Big Daddy

Well hailmary03 you are right about part of what you said. Jared was AJ's primary target his freshman year, and Jared still talks highly of AJ. I think it would have been a good combo, and you are right Jared only wanted to be a WR not a QB. But all that was dashed his Soph year when for whatever reason coach Jessie saw fit to let him stand on the sidelines game after game watching UC struggle to score, so I don't know how you think he was his favorite target his Soph year when most of his snaps were on the punt team or kickoff team. Also, it was not his dad that decided he was done with football at UC. If not for me he would have given coach Jessie his pads at halftime of the CC game, after all it was his hometown, he knew all of CC players and had gone to middle school with them, he had lit them up as a freshman for six receptions including a 43 yard TD catch, and coach Jessie had told him all week it was going to be his big game, he would have the opportunity to catch a couple of TD passes as well as run a couple of series at QB. He played exactly 6 snaps in the game two of which were on the punt team in which he downed one punt on the CC 1 yard line and the other he tackled the CC punt returner on the 5 yard line. It was totally his decision, because I have always tried to impress upon him to finish what he starts, but coach Jessie made it personal when he built it up all week in practice. If he was not going to play him why tell the kid that and then let him stand there all night? Anyway, it is a dead issue, I still love the kids at UC, if you remember many including AJ played basketball for me, and I'll always have fond memories. This is my last post regarding this subject we are very happy in Morristown, and wish nothing but the best for the kids of UC.

They did not look like a bad team against M-East in the opener. Their D is quick but a bit undersized to be a 5A team. The O looked a bit one dimentional relying on the pass too much and the QB was under constant pressure from East's D.

Yes I was there also. The scary thing is that Jeff did this without perhaps the most explosive player in East TN. in Scooter Houston who did not play. Houston going wide, Jennings up the gut, and Parker Clement to Tyler Brown has to give opposing D-coordinators nightmares!

Relaxed1 you read it right. Although he started for UC's previous coach as a freshman WR led the team in TD receptions, yards per catch, and total yards receiving per game, under coach Jessie as a soph he was limited to less than 10 snaps per game and played behind a 5'7" 145lb WR that couldn't run the 40 in less than 5.0 seconds and did not catch a pass until the 8th game of the season against Claiborne county.

I don't know if M-East is that good or Powell is having a hard time adjusting to a new coach, but Powell was never in the game and the game was not as close as the final score of 30-14 would indicate. They do however have lots of players, must have had 80 or so kids dress out, and they are huge. Also Cole Patrick is a better than average QB, but was running for his life for most of the night against the Cane's pressure.

Well I don't think he is UT material by any means , but that is a scary thought. Seems as though Sanders nor Casey Clausen have been very popular lately with the Vol nation.

East is 4A not 5A. I think they have around 1150-1200 students. I've heard Jeff is over 2000 this year.

If it is a high scoring game I look for Jeff to pull it out. M-West is still the class of the IMAC and have a great D. Should be a good one. M-East is probably as talented as anyone else in the IMAC but their lack of depth with only about 35 varsity players may hurt as the season rolls on.

I agree they should play they are so close and last years game was absolutely packed at Burke-Toney stadium so it is good from a money standpoint. My guess is that coach Frazier tried to soften up the schedule a bit from last years very difficult one to generate a winning atmosphere, and hopefully get more interest in football at east. It is hard to compete against very good 5A teams with so many players from east having to play both ways. My guess is that if coach Smith builds the east program back to a competitive level you will see the two square off in the future.

I guess you would have to talk with coach Frazier, where ever he is now, or maybe the athletic director to find out about scheduling. One common opponent was Campbell County. M-East won 21-0 at CC Jeff Co. won 34-10 I think at Jeff Co. but I'm not 100% sure where it was played. Until someone from the IMAC beats M-West they will be the class of the conference. They have a tremendous D and an improving O, so it should be an interesting matchup next week with Jeff.

