basketballisbest

If these two teams meet again in the playoffs; I doubt very seriously you will see this kind of spread in the score. Farragut is a better team than the Owls saw last night. I would expect a real tough match up if they play again. Even with that said, this game was entirely one-sided. It is time for the posters to move on to the next week. No reason to trash talk the coach at Farragut; I've seen him for years and never seen anything like it. We are all capable of making a mistake and sounds like he's owned up to it. Pretty classy and honest in my opinion. Congratulations to the Owls; they deserved this win... obviously. As weak as they have looked in previous weeks offensively, this is the most balanced they have looked all year, and it was done against a very good Farragut team. Maybe they will put something together; who knows.

I've seen Ooltewah play three times this year, and if this is a state championship team then there just isn't that much in the state. Offense has been poor; defense pretty stout. QB overthrows a large number of receivers, and I haven't really seen their running game take off like in years past. They are just not as explosive offensively. In fact, if the offense was as potent as I've seen in years past you might be right. But I do believe this is a very good football team, and maybe you are right. But they are really going to have to step it up offensively to be state championship calibur.

Game is not broadcasting on Wazoo. Just checked it and it's 8:30 EDT

They may not substitute much, but Jackson and Smith were not in on those last two series that McMinn scored. I also some other new numbers in the backfield, so unless they changed jersey numbers, McMinn was not scoring on the entire first team defense at the end of the game.

In a previous post regarding a poll I took a beating from of you who misunderstood my comments about 2-5A. First of all, I do agree that 2-5A is the strongest region in the field. What I don't agree with is that they have four of the top five teams in the state of Tennessee. I saw Ooltewah play McMinn on TV last week, and they are not a top five team right now. They have a lot of work, especially in the turnover area. I understand they are young, but they are not there yet. If last year is any indication, Monroe will probably have them there at the end. Looks like they will enjoy success for a few more years, based on the number of sophomores playing.

Ignorance personified. I know 2-5A is good but not that good.

Interesting game; saw it on TV last night. It appeared that Ooltewah dominated the line of scrimmage offensively, and had it not been for a few mistakes by the QB, this game would not have been this close. I agree with the previous posters who see the young team as one for the future. I don't believe they will win state this year, but one never knows. Defensively, their were some lapses and I would agree that it typically occurred with the linebacking corp. They still contained the McMinn QB fairly well, and I don't think it was an awful performance. McMinn is not equal to the teams on the northern half of this region--William Blount, Farragut and Oak Ridge, but they are definitely improved and are probably going to be a team to reckon with for years to come. I bet they will surprise one or two teams before it is over. It looks like 2-5A will represent the eastern half of TN again this year, and the fact that McMinn has improved so much only makes the region tougher. 170+ yards for Marshall, and Reed throwing for another 227, most of which looked pretty good. I believe this team will only get better. Should be an interesting and competitive region.

This one should not be close. WB looks like they have a lot of horses, and Soddy is struggling. SD defense is weak, and they simply can't compete with the upper echelon of the 2-5A.

yeah uncfan likes to talk a lot, he just doesn't know how to eat crow

Congratulations to Smyrna. Great game! Hope you guys take state. Good luck in the finals.

I hope the Owls win, but they can't break down for 58 yard touchdowns like the end of the first half. Refs have nothing to do with that.

I was saying if things ended up as I was illustrating in the game review above, it would be an emotional let down for Ooltewah, making it much more difficult, if Smyrna tied it at the end of the game. It would be an emotional lift for the Bulldogs at the end and I think that gives them, especially being at home, the advantage in that kind of situation. I really think it would be all in how it ends. If the shoe was on the other foot, and Ooltewah tied it at regulation, I don't know that I would see it the same way. I would expect you to feel that way.

It ought to be a good one. I'll tell you what... if it comes down to this and Smyrna kicks the field goal in that situation. I would probably lean toward Smyrna in over time. That would be very tough for Ooltewah and give Smyrna an edge, especially at home.

