HSsportznut

Cascade cant beat Farragut, dont kid yourself....you think you have a good pitcher in Stewart. Farraguts ace threw 96 at a prospect camp this summer and is rated one of the top high school players in america. He has signed with UT but will almost surely be a number one pick and instant millionaire once the draft is held. Farragut has several division one signees on their team. I have seen cascade play and even with your ace on the mound you dont stand a chance! Farragut lost to a good William Blount team and to Pigeon Forge (which was their 8th game in nine days). Also after losing to PF they turned right around and blew away Science Hill (one of the top AAA teams in the state)! Other than that they have outscored their opponents by over 250 runs, pitched 4 or 5 no-hitters this yr, and blew away every team they played in a big tournament down in FL. Last time I looked their record was something like 32-2 and are ranked 8th in the nation. Its fun to talk trash, but some things are plain silly! By the way, wartburg also beat harriman....so i guess now wartburg can beat farragut too huh?

One of the things that makes baseball such a great sport is the way that fans can rank their teams. All of the teams that you people are talking about are good teams.....and all could be state champs if the cards fall into place for them. As a roane countian, I have seen both rockwood and harriman play and I think that rockwood is no doubt the better team. That doesnt keep them from losing occasionally to harriman. The night Rockwood lost to harriman they only scored 3 runs. They are a team that normally scores double digits in runs. But harrimans pitcher had a career game that night and Rockwood lost. Thats the nature of baseball, one night a good team will come out flat and lose to a lesser team...or a lesser team may have a hot pitcher one night and he mows down the better team. But that doesnt mean that the lesser team is the better than the higher ranked team. Yes harriman lost big to cascade, but before cascade fans write off rockwood as an easy mark take these facts into consideration. Rockwood beat Alcoa tonight in a tournament at Loudon. A few weeks ago Alcoa beat Pigeon Forge. Pigeon Forge beat Farragut (the number one team in AAA) tonight. Now does that mean that Harriman can beat Farragut? Or that cascade can beat Farragut? Of course not, but it shows on any given night good teams can lose! I think the state tournament in single A is going to be awesome this year with several excellent teams having a good chance to win it all. However, as mentioned above, on any given night a good team can go down. Last year Oakland was rated number one in the nation and didnt even make it to the state! So, I expect to see Rockwood, cascade, LV and possibly even harriman in the state tourney.....but upsets can and will happen.

Hey, you guys did spank us...I am not denying it! Kingston is in a down cycle right now and we are going to take our lumps. And yes, I was there when you whipped us soundly....and Rockwood whipped us soundly....thats why I was at the game last night, I wanted to see how the two of you compared. That pitcher for Rockwood was not just "on" for that game, he is the best pitcher in Roane County. In fact, he is a 3 yr starter at QB in football, and an all district basketball player also. He is probably the best athlete in Roane County and I know Kingston fans will be glad to see him graduate. You guys got a taste of what we have been seeing for the last four years. I am wondering what schools and what sport he is going to sign with. My rockwood connection tells me he has college offers in all 3 sports but I havent confirmed that. That big cleanup hitter has hit double digit homeruns every yr so far also and probably will again this year. So I think they have something special going on there. But I agree with another poster on here, pitching is going to be a major problem for Rockwood come state tournament time. In my opinion (and I am not an expert on Rockwood) they only have 2 quality pitchers. In fact, they lost tonight to Coalfield with their number 3 pitcher. And it wasnt just a loss....they got run ruled 15-5! Kinda makes your loss to Rockwood even more embarassing! You lost to a team by 6 that got run ruled tonight by another single A team! All this just proves one thing, BASEBALL IS A UNIQUE SPORT. If you can beat a team by 5 touchdowns in football tonight, you can probably beat them every time. Thats the nature of the sport...and the same goes for basketball. If you have a major talent advantage you probably will get the same results each time. But in baseball, you can have a pitcher shutdown a team one night, and turn around and play them again with a different pitcher and the other team may win. Pitching is everything. I heard Rockwood pitchers walked 13 batters in the loss to Coalfield tonight after their ace didnt walk a single batter against McMinn!

