HSsportznut

Ladies and Gentleman, this individual..and i use the term loosely, has nothing more to do than to make nasty comments about Rockwood each week. I hope you Sweetwater fans dont take what he has to say as fact because he (or she or it) is a complete idiot. Here is a previous post from the Midway-Rockwood discussion: As i sat in my green van and watch the Tigers practice today i noticed that all they wanted to do was fight. and in one fight i saw a lineman get his but whooped by a little weak pup. so that showed me two things right then and there. 1) rockwoods linemen are babies. gettn beat up by little terds like that. 2) they have no team chemistry. the sad thing is the other players were encouraging it. look for the boys from the SOR to DOMINATE this game friday night Lets see, Rockwood 42 Midway 20. Hmmmm, is that how you define DOMINATE? I would suggest you lay off the Tigers (and the wacky weed or doggy downers or whatever else you are ingesting) and get a life!

Lets see here native, looks like you and Vicksescapedpup have been drinking the same fire water. You both are amazed by Rockwoods first two single A opponents, but what about mighty Sweetwaters big test? Lets see Tellico Plains, thats the team that everybody pounds on each yr! Midway and Oneida would both hand Tellico Plains losses if they played them. I know Rockwood scrimmaged Tellico a cpl yrs back and wore them out! Sounds like you and Vickspup think putting up 50 on TP makes you a potential state champ! I will be honest and tell you I dont know who will win this one. I cant guarantee a Rockwood win or a Sweetwater win. I think both teams have the potential to win this one. Rockwood has played a couple good single A teams and won both games. I think they have been tested more than Sweetwater to this point, however, as all Rockwood fans know, Sweetwater is a tough place to score and make the touchdowns count. The last two times we have played there we have had 3 touchdowns called back along with numerous other questionable calls. It is a tough place to play no doubt, so you have to give Sweetwater the advantage from that standpoint. However, NativeIndian, I would suggest that before you make many predictions about Webbs play calling you should watch the tigers play. Its true they pounded it all night against Onieda, but thats because they knew they could and still win. However, against a Midway team blessed with speed and the potential to score alot of points, Webb opened up the offense, went to a spread attack and blew the Green Wave off the field with a combination passing and running attack that was unlike anything Rockwood has put on the field in yrs. The Tigers PASSED for 4 touchdowns in the first half, then with a big lead settled in and pounded the Waves in the second half as they ran the clock away. For the game the tigers passed for around 200 yards and rushed for around 250. PLEASE PLEASE tell your Sweetwater boys that Rockwood is a typical Webb coached team that will look to pound it up the middle all night!!!!

WOW! Forgive me for butting in, but for two weeks you have been saying what a weak team Rockwood was, that you were LEAST IMPRESSED with them and bad mouthed them something awful both after Rockwood beat you guys and before Rockwood beat Midway. In fact, you predicted Midway would easily beat Rockwood. Now the Indians lose by a total of 3 points to STRONG AA ROCKWOOD and a wicked Hampton! I am sure Rockwood fans thank you for finally seeing the light! If you remember I warned you last week in the Midwa-Rockwood discussion post that Rockwood had played with you guys only throwing 5 passes and running the fullback 22 times up the middle. I also said they did that because they knew they could beat you guys by playing that way and that they had kept their high potent offense in hiding so better teams like Midway and our region opponents wouldnt get a look at it. In case you didnt hear, Rockwood came out in a spread offense, passed for 4 touchdowns in the first half and once again had a dominating running attack to match. Midway didnt know what hit them. Just be thankful the Tigers took it easy on you and didnt throw open the offense like they did to poor Midway.

I personally know some Stone and Catholic ppl. And I know that Stone fans and players are really upbeat about the opportunity to play real football this yr instead of jv ball. But you guys are in for a rude awakening this week! Catholic is the big leagues, as well as Fulton, Austin East, and Anderson County. Kingston and Scott are no pushovers either. But to think you can beat Catholic is beyond crazy! The Irish beat a Morristown West team that the Knoxville paper has been highlighting in the preseason as a team that may be able to beat 4A powerhouse Maryville! Catholic beat them like a stepchild. The only way this game will be close is if coach Pemberton calls off the dogs early because he has some previous Cumberland County ties (coached CCHS in the past).

