McNine4MVP

Geez, I forgot about the best player in Smyrna High history, Larry Daniels. Was as good of a combo QB as you'll ever see. Took Smyrna by himself to the 1994 state semis before losing in a heartbreaker to Cleveland, who I believe had Dante Hickey at that time, I think the score was 28-26. He was recruited by all the big option schools at the time, Nebraska, K-State, Oklahoma, etc, but didn't test well and went the JUCO route. Later, he got caught up in a robbery with his uncle and I think did some time. Darn shame, he was a talent. Seemed like a good kid too, shocking how many slip through the cracks.

Best to not play in college in the metro-Nashville area: Paul Glenn-David Lipscomb 1989- dude was a hoss, went to Middle, but never panned out. Josh Waller-Antioch- Was a great natural runner with no weaknesses, led AHS to playoffs as a junior in 1997. Tore his knee up on a cheap shot at Tullahoma and just never got it back that senior year. Jeremiah Ligon-Cheatham County- Was as versatile a player as you'll ever see, did it all for CCHS in the mid 1990's. Greg Fly-Franklin- Was like a dollar store version of Mike Vick. Dude had crazy skills, a freakish arm, and wheels to boot. Got into some law scrapes and never panned out the way he could have. Jay Gilmore-Antioch- Was a couple of years older than Waller, but they played together for a couple of years I think. Big pro-type guy, looked like a high school version of Byron Leftwich. He was 6'4 or 6'5, probably 215, big live arm. Problem was, Antioch didn't really start playing decent football until around his senior year and they were in that brutal region before the split with Pearl Cohn, Father Ryan, Brentwood Academy, and Beech, who was very good at the time. If I remember correctly there was another guy that QB'd at Antioch there at the same time that people thought was almost as good as he was, can't think of his name though.

Region 5-5A just continues to be wilder and wilder. With Gallatin getting royally screwed by the TSSAA's archaic transfer eligibility rules. Antioch and Hunters Lane will play in an absolutely titanic tilt. Conventional wisdom would suggest that Hunters Lane playing at home, on Halloween, and coming off a huge win @ Gallatin would be the easy favorite to win this game. But nothing in this region race has gone according to form. Antioch has just been the model of consistency in this region from the jump and they have just as many weapons on offense as HL does. I see this one as a classic matchup of similar styles. This is the one good thing that came out of the public-private split. Seeing Metro-Nashville's 2nd and 3rd largest high schools play in a winner take all region game is something that hasn't happened much since the old NIL days. My take on the game is that this will become a defensive struggle with either Kennerly or Coker making a huge play to flip field position. Hunters Lane throws the rock better than Antioch, but I think Antioch may have a few tricks up their sleeve. I gonna pick Hunters Lane to win 14-13 in a barnburner, but I really want AHS to win and would not be at all surprised to see them do so. What are your takes on this game????

A difference maker in this game could be the WR #4 from Hendersonville. He's a good looking athlete with good height and speed. If Hatfield could get out of his 3 yard and a cloud of dust offensive philosophy and throw the ball early instead of waiting until he's behind, he could make the difference. I still see Coker breaking a big one and winning this one. Antioch 21 Hendersonville 17

Guys remember this, Antioch is doing this without their star QB (who tore an ACL in Week 1) and without their kicker. They are a pretty resilient bunch. Today's game is a huge one for them.

Yeah, The other kid's name is Preston Brown. If you're a Nashville lifer, his dad was a legend at Maplewood with EJ Junior back inthe late 1970's. Coker and Brown are a great duo. Heck, the third stringer ran for 100 against Beech. Antioch is my sleeper to do a lot of damage in the postseason.