Flash Gordon

Your interpretation is almost the same as mine except the way I read the rule, if a person does not pass the 7th or 8th grade and then repeats the grade and passes, they would then be eligible for participation in athletics in 9th grade. The "home school" year could be a repeat of the grade after failing the grade, in which case the player would be eligible for 9th grade athletic participation.

I think Punisher is referencing the TSSAA Repeating Rule for 7th and 8th graders, which states that persons are ineligible for athletic participation as 9th graders if they repeat either of those grades after passing the grade. However, a player would be eligible as a 9th grader if they failed 7th or 8th grade, and then repeated the grade. I have zero knowledge of this situation but perhaps that is the explanation or it could be that I just don't understand the rule completely.

I don't think I'm being overconfident; I think I am being realistic. Besides, it really doesn't matter what I think because I don't play or coach. I was simply expressing an opinion. I agree with your point that teams will be more likely to be upset when they are overconfident or overlooking somebody. However, if 62 wins in a row, and the entire George Quarles era for that matter, proves anything about the Maryville program, it proves that they do not overlook teams. They do a great job of staying focused in the present.

Maryville should roll easily. My prediction is Maryville 42, Clinton 7. No offense to Maryville's competition, but I honestly don't see a team on the rest of their regular season schedule that will stay within three touchdowns of them. That's not a putdown of the competition, that is a compliment to Maryville.

It is pretty comical to see these "prognosticators" come on here and forecast a loss for Maryville after 61 wins a row. It is also pretty comical to see some Rebel fans get offended and play the "no respect" card when some crackpots get on here and belittle the Rebels. Message to Rebel fans: the vast, vast majority of fans expect Maryville to whip Alcoa, like they always do. Don't mistake a couple of negative posts on an internet message board to mean that people are expecting Maryville to lose. If you talked to impartial folks in the know in East Tennessee, I would venture to say that over 95% would be picking Maryville in this game.

I applaud Halls for coming out strong and keeping it close for a while. Maryville is a machine. The names change but the results don't. The only difference in last night's game from almost all Rebel games in the recent past was that Maryville outscored their opponent 21-0 in the fourth quarter instead of 21-0 in the first quarter. Maryville was just as dominant as ever in the second half of the game last night. As this Rebel team gets more experience, the 21-0 first quarters will come.

I see Alcoa as the only team with any chance at all to beat Maryville for the rest of the regular season. I know Alcoa would love to end Maryville's streak but I just don't see it happening. The same depth, conditioning, etc. that took its toll on Halls in the second half will wear out Alcoa as well. After Alcoa, the rest of the regular season will be smooth sailing for the Rebels. GQ and company will use the rest of the season to get their team ready for their annual run to the Boro. By the end of the season, I think Maryville will be just as dominant as ever.

Totally senseless tragedy. My heart goes out to the family and close friends of the victim of this murderous crime. My heart also goes out to the people at the school who had to endure such a traumatic event at their school, especially the eyewitnesses. This is becoming much too common in this country. I used to think this sort of thing only happened in NY City, LA, Chicago, etc. That is SO NOT the case. Just a couple of years ago, we had the tragic shooting of the principal at Campbell County High School, a rural school. Now we have this happening in Knoxville. There was a similar shooting in Memphis last year. Turtle's earlier assessment is correct...... it can happen anywhere, anytime, without warning. Turtle is also correct about another matter......... we should be allowed to acknowledge God in our schools.

Anybody who thinks Maryville could not or would not compete at the highest classification level in football is kidding themselves. Heck, they won a state title in AAA basketball in 2007 and they aren't even considered a basketball school, except for the fact that Lee Humphrey played there a few years back. There would be more competition for the Rebels in 5A football, but they still would be at the top or near the top consistently, imo.

What does this tangent tirade against Alcoa have to do with the post about Halls' one dimensional offense? FBE, you should have saved this particular post for the Maryville/Alcoa thread next week.

I see no reason why Cobb can't be a good quarterback in the SEC. He has a great arm, is very athletic, and seems to be a very poised young man. His only drawback is his height, imo. However, I would rather have a 6-0 athletic kid who knows how to play the game than a 6-3 kid who can't play.

As usual, A-E and Fulton should be the best. I think Alcoa will be much improved. Carter definitely has some excellent individual talent but they still have to prove they are a cohesive team that takes pride on the defensive end. I think Anderson County will be the class of the other district. In the end, I would be shocked if it isn't Fulton and A-E in Murfreesboro again.

He was dismissed from the ETSU squad for violation of team rules.

Wow dream n it, that is a bizarre post, stats and all. You seem to have something personal against Hood and/or LC. LC is better than you give them credit for. Last year in the region, you had the big three of OR, Bearden, and Maryville, then probably Farragut and Powell. After that LC was as good or better than anybody else, playing almost all underclassmen. I don't follow them closely but, on the surface, they appear to be headed in the right direction as a program. As for Hood, the tone of your posts seem to wreak with jealousy, imo. I've not seen Hood play much but I do read the box scores and for a sophomore, he put up some big numbers against some very stiff AAA competition. I think a sure sign of a good player is when folks start posting backhanded compliments about them on coacht. /dry.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid="

Congrats to the Ballerz. Wow, guys like Parker ( Bearden), Jones (A-E), Pryor(A-E) leading the way for the Midstate Ballerz and I know they have guys like Watson, McBee, and the other Jones kid from A-E. Looks like the Midstate Ballerz are becoming the East State Ballerz as well! In all seriousness, it is good to see the ET guys doing well and making names for themselves. There are always a lot of good players in ET, though obviously not as many as middle and west Tennessee due to population and demographics of population. However, year-in, year out, teams like Bearden, Oak ridge, A-E, Fulton, Farragut, etc. will produce talented players that can generally compete with anybody in the state and the success of the Ballerz this year is showing that.