First half stats: Ooltewah: Rushing -- 68 Passing -- 57 Total Offense -- 125 Smyrna: Rushing -- 111 Passing -- 69 Total Offense -- 180 Smyrna controlled time of possession and a couple of big plays and special teams play a big role in the first half. Second Half--Third Quarter Ooltewah kicks it off to the five and Smyrna runs it back to the 28 yard line--first and ten. On the first play Harris runs the ball for 7 yards to the 35. Then lightening strikes as Gray hooks up with Wilks for a 65 yard touchdown pass. Smyrna tries to go for two, but the pass is incomplete. The score is now Smyrna 19 -- Ooltewah 14. Smyrna has now compile 260 yards to Ooltewah's 125. Not looking very good for the Owl faithful. Ooltewah gets the ball on their own twenty to start the next drive. Woods drops back and hits Norwood for a 17 yard gainer to the 37 yard line. Buchanan is stopped for a two yard gain, and then Marshall breaks one all the way to the Bulldog 22. A screen pass to Marshall gets the ball to the Smyrna 9--first and goal. On the next play, the Smyrna defense steps up as Shadrake sacks Woods at the 16--loss of 7. Draw play to Marshall nets 10 yards--3rd down at the six. The next pass is incomplete and Ooltewah elects to kick the field goal. Score: Smyrna 19 -- Ooltewah 17 Smyrna again starts at its own 20. Harris gets 7; Hendrix gets 12; Gray scrambles for another 13. The ball is now on the Ooltewah 48 and the third quarter ends. Fourth Quarter: On the first play from scrimmage, the Owls Swafford intercepts a Gray pass intended for Crouch at the 40 yard line and he is immediately tackled. The Bulldogs bend but don't break defense, gives up two 10 yard runs by Marshall and a twelve yard pass pay from Woods to Jensen. Then Marshall gets 18 more yards but fumbles at the ten and Smyrna gets the ball back. Smyrna, starting on its own ten, is unable to move the ball and has to punt from its own 14. Ooltewah lets it roll to its own 39 where they take the ball over. Marshall is handed the ball twice, once for 7 yards and the second for 9. First and ten on the Smyrna 45 yard line. Woods connects with Jensen for 15 more yards. First and ten on the 30 yard line. Another screen pass to Marshall nets nine yards to the 21 yard line. Buchanan gets two yards for a first and ten at the 19. Woods drops back and passes to Shumaker; the ball goes through his hands and Wilks intercepts the ball. He runs the ball all the way back to the Ooltewah 16, where he is caught by Woods. Smyrna's ball first and ten. Smyrna is able to move the ball to the 11, but after an incompletion decides to kick their third field goal of the night. It is good--a 28 yarder. Smyrna 22 -- Ooltewah 17. Two minutes and 47 seconds left in the game. With their backs against the wall, the Owls are forced to start at their own 20 yard line again after the ball rolls into the end zone. On the first play from scrimmage, another screen pass too Marshall nets 22 yards to the 42 yard line--out of bounds. A draw to Marshall gets 15 more yards down to the Smyrna 43. Woods drops back to pass; it's incomplete. Now just 1:50 left on the clock. Woods drops back and has to run from a furious pass rush and connects with Norwood at the 25 yard line--first down Ooltewah out of bounds. 1:38 left on the clock. The next play is a handoff to Marshall, who only gets two yards. The clock is running--Woods drops back to pass and hits Jensen for 15 yards down to the Smyrna 8. 49 seconds on the clock. Woods pass to Horsch is incomplete. 41 seconds remaining. Woods catches Shumaker open on a slant--touchdown. Ooltewah decides to go for two. Senior Shawn Sanders runs the ball for two. Score: Ooltewah 25 -- Smyrna 22 (35 seconds on the clock) Ooltewah's kickoff does not make it into the end zone and it is run all the way back to the Ooltewah 42 yard line, after several missed tackles and a great block by Shadrake. (21 seconds on the clock) Gray hooks up with Wilks down the sideline for 29 yards to the Ooltewah 19 (8 seconds left on the clock. Smyrna elects to attempt a game tying field goal from 36 yards out. It's up; it's long enough; it's wide left. Owls win. Final: Ooltewah 25 -- Smyrna 22. Final stats: Ooltewah: Rushing: 195 (Marshall -- 183 yards) Passing: 183 Total Yards: 378 Smyrna: Rushing: 134 (Harris 100) Passing: 163 Total Yards: 297