WOW, what a loser! You people got your heads handed to you on a platter last night! That "slow pitcher" was burning up your batters and made your pitcher look like a rookie. Your pitcher couldnt throw a curve ball if his life depended on it last night while the Rockwood pitcher was burning you guys up with fast balls, curves and some other nasty pitch that you guys didnt even foul. Dont get me wrong, I am not a Rockwood lover, so I dont like taking up for them, I cheer for the yellow jackers but I love all Roane county teams and pull for them when they dont play kingston. I was there to watch what I thought would be an awesome matchup of two of the better teams in east tennessee....but I was wrong only one of those teams was a good one...McMinn is highly overrated! Rockwoods ace pitcher had a perfect game going into the 5th inning! McMinn hitters didnt have a clue. You were lucky to have scored! Rockwoods hitters feasted on your ace and then took a bite out of your reliever as well! That bomb still hasnt come down! A word of advice, instead of calling kids names and trying to degrade others, you need to take your losses like a man...if in fact you are a man...Rockwood had the superior pitcher, the superior hitters, and they gave you guys a taste of what a real baseball team can do.

Its about time people started telling it like it is. When it comes to private schools they have an UNFAIR advantage!! The playing field is not even! Privates have the advantage of being able to reach out to all areas and zones around them to pull in players. Technically its not recruiting, but its the equivalent of recruiting. Its simple: public schools can only play kids that grow up in their area (or transfer in by moving into the zone). Right now Rockwood is a good example. They have some of the best talent in the state in single A but only because of a freak occurrence of nature. It just so happens that all their good players happened to be BORN in rockwood at the same time! None of their players are recruited from other areas, transferred in from other zones, etc... So the only way that rockwood (or any public school) can be dominate is to have a great group of players be born at the same time or have a sudden influx of transfers. I have watched those kids play there ever since they were in dixie youth ball and they are good. But next year they all graduate and the pipeline is very dry for a long time to come! Rockwood's dominance will end when this group of seniors graduate and the tiger dynasty will be dead for a long time. Now look at a private school like Grace. They dont have a zoned area! Any kid that can make it to class on a daily basis can come and play there! All you have to do is pay for (or get someone to fund ) your schooling. Therefore they can have players from austin east, karns, bearden, farragut, halls, kingston, rockwood etc etc. Anyplace in the area that is within driving distance! This gives privates an advantage that can't be overcome by public schools! And to hear those cry baby privates complain when ppl accuse them of recruiting! It may not be recruiting from a purely legal viewpoint, but I know parents that have gotten together from travel ball and taken their kids to private schools for the very purpose of building championship teams! And that is fact, not hearsay. The bottom line is: anyone from anywhere can play at a private school as long as they can muster the money to play there, but public schools can only play the kids that happen to be born in their zone. And unless you are in a highly talented zone, you are stuck with what is there, you cant go out and talk some of your son's travel ball players into enrolling in your school next yr unless they move there! That is not a requirement for privates! Go to any private school and look at where the kids come from. I know kids in roane county that drive to knoxville to attend private schools every day. They may pass 3 or 4 or more schools on their way, but its perfectly legal because privates arent zoned to only have kids from their immediate area. The TSSAA has got to kick all privates out and let them compete with each other. That is the only solution. Then they can recruit each other silly and have a good time. Meanwhile, the public schools can play on an even playing field.....FINALLY!

Talking to my rockwood connection, I learned this: the night before rockwood and coalfield played, rockwood played mcminn county and pitched breazeale 2 innings, then duncan 2 innings, then skidmore 2 innings, then mccreary and inning or two. They are the 4 top pitchers. Then in game against greenback they pitched wampler, then allen and finished up with hill. So when they had to replace rhea county, they had already burned 7....count'em 7 pitchers! So coalfield saw boston (who only pitched 7 or 8 innings last yr total) and he walked a ton of guys..giving up 4 runs in one inning and 2 in the next. So coalfield scored the 6 of their 8 runs off rockwood's number 8 man in the rotation. Next bear, a sophomore pitched for the first time in varsity action and mowed down coafield until a couple costly errors allowed 2 runs to score. If I were coalfield I wouldnt be putting much stock in beating a number 8 and number 9 pitcher, especially since the number 9 man mowed them down. Also, i heard rockwood didnt hit well in the cold but did manage to hit a bomb off coalfield. Others on here are right, if breazeale or duncan or even skidmore had pitched coalfield would have been shutdown and would have lost even with the tigers not having their best night at the plate. BTW, rockwood beat a good rhea county team on monday with breazeale pitching and they scored 8 runs on a good AAA team...not bad for a single A team! Now my yellow jackets will be playing them wednesday evening. I hear duncan will be on the mound against us. We split with them last yr.

