fairplay2121

Both defenses played well. I thought it was a pretty evenly matched game.

What seemed crazy to me was that the refs let the west players constantly grab at the Halls quarterback's face mask after being tackled in an effort to get him out of the game for a play. They tried on several occasions, even though they were only successful twice. Still not one penalty for face mask.

What was crazier was when one mo west player chose to make a classless piece of crap play. He got Harbin's face mask off and then proceeded to punch him in the face right at the feet of the side judge. No penalty. No ejection. He would have kept hitting him if his teammate didn't pull him off.

If you don't believe me, watch the channel 10 highlights for yourself. The sportscaster was stunned by the "no call."

It's an absolute shame to see a great playoff game tarnished like that.

I hope the film makes it to the TSSAA office and that player gets ejected for the next game and the referee that witnessed it and did nothing is dealt with as well.

Not saying I favor this idea, but would it be the end of the world if they simply decided to disband the football program altogether?

I see your point. If no serious candidates apply; if no players come out to play; if nobody came to watch the games; I could see disbanding. I don't think that is the case in Union County.

Of course it would not be the end of the world to disband football at Union County High. Contrary to what many might believe, it would not be the end of the world if the state of Tennessee declared organized football could no longer be played at all. (Due to concussions, insurance rates or whatever) The world would go on.

However, having been to games at Union County, there is some community interest and support for football. The school, and especially the potential players, would benefit from having the sport if it is done correctly. It is not only about winning games. It is not about getting college scholarships. It is about young men learning discipline, growing self esteem, learning life skills, teamwork and many other things.

How would Powell, Halls, Karns or any other school (that has gone through tough times) feel if football was disbanded?

I hope that does not heppen in Maynardville. I am hoping the delay is due to the AD being at the Spring Fling with the softball team or something.

I am somewhat familiar with Union County football.

They have at least "some" youth football in Union County. I know kids that have played there. I know it is not a great feeder program, but that is due to the fact that most "talent" leaves at an early age and goes to a neighbor community. They make plans early to play high school ball some where else. I think they would stay if they could develop some stabilty at the high school level.

They have recieved applications from men under 50 with high school coaching experience. I have been told of at least two. I thought that I read where the AD said that he wanted to get a coach in place before school ended for the summer. That way the coach could meet with potential players before they scattered. Three weeks later, and it sounds like possibly no interviews have been done or anything. I think today is the last day of school in Union County.

Unless they announce someone today, the job, for whoever they get, just got a little tougher.

Heard a weird transfer rumor yesterday. Has anyone heard of any transfers?

I don't know about the coaches. I thought we had the same QB that started last year when Dowdy got hurt. Has there been a change?

It seems like the silliness is finally calming down. I think some people, especially the "johnny-come-latelys" that have suddenly appeared with an axe to grind and with a personal agenda, should be ignored. When things don't go right, there are always those who thinks they know how to fix it better than those in charge. However, we all have opinions and ideas and that is why these boards exist.

In my opinion the lack of success this year is not due to the coaching staff. The new OC was the RB coach last year and we were fine. The new RB coach was the Freshmen coach in the past and experienced tons of success at that level. The players appear to be playing hard and with plenty of intensity. When you assess the injuries and illnesses this team has been experiencing since the first week of 2 a days, no one should question why they have struggled in the win department. I would love to have seen them with #10 against Maryville and SC. I would have loved to have seen our line stay healthy throughout the season. It was well known that depth was not this teams strong point. And still everyone seems surprised or angry that they have lost 4 close games. And yes, I think the Maryville game was closer than the final score might suggest. The other losses have all been by less than one score. I think the coaches and players would agree that Halls should have won those games. But I also think the other teams would say the same thing if they would have lost those games. That's my two cents. And I don't think the season is over yet. It will take some soul searching and staying healthy, but we can still have a great season. But win or not Friday, I will still be pulling for the Big Red.

I have watched this group come up from Park ball the last few years and looking just at the skill positions the players to watch are at RB's Jared Long and Grant Painter who hit the line of scrimmage with a burst and will complement McLaughlin when he is a senior. We will have to learn to throw the ball with not one but two talented wideouts in Rico Bryant and Austin Smith all four of these players are playmakers and can change a game on one play. So the pipeline looks well stocked and the future very bright. I think the Freshman are 3-1 so far with only a loss to Maryville on week one.