Bearden will be the prohibitive favorite in the district. I predict Farragut will be strong again and will have a good shot at second place in the district. Watson is a very good big man and Moore may be the best guard in the district. I am sure they also have some capable up and coming jv players from last year to fill the voids left by the seniors they lost.

If that is true, that would be two ET kids getting schollys from Appy State.... first Dowdell, now Gallman. ET basketball certainly seems to be on the rise because it looks like Skyler McBee, Demonte Simpson, Blake Jenkins, will get D1 scholarships as well and like you say, Jalen Steele may be the best of the bunch. Some other kids like Parker, Craig, and Campbell from Bearden and Meady from Carter are also possibilities. Do you know if Appy State has offered a scholarship to Gallman yet and has he committed to them? I would be surprised if he has committed already since AAU hasn't even started yet and his stock could go higher. However, he may already know that is where he wants to play.

On their homecourts, I expect A-E and Fulton to win, although Loudon and Catholic are dangerous first round opponents. But I think if the Roadrunners and Falcons come with their A game, they should win. Stone versus Carter is a tossup but I guess I would have to go with Stone. They seem to be a pretty consistent team whereas Carter is pretty inconsistent. Carter is certainly capable of beating Stone but I don't think they will. Regarding Alcoa versus Anderson County, you would have to pick AC but I think this a potential trap game for the Mavs. Alcoa is playing much better of late and I think they match up fairly well with AC. Sam Thompson is an excellent defender on the perimeter and is capable of containing Rorex. If Garrett and Robinson can stay out of foul trouble for Alcoa, they should be able to mix it up with AC pretty well inside. I think it will be a close, low scoring game with AC winning by about 6.

They might lose to A-E even if they had those guys. A-E is pretty good.

You have made your opinion clear and that is certainly your right. We'll agree to disagree.

Of course Damron isn't going to be a shot blocker and big rebounder...he is a POINT GUARD! In addition to his scoring ability, he is an excellent ballhandler and passer as well. I have never heard anyone besides you say he can't play defense. If you look at Maryville's scores, they seem to be doing a great job of holding teams to low scores so he can't be that bad. I also seem to remember he had 11 rebounds in the state title game last year against a very athletic Clarksville team. Back to the original point of this thread, there is no question that Jordan Damron would be a worthy nominee for Mr. Basketball based on the season he has had.

In East Tennessee AAA, I think Jordan Damron (Maryville), Quinche Dowdell ( Oak Ridge), and Demonte Simpson ( Bearden) deserve strong consideration for nominations.

I don't agree with your assessment of Bearden. Bearden can beat teams with athletic guards.... they already have beaten A-E, Fulton (twice), and Maplewood. I actually think they match up better with Oak Ridge than they do with Maryville. I don't think Bearden would be forced to extend their defense against O.R. like they do against Maryville because Maryville's guards are better shooters than O.R.'s. Oak Ridge's guards are more penetrating type guards and I think Bearden's size would neutralize the ability of Stephens and Rogers to finish inside. On the flip side, Oak Ridge probably can defend Maryville's guards better than Bearden because of the great quickness of Stephens and Rogers. Of course, all this is just my opinion. The bottom line is that all three of these teams are pretty good.

I personally think Maryville might actually be better than last year, as far as their starting five goes, but depth could be an issue with Maryville when it comes to hopes for a repeat. As for West Tn. vs. East Tn., we all know year-in, year-out, West Tn. is usually stronger. However, when discussing this year, it is my belief that, if healthy, Maryville , Bearden, and Oak Ridge are as good as anybody in the state and could beat any of the teams you mentioned on a given night.

I think Maplewood's game plan was very sound. It appeared that they intended to play smashmouth football with a big offensive line and mix in a little play action passing here and there. It was very successful at times. Had they been able to get the lead, they could have really made this game interesting. I personally think a conservative, ball control "milk the clock" offense is the way to attack Maryville, as Maplewood attempted. It is obviously is easier said than done and you have to be big and physical to attempt this style of play. People think Maryville is a finesse team because of all GQ's passing schemes but they are usually very physical upfront and don't allow teams to establish the run. Teams then get impatient trying to play catchup and the rout is usually on for Maryville. Maplewood's downfall with their strategy was having too many penalties causing bad down and distance situations. The 4th down holding call early in the 2nd half on the play that took away the 1st down was also a backbreaker. Also, as you alluded, you can't give up big plays/easy touchdowns if you want to play ball control football. You end up getting behind and you have to eventually abandon the running game. Maplewood played pretty well but Maryville forces you to play pretty much mistake free and Maplewood didn't.