I have been reading these posts and I know harriman and coalfield are proud of their teams but they dont stand a chance in dethroning rockwood from the region championship. The only thing that will keep rockwood out of the state again will be losing in the sectional. That is the only real regular season worry they will have. They dont have to worry about getting the big head or talking state to early. All championship teams focus on the big picture. If memory serves me right, Rockwood scored in double figures in every game they played against region and district opponents except one! That is an almost impossible task to accomplish in baseball but they have that kind of offensive firepower. They only lost one starter but had something 14 or 15 juniors that basically did everything last year except the catchers spot. They have replaced that senior catcher with a guy that started last yr in the outfield and has already signed a college scholarship, so I dont see that being a major loss. I totally agree that defense is going to be the main point of concern for the tigers. They had a lot of holes in the infield last yr (especially at third, short and second). They will need to shore up those spots to be a state championship team. However, even with the weak defense last yr, they still made it to the state and finished in the top 6. Without a doubt they have the best pitcher in the region in breazele who according to the internet was 10-3. As a yellow jacket fan, I watched him kill us last yr with his arm and his bat. We beat duncan but it wasnt easy. Duncan posted 6-5 and the skidmore kid was 6-1. That is a good nucleus but if they want to win the state they will need to add some more pitching. Cooper is not going to be a facter in my opinion because his arm and back are MAJOR issues and when he is healthy he is not the same level pitcher as their aces. So I expect the tigers to have to be able to develop some more pitching if they want a ring. And dont get me wrong I am not knocking the tigers, I like to see roane county teams do well, it makes us all look good when they do, but defense and pitching are going to be what makes or breaks rockwoods title run this yr. They can hit and score runs with anyone! I am afraid most of us in roane county will have to take our lumps this yr from the tigers. The yellow jackets were the only team to beat them last yr and they pounded harriman 5 times! But next yr, the tiger dominance will come to an end and it will be harrimans time to shine. Untill then, we just have to bide our time because this senior dominated team is going to be the beast of east tennessee.

Just a followup, in another post on here, they state where the teams would have been classified if the TSSAA had changed classifications on a two yr basis (as usual) instead of the 4 yr basis they are just finishing. Loudon was listed at 675 students and would have been playing in 3A last yr and this yr! Rockwood has 455. I wonder if having an extra 230 students to choose from makes you 14 pts better???? Alcoa was in the 475 range also. So I ask once again, how many region championships and state titles has Loudon won while hiding down there and playing the little schools?

Again, sir, and I am showing respect to someone that calls others names like jackwad! This is not my fight, but Rockwood in my opinion was the better team in that game and 3 or 4 fumbles, dropped td passes and interceptions that would have put points on the board made ALL the difference in a 14 pt game. Also, one of the dropped TD passes you talked about earlier for Loudon would not have occured if Rockwood had held on to an interception just 2 or 3 plays before it! Of course those numbers are TOO high to count for a Loudon fan I am sure. You team is the most classless team I have seen this year! Every unsportsmanlike penalty was COMPLETELY earned! Your coaches made a spectacle of themselves and your players followed their example and did also! Anytime you win and go away blaming and complaining about the refs it shows just what a classless act you are! Ever hear about winning with dignity? Sorry for using big words, I keep forgetting that you are a redskin fan. Ask any coach in America and they will tell you that if you fumble at the goal line (and miss a TD), drop a wide open pass (missing a TD), drop a wide open interception (missing a TD), fumble deep in your territory giving your opponent a TD, and have an unforced fumble while misplaying a punt that gives you opponent a TD and still only lose the game by 14, that turnovers and mistakes cost your team the game! You can live in lala land all you want and dream of how great the redskins are, but after Alcoa beats them by 5 or 6 TDs and the best you can do is 3rd place in your region, then you need to find something else to brag about. My goodness, I didnt know Loudon was so good. I am glad you are on here letting us know about it. Also, I am intrigued about something, how big is Loudon? Your school has a BUNCH more students than smaller Rockwood. How big a win is it to beat up on smaller schools? I know at one time Loudon played in 3A with the big boys but they sneaked down to 2A and how many region championships have you won down there? How many state championships did they win down there? And my sources say you are way over the limit for 2A and will be moving back next yr and will be getting your head handed to you on a platter by the likes of Catholic, Austin East, Fulton, Anderson County, Kingston and others!!!!! If third place is the best you can muster in 2A, how are you going to survive in 3A next yr? Sorry to rock your boat, but you obviously arent real living in the real world.

