field in the GP game. Mayes for GP was.

C'mon, you gotta be kidding! You can't say that a 2A team that wins one of the toughest Regions (5) in 2A and makes the semifinals in 2A "would be a great 1A team". They were a great 1A team, but the public schools whined so much to the TSSAA that they got multiplied and bumped up to 2A. They are now a great 2A team - just ask the 12 2A teams they beat this year and the others they have beat the last 3 years in 2A. Just because Alcoa is head and shoulders above other 2A schools does not make them 2A and everyone else 1A. Alcoa deseves props, but DCA, GP, CAK, CPA, York, Camden, etc. don't deserve being put down when they had a great year in the division they have been assigned. Alcoa's dominance does not mean that other 2A teams are not good - it means Alcoa is better. Leave it at that.

No- Alcoa is a great team-period! They could compete at 3A,4A, and even 5A. They dominate 2A, they are probably the best team in 3A, second best in 4A (Maryville), and would be Top 10 in 5A. I am pulling for GP as a Region 5 fan, but I am also a realist. I thought DCA could at least give them a game, so Alcoa convinced me they are in a class alone in 2A. /thumb[1].gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":thumb:" border="0" alt="thumb[1].gif" /> Congratulations to Alcoa on what have built in football, but also congratulations, and good luck, to GP for a good team and a great year. Give it 100% regardless of the odds and walk off that field proud, regardless of the outcome.

Don't think the matchup problem will be with Miller. He is obviously further along in his game than Mason and will get his points, but he has to stop Mason as well. The other four players will determine the matchup problems. Also, in a game like this, foul trouble on either Miller or Mason will make a difference.

O.K. we've established (after hundreds of repetitive posts) that Alcoa is the class of 2A and should beat GP. However, to say they "will look like a 1a team with the lack of speed and coaching" is a ridiculous statement. GP is a very good 2A team that beat several good teams in 2A and higher divisions this year, including Lipscomb who is in the 3A finals. Just because you have a dominant team doesn't mean no other team is good. GP is a very good 2A team with speed and good coaching. Your statement is out of line and disrespects a good team that has accomplished a lot. Alcoa may beat them, but Alcoa could probably win the 3A title and may be the 2nd best team (behind Maryville) in 4A. Praise your team - they deserve it. But don't belittle everyone else just because they may not be able to beat you. This "we are good and everyone else stinks" attitude is classless.

I don't remember the score. I watched the LSU-UT football game, then when I got to the basketball game, it was early in the 3rd quarter and Antioch was down 61-32, I think. They never got closer than 25 in the 2nd half and the final was something like 85-60. The team from Georgia that beat Antioch was REALLY, REALLY good! They had size, depth and a lot of talent.

CPA beat Memphis Melrose at the Music City Classic at CPA tonight. I beleive the score was 64-56. Melrose is a very young team with 3 Freshmen, a Jr. and a Sr. starting. One of the Freshmen is supposedly the top Freshman in the state, but I was not very impressed with him. Even giving him slack for being young, he did a lot of standing around the perimeter and didn't really stand out, IMO. This was not a typically tough Melrose team, but they were very quick, pressed the whole game and doubled the ball the whole game. They did create some turnovers, but CPA handled the press pretty well and got some easy baskets to offset the turnovers. Z Mason was again the best player on the floor, but had to sit almost a quarter due to foul trouble. CPA led almost the whole game, and let by 12-14 most of the 4th until Melrose made a run at the end. CPA remains undefeated and has played a pretty tough schedule so far. Look out - 9AA - here come the Lions!

After seeing what Alcoa did to DCA, I would be crazy to think GP can hang with them. I do think GP (despite losing to DCA) is a better team than DCA, just as I think CPA was better than DCA. CAK obviously was a very good tema this year. It would have been fun watching them play CPA since both of them had great passing games. I agree with the advantages above except maybe coaching. Rankin and his staff are awesome, but Coach Martin has done wonderful things at GP for 15 years (3 golds/3-4 silvers). I would call the coaching even, but Rankin has more "hosses". I will say after watching GP play 3 times, Mayes and Cunningham are as good a backs as you will see at any school any division. They will get some yards against Alcoa, but probably not enough.

What I meant was that in HS, unlike the pros and even college, the primary difference is coaching. Alcoa will probably beat GP - doesn't take a genius to make that prediction, but they would beat anyone in 2A. The gap between Alcoa and everyone else is amazing. I do believe GP is the 2nd best team in 2A. IMO, in HS the keys to winning consistently (in order of importance) are: 1. Coaching 2. Commitment of school and community to winning-tradition 3. Speed 4. Players who are hitters 5. Size