Manzikert

Did you ever see Ricky play? I did. Take my word for it, he would have started for any high school football, basketball or baseball team in the state from 1960 until now. And contrary to your no knowledge assertion, virtually, every kid I know who who has played for him in the last 20 years would tell you that playing for Ricky was one of the great growing experiences of their lives. They learn hard work and excellence and teamwork, as well as how to be better than they ever dreamed they could be. My son played for him at MBA -- didn't play much, but wouldn't trade the experience for anything. Neither would I. Sorry you won't be watching any more D2 games. You'll miss some very good games. Nobody will miss you.

This is all an interesting discussion-- and it is tough to beat a good team twice, but, for whatever it's worth, Father Ryan's undefeated 1997 state championship team beat MBA twice. 21-20 in the regular season and 10-7 in the Clinic Bowl. Saw both games. Ryan a stocky D lineman whose first name was , I think, Zack. I don't think MBA blocked him once in two games. Good luck to both teams on Friday.

94 team (Ricky's first) lost in the 1st round to Jackson Central Merry , led by Al Wilson-- 42-14 or something like that. 95 team played BA in the first round, got smacked 35-10 96 team played BA in the quarter finals and lost in double OT. Great, great game. MBA was probably the 2d best team in the state that year. 97 was the first year of DII. MBA played Ryan in the finals. Ryan won. 98 team was the team that lost to BA in the regular season but then beat them in the finals. Barton Simmons deflected a pass and COle Barfield intercepted it on the goal line in the last minute. 99 team was Ricky's best -- undefeated. Only close game was against Bolles. Ingle Martin. I would have guessed that MBA had a draftee between Bill Wade and Johm Markham, but myabe not.

I second everything KWoodruff says. This is just so, so sad. A fine man, a great dad, a fantastic coach and educator. Really one of the best men I've ever known. I'm praying for him and his family. And I hope the community, with the passage of some time, can once again let him do what he does so well-- he's got a lot to offer. A bad decsion, but a good man. As one of the other commenters said, there but for the grace of God go I. Stay strong David.

I second that. Everything in KWoodruff's last post was dead on accurate (no surprise there) and I can't improve on it so I won't try. As for sandlot5's statement that 100% of Ensworth's financial aid goes to athletes, there is no gentle way to put this-- that's simply a lie. sandlot5 you don't have solid proof, you don't know what you're talking about and to claim otherwise is a further lie. Go away. You have nothing useful to say and no one should pay any attention to you.

Ensworth won 40-0

I beg to differ with you on Bowers' coaching. 3 state titles with teams that differed greatly in their strengths and weaknesses. Beat BA for the title when they had David Harrison (7 footer, future NBA player)-- and that MBA team didn't have anybody over 6'5"-- maybe 6'4", I can't remember. The Ensworth state title team a few years ago had good talent, but not much size --- and every one of those players improved hugely in their time at Ensworth. For example, Miles Asafo Adjae was no college prospect when he started Ensworth, but he got some decent minutes on an NCAA tournament team as a freshman at Cornell last year and will probably start for them this year.He would tell you that he's a much better player as a result of Ricky's coaching. 2 or 3 of the starters (and at least 4 maybe 5 guys who play serious minutes) on this years Ensworth team entered Ensworth at age 5 and live within 2 miles of the Ensworth lower school. Not the age or the neighborhood where a "great recruiter" would be likely to focus much attention. Again, I think all of those players would tell you that Ricky is a great teacher and has been a major factor in their growth as players. It's not surprising that Ricky is such a good teacher of the game of basketball--- after all he played 4 years for Don Meyer-- one of the most renowned teachers of basketball in the world-- and was an NAIA All American in the bargain. Over the years his players have consistently gotten better while playing for him and he has consistently gotten the best out whatever talent his teams have had. His teams have always spread the ball, and the scoring around-- he's never had one stud who did all the scoring-- instead he's had unselfish, well drilled teams that play together on offense and play great defense. His teams often out rebound much bigger teams-- because they blockout on defense and crash the boards on offense. If there's a better description of a well coached basketball team, I don't know what it is. Watch the game a little more carefully the next time you see Ensworth play and you'll see what I'm talking about-- that is if you have the faintest idea what to look for.

