Gocart

Eagle Fans, remember that we are rebuilding. We've looked good lately, but McKenzie has been dominant the entire season. We belong in the game, but the McKenzie team will be ready. Hoping for a great game, safe, injury free, and that everyone plays well.

McKenzie is a quality team, and their stadium is a hard place to play. Couple that with the revenge motivation and there are a lot of factors that favor the home team this week.

Scrappy is the best word to describe the JC football team. No standout athletes. No special schemes. No big kids or fast kids. Just a tremendous desire to compete, and a coaching staff that wants it for the team so badly they can taste the win. They're getting better every week.

Put your three best tacklers on goldsmith and cover the deep receivers. He's a special player at this level.

When JC beat McKenzie, both teams were on fall break that week. No way to know if that was a factor. JC lost to Scott's Hill on a last possession TD by Scott's Hill. JC is rebuilding, and they are better, but still have things to work on. Conventional wisdom would dictate that a 4-seed almost never beats a 1-seed. Waverly is #1 for a reason.

Goodpasture and JCS battled in the second game today like none I've seen lately. Outstanding game from both squads and both coaching staffs. Congrats to GP on a great tournament and a great season. Eagles, go get the ring!

The multiplier was a big factor. Any private school with a high school enrollment of 300 plays at 540 with the multiplier. In the latest classification cycle, that put the Jackson area privates competing against high schools with enrollments of 1000 or more. Obviously, schools of 300 are going to struggle against schools of 1000. It also becomes a health issue for teams from smaller schools. O-lines averaging less than 200 tend to get injured a lot playing against D-lines averaging 280 or better. The other contributing issue may sound elitist but it is not. There is a benefit to playing against schools of similar size with similar missions and similar student bodies. I would prefer a classification system with no multiplier and no DII. Everyone plays everyone, classes determined by enrollment and geographically. But I don't know how to make that work. No one, including TSSAA, can legislate integrity, and integrity from both publics and privates would be required to make that system work.

Senior Noah Chandler, first-year quarterback for Jackson Christian, has continued to post strong numbers this season yet is still flying under the radar. By some estimates his numbers are the best in all of Tennessee High School Football. To date he has 2700 yards passing and 24 passing touchdowns, and 900 yards rushing and 14 rushing touchdowns, for a total of 38 touchdowns. These are the numbers after 11 games, 8 of which were played against DII A teams. The three remaining games were against DI opponents Milan, Crockett County, and Trinity Christian Academy. I contend that these numbers warrant some recognition. However, I have not done the research - how do these numbers compare to the Mr. Football finalists this year and for the past few years?

Prayers sent.

Tough game for the Eagles. USJ came ready to play and controlled the game from the opening drive. This night the Bruins were just as physical as Milan or Crockett County. I'd be afraid to predict how the Bruins would fare against either of those teams, but they compared well last night. JCS is off next week then travels to St. Georges. Let's hope the injuries heal and both teams finish the season strong.

He's baseball only. Already committed to MTSU.

JC runs some version of the spread. We throw it a lot, mixing in the run as we can. We have some skilled players, but like most small schools, we need more depth. Biggest strength is passing and receiving. Our quarterback, who played shortstop in baseball last year, earned over 500 total yards last week against Crockett County, with around 85 of that being his rushing (not scrambling). We have 5-6 legit receivers, a couple of whom are special. Our defensive line play has gotten better every week, and we held Trinity Christian in the second half, getting into the backfield quite a bit. Our next two games are a couple of real challenges in our DII season in facing USJ and St. Georges. It will be fun to watch it unfold. Maybe we'll see you in the post season - good luck.

What would that mess look like if JCS happened to slip past both USJ and St. Georges? That would take some really good play by the Eagles, but these guys have a lot of confidence right now, even with two losses (the two losses came to DI schools that are triple the size of JCS). The team is still trying to learn a new system from a brand new coaching staff at JCS, and it looks like they make progress every week. We're hoping for a great game Friday in Jackson. The two teams know each other well and have produced some great football in the past. Come early if you want a good parking spot, and carpool if you can!

Both teams are playing well and racking up lots of offense. Your predictions?

Turnovers played a huge role in the game. JCS coughed it up 5 times, including twice early in the game to go down 28-0. JCS had no answer for the Crockett County running game, but was able to move the ball very well through the air. Two late turnovers sealed their fate. Personally, I'm glad that prayers were answered and that Jesse Stroud is going to be playing again soon. 47-39 is a high scoring game in high school football. Congrats to both teams for playing til the end of the game and for hitting hard all night.