I know how rockwood fans hate to see a kingston fan posting in their topics, and it feels a little strange to come to the tigers defense, but somebody needs to put the record straight! I was at that game with a family member that lives in Loudon and I saw first hand what happened. Rockwood did beat themselves! Stats dont lie. When you turn the ball over as many times as rockwood and only lose by 2 touchdowns you can easily say you lost it on mistakes. FACT ONE: The big fullback (in a scoreless game) fumbled at the goal line on a first and goal play. If he scores, the final deficit would have been only 7! And there is no telling how the tigers scoring first would have changed the game since they were the home team and would have swung momentum in their favor. FACT TWO: The tiger QB threw a perfect pass from about 45 yrds out that hit a rockwood receiver perfectly in the hands and he dropped it! If he caught that ball, Rockwood would have scored another 7 and the score would have been tied! FACT THREE: Number 41 for the tigers dropped a wide open interception in the flat with NO ONE near him. The ball hit him right in the hands and he dropped it! If he catches it, its an automatic touchdown and that would mean rockwood would have actually WON by 7! FACT FOUR: #41 fumbled and gave loudon 7 pts.....#6 fumbled a punt that he should never have touched and gave loudon 7 more pts. That is 14 points that loudon was given on turnovers in addition to the ones that rockwood didnt get in fact one, two and three above. Lets see, that means rockwood could have won by 21 if the above hadnt happened! I know those are all IFs, but games are won and lost by how the IFs go...either for you or against you. And I am not taking anything from loudon. And your running back did a great job, I was impressed, but before you declare loudon state champs you need to consider one other thing. The Rockwood QB's passing yardage matched your running back's rushing yardage. So they tore your defense a new one thru the air, you tore their defense a new one on the ground. Those things kinda balanced out. ANYBODY that saw that game from a non-partisan view like me saw rockwood give away three touchdowns mentioned in fact one, two, and three above and GIVE loudon two touchdowns mentioned in fact four. And by the way, didnt CAK tear loudon a new one thru the air as well????? PASSING YARDAGE KILLS PEACHES AND LOUDON CAN'T DEFEND THE PASS!

I am an old Rook player myself and if you dont know the inside story about that name, then you dont know why I assumed you were him. I am old friends with the fullbacks family and have known him for years. He is an outstanding player, dont misconstrue my chastising (who I thought was him) for saying what was said there. I am NOT a rockwood fan, obviously you dont read the posts. My team is the Yellow Jackets, but as I have stated a million times before on here, I LOVE roane county sports (football especially) and have had the pleasure of watching the first three tiger games this yr. The only reason I even said anything is because I was appalled at what I was reading in some of these posts by ppl who claim to be rockwood fans. Real fans dont get on here and rip their own kids! And as I stated before, these are kids, teenagers, not pros, and anyone who names one or singles one out and bad mouths them is way out of line. I even wrote a post showing how ridiculus that was by using the kingston/rockwood game as an example. But apparently you didnt understand what I was saying....so please keep your misunderstandings to yourself.....make sure you read and understand before picking pieces out of context and then making innaccurate posts! Now as to other things you said: I am not related to anyone on rockwoods team by birth or marriage. I am a complete outsider and not even a fan. So what I say comes from my observations, not any personal biases. Also, if you could read, you would know that I was not taking up for one person by putting down another...cant you understand that? Is there something in the water there or is it a lack of good reading teachers? I did not see the game last night, so I dont know what happened. I do plan on watching the replay on TV. I heard OS played well and that Rockwood missed their qb....which is to be expected. Few teams can take out the starting qb and continue playing at their normal pace without missing a beat. I was told they went with the Oneida game plan (which I witnessed in person). That game plan will not win many games. Rockwoods line (in my opinion) cant block well enough to blast away 9 men in the box consistently. Finally, I am not sure what you mean about running in the family, so I will let that one go, but be careful how you run your mouth. I am pushing 50 and if you really are 46, I would expect you to be more mature and not make teenage comments....but what the heck, you also claim to be a rockwood fan....who knows?