 

Powell"s freshman look very strong after beating a tough Maryville group last nite.

I agree with your assessment ZCAR. These freshmen also have at least 2 or 3 pretty good linemen which we need. I am not sure of their names.

I got to see the freshmen win last night over West. So they are now 4-1.

Why was there no JV game afterward?

Young has plenty of speed and cut back ability. He is a great RB. He is the focal point of the offense for Bearden as he should be. Bearden sets him up so that he can use his talent and running style to its fullest. Halls has a similar RB in #6. Anyone who saw the Bearden/Halls freshmen game last year saw a phenominal game that highlighted these two. In the Halls system, #6 has the ability to only run to one side of the offense.(primarily) As you may gather, I am not the biggest fan of the Wing-T with every type of RB. I hope Halls will do similar things with him and the other RBs that they did with #12 last year. The occasional I-formation play might be beneficial for all of the Halls RBs IMO.

It takes a full defensive team effort to hem Young in, but it is possible. However, the Halls defense (the whole team for that matter) is hard to predict. They could hold Young to modest yardage and they could easily give up over 200 yards. I expect the latter after this last game. I think Halls needs to find some kind of missing fire before they can turn this season into a success. There best game thus far has been the Maryville game. They came ready to play. The rest of the games have been a little half-hearted IMO. I don't know if it is coaching, senior leadership or team chemistry. Halls is going to have to come together and play every game like life is depending on the outcome. The only thing stopping Halls is Halls. Either way, I am behind them to the end.

- #75 (Big Stevo) appears to have an ankle problem. He is one of the few "can't do without" players. Watching him try to run sprints at the end of practice made ME hurt (couldn't figure out why he didn't just sit them out and try to get it well, it was obvious he was in A LOT of pain)

I think #75 has chronic feet issues. He looks rough running sprints all the time. Inside of a 5 foot area is where he is beneficial to the team. My guess is that he will be there Friday night.

Most can't imagine what it means to this team to get #10 back in the secondary.

Not much talk about this game here on CoachT. I think both team's fans are a little concerned about this season. This is a big game. One team has two wins in the Region and is looking good for a playoff spot. The loser is facing an uphill battle. Should be a good game.

This could be a good game between 2 teams that seem to be really struggling this year. Does Lenoir City win its 2nd game of the year or does Knox Central make it into the win column? Your thoughts. /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

Central has had some injuries and are not as deep this year. However, I think the week off will help. They have some great athletes. I would say Central by 2 tds.

This is a BIG one!!!! Halls knows it, West knows it. Now, who can handle it? From what I've seen and heard both teams appear to be making improvements each week. Who will improve the most is the question.

SC had the better score last week vs West but watching the game I would say that West beat themselves much more than SC beat them. The West D pretty much shut down the run but there were way too many "ooops" in the receiving corp and defensive backs. Those mistakes have to be gone to beat a hardnosed, talented Halls team.

 

I'm picking West in this one only because Halls had a creampuff last Friday or maybe that should give Halls the advantage since they had more rest. Either way this one will be good and everyone knows the winner is for sure headed to the playoffs if history holds true.

I agree that this one is just about too close to call. Both teams shut down SCs running game but got beat on big pass plays. Both teams are using a Soph RB alot. Both teams have struggled some with the pass. I like to think that Halls is stronger on the line but I am not sure.

I will pick Halls to win a close one. 24 - 20

I think West is a very good team. They, like many in Region 3 4A, are playing some young guys. I expect a great game.

Well, I got lucky on the score prediction but I am not sure how much our team gained last night. I'm glad we got a few passing yards. I was glad to see #23 come back in after hurting his arm or hand. I hope no key players are out for next week. Reserve RB/LB #33 looked like he was hurt late in the game. I hope he is okay. All RB's seemed to have a good night. We also appeared to have a good crowd for the 3rd home game in a row.

Did anyone else see #6 get cheap-shotted from behind after #46 scored on the pass. I am glad no one for Halls got ejected for fighting back.