Spoken like a true fan of a team that got beat! Special teams cost you the game? You could say that, but what about Rockwood? An unforced fumble on a first and goal gave OHS the ball and cost rockwood a touchdown. Then later on, a brilliantly executed screen set up a 1st and goal from the 5 but was called back for a penalty. If those two mistakes had not occured, rockwood would have been up 21-0. In that case, even if OHS made the field goal and extra point they would have lost 21-10! And lets see here, I watched the game on TV and I saw the Rockwood holder catch a bad snap on the bounce, get it on the tee and the tiger kicker knocked it thu the uprights. OHS's holder had the ball go straight to him (no bounce) and dropped it! Bottom line, Rockwood stepped up and made the plays, OHS choked! And by the way, if you are going to go around bad mouthing Rockwood and saying how you werent the least impressed with rockwood, you are actually saying that OHS is even worse....check the stats Rockwood 272 total yards, OHS 227. Rockwood 15 first downs, OHS 10. Rockwood 7 points (shoulda been 21), OHS 6 points (shoulda been 10). Hmmmm, if you are least impressed with rockwood, you must really been down on OHS because the tigers beat them in all those major areas! CASE CLOSED. With that said, I can tell you that Rockwood went with a VERY conservative game plan against OHS. They only threw 5 passes and did not do anything but basic running plays (the fullback ran 20 times up the middle). The Tigers were intentionally not opening up the playbook because they knew they could beat OHS without being fancy and they were keeping Midway from being able to see some of their new offense. If Midway thinks that Rockwood is going to be that same team this week they will be in trouble! OHS fans keep living in fantasy land. SOR boys, keep looking at that OHS film and saying Rockwood is going to be an easy win!

Goodness, how big are the middle schools where you watch football??? Rockwoods backfield has a 205 lb QB, 235 lb fullback, and a 235 lb wingback. Their offensive line is anchored by a 6'5 255 lb guard and all their other lineman are over 200 lbs! My goodness where you come from they must be feeding middle schoolers steriods for breakfast if those teams are bigger than Rockwood!

To be more correct, Rockwood has the top pitchers in the entire region. Breazeel is the ace of the staff and Duncan is second only to him in the region. Cooper has potential but i have heard that he has spent most of the yr with arm trouble, back trouble and lately a sprained ankle from a pickup basketball game so he hasnt pitched very much but will be sorely needed come the state tournament. There number 3 pitcher down the stretch has been Skidmore who has a tendency to be a little wild but has consistently won games when called upon. Edwards, the senior lefty is also a solid reliever who has won a game or two as a starter as well. And McCreary has gotten the job done as well. Doughty has only 17 homers, but hasnt hit one in several games. Teams are learning to pitch him up or away and that his hurt his power numbers. He still is a big time threat and has feasted on the weak pitching in the district and region games this yr. Whittaker is second on homeruns with around 8 or 9 and Allen is right there behind him giving the tigers 3 monster mashers in the middle. Clem doesnt hit for a high avg but is on base constantly with walks, hit by pitches, and any other way he can. Breazeel bats second and has power as well as a good avg. The botttom of the order has Duncan, Cooper, Skidmore and Mayton and all of them are excellent hitters. For the district 4 guys, Rockwood and Harriman have emerged as the two undefeated teams so far in the district 3 tourney and barring any unforseen upsets (by Grace or Greenback) those two should be left standing at the end of the week ready to take on the district 4 winners. Rockwood beat Greenback 14-3 and Harriman beat Grace 2-1 in 10 innings in a pitching duel in which both pitchers went the distance.

Buddy don't go into the sports reporting business or the scouting business either! Oliver Springs hasnt got a prayer against Rockwood! They played twice and Rockwood won by a combined 29-0! You may not be able to hit Oliver Springs pitching but Rockwood has run ruled them twice! And if you had been at the games you would have found that Rockwood cleared their bench in both games or it could have been much much worse! Rockwood didnt pitch their ace (Zach Breazeale) in either start. If you play for Kingston, let me remind you that he beat you guys when he pitched against you and he shutdown Loudon today 6-0 on a complete game 4 hitter. How did Kingston fair against Loudon this yr? Also, if OS does have such good pitchers that they are hiding in reserve, how are they going to score any runs against the tigers? In the two run ruled beatings they took in the regular season were they also hiding all their good hitters? Inquiring minds want to know.