Mr ALL STATE, can you read or what? I thought only all-staters from one of your region rivals had trouble with english! If you were following the posts you would see that I was merely making a point that someone could point a finger at anyone and blame them and I was taking up for your quarterback (I wonder why you arent? Some team captain!). The point was ANYONE that takes the field could be blamed for losing a game.....NO ONES PERFECT. In fact, I dont think your QB has thrown 3 ints in any other games either....why arent you on here correcting the guy that is ripping your teammate instead of attacking and calling names a guy from another town that is taking up for your own teammate??? And since you made all state and play fullback on offense, I think that is correct language. AND someone already pointed that out and I explained this once before.....do you go to class? Grand Pa would not be happy with his ROOK if he were reading about you calling someone a da!

Spoken like a true genius!

The point wasnt what position he made All State at, the point is, that even guys that make ALL STATE, arent perfect. But if you read these posts and the Roane County News, and Knoxville News Sentinel, all you hear about is Rockwoods power running game and my point was that even the teams All State player and the strength of the offense (the running game) could have been blamed for that loss. But that individual who keeps singling out one player is TOTALLY wrong and should keep his discussions based on facts and not personal attacks. You could even blame the Rockwood offensive line for not blocking (121 rushing yrds on the night) or Rockwoods defensive line (gave up over 200 yds rushing on the night). I also in other posts mentioned the questionable calls that even some Kingston fans thought might have hurt Rockwood. MY POINT: The point of all my posts about this subject is simple. High school football players are not college studs getting their education paid for or pro players making a living playing football. They are teenagers....high school kids! They all make mistakes! And when fans want to single them out, call their names, etc..it sends me into an uproar! I hate to see high school ball ruined by that kind of thing.....its the only pure sports left. Hence my nickname which means High School Sports Nut. When idiots get on here ragging on young men and women about plays or whatever, it doesnt sit right with me! I dont mean to monopolize you guys posts, but I love high school sports and the hard working kids that are doing their best to play the games and it kills me when ppl go out of bounds and rip at them. And I love Roane County sports and support all the teams and as I said earlier, I usually pick out my own personal game of the week and go watch it.

That is my point exactly....i was telling that yo yo that keeps blaming individuals exactly that point.

Lets talk about stupidity...first of all, a real fan doesnt gut shot his players like you do. You dont see me bad mouthing my own team! But lets deal in facts not name calling since you like to point out 3 ints. If you can read check out the roane county news. Your all state fullback (44) fumbled twice! Kingston fumbled a punt at the 34 setting Rockwood up for a possible field goal or touchdown drive. But on the third play Allen fumbled the ball and Kingston recovered! So Mr Allstate cost you points right there. In a 3 point game a fullback fumbling deep in enemy territory is a killer! Also, in the fourth quarter with the score 14-11, Rockwood put on a goal line stand, stopped us, and took over on downs inside the 10. Why Vic didnt kick I have no idea! BUT, Mr Allstate two plays later FUMBLED AGAIN and Kingston scored 3 plays later to go up 21-11! Allens fumble gave them 7 HUGE points at that a time when it was anybodys game! Also, I would point out the stats at the bottom of the article. Mr allstate had a whopping 42 yds rushing. #41 had 38 and # 34 had 30. Which means your starting THREE running backs combined for 110 yards rushing. Your QB threw for 101 and rushed for 9 yds which totals up to suprisingly enough: 110yds! Same as the other 3 combined! Hmmm, one guy puts up as many yards by himself as the other 3 starters in the backfield COMBINED put up. So who cost who the game? To quote a wise poster on here: "you tell me another game that is decided by 3 points that the QB threw 3 INTS and it didnt cost them a victory. Well I have a challenge for you. You tell me another game that the ALL STATE FULLBACK fumbled twice (costing Rockwood a scoring opportunity and giving Kingston 7 points) and it didnt cost them a victory. You can say the qb cost you the game or you could also say the FB cost you the game! YOU need to wake up and get real. I know its not your style, but please, these are teenage kids putting their all on the field for their teams and idiots like you are identifying them, badmouthing them, singling them out, and blaming them for losses. I want to appologize to your fullback. I was only singling him out to show you how stupid your comments were about your qb! And also to show you that anybody can be blamed for losses if you have an ax to grind for a certain player (which apparently you do for your own guy). Grow up, mature, and try not to stab your own team in the back.

Well if you read my post, that is exactly what i said, that your tigers had a very good chance at a playoff birth, in fact i said 2nd place was in your reach. I also said kingston didnt have much chance. Thanks for agreeing with me!

