buschman

Collinwood vs Houston County ended up being a shootout and fun to watch for the majority of the game. Actually Collinwood's boys play Fayetteville on Monday, the girls play NCS. Regardless should be a good game with Fayetteville.

Rossville is staying in DII and there was never any discussion about FA moving to DI. The truth is that neither of those schools offer financial aid (like JCS who is moving back to DI) so it makes sense for them to not want to be in a league where everyone else is playing by a different set of rules than them. I wouldn't blame them for playing DI.

If I was going to push a St. George guard for this award it wouldn't be Alex Bran, but rather Alec Mulvihill. Mulvihill was a key contributor two years ago on the state championship team. He is much more consistent than Bran; just doesn't make the jaw-dropping, athletic plays. He actually leads the team in scoring this year at about 19 PPG.

After the first round through the district how are things shaping up across the state in both regions?

USJ. Glover is just too tough.

Bishop Byrne lost Brandon Strickland (who scored about 25 a game) but do bring back some scrappy, athletic players that work hard on the offensive glass and will win some games. You didn't mention Catholic who also lost a couple of key players last year. They do bring back some major contributors to a team that upset ECS last year. You also left out SBEC who came on very strong at the end of last season and just got a bad draw of having to face ECS in the 2nd round. They lost their best perimeter player but still have a good "big" in Paxton and some great athletes that are still in football right now. ECS will still be very good. Those guys got a lot of experience last year in 2 or 3 minute spans with Coach Tippett rotating in waves. The tall freshman is much improved and they have another big guy that I do not think was on the team last year who is probably their best player. FACS did graduate a few players from last year, including Robbins, who was their best player. I have heard they "found" a 6'10" freshman but haven't seen him play. They bring back a couple of very good sophomores and the monster Smith who improved alot over the summer. I think you are dead-on about Harding. Bring back some good players and are always well-coached (like most teams in this division). They could definitely compete for the Region title. Lausanne is always a wild card, but this year they are probably the favorite to win the division. They are loaded with talent but I did hear that the "big" is no longer at the school. Wooten and Payne can play. On the other side: Rossville lost Ambeau but bring back the rest of their team. Should have some experience so it will be interesting to see how they handle the loss of such a key player. I'm not sure the "big" for Rossville that you were talking about unless you mean Auston White, who is probably more of a wing. You may be talking about Moody from TRA or Moffatt from FA. Tipton-Rosemark brings back a plethera of experienced players in Seniors Moody, Sansom, Barnes, and Alexander. They do have to replace their big kid from last year and have a new coach. Fayette Academy still has Moffatt, along with a number of good experienced players in Miller, Shemwell, and the sophomore Bowling. They showed alot of improvement last year and look to build on that. USJ will have Mr. Basketball John Ross Glover but did lose Miller. Look for Winslow to have a big season from the perimeter when people double down on Glover. JCS lost just about every key contributor from the run to state a year ago. Rumor has it that Bowles and Mayberry are not going to play this season either. Regardless, Coach Johnson has a solid program and always finds a way to put a good team on the floor. St. George's may be the favorite to win the entire region. They did lose a great player in Cooper Green but also bring in the big kid from Manassas that you mentioned, and still have Alex Bran (the kid from FL that you mentioned) and Muhvihill, who played a key part in the state title run two years ago.

I don't think they need to split to 3 divisions. There is already not enough teams in these classifications anyways, with AA having only 12 teams in football and A having 22 teams in football. If you split this to 3 divisions, then there would just be 3 very small divisions where the district basically makes up the entire state. I think that they should lower the enrollment line enough to move up schools like ECS and Webb, then possibly USJ, St. George's, or FRA (I don't really know which of the other schools are bigger). Move up about 4 of those teams and get the balance to about 16 in AA and 18 in A.