Ensworth wins 20-19. Quite finish. BA led the whole way and had it 1st & Goal on the Ensworth 5 leading 16-13 with about 5 or 6 minutes to go. Ensworth pushed them back to 4th & goal on the 25. BA kicked a 42 yard FG to go ahead 19-13. Enswworth couldn't move it and punted. BA couldn't move and punted. Ensworth moved to the 50 , then took a big sack and had a penalty to make it 3d &33 on their own 8. Parker completed a 40 yard pass to Dingess, then a 30 yard pass to McDermott and a 12 yard TD pass to Batey. Kick was good putting Ensworth up 20-19 with 30 seconds to go. BA had a couple of gains, then got a big holding penalty. Time ran out, Ensworth wwins 20-19. Ensworth vs Baylor for the title.

I didn't see the game, but read in the paper that Ensworth won a close one over MBA last night 71-68. I was talking with an Ensworth mom who was at the game and she told me, in fairly hysterical terms, about a couple of incidents that led to two MBA players being ejected from the game, including Brad Bars (who is a big kid, Penn State football signee) "picking up an Ensworth player and body slamming him to the court, giving him a concussion , and he (the Ensworth kid) may not be able to play for the rest of the season". Frankly, that sounds like an unbelievable story to me, and this woman, while nice, really knows nothing about basketball and can be prone to "over enthusiastic" story telling. So--- can anybody else who was at the game shed any light on the accuracy of what I was told? If anything close to what she described actually happened, I would be astonished and it would amount to by far the most unsportsmanlike act I've ever heard associated with MBA (and I've been watching MBA athletic contests for nearly 50 years) --- about as far from "Gentleman Scholar Athlete" as it could be. I know that being ejected from a game means you can't play in the next one or two games, I don't remember which, but I'd be very disappointed --- again, if the story I heard is true, if Kevin Anglin didn't kick Brad Bars off the team for the rest of the season. There is simply no excuse for anyone doing what was descibed to me--- frankly, if it's true, Joe Paterno ought to think about whether he's just signed a major head case/discipline risk. I hope it's not true and that my friend just got carried away with her story telling--- I hope someone who was there will respond and give a realistic account of what really went down.

David Coppeans was a big lineman on that 94 team that went to play at vandy...I also think that at least 1 or 2 of the lineman from the 07 team will get in. As far as the first 3 i am not so sure that they wont go old school I would love for someone who saw Ricky ROper play on here...when i played at RIVERDALE his number was the only number retired (5) David Coppeans was a 2 way starter on the 93 state runner up team and the 94 team that won the Warrior's first state championship. He turned down offers from Tennessee and Alabama among others to go to Vanderbilt where he started some games as a true freshman, lettered and started all 4 years, made Academic All SEC twice, graduated in four years, and has, I heard, since gotten an MBA from Vanderbilt. I was at the 94 Clinic Bowl and while everybody remembers Alvin Duke's spectacular run as the play the won the game, it might not have mattered if Coppeans hadn't led an amazing goal line stand right before that that ended with a 4th and 1 effort by Germantown where Coppeans tackled the runner in the backfield on about the 4 yard line. Also, after Duke's run, Germantown drove into Riverdale territory and Coppeans deflected a pass that Corey Carney intercepted. The Warriors then ran out the clock by running about 7 straight plays behind Coppeans and making two first downs. He led the the Warrior O Line and D Line like that all season. He definitely deserves to be in the Hall of Fame, in my opinion.

A couple of people have mentioned what a great game #53 played for Hillsboro. That's Marvin Hughes and he's been a force on defense for the Burros all year. But he really stepped up and played his best game in the biggest game of the year tonight. Maryville really had no answer for him and he made plays all over the field. He's a great kid and he had a big hand in this great win. Congratulations to Marvin, and to all the Burros on a great team effort and a truly historic win.