As a neutral observer in this one, I would pick Rockwood simply because they have played a tougher schedule and with one exception have been victorious at it. Oliver Springs is not nearly playing at the level that Rockwood is and even their win last week wasnt anything to brag about. Beating Coalfield this year is not a BIG win. In fact its hardly worth mentioning other than padding the record with a W. Gone are the players that made the yellow jackets the great team that they were. Enough said there, but I would pick Rockwood. I am not sure which county game I am going to watch this week. Kingston/AC is going to be a good one. So I dont know if I will travel to Rockwood again this week or make a trip elsewhere. Kingston has a killer schedule remaining and I hate to say it, but I fully expect them to lose to AC, Fulton, AE, and Catholic and not make the playoffs. Oliver Springs is going no where either but Rockwood has picked up a huge win over Sweetwater and if they can beat Loudon or CAK (or both) they could be in line for second place in the district. I am sure Rockwood fans dont want to concede the Alcoa game without a fight but I just dont see it working out as a Rockwood W. Harriman is improving each week but their youth and inexperience will be their undoing. Look for Midway to make a run in the playoffs. They have lots of speed and talent for a single A program and should make some waves (pardon the pun) come post season. Overall, this is not looking like the best year for Roane County football as a whole but we county fans can still hope (the season is still young). Also, after watching Midway, Rockwood, and Kingston and talking to Harriman buddies and Oliver Springs fans, I am amazed at slimpikins comment about his (i am assuming he is a rockwood fan) qb. You have the best in the county and one of the best in east tennessee! Until the offense was opened up Rockwood was looking like the same ole predictable offense that ppl were loading the box with and stuffing the run and holding the tigers to low scoring tight games (can you say Oneida?). But once they turned their passing game loose, the tiger offense has carried the team! The defense is still struggling and will struggle all year from what I have seen. The best offensive teams on the schedule havent been played yet. If it werent for the tiger passing game, teams would be loading up, stuffing the middle and crushing the run game and Rockwood would be in trouble. Four td passes in the first half killed Midway. Big passes against Sweetwater kept drives alive that would have otherwise died. And the Kingston comeback was sparked by drive that was all passes except a qd sneak for a td that got the tigers back in the game! Obviously slimpikins has an ax to grind against his guy or he knows nothing about football. Either way, he doesnt see the same games I have watched. Of course, I will give him this, I watch as an uncommitted fan, I am there for the love of the game, he may be a tiger fan and sees with his heart rather than his eyes. But your qb is the difference maker in your lineup. Take him out and all you have is a ground game that Kingston stuffed most of the night. And speaking of that, several tiger fans have complained to me this week that they received some bad calls in the Kingston game. I have not seen that mentioned on here. But I heard on the Kingston interception in the end zone where the tiger receiver appeared to be in position to catch the game winning td and slipped. That he was pushed down by a kingston db in the back. I have heard that #4 caught a possible touchdown and had the ball stripped from his hand but then recaught it lying on the ground in the end zone with the ball never touching the ground. One guy who was standing on the fence in the end zone is swearing the ball never touched! Has anyone else heard this or is that just spilt milk?

In all fairness, I must admit, I heard it too and was appalled. There were young children there and they were chanting away the obscenity. What is high school football coming to now? Whats next? HGH ? Steroids? Coreographed end zone dances? I hate to see some of the stuff we see in college and pro games starting to make its way into the high school game either on the field or in the stands.

LOL, you sound like a real fan calling your own players classless. Is it taking pride in your TEAM MATES, COACHES AND YOUR SCHOOL when you call one of your players classless? You rockwood people are hilarious! No wonder you cant beat Kingston! At least they support their TEAM MATES, COACHES AND SCHOOL. LOL. And btw, I would love to see your qb on our team. You dont know how good you have it.

wpasi, i am not a rockwood fan, just someone that watches local football and have seen several rockwood games. Because in my humble opinion they have had the best matchups so far on the schedule. Rockwood/Sweetwater was the best matchup last week on the roane county schedule. Rockwood/Midway was a better matchup than Kingston/Harriman the week before that and Rockwood/Onieda was the only game in town week zero. I am not calling for their coaches job....it would be ridiculous for non-fans to want some other school's coach fired...especially one that is helping other county schools get wins! I am only pointing out what I have observed in the games I have seen. That tiger team is loaded with seniors that can play but the coaching stuff is not getting it out of them. That was my whole point in my post...players playing out of position, lack of fundamental blocking and tackling, terrible play calling, lack of knowledge of the passing game (both offense and defense), coach berating his players when they make mistakes (even though his play calling, lineups, schemes, etc are mistakes). 3 and 1 is a good record but it should be 4-0 and the really big games have not been played yet (Alcoa, CAK, Loudon). I am only saying that this team is not being utilized to its full potential and that lies squarely on the coaches shoulders. I have seen this go on for years at Rockwood, so you Tiger fans should get used to it!