Rockwood's ace lefty shutdown Loudon 6-0 today on a 4 hitter. The Tigers are 20-8, undefeated in district and region play, and have lost only one two games to single A opponents (both in the Lookout Valley Tournament). Their biggest loss was 8-2 to a good Anderson County team that will challenge for the AA championship. In that game the tigers committed several errors and gave the mavs at least 6 unearned runs! They lost by 3 to Mt Pleasant (pitching a sophomore) by 2 to Columbia Academy (in extra innings), by 1 to Webb (after blowing a 4 run lead late) by 1 to Kingston, by 2 to Loudon, by 2 to Rhea County. and by 1 to Alcoa (pitching a guy who had never started and only had pitched 4 innings all yr). They also beat Kingston, Rhea County and Loudon thus gaining splits with them for the season. The tigers have only scored less than 10 runs in a distrcit game one time (beating Grace 9-4). THe district tournament should be a cakewalk and the region should as well. That would put the tigers hosting a sectional game which should give them the edge they need to make it to the state. From there its anybody's guess what will happen.

This is one of the weakest districts in the state this yr. The region is even weaker. Rockwood has not scored less than 10 runs in any region or district game they have played this season. The only problem I see is that the tigers play these weak district teams and it hurts them when they play the good teams. Their infield has made more errors already this yr than an entire team should make for an entire season. But when they make those errors in the games where there score 14 or 15 runs no one worries about it. However, in each game they have lost (except Kingston and Columbia Academy) their defense has made errors that cost them the game! They made 9 errors against Anderson County accounting for 7 unearned runs and lost the game 8-2. They had Webb down by 4 and started booting and misplaying balls and lost. Bottom line is, when their offense is shut down to single digits, the bad fielding becomes a factor. Rockwood, according to the results I am looking at, has only won one game in which they have scored less than 10 runs. They beat Chattanooga Arts and Sciences 6-1. In all other wins they scored 10 or more. In every loss they scored less than 10. Breazeale's only loss was due to errors, and 2 of Duncan's 4 losses were due to errors! So unless their hitting completely disappears in one the remaining district games it should be a cakewalk. I worry that when the district and regions are over, that the defense could become an issue in a sectional game or especially the state.

Cooper isnt close to being a number one pitcher, but he is a solid number 3 and if he will get tough he can help the tigers come state tourney time. In fact, if the tigers are going to have a chance to win in the state cooper is going to have to come on strong and they will need to find a reliable 4 and 5 man. Duncan won his first 2 games and has lost 4 straight since. #10 has won 4 games and lost only 1. He was the only pitcher to win in Lookout Valley from what i heard. The mav guy is right, rockwoods infield has made numerous errors in the games I have seen. They are weak at second, third and short. The third baseman made 4 errors in a recent game i watched and the shortstop made 2 and the second baseman made one. Seven infield errors in one game is inexcusable! #10 lost his only game because of errors and I have been told that 2 of duncans four losses were because of bad fielding.

Before Kingston fans start making place for a state championship in their trophy case they need to take off the rose colored glasses and seriously look at what their team really has accomplished so far this season. They beat SINGLE A Harriman....BIG DEAL! If a triple A school cant beat a single A school then they have a problem! And the win over LA wasnt much to brag about either. Sure LA won the state championship last year but practically the entire team graduated and they LOST to SINGLE A Trousdale county before that! And to add insult to injury for LA, Trousdale lost both of their other games, so LA is really sick. So just how big a win was that? Every Kingston fan I know is predicting a state championship this year based on Kingston's mighty victorys so far! If the Kingston team is listening to that kind of talk, Rockwood may just ruin there little party Friday night. And even if they win, there's Catholic, and Fulton and AE and others lying in the weeds just waiting to take a bite out of the Jackets stinger!

My goodness, you dont know much about baseball! Rockwood had only ONE senior and only TWO juniors and only ONE freshman on their squad this year. The vast majority of the players were sophomores (someone told me they had 11). Look at what Oliver Springs did from last year to this year and see what a difference veteran players make on a team. The tigers will dominate next yr with at least 11 juniors (many of which started this yr as sophomores). They return two of their top three pitchers in Duncan and Cooper as well as Skidmore who pitched well as a freshman. In addition, the player who would have been this yrs ace if he had played (Breazeale) is playing again next year which will give the tigers the best pitching staff in the district and region. The top power hitters, Doughty, Allen, and Whittaker will all be back along with leadoff hitter Clem and other experienced starters Boston, Mayton, Hill, and Green. Rockwood will not only be the team to beat in the district and region, but they will be one of the favorites to win the state the next two yrs!

If you are referring to my post, J King was not the player. And I have since been told that neither of the rumored transfers are going to happen. By the way, they were NOT Kingston players.