ECS and Webb don't seem to be better, they are better year in and year out. You could add a couple more schools to that list as well like your aforementioned St. George's. True SBEC beat ECS this year, but the Trojans just happen to have a couple of extraordinary players right now, that success won't be annual. The fact is that these schools are better is because they have more students, which means more male students, to choose from. They also offer financial aid, which brings in even more players. So let me get this right, you are saying that they are better just because they schedule CBHS and Briarcrest during the season? Based on that argument, do you think that Tipton-Rosemark, Bishop Byrne, and Rossville should go out and schedule MUS and Whitehaven? They wouldn't even be able to finish their season if they scheduled schools like that. Rosemark had to schedule Middleton just to win a game, and don't say that the numbers don't make a difference when TRA goes out every week with approximately 23 players. Bishop Byrne isn't much better, but yet you think they need to schedule harder. I think it is ridiculous that the supporters of the schools like ECS, St. George's, and Webb don't realize how unfair it is for schools with only 75 to 100 boys in their ENTIRE high school to have to play against schools with numbers 3X that. So maybe ECS and Webb would be a lower tier team in AA? Based on your philosophy, it should only take a couple years for them to be at the top since then they will get to play against top teams every week, instead of having games on the schedule against schools that can barely field a team. On the other hand, maybe then they will learn how Bishop Byrne and Tipton-Rosemark feel every single week. Don't try and tell me that it is equal right now because St. George's and SBEC pulled off some wins. I want you to explain to me how it is fair for Bishop Byrne or Tipton-Rosemark or Rossville to have to play against ECS and Knoxville Webb.

Does anyone have any insight on the teams from the West? I noticed this entire thread has shifted to the East/Middle teams.

Give LC their props? I think that in my post I said, "LC is very talented" and LC is a very good football team". What would you call that? I never once took anything away from the Lake County FOOTBALL TEAM! I simply said that some of their fans continue to complain about penalties and turnovers. Maybe you should take a break and learn to read before you continue to make posts. I'm sure your not tired yet; you haven't done anything. It sounds to me like your the one that is talking trash about other teams. I'm talking about the fans, not the team. Good luck to the Falcon players tomorrow night against JCS.

Well the scoreboard is where it counts and I believe I only heard one FA fan mention the injury to #20 before I said something about it in this thread.

Haha, I actually saw neither game. I did go to the Lake Co. game but mostly to see the running back #20. When he got hurt in the first quarter, I didn't hang around much longer. Thats the only time I saw FA all year so... I saw some Division II games in Memphis if you are curious about that.............No? Oh well. You should try asking a true Viking fan like AC$. He'd probably have a better idea. However, from talking to people in Somerville I did hear that they played JCS without their QB and as I already mentioned, they played LC without #20 so it would be kind of hard to get a real read on those games. The little bit that I have seen of both teams though (LC against FA early & a little of the JCS vs. SBA game) this could be a very close game. Lake Co. does have some speed and athleticism. However, I think that the quickest, most athletic player on the field will be wearing #11 for the Eagles.

By the way, I don't think we can consider JCS as flying under the radar. They always get their respect because they are right there year in and year out. True, many expected them to lose to McKenzie but no objective spectator really thought that they would lose to UC. Maybe I shouldn't say "no", there are alot of people on here that surprise me every single day with their beliefs. Anyways, JCS was definately considered the favorite in the first round. I don't believe Eagle fans can pull the underdog card, especially not playing against Lake Co. this week, they are the true underdog.

Oh, so this week we're gonna blame it on turnovers.... Last time I checked you have won the last two weeks and still find ways to come up with excuses as to why they were close games. Are penalties and turnovers not part of football??? You don't have to answer that, I'm worried many of you wouldn't get it right. YES, they are part of football. In case you have forgotten you lost 3 games and finished 4th in your division. True, you are the only ones standing now; but don't come with excuses, be glad that your team is playing good football at the right time of the season and run with it. Your team is very talented and are playing well right now, I'm not gonna lie; I expected them to lose to Fayette and Trinity, and I didn't expect it to be close. I realize now that Lake Co. is a good football team, too bad their fans still find ways to complain. I am scared to think of what it would be like if they would have lost those games. They'd have to reserve an entire forum for LC's crying. If your team has problems with penalties and turnovers then do something about it. True, sometimes its out of control but most of the time you create your own luck. This probably has alot to do with the tackling problems that you have all talked about throughout the regular season. The talent is there, maybe its just a lack of discipline.

LC better watch out. I hear that TCA is gonna have two board members and a lunch lady as officials this week. After the janitor couldn't come through for Fayette, TSSAA is not taking any chances in Jackson. Good luck Falcons in your quest to save the world from the evil zebras.....