Here's my predictions on tonight's game: First Quarter: Smyrna wins the toss and elects to kick it to Ooltewah. The kick is to the Ooltewah two yard line and Turner runs the ball back to the Smyrna 27. On the first play Ooltewah strikes quickly with a play action fake to Marshall, and as Smyrna's defensive front smothers Marshall and doubles on Jensen, Shumaker slips into the middle of the secondary where Woods finds him at the five. Shumaker eludes the tackler and streaks into the end zone. 7-0 Owls. Smyrna takes the ball on the next possession at its own 20 yard line, as the kickoff makes it into the end zone. Sonny Gray eludes the pressur on the first play from scrimmage (an intended pass) and runs the ball for 30 yards to mid field. On the next two plays, Ooltewah's defense stiffens and stops to runs by Maceo Harris--the first for a two yard loss and the second maybe a one yard gain. It is Smyrna 3rd and 11 on about the 49 yard line, when Gray catches Wilks for 29 yards down the left sideline to the Ooltewah 22. On the next play Antoine Hendrix takes a draw for 7 yards down to the Ooltewah 15. Then Harris takes a quick gapper to the Ooltewah 8--1st and goal. Again the Ooltewah defense stiffens on a short run by Hendrix and two incomplete passes, it is fourth and goal on the Ooltewah five. Smyrna elects to kick a 22 yard field goal by Hosford. Score Ooltewah 7 -- Smyrna 3. Smyrna elects to kick the ball short, and Sanders gets the ball and runs it back to the Smyrna 45 yard line. On the first play, Woods pass to Jensens is broken up by Wilks. On the next play, Marshall gets around the end, breaking off two tackles and ends up at the Smyrna 7--a huge 38 yard run with Crouch pushing him out of bounds. Woods goes back to pass, has to elude the rush and takes it down to the two where he is tackled by a host of Bulldogs. He leaves the field limping, and Junior qb Pepping enters the game. It takes two tries but Sanders scores from the one on the second try and it is Ooltewah 14 Smyrna 3. End of first quarter. Second Quarter. Smyrna surprises Ooltewah with some great running from Harris and Hendrix, who along with a couple of short passes by Gray, make it all the way up the field to the Ooltewah 7 first and goal. Gray finds Wilks open in the end zone for a touchdown, making it Ooltewah 14 -- Smyrna 10. On the next series Ooltewah starts on its own 20 and is unable to manage anything against a stout Bulldog defense--Buchanan gets nowhere up the middle and Marshall is tackled for a five yard loss. An incompletion from Woods to Norwood makes it three and out; Ooltewah is forced to punt. The punt is a good one to the Smyrna 35, but it is returned to the Ooltewah 45. On the first play Gray hooks up with Crouch for 7 yards on a quick out. Then Gray goes back to pass, again eluding the Owls rush and runs for 12 yards down to the Ooltewah 26. Harris gets five yards on the next two plays and makes 1st and ten on the 16. The next pass attempt is incomplete; then Gray is sacked trying to scrable for an 11 yard loss by Welch, putting the ball on the 27. Smyrna, in the shot gun, sends the ball over Gray's head and he has to fall on it at the 40 yard line, loss of 13 more yards. After an incompletion on a viscious hit by Turner, Smyrna decides to punt and the ball ends up on the Ooltewah 3 yard line. Again, Ooltewah is unable to move the ball and has to punt it on fourth and five from the eight. The punt is shanked and ends up on the Ooltewah 29 yard line--first down for the Bulldogs. Two nice runs by Harris and Hendrix make it first and ten on the Ooltewah 11. Two more incompletions and a four yard run by Harris make it fourth down on the 7. Smyrna kicks another field goal and it is Ooltewah 14 -- Smyrna 13. After the insuing kickoff goes into the end zone, Ooltewah starts on its own 20. On the first play Marshall gets 30 yards to mid field on a play that looked stopped one yard into the backfield, but the diminuitive back somehow came out of the pack for 30 yards. There is now only 30 seconds left in the half, Ooltewah passes it to Jensen for 27 yards down to the 23 yard line and gets out of bounds. On the next play, Woods fumbles the snap and Smyrna recovers and the half ends with Ooltewah up by one. Next half in next post.

Really nice picture; I like those all purple uniforms! Is that what Smyrna will wear tomorrow night?

No offense at all. Just a comment. I am not part of "you guys" either. Just an interested bystander that has tried to look at both sides of this game. More power to both teams for cheering their teams.

Personally I like seeing the stats, it helps me decide where I would be leaning. Those who don't want to consider the stats and what they might be indicating, seem to be showing they fear they may not favor their team. So, instead, they just disregard them and say they don't tell you anything. The truth is they do give you an idea of what a team or player is capable of, but in the end, you still have to play the game. What happens on the field is all that matters, and more importantly that all important final score--as the folks from Smyrna proved, when they were outplayed by Riverdale (almost double the yardage), but won the game anyway. Smyrna's still playing; Riverdale is at home. That's all that matters now. Ooltewah on the other hand should have lost one, possibly two of their games, but here they are--13-0. Doesn't really matter how they got there, they keep winning. Good luck to both teams!