ROCKWOOD FANS GET USED TO IT! Rockwood will never be better than a middle of the road team with Webb at the helm. 44 up the middle on the first play is automatic! Quit your belly aching! You know thats how it is going to be! Why Webb thinks running up the middle on the first play of the game is going to surprise anyone is beyond me. But thats how its going to be. Accept it and shut up! Rockwood fans need to get used to inferior Kingston teams dominating you year in and year out because of these reasons: 1) This is the poorest coached team in the state. They have a player that has played line all his life trying to play wingback (and doing an ok job). BUT, their line is the worst in the state and he could make it 100% better. Instead, they have a bunch of smaller weaklings that cant block their grandmothers allowing defensive players a free pass right into the backfield! In all my years of playing and watching football I have never seen a team that had bigger running backs than lineman. But Webb and his brain trust have decided that putting lineman at running back and running backs in the line is the way to go. (I wonder if Maryville and Alcoa do it that way?) Last year they took a 3 yr starter at tight end (who was among the best around) and moved him to wingback making them the only team in the state with a 6'4 wingback! No one has a clue why to this day. 2) Blocking and tackling is a joke. The line cant block for the running game or the passing game. But maybe even worse than their blocking is the tackling. Sweetwater ran thru them the entire second half and Kingston ran thru them the entire game. Just one missed tackle after another! Football is not rocket science. Execute the basics and the game gets much simpler to play. I'm not sure they know the basics. 3) Rockwood's old school philosophy of 3 yards and a cloud of dust went out back in the 70's but obviously he and his staff havent figured that out yet. They think that running 44 up the middle is a miracle play that no one knows about or expects! Imagine how shocked they must be when it repeatedly got stuffed last night! 4) These coaches have no idea how to coach the passing game. They can't teach lineman how to pass protect or receivers how to run routes. Their pass plays are a joke. Anyone that knows football knows that a bootleg pass is the most difficult pass to make, yet 90% of Rockwoods passes are bootlegs with the qb running to the sideline and 2 or 3 receivers running to the sideline with him. They all bunch up in a small space together with all the defensive players that are guarding them and then try to throw the ball to one of them! And why do they roll a left handed qb to the right and make him throw against his body? Isnt it difficult enough to pass while rolling out on the run with unblocked rushers and blitzers coming thru untouched? (AH, the wonders of the tiger offense!!! ) 5) Their lack of knowledge of the passing game affects the defense as well. Since the coaches cant teach the passing game, they cant figure out how to defend it either. Teams that spread the ball out and pass move at ease against this team. They dont know how to stop a passing attack. Wait till CAK and any other passing team comes to town. Last year Harriman spread them out and rolled all over them (thank goodness Harrimans defense was so bad that they couldnt stop the tigers or Harriman would have won the game). Rockwood will never stop a spread attack or anybody that passes. Kingston, which is anything but a passing team, caught them last night with a huge reception on a 2nd and 15 when for some reason Rockwood didnt seem to be thinking that a pass might be called. I guess they thought 44 up the middle might be a more likely call in that situation! (Unfortunately, the jackets didnt have a 44 in the backfield to give it to.) 6) And one cant miss Webbs class when it comes to discipling a player that has made a mistake. Numerous times he was in the face of players embarassing them in front of their teammates, fans, opponents, and visiting fans. In fact he has done it all year! Nothing like having your coach running out on the field pointing his finger in your face and yelling at you at the top of his lungs all the way to the sideline to make you play better. The players know they screwed up and having your coach calling attention to it in front of several thousand people really helps. NOT!! At least 3, maybe 4 times last night he did that and has done it all year. There is difference between correcting mistakes and embarassing a player! What a great motivator! If a coach can't keep his cool under pressure and in tight situations how can he expect a teenager to that is playing in the heat of battle and runs a wrong route or lines up wrong or whatever? What kind of example is he setting for these young men? Al McGuire, the great basketball coach. once remarked "players are an extension of the coaches personality, which means in my case, my teams must have been obnoxious". If the coach cant keep his cool under fire, then why should he expect the players to? These are not new things. They have gone on for years. Tiger fans should stop their whining in the stands and on these boards. You get what you ask for. The rest of the region and Kingston fans as well, thank you for allowing them to win each year by giving them W's where normally they should have gone home with L's.