I agree with both parts of this post. It was a very well played, exciting game. BA was clearly the better team for the first 28 minutes or so, and then, led by an amazingly gutsy performance by Tavarres Jefferson, Ensworth was the better team for the last 20 minutes or so--- so the score turned out about right. BA dominated the line of scrimmage thru the first half, but Ensworth seemed to make some adjustments, or maybe just started playing better on the line midway thru the third quarter. The great big holes for BA's backs weren't there anymore, they stopped gaining 3 yards after contact on every carry and they had to punt on their last 3 possessions (having scored on their first four), and Ensworth's backs got some running room. Giving Tavarres room to run, even hobbled with a bad ankle, is dangerous, as shown by his 60 yard TD run when practically every BA defender had a shot at him and he scored even though he looked like he had to drag his bad leg the last 20 yards. I'm not sure what Darkwa's problem was , but I got a pretty good, close look at him walking off the field at half time and he looked fine, so I wasn't surprised he got back in the game in the 2d half. He played well, gained more than 100 yards, and looked fine after the game. BA has some outstanding linemen--- it wouldn't surprise me if 3 of them wind up in the SEC. When they needed a big stop on 4th and 1 with a minute to go and Ensworth driving, they got it (by 3 inches, which was a good as a mile), and that was the ball game. Cody Nelson played a very solid, pretty much error free game at QB, and their backs ran very hard and were explosive-- especially Caro. I had a hard time believing they'd lost four games. If they show up and play like that next week, MUS will have a real fight on their hands--- it sounds like the MBA score was a little deceiving, given the turn overs etc. BA made very few mistakes on Friday, and if they can repeat that performance, I think they've got a great shot at keeping the gold ball in Middle Tennessee. Congratulations to the Eagles on a solid performance and a great win, and good luck in the Championship Game. KW, I hope that helps. And kids, you really don't impress anybody when you talk like jerks-- I'll guarantee you that none of the players on either team would talk that way-- they've all got too much respect for the way they all knocked the fool out of each other for 48 minutes last night-- you could learn a lesson from that. End of old guy speech.

Who won? How was the game? What kind of team was Country Day? I think they're supposed to be one of the better private school teams in NC.

Ensworth was awfully impressive, building a 47-7 lead late in the 2d quarter. Back ups finished the 1st half and played the whole 2d half. Final was 54-28. The game wasn't nearly that close. The Tigers showed lots of speed. Tavarres Jefferson was effective at QB both running and passing. Orleans Opu Darkwa looked like the real deal at RB. Ensworth's starting lines dominated both sides of the ball. Not sure how good CPA is, they lost lots of talent from last year, although the still have Z Mason who is a big time athlete. QB (Roman, I think) had a good arm.

Actually the only issue is the level of need. While most independent schools that I know about require every family to pay something, the level of need is figured by an outside, independent organization in Princeton, NJ and if a family's finances demonstrate need for a full ride, then a full ride would be perfectly ok under the rules applicable to D2.

Which may have had something to do with the fact that Miles Asafo Adjaie and the rest of the Tigers played really outstanding defense, and hit the boards like crazy. I also thought Jacob Stallings had some really questionable shot selection. I know he can make them from NBA 3 point range and beyond, but it doesn't help a team get into a rhythm offensively when he's jacking up those bombs, missing, and the other team gets fast breaks off the long rebounds. If you average out the two games he shot a decent percentage from long range. Its just that practically all of the makes were in the 1st quarter of the 1st game, but he's kept putting them up a good clip since then, with a lot less success. Also, Gary Pope plays bigger than any 6'1'' or 6'2'' kid I've ever seen. And he plays hard, and well at all phases of the game. Daniel McFadden, a 6'3" sophomore held his own just fine against bigger, more experienced Eagles inside. A very good . all around game by a solid, very very well coached Ensworth team.

Shoulder, not knee. Surgery was successful. He should be fine to play both football and basketball next year.

No doubt that this was a great MBA team. Very physical. Controlling the ball against that BA defensive line was a big accomplishment. But I think your listing of top MBA teams missed the best one. The 1999 team beat Bolles on the field in a great game, and other than that didn't play a single game that was remotely close. Beat everybody in the Super 7 by 5 or 6 touchdowns in the regular season and then smoked McCallie 35-7 or something like that in the semis, and absolutley crushed Christian Bros in the finals 49-15 and it wasn't that close-- CB's points came against the backups and MBA had 35 at the half, as I recall. Ingle Martin, Barton Simmons, Tate Rich, Jonas Rodriguez, and lots of others who went on to play in college. The only teams in Tennessee that I've seen that I think could have given them a game were maybe the BA teams of the mid 90's (Kurston Biggers, Austin Kemp, Tito Lee) and some of Riverdale's great teams--- especially the 1994 team (Fernando Bryant, Antron Peebles, Alvin Duke, David Coppeans). MBA's 1999 team just had a bunch of weapons-- not to diminish in any way the achievment of this year's team, but, in my book the '99 team was one of the elite teams ever in Tennessee and the standard against which all MBA teams should be judged. Of course, that's just my opinion.

