medman

gator: I can't agree with you. Besides the great points already made, the politics of this would be insane. If what you suggested came to pass, coaches would cut kids the previous year so they would not have to play certain schools. The idea of athletics is for everyone to get a chance to play. That might be in a game, or just in practice. If a 5A school only has 30-40 players, it is the coaches' responsibility to create interest in the sport and to get kids playing. Adjusting classifications on a yearly basis would be impossible.

Roadrunner: another area of concern for AE was the passing game. They are not very good at it right now. Central was putting 8-9 guys in the box and daring them to pass. With the exception of the one play AE scored on them thru the air, they look weak. The tailback, #14 is good. Quick and fast. All in all, Central was better tonite in all phases of the game.

Just in: During football season, the City of Knoxville has annexed the City of Maryville so that they can be included in the KIL and the chat room rankings. This may come as a shock to everyone in Maryville, but look at it this way, now you get to pay our taxes.

trojanplayer-- I know you are looking at it from a Mo-West player perspective, but to say that Central was not as good is wrong!!!!! West has an excellent defense, but you did not have any long drives. Your 2 td's came from in close on defensive plays. I will say that in talking to the kids from Central, they said you all hit the hardest. But all this is just talk now. The season is when it counts. Good luck.

jiveturkey--granted, Central took some time between plays, but the Central coaches were switching players and doing some coaching between plays. That is what scrimmages are all about. I don't think West scored 4 times on Central. They got real close on a couple of plays, but would get pushed out. I am certain that your place kicker kicked twice on the 1's and once on the reserves. Your kicker did a nice job. The last one that he missed was a bad hold and snap from where I was sitting. West will have a good team this year. That 1st game with Cleveland should be good. Best wishes this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Knoxville Central and Halls is great. The schools are 2.5 miles apart and the kids practically grow up together. It's the Battle of Black Oak Ridge.

I, too, thought that Central was the best team there. I followed them only. The 1st scrimmage was TN High, and Central pretty much dominated them on both sides of the ball. Central won that one 2 td's to 0. The reserves didn't score for either team. The 2nd scrimmage against DB was a shocker to me. Central was clearly better at this point in the season. Central won 3 td's to 0. 2 of the td's were scored by the defense. Central's passing game was much better than the other 3 teams. The offensive line still needs to work on run blocking. D-B did some nice things running the ball and one of the running backs was very good. D-B could just overpower some teams. Again, neither of the reserve teams scored. Central's 3rd scrimmage against Mo-West was tough. Central was clearly out of gas. They scored early on West but gave the ball up twice deep in their end and West scored both times. Central scored later on a long pass to even it up 2 td's each. West's defense was impressive to me. They are fast and aggressive and fly to the ball. They have 3-4 kids who are real playmakers on defense. Central's reserves beat West's 2 td's to 1. I think all these teams have a better idea where they stand after this.

1. Central 2. Austin East 3. Powell 4. Fulton 5. Bearden 6. Farragut 7. Carter 8. Halls 9. Webb 10. Gibbs 11. West 12. South Doyle 13. Karns 14. Catholic 15. CAK I think Powell will surprise some people and win 7-8 games and be the 3rd team from region 3-4A in the playoffs behind Central and Maryville with Carter 4th.

all 4 of these teams ought to be good. each seem to play a little differently, so it will be interesting to see how they do. this is also a great tuneup for these teams to see the different styles of play. it should help each school get ready for the season ahead.

that's right---you have to start somewhere. I am sure a lot of people will look at this and scratch their heads, but the cream will rise.

In the Spring, Helton did say they wanted to get more exposure and play an upgraded schedule. But red dog, you are right about some of the teams central has played in the past. Karns, Morristown East and Cocke Co. wanted no part of Central after the last couple of years. Cocke Co. scheduled Central for their homecoming and got humiliated. We asked some of the Cocke Co. people why they did that and they could not understand the thinking either. I thought you were supposed to play a patsy for homecoming.

maryville is going to be good, and I think it will be fairly high scoring. I think central comes out on top 31-28 because they have better skill players and they are playing at central.

mhs---I don't think they consolidated any schools. The boro is just growing that fast. There is already talk there of another high school. It might be interesting to here from some people in that area how siegel's opening will effect the different schools.

mhs---siegel is a new school in Murfreesboro. They are 5A. The game is at Central this year. They might be hard to get a handle on because nobody will know much about them. A lot of people around Central are worried about this game. As far as Greeneville, they have a good tradition but they lost a lot from last year. With this being the 1st game of the year, I would think Central should have a big edge. Helton has tried to upgrade the schedule so that the media can't claim they play a soft schedule with the exception of the Maryville, Halls & Powell games.

Central at Greeneville should be a good one. Central has an experienced team and if G'ville lost a lot, that should give the Bobcats an edge. With the game at G'ville and with the preseason hype Central has been getting, I'm sure the Green Devils will be pumped. Central by 28.

Central has a couple of real burners with Shavar Young and Terrence Scott.

Lee Smith is Daryl's son and he is fine. He played basketball last winter and has been at spring and fall football workouts and looks very good. He did miss part of last football season with a medical condition.