Mach84

Lighten up Bluemom! Just a little levity! I'm sure that the McCallie players are appropriately motivated...I'm sure that they are working very hard in practice, but football is so much about matchups and motivation and hard work will only take one just so far. Can the Blue Tornado players matchup with the MBA players physically and talent wise tomorrow night? Last season, MBA couldn't matchup with the McCallie players and it was a decisive victory for the BT. The Big Red may have the upper hand this season.

The TSSAA Board of Control does not provide a way for high schools in Tenn to determine who is the best team.

MBA ranked 25th in unapproved website national poll; Maryville dropped out.

that the respective defensive coordinators will have to plan to defend? What is Ryan's base defense...a 3-3 stack or a 4-3? Does Ryan have to blitz to pressure the QB? How good is Ryan's secondary? Does MBA have to throw the ball 15 to 20 times to win, or can it just pound the rock? MBA is allowing less than 10 points per game. How can Ryan score against MBA without getting turnovers deep in MBA terretory? Does MBA TB Waddey return for the Ryan game or do they hold him out for the McCallie game? Is Ryan's passing game a threat to MBA? Ryan is big on the LOS, but can they move? CAN ANYONE ON THIS BOARD ADDRESS THESE TYPES OF QUESTIONS, or do we just sling mud???

Neither team throws much. However, IF MBA starting QB Wise is healthy (that means not limping) then MBA probably will be able to move the ball in the air, to some extent. I doubt Wise will even dress out. Bailey is questionable. Waddey is out for several weeks it appears. MBA has taken a smashmouth approach with its offense this season. I don't see them changing anything. Bartholomew and Vinsang between the tackles. I think MBA will line up with two TEs and try to run it up the middle, play field position and hang the outcome on its defense. I expect BA to do the same. It could be that whoever has the best field goal kicker wins. MBA's kicker (Fletcher) has a 50-yarder to his credit. How good is BA's kicker. The wildcard is who turns over the ball, where and when. The team that makes the fewest mistakes will probably win this one. MBA-20 BA-14

Let's talk about the Ravenwood-MBA game.... Much of MBA's success on offense this season can be attributed to those who toil in the trenches and who rarely receive any attention. MBA's O-line is definently not a big, fat, slow offensive line. LT Bailey (6'5" 315), LG Rolff (6'O" 260), C Lipscomb (6'2" 225) RG Adams (5'11" 240), RT Johnson (6'5" 235), and TE Sloan (6'4" 240) are an athletic bunch. Bailey, Lipscomb and Sloan play on MBA's varsity basketball team. Johnson is not a bad basketball player, either. I think both guards, Rolff and Adams, and Johnson are on the wrestling team. On top of that, if you're not accounting for the TE in the secondary, McGuigan's not shy about throwing to him to help keep the defense honest (witness the Hillsboro game). On the defensive side, everyone knows about Bartholomew, but LB Alfonza Knight and S Jas Rader are bringing the wood on defense, too. D-tackles Scott Bubis (5'11 250) and Matt Ferrell (6'3" 250) are big, strong and quick off the ball. The ends, Dane Daniels and Trip DeMoss are tough, fast and contain well. MBA rotates a lot of players on defense to keep them fresh. The entire defensive unit plays fast, exhibit the fact that they held a quick and explosive Hillsboro (last year's 4A runner-up) offense to just 12 points. Ravenwood will have difficulty matching up against MBA and will wear down in the second half. I wouldn't be surprised if MBA won by 21+.

Whistling by the graveyard, are we, Vballbruin?

For those of you in Chattanooga still looking through Red Raider lens, Baylor was physically bludgeoned by MBA. Four of the Baylor players left the game (at least two with concussions). One of them was escorted to the sideline by an official. Baylor's Tyler Massey was seen by some MBA players in the hallway outside the locker room after the game and was said to have a concussion, too. I don't see Baylor getting any closer to BA than they did to MBA, as BA is a physical team as well (maybe not as physical at MBA, but still physical). BA by 21+.

Yea, let's get back to the game...Riverdale in a rout...35 to 7!