Which session are the Maryville guys going?

Are any of the local area quarterbacks going to the Furman camp. I have heard that it is a good camp but dont know anyone that has gone. Do any local schools send their qbs there and if so, what do they think of it?

During the Regional basketball tournament I was told by someone supposedly "in the know" that he was not expelled but was sent to iss for the remainder of the school yr. And I was also told that he was not kicked off the team. Instead I heard that the new school superintendent ruled that students in iss cant play ball while serving their time. I know that was a terrible blow to Rockwoods pitching staff since he was probably their best returning starter. I too hope that he returns next year. I also have heard rumors that he was coming back and that he was not coming back. Apparently his family either have moved or are going to move to another county? Maybe Cumberland? The person that told me this wasnt sure.

I dont have a preference in coaches, you misunderstood my post entirely. What I am saying is that we seem to be stuck on this substate thing. We made it to the sweet sixteen 3 times in 5 yrs with the other coach and lost there each time with teams that werent expected to have gone that far. And now we made it back with a team ranked number 1 in the state and lose in the substate again. It seems like no matter what the status of our team is, the same thing seems to happen. Everybody knows you cant compare this team to our old teams, this is not pro sports where players can stay on a team for 5 or 10 yrs. Kids graduate and new kids come in and the personnel changes every yr. So you cant compare coaches because of that. I was simply saying that being number 1 and not even making the state is embarassing. America loves the underdog ( just look at the NCAA March Madness broadcasts each yr). Teams that get it together at tournament time and exceed expectations always leave a good taste in the fans mouths, while teams that are supposed to be the best and then dont even qualify for the tournament leave fans with a feeling of what should have been. My hats off to Coach and the team for a great ride. I am just and disappointed that we couldnt finally push through to that next level. The state tournament is one of the most exciting basketball experiences a player, coach, or fan can experience! So dont misinterpret my post, I am not blaming him or the players for not making it. I am just lamenting the fact that I (and most other Jet fans) thought this was finally the year we would get to experience that for ourselves. And as I said in my previous post, with Coach going to Stone and the schools splitting where does that leave long time Jet fans now? It could be al long, long time before we get another opportunity like this one again. By the way, do we know who the next coach will be?

Rockwoods success or failure next yr may hinge on three transfer rumors that I personally have heard during the region tournaments last week in Onieda (of all places). And of course rumors are rumors and most are false but thats what the off season is for! I have heard that last yrs fine quarterback is moving out of county and may transfer to another school. I have heard that a certain runningback in a neighboring town is moving to rockwood during the summer and will play ball for the tigers next yr. I have also heard that a neighboring wide reciever is moving to rockwood this summer and plans to play for rockwood next season. If the first rumor is false and the other two are true rockwood could suddenly transform from a talented team to a championship caliber team by adding some speed to a team that already has alot of potential. But rumors seldom come true. Guess we will find out this summer.

WOW! number 1 ranked Cumberland County goes down and misses the big dance again! Looks like Shelbyville owns the Lady Jets as usual. A couple yrs ago we changed coaches because 3 substates in five yrs wasnt good enough. We wanted more so we got someone all the "experts" said would take us to the next level. Unfortunately he couldnt do any better and now he's leaving to go to Stone and we will be left looking for another miracle worker to take us beyong that point. I wonder which is worse, being number 1 and choking in the substate and not making it to the state tournament or being an underdog and upsetting teams ranked ahead of you and making it to the substate before the magic ends? I think theres more fun and excitement in being an underdog pulling upsets than choking. The underdog isnt expected to win so each time they do there is magic. When number one stumbles it breaks fans hearts.

Rockwoods weakness this year is pitching from what I have heard. Harriman must really be short of pitching if that is true!

Harriman fans shouldnt get too excited about beating up on slow, untalented class A teams. They would have won ONE game MAYBE if they had stayed in class AA. Rockwood pounded them into submission in one of the most dominating games maybe ever in the long rivalry between the two schools. A lucky touchdown kept Harriman from being shutout! Now Rockwood finished 5th in the region! Only Sweetwater, (who Rockwood barely beat and who best Harriman in a scrimmage), and Wartburg finsihed below the tigers. Realistically speaking, Harriman may have beaten Wartburg. They would have been hammered by Alcoa, Loudon, CAK and Oliver Springs. So blue devil fans enjoy beating up on the little guys (afterall you are one of the largest class A teams in the state) because if you stayed in class AA you would have finished either dead last and winless or next to last with one win in the region......ANOTHER losing year! Thank God when you pray tonight that you moved down!