Lets look at this upcoming intra-county battle from a purely analytical perspective. First, compare their schedules, Rockwood has beaten two of the best Single A teams in this area while Kingston beat a young and rebuilding single A Harriman team (after struggling early against them). Then the tigers went on the road to one of the toughest venues in the state and beat a heavily favored Sweetwater team (which had their eyes on making a run at Alcoa for the region championship). Kingston beat up a TERRIBLE Livingston team that couldnt beat any of Rockwoods first three opponents. The tigers are more battle tested at this point so you have to give the edge to the tigers in toughness of schedule coming in to this one. Second, compare location. Rockwood is the home team which will give the tigers an obvious advantage. Playing a big game at home is always advantageous. The tigers are coming off back to back wins at Midway and Sweetwater which are both tough places to play. So coming home should be a shot in the arm for them. Since this is Kingstons first real test of the season and since its a road game, look for the jackets to struggle. So you have to give the advantage to Rockwood there as well. Third, look at the teams themselves. Several Kingston players watched the Rockwood/Oneida game and saw the tigers play a conservative run only offense with nothing but basic plays mostly up the middle. If jacket players and fans havent seen a tiger game since then, they will get a rude awakening friday night. Coach Webb opened up the offense against Midway and Sweetwater. The spread formation with the quarterback in the shotgun is totally new for Rockwood. Kingston did not see it when they watched Rockwood/Oneida and in fact, have never played a Rockwood team that utilized it. Much is being said (as well should be) about Rockwoods power running game. And it is awesome (just ask the Sweetwater, Midway and Oneida players that had to wrestle Allen, Moriarity and Dyer all night). However, the new offense also features a potent pass attack that leads the county in passing. The tigers are averaging over 250 yards a game rushing and over 120 yards a game passing. They are no more that one dimensional team that opponents would put 9 or 10 men in the box against and try to stuff the run. If Kingston comes out looking for the old Rockwood offense this one could be out of reach by half time (just ask Midway...4 td PASSES in the first half)! Also Rockwood is not a shabby defensive team either. The mantra of all Rockwood's opponents so far has been that Rockwood has no speed......REALLY? Midway which is blessed with excellent speed found out that the tigers had more than enough speed to level them. Sweetwater boasted about their speed all the way to a 30-23 home loss! The tigers are not shabby on pass defense either. Breazeale has picked off 3 passes already including the one that ended Oneida's comeback attempt and one in the end zone stopping a Midway drive. Harvest intercepted a game winner that ended Sweetwaters comeback attempt on their last drive. Kingston has not been tested defensively to this point so its hard to say what they have on defense. Harriman and Livingston Academy are terrible offensive teams. Advantage Rockwood. If Rockwood wins friday night it has to be considered an upset. Anytime a Triple A team plays a lower team you have to consider the AAA team to be the favorite. And I know from here and around the area, that Kingston fans are talking big and making a lot of boasts. But bigger is not always better! This current group of seniors for Rockwood witnesssed (and some participated) in Rockwoods win at Kingston 3 yrs ago. After losing the last 2 yrs, they are hungry to stop that trend in their last Rockwood/Kingston matchup. One thing that was not mentioned above is heart. This current group of tigers have more heart than any tiger team that i have seen in a long time. You cant put a measure on heart, but teams that have it find a way to win. Last week at sweetwater I saw a group of seniors will their way to victory after blowing a 16 point lead to a fast, talented sweetwater team that was playing at home. My pick; Rockwood.

Typical Kingston....always whining even in victory....and when they lose, well its always some player or ref cheated them!

How about it Vickspup? What was that you said about the tigers going in 2-0 and leaving 2-1? If you truly played at Rockwood, I would suggest that you stay away from now on. We dont need your kind of support. Have you noticed how Vick never comes back and makes comments in these threads once the tigers prove him wrong? But next week he will put on his Yellow Jacket colors and be putting down the tigers in the Rockwood/Kingston posts! Go TIGERS...3-0.