Heheheheheh, oh my side hurts. I must have hit a nerve there UCPatriot. Well to the contrary, coach Jessie did me a huge favor. Since I was at UC for all of 27 years of teaching I don't have a clue of where you get that's not the first place I left mad and transferred. You need to be a little more informed before posting, but I understand you were upset. My children never attended any other high school other than UC before moving to Morristown. Also since Jared was a wide receiver at UC I don't know where the competition at QB comes from, unless you are talking about the G-P game when Jared come in in the second quarter with G-P leading 23-0. We had 0 first downs 0 pass completions and had been pushed back into our own end zone every time we had the ball. Although he had never taken a snap at QB in a varsity game in his life the team reeled off 5 straight first downs, he was 5 for 5 passing and also ran a bootleg for a first down, before he was mysteriously removed with the Patriots in G-P territory 1st down at the 38, and the crowd chanting J-Z, J-Z, J-Z. The second play after he was replaced G-P had an interception for a touchdown and it was 30-0. Jared never re-entered the game. Sound coaching move wouldn't you say. After the game when confronted by not me , but by another players dad about why Jared had never re-entered the game although it was 51-0 G-P and coach Jessie's nephew A.J. had played the rest of the game, he said he was afraid he might get hurt ! Well if that is what you are referring to as not beating out the coaches nephew at QB I can only say you can't win what you are not allowed to compete for. Although he was not good enough to play for coach Jessie, he transfers to a 4A school wins the QB position, a position he had never played before, and passed for almost 1300 yards, the most by an East QB since Randy Sanders in the 80's winning all-region, and all IMAC honors along the way. As for worring about him getting hurt, well he has started 12 consecutive games now for Morristown East, and never missed one snap or practice because of injury. And let's not even compare the competition. East a 4A school played 5A Jeff Co. , 5A Science Hill , and 4 teams ranked in the top ten 4A schools in the state last year in Powell, Knox Central, Morristown West, and Greenville, and played 0 teams in classifications below them. He is being actively recruited by MTSU, Wofford, Eastern Ky. & Furman and has had over 70 requests for game film. At a BFS clinic in the spring involving six teams he ran back to back 40 times of 4.51 and 4.54. In the spring he joined the track team competed in 12 multi-team events and was undefeated in the 100m running a best time of 11.06. In the IMAC championship he finished 2nd by .05 of a second in the 100m to Vanderbilt commit Jeff Jennings and anchored the Cane's IMAC championship 4x100 and 4x200 relay teams leading them to their best finished since 1984, earning all IMAC and MVP of the track team along the way. And by the way he also started on the Cane's basketball team that won 19 games and advanced to the region, was the second leading scorer including 40 points and a school record 8 three pointers vs Jeff Co. A brilliant coaching move to have that good of an athlete at your disposal and not have the ability to see it especially since he started as a freshman and led the Pats in TD receptions and yards per catch. So UCPatriot lets set the record straight. Go back and read the posts. I have never bashed the players or great people of Union County. I also have no fuss with AJ. As far as I'm concerned he is a good kid a smart kid and a good QB. Coach Jessie knows how I feel about him, but if he doesn't remember, please just thank him for me. Life is great the Canes are 2-0 for the first time in many years and I also make about $10,000 more per year teaching at east which greatly enhances my retirement.

UCPatriot you need to read what I said more carefully. Nowhere did I say anything negative about a player. On the contrary I think the Patriots do have some talent. A.J. will never be mistaken for twinkle toes but he does have size a good arm and most importantly a good head for the game. Lance Chandler will knock your socks off, Lucas pound for pound is as tough as they come, and Chad Bolden is strong and mobile at 6'4" 270. I am simply saying when you give all this credit to Jessie for turning the Patriots around in my opinion you are off base. Sure he did inherit the schedules the past two years,(UC was 3-7 the year before Jessie took over against a much tougher schedule) but Randy Frazier left him in good shape with non district games against smaller schools such as Cosby, West Green, Powell Valley, and a terrible 3-A team in Sequoyah. How did he improve on it? He did beat Cosby as he should but lost to Powell Valley, West Green, and Sequoyah in both 2001, and 2002. In fact Sequoyah has won one game in each of the last two years and it was against UC. As far as this years schedule you are right Harriman is a 2A school. So far this year they are 0-3 and have been outscored 129-0 in those three games. Last year they were 0-10 and were outscored 386 to 57 in those 10 losses. McMinn Central, another Jessie pick up, was 1-10 and lost 60-7 to Rhea County, 61-6 to McMinn County, 61-7 to South Pittsburg, 56-0 to Trousdale County, and 45-0 to Grundy County. In fact their only win was against the same Sequoyah team that that spanked the Patriots 26-0. So please explain how you think coach Jessie is turning this program around other than being a good schedule maker. In fact it would seem that he has done less with more talent than any UC coach in history.

Well UCPatriot if you want to give coach Jessie credit for beating a terrible class 1A school (Cosby) twice and Claiborne County twice, a team that has not beaten Union County since the 80's that's fine, it is after all your opionion. But to give him credit for the weightroom and fieldhouse is a joke. If that is the reason for improvement then go over and thank Lisa Wallace who worked her tail off for those things and kiss it while you are there. If you want to thank coach Jessie for something thank him for being a good schedule maker and loading up a bunch of class 1A schools like Harriman who was 0-10 last year so the Patriots can get their two wins per year. If the Patriots have as much talent as as their bios on the internet says O and D lines as big as most colleges an outstanding back in Lucas, and one of the state's best QB's in Bennet then they should be able to handle class 3A teams other than poor old Claiborne and keep Class1A tems off the schedule.

Lenoir City must be pretty decent they are 2-0. It's always tough on the road, so it should be a good game next week. I have to agree the Canes's D is playing super. I think Powell only had about 25 yards total O until late in the game and the Cane's were playing lots of reserves. The Cane's O is not playing too shabby either, and we still have not seen the total Larry Smith package as they have been ahead in each game and played very close to the vest.

Powell with a new coach and no Derek Milligan = ? The Hurricanes looking for revenge, could be a good one.