Sounds good that Hackler is stepping it up, he needs to or that team will be leaderless. In the couple of games I saw last yr, Payne was the unquestioned leader and carried the team on his shoulders. And he had excellent shooting nights the games I saw, but again, tiger fans may have seen him on nights when that was not the case. As far as Temple goes, I saw them in a summer tournament and they didnt look nearly as strong as last years team, but that is only summer and you never know who might have been missing or injured or being held out. So I cant say for sure myself. I am getting excited about high school hoops and I look forward to the start of the season. I hope if my work schedule works out, I can see the Rockwood-Temple matchup.

I expect the tigers to be down this year. They will still post a good record but not as good as last year. They will have a good group of seniors but the real problem will be finding playmakers. Hackler can jump and dunk, but he's not proven that he can carry the team. Peddicord and Willis give them two big guys to play with Hackler but finding solid guard play will be a problem. Moffit and Morgan are both undersized. Morgan isnt a scorer and Moffitt plays out of control alot. The Gilmore kid is going to be looked at as someone that will have to raise his level tremendously over what he has done in the past. He will be called on to step in the shoes of Corey Payne as the shooter. Word on the street has it that Rockwood has dipped into the exchange student pool and came up with some kind of Brazilian star that is supposed to be a shooter. If that is true he may help take some of the pressure off the weak shooting guards. What will hurt this team tremendously over the course of the season is the loss of their three best sophomores who arent playing this year after showing lots of promise their freshmen year. Losing key underclassmen not only kills the depth but hurts the future teams. I am not a tiger follower so I am only going on what I have seen and heard, but I expect them to be competitive but no where near what it takes to make it to the state. Someone closer to the program may know more about it though.

First of all, I saw both quarterbacks (Harb and Fiegler) play this year against the same team (Rockwood). And I saw Fiegler twice last year against Rockwood. And coming from someone that doesnt have a horse in that race, I have to say that Harb impressed me the most. Harb had to read the defense and make checks and decisions at the line that Fiegler didnt make. Fiegler has so much talent around him that you can't adequately judge how good he is versus how easy it is for him to pass the ball. And the recievers he has makes every completion a potential touchdown. Against Rockwood he would throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage (a throw anyone can make) and the reciever would turn it into a 40 yrd gain. On the other hand, when he threw deep in the three games I watched him play, most of the time the ball was up for grabs, but Warren or one of the wideouts would go up and take it away from the dbs. When I saw Harb play, he had very little talent to throw to, no world class speed or D-1 prospects and Rockwood threw a gimic defense at him in which most of the time they dropped 8 men into coverage and a few times dropped 9! Also they hit him with an assortment of blitzes from every angle and he maintained his composure quite well considering we are talking about high school kids and not seasoned pros. I also resent someone characterizing Rockwood as an average team. Obviously that person only looks at standings and isnt familiar with the tiger team. Their record is 4-5 which may look average, but they lost by 2 to Midway in a game in which they had 170 yards passing and 190 rushing and Midway had a TOTAL of less than 170! Five turnovers by a young tiger team gave Midway all their points. They lost to Oliver Springs in a game in which again they dominated yardage but dropped a game winning touchdown pass. They lost to triple A Kingston in a game in which they got behind by 14 in the first few minutes then played better but never could get over the bad start. They lost to Alcoa but scored 26 points against the future and defending AA champs...something last yrs 11-2 senior dominated team couldnt do! Their first touchdown was against the Alcoa starters in the first quarter and the second came against an Alcoa defense in which 6 starters were still on the field. Finally they lost to CAK and Harb 17-14 in a game in which they had 4 or 5 crucial turnovers and dropped another potential touchdown pass. Rockwood has only 10 seniors and 3 juniors on their team and all of them dont start! This team has a sophomore qb, fb, lg, rg, and wr starting on offense and sophomores at both de spots, 2 linebacker spots, and 2 defensive backs and also placekicker. The top reservers are also sophomores! This team is young but has played toe to toe against the older players that start for other teams and are only a few (youthful) mistakes from legitimately being 7-2. Now off the soap box and back to the topic, based on seeing the 2 qbs in question, I would have to vote for Harb, but you cant really go wrong with either one at the next level. They have the size and arms for it. And speaking of size, Rockwoods soph qd is 6'4 190 and still has two more yrs to go! he appears to be a younger version of these two brilliant seniors.