I agree... It's funny how people perceive things based on their experiences and personal biases. I perceived the parent's comment that MBA was going to send tape on the game to schools recruiting McAdoo as inferring, "If you think he's good enough to play for you, then we have a player that we think is good enough to play for you, too! And here's some evidence of that belief!" I've known Mac for six years and know that he's a good athlete. I think it's a given that he has the ability to play at the next level given the fact that he has some offers from those who make their living making such evaluations. Therefore, I didn't perceive it as a knock on Mac at all, just the MBA staff asserting that here's another player (#67)who has the ability to play college ball, too. Believe me, every high school player who has the ability to play college ball would love their coaches doing the same for them! I applaud the MBA staff for making the effort to help their kid get a scholarship. Now that's professional.

I learned this week from a friend whose son plays for MBA that there was no double-teaming of McAdoo. He said that an MBA coach said that McAdoo was "manhandled" by a junior offensive tackle who was making his very first start as a high school football player! Kid's name is Johnson. He said that McAdoo became so frustrated that he took himself out of the game in the 3rd quarter and took off his shoulder pads. The same parent said that the MBA coaches were so pleased with their offensive tackle that they are sending tape of the the game to every college that's recruiting McAdoo. Said that MBA coaches now know they have two good offensive tackles and both are 6'5" tall.

TDCman...I am a former Riverdale player who saw the first three quarters of the Antioch/MBA game. We will have no trouble with Antioch. MBA "Smash Mouthed" Antioch into submission by the middle of the 2nd quarter by just running it off tackle behind 6'-5" Bailey #75 (who is huge), their big 6'-5" TE Sloan #82 and with their FB, Bartholomew #2, lead blocking. There was nothing Antioch could do to stop them. They were putting 9 and 10 men in the box and still couldn't stop them. MBA must have rushed for over 400 yards. Antioch's McAdoo #80 was a no-show as were most of his teammates. Antioch had no passing game either. I think the Riverdale O-line is at least as physical as the MBA O-line and will have their way with Antioch. And with our speed in the backfield I expect that the Warriors will crush Antioch. Riverdale 48, Antioch 7. Book it!

Re MBA/Goodpasture scrimmage....MBA 41 Goodpasture 13. Not to sound like a snob, but the MBA/Goodpasture scrimmage seemed to underscore the difference in how much more physical the Super 7 teams are than 2A teams. MBA just had many more big, strong boys who could run than Goodpasture. Goodpasture is just not in the same "league" as MBA, Riverdale and Smyrna. Having seen all of MBA's scrimmages I can tell you that both Smyrna and Riverdale are deeper than MBA; therefore, injuries to the front line players will hurt them less than MBA. The MBA 'ones' whipped the Smyrna 'ones' on the LOS. Smyrna was without Sonny Gray and appeared to want to "save" Wilkes, as they already know what they have in him. MBA didn't have Preston Bailey for any of these scrimmages as he tweaked a knee on the second series against R'dale. In the MBA/Riverdale scrimmage, it was a push with both number one offenses scoring twice. The R'dale 'ones' came out stronger than MBA, but the MBA 'ones' adjusted and gained the upper hand and finished impressively against the R'dale 'ones'. MBA was in much better condition, but it was the first scrimmage for both and both teams looked pretty ragged at times. However, the R'dale backups outscored the MBA backups 5 to 2. R'dale has some young runningbacks that will be very good next year and the year after. R'dale is very impressive from a size and speed standpoint. I think that R'dale will control the line of scrimmage in their game against Smyrna and beat the Bulldogs this season in the playoffs. Furthermore, MBA's coaching staff appeared to focus on the running game in all three scrimmages as the 'ones' didn't attempt many passes, at all. It seemed like the play calling was 95% run plays. I expect MBA to throw it around quite a bit this season as they have a talented senior QB who has a strong arm and who is very smart, and talent at receiver that they chose not to show in the scrimmages. The first two MBA games against Antioch and Independence (two quality opponents) will help MBA to be well prepared for its annual slug fest with Chattanooga Baylor, the third game of the season.

Well what was impressive about MBA? What players stood out?

Heard the eric watson kid from CBHS got kicked out for grades?? Is it true??