You are right in that records don't matter in the end; you have to play the game. However, records and stats are accurate predicters of future behavior and results. Even in statistics three standard deviations brings you to 99.7% accuracy in predicting an outcome, so if you can discover the key predictors to the point of three standard deviations, you will be right 99.7% of the time. However, nothing in the posts that we see would get us this close, so predicting is not always that easy--but as the number of posters on CoachT could attest--it is fun. You can look at stats and see who is a better player on the field. For example, the stats and the results for Greg Maddux in the mid-1990s told everyone that if you were going to bet on any pitcher in baseball to win, you would have to put your money on Maddux. He was the best pitcher, without any argument for two of those years when his ERA was below 2.00. You can look at any sport and get a pretty good idea from the stats what is going to happen. Now in the case of the Ooltewah/Smyrna game, you really don't have much to compare. The teams they play are different--style, size, strength, speed, skill, etc.--so predicting success is difficult at best. But go ahead everyone, have fun, it is perfectly okay to support your team and there is nothing wrong with believing your team is better--in fact, you should. That does not mean that either side is over-looking the other. My guess is that both coaches have worked very hard at preparing their teams, and keeping them out of the clouds as it relates to the next step in the playoffs. I have not yet given my prediction, but I think I will wait until Friday morning. But this should be a really great game! Wish I could be there.

It is so hard to predict who is going to do what on a given night in a high school football game. The psyche of teenagers can be quite unpredictable and sports in general can turn on you in a heartbeat. Matchups one night look entirely different on another night. Sometimes it is coaching decisions on how to approach the game and other times it might be mistakes or penalties riddling a team. Matchups with other teams don't always tell the whole story either. There are some teams that match up well with others and don't match up well with yet another team. In this case, what is on paper makes this look like more of a toss up, than it does one team having a huge advantage over another. Even individual stats can be deceiving, and they may not make a difference when two teams actually play. For this game, it appears that two very successful teams will be meeting on Friday night. Interestingly, neither of these teams have probably received the respect they probably deserve. Smyrna has been slighted ever since their smashing defeat at the hands of Riverdale. Ooltewah on the other hand has been fighting respect all year--a young team that was not expected to do this well. The coaches for both of these teams have enjoyed some success. Neither of these schools have ever made it to the state finals. So, the matchup on Friday night looks like a real good one. Yeah, arguments can be made for both teams; I trust they both come out and have a great game. I am confident there will be respect both ways, because both teams are trying to achieve uncharted territory for their respective schools.

Well, as happens very often on these posts, people only read what they want. If you look at my post in it's entirety, you will see that I was simply trying to explain that I agreed with your coach that the game has to be played and that's why they sell tickets. I was simply indicating that those of us who have been in the coaching profession don't have any more insight into these opinions than the others who are posting. Also, these posters are not going to make a difference in this game. It is going to be the play on the field. Follow all my posts and you will see that I have posted with support for both sides.

Research has nothing to do with it. I have coached for years, but this guy's post has no merit. In fact, you have precisely made my point. Having coach in front of our names does not make a difference on a site where people are sharing their opinions. This is still two groups of people from two different schools basically supporting their teams.

I'm not quite sure how either side can lay claim to a more difficult schedule. But most of the SOS ratings I have seen on this site and others have Ooltewah with a stronger schedule and better success against that schedule--both TN ratings and national ratings. I guess it will all be decided on Friday night.

Actually, I would say that Ooltewah's front line is not huge. They are decent size, quick and block well. They play the game the way it should, and get plenty of space for the speedy running back and block well for the passing game. I saw the comment earlier about how big the Owls line was That was a little funny. But don't under estimate them; they are good. I watched them a couple of times this year and they do a really good job!

That is quite impressive. Think about this: other than about four players, you really won't know who Ooltewah's "first string" defense is. They play two deep in multiple positions, rotating a lot of players in and out on both sides of the ball. The stats seem to indicate that these two teams match up quite well with one another, both offensively and defensively. History and previous games tell us a little about the programs past and some of its strengths and weaknesses during this year. The one thing we can't really tell is how the two teams will do against each other. They have not played yet, and you just never know for sure how each team is going to adjust for this game. This game is going to come down to a few things, as usual: execution of the game plan; the ability to adjust to changes since the viewing of game films; turnovers; penalities; mental mistakes; and one or two big plays.