Wrong. He hurt his left shoulder in the first quarter of the MBA game. Played the rest of the game basically one armed. After the game it was determined that his shoulder needed surgery. The surgery was successful and he'll be fine, but he needs about six months with no contact sports to let it fully heal. So, he missed the rest of football season and will likely miss all of basketball season as well. But he'll be back full strength next year for his senior season in both sports, which should be fun to watch. Also, not that I think it would have made much difference last night, but Orleans Opu Darkwa was a game time decision as to whether he'd play against BA. He's had a nagging ankle for a few weeks and tweaked it aganst CBHS. He didn't practice last week. Again, I'm not saying it would've mattered last night. BA's defensive front was everything it was touted to be--- #65 and #98 in particular. And their QB really surprised me with his passing--- really outstanding. I was sorry to note in the program that he's just a 10th grader. Ensworth had a bunch young guys playing too--- really only 6 or 7 seniors playing a lot-- so they gained some valuable experience. Now they need to work hard in the off season and get better. MBA and BA are clearly the two best teams in D2--- and , I think, the two best teams in the state. Should be a great game. I'll be there.

You could be right--- but, for whatever its worth, your post is almost an exact quote of a post by a Christian Brothers fan last week--- before EHS hung 328 yards rushing on them. In my experience, its usually better to wait until after the game the talk big. All that said, BA is clearly the favorite, probably by at least a couple of touchdowns. I hope its a good game.

This was a great game. Back and forth all night with some big time plays on both sides. CBHS QB Michael Blanchard is the real deal. Fast , elusive and a real playmaker. Strong arm, made some nice throws. Fortunately for EHS he missed an open receiver on 4th and 7 with a minute to go and EHS took over and ran the clock out. CBHS #7 Eric Watson did a very nice job as well. CBHS is BIG--- 2 guys listed over 350 and a host north of 250. EHS O line has several starters in the 200-215 range. But the Tigers controlled the ball on the ground. 328 yards rushing. 257 yards on 32 carries by Orleans Opu Darkwa. He was unbelievable---- and he's a sophomore. All this with Tavarres Jefferson (a junior) watching from the sidelines with his arm in a sling following shoulder surgery. I think the real unsung heroes for EHS are the O line---- Watson Sweat (Jr.), Will Netterville(Jr.), David Davis(Jr.), Sam Cooper(So.) & Co. as well as their coach, Edd Caudill--- they've repeatedly gotten it done against bigger, more experienced teams this year. Probably the toughest test yet is coming up next week in BA's D line. On paper, its not much of a contest, but football isn't played on paper. I wouldn't pick the Tigers to win straight up, I'd need to get some points-- especially if Chris Jordan is healthy--- but I'll be there to cheer them on and hoping they'll surprise me like they've done several times this year.

Ensworth 24 BGA 21. Good game. Ensworth had a tough time with BGA's passing game. Ben Caudill did a very nice job for BGA at QB. Ensworth shot themselves in the foot several times, but their strong running game finally got it done in the second half. Two TDs by freshman Rodney Anderson. Ensworth defense shut down BGA's ground game in the second half. Tigers finish 8-2 in their first varsity season. Not bad.

Maybe so---- going with what's working is usually a good strategy. My observation was based on the fact that most of the passes they attempted (admittedly not many) were pretty badly overthrown--- nice velocity, tight spiral, just about 3 feet too high. Not a big deal if you can chew up the clock on the ground Woody Hayes style--- and the only team they've got left that has a prayer of keeping them from doing that is BA.

Hard fought game, two good teams. MBA is bigger, deeper and older and deserved to win. I picked MBA by 28-14 so I guess I look OK on the margin, but I thought they'd have more long drives and score more-- Ensworth's defense was a positive surprise for me, although they wore down in Q4 as I worried they might. Ensworth looked very tight on offense and really hurt themselves with some drive killing penalties and mistakes such as the bad snap in Q2. Passing game was just out of kilter, some missed receivers and some drops. Also. though, MBA had a very good scheme and executed well--- great pursuit, stringing Tavarres out and not letting him turn the corner very often. Ensworth had some opportunities, but failed to take advantage. MBA's offense is one dimensional, as someone said, but its a heck of a dimension,big strong, talented offensive line, good backs--- very solid ball control offense that just dictates the game. And obviously it will be better when Bailey returns. I didn't see much drop off between MBA's two QBs-- solid, don't make mistakes, but neither is much of a passing threat. Bartholomew was the best player on the field. Very, very impressive. Went both ways the whole night and had a lot left in Q4-- basically took the game over and ran out the clock on his own. Outstanding lateral speed-- sideline to sideline on defense--- if MBA doesn't have him, Tavarres is gone a couple of times. Great punter. Obviously an inspirational leader. I was a big fan of his brother Will--- I think this kid is better--- especially on defense. No question in my mind he deserves an SEC scholarship. #44 for MBA is also very good-- a couple of big play saving stops that he had to cover a lot of ground to make. I hope Waddey is not out for the year-- that would be a big loss for MBA-- he is a very good back-- great balance, deceptive speed, smart runner. Actually, thinking about MBA if they had Waddey, Crum, Vinsang and Bartholomew, running behind Bailey, is a little scary--- My guess is that BA is thanking their lucky stars that they're not staring down the barrel of all that firepower. All in--- a good game, between two good teams. The better team won. The other team had some chances to pull an upset, but failed to take advantage-- some of that was their doing, some was good plays by the other guys. I hope some of the kids posting on this thread (mbadude stands out in my mind, but there some Ensworth kids as well) will now see how silly they sounded--- arrogance and disrespect for your opponents are just bad ideas--- taking care of business on the field, and keeping your mouth shut will serve you much better in sports and in life. This is going to be a good rivalry. MBA should win more than they lose-- they've got twice as many boys, after all. But there are some good football game to look forward to--- THe current Ensworth team is very young-- the playmakers for MBA last night will mostly be gone next year. Jefferson, Darkwa, Grigsby, Davis, Cooper, Anderson, etc, etc all return for Ensworth. Should be another game worth watching next year.

I'll be rooting for Ensworth but I'd need to get at least 14 points to bet on them. Even without Bailey, I think MBA is just too big, strong and athletic up front. Everybody has talked about their offensive line, which is very good, but I think their defensive front, especially Cole and Bubis, is even better. The wild card is Ensworth's speed and elusivness. Jefferson and Opu Darkwa are special-- both are threats to take it to the house every time they touch the ball. Seward from Hillsboro is the only kid MBA has seen who compares. It'll be interesting to see how Bowers tries to get them the ball in the open field. I don't see Ensworth knocking MBA off the ball and giving them much room to run up the middle. On the other hand, if MBA can drive the ball 10, 12, 14 plays at a time (and they may be able to), then it will be a long night for Ensworth-- particularly because they are not deep and their defense will get tired. Here's my prediction-- MBA kicks off, Ensworth gets one first down and punts-- Leathers doesn't kick it too far (another problem for Ensworth, MBA's kicking game is better all around)-- MBA goes 65 yards in 12 plays to lead 7-0. Ensworth breaks a couple of 10-15 yard gains throwing flares to Jefferson and running Jefferson as an option QB (think Oklahoma wishbone from the 80's) but they stall and turn it over. The teams exchange punts, MBA tries to throw with little success, MBA d-line just clogs things up when Ensworth has the ball. Early in Q2, MBA goes 70+ yards in 10-12 plays and leads 14-0. Before halftime, Ensworth either gets Jefferson or Darkwa loose or catches MBA paying too much attention to them and gets a pass from Ballard (underrated arm) for a big play TD. Halftime score 14-7 MBA. MBA drives the 2d half kickoff 75 yards in 15 plays to lead 21-7. Ensworth gets 2 1st downs and stalls, short punt. MBA goes for the kill, Wise underthrows a long pass and Jefferson intercepts. Darkwa gets around the corner and goes 54yds for a TD , 21-14 at the end of Q3. Ensworth's defensive front guys start to wear down in Q4, MBA keeps the ball for 9:30 of the quarter and either scores 2 TDs to win 35-14, a TD and a FG to win 31-14, or Ensworth rises to the occaison and makes them turn it over on downs deep in EHS territory on 1 drive and they win 28-14. I like the last scenario best-- so that's my call, MBA 28 Ensworth 14. And remember, MBA has 25 or 30 seniors (out of a class of 100+ boys) , Ensworth has 11, only some of whom play much (out of roughly 40 boys in a senior class of 80). Their biggest lineman, Lehman (one of the seniors), is out for the year with a broken ankle suffered in practice before the McCallie game. Most of the guys making plays for Ensworth will be 10th and 11th graders (and Rodney Anderson, a 9th grader, may have more potential than the rest of them put together) I can tell you that the McCallie coaches were not happy to hear how young Ensworth is when the chain crew told them about it--- all 5 TDs and most of the big defensive plays in that game were by underclassmen. The 9th grade has 124 kids. My point is, I think this will be a fine game, not a classic, but a fine game. Sometime during the next few years, however, these two teams will put on a real classic, one that the people who see it will never forget.