Let's get ready for West. This is a huge game again this year. It still looks like a close call between Halls, West, Clinton and Powell for the final three playoff spots. Central and SD may still get back on track as well. 6 teams fighting for 3 spots. This week is big.

I.ll give my thought,s for the week.First off,I do think our offense has a good front line,but we need some work on pass blocking.I really have not seen our QB get much time to deliver the ball.I agree that #23 Waggoner is our most durable all purpose back.As for the one wandering about#37Bright being on the field,mabey you should check your stats,he leads the team in tackles.Asfar as the Gibbs game,I feel we will come out on top but our boy's need to go ready to play.We need to open strong,work some on our passing game,then get some time for some more players.

You make some great observations Deablo. The O-line is very strong. They appear to get better every game. Don't always assume that the QB is being pressured because of the line either. Sometimes it may be due to the backs not picking up the right guy on a blitz. However, I have not seen much in the way of drop back passing. The few passes we have thrown have been mainly screens or roll-outs.

#37 (IMO) is a slightly undersized junior that is playing hard. We have been hit hard with injuries and I have no reason to believe that he is not giving his best or that anyone behind him could do better. He is second in tackles behind #21 according to the paper. The troubling fact is that the first 3 or 4 tacklers on our team are DB's. It is usually not a good thing to have DB's leading in tackles. However, I think this may be due to the fact that our D-line is strong and most teams run outside against us.

If Halls comes out and takes care of business, I see the game...

Halls 42

Gibbs 7

...with lots of young guys getting in the game.

Halls again needs to work on not giving up BIG plays.

would you like to elaborate on who has the injury and what type?

If it is who I think it is, it is not an injury. It is an illness. I also hear that #10 will be on defense for West, but will not have his cast off until Powell.

- I also agrre that O'Laughlin is one of the best Soph. players in the KIL. Right now he is a few yards behind Young (Bearden). However, Halls plays Gibbs this week and Bearden plays Farragut. Look for James to take the lead in this clash of two very talented Sophs. After that we can see these two go head to head in next week's game. Should be a preview of KIL Soph of the year award.

Halls plays West next week and Bearden plays Karns. Halls plays Bearden the week after that.

Is Aaron Kirby still on the staff?

Yes

Halls played pretty well in winning against Central. They are playing a Gibbs team that is rebuilding under a new coach. I hear Treadway is a bright spot for the Eagles. What other players are doing well for Gibbs? Halls should win but how they execute will preview how they will do in the coming weeks of region play. IMO Halls needs to use this week to get better at:

1. Ball security. No more fumbles

2. Pass defense. Too many long 3rd down conversions.

3. Pass offense. Complete at least two passes beyond the line of scrimmage.

The only thing that Maryville had to do in week 0 was to look better that Halls and they did that. Game was close for 3 quarters but they play 4.

They didn't look better IMO, they just scored more points. But thanks for clearing up the whole four quarter thing.

When was the last time these two came into this game win 0 wins between them? This could be ugly seasons for both. Maybe one or both can turn it around.

Any comments?

the debate about running backs can be made all you guys want, the bottom line is until #10 and #4 come back from injury and get back in the secondary (our 2 best DBs IMO), we're going to be hurting. Also, #10 is probably our best threat to stretch the field at the WR position. I liked the rotation of LBs and Dlinemen last night. Seemed like both the first front 7 and second front 7 just had their way with SC on Defense. I also noticed #34 Burton playing defensive end quite a bit. I can't remember exactly as I was trying to keep up, but it seemed like we rotated 10 guys on the DLine last night and 6 or 7 at LB. I also think the difference in the first part of the game to the second was #46's kickoff return. It was at that point that the team actually woke up and started playing. Leading up to that point the team had no intensity that I could tell just sitting behind them. The play calls didn't appear to be any different which is what I believe Coach Julian was talking about in the paper. I also don't think a head coach would attribute an entire team's change in momentum to a player coming in at RB when another player sparked the entire team with a kickoff return where he had no blocking in front of him at all on the short kick. It's great that several on here are pumping support into #3 and I agree he needs to be on the field more on O, but the bottom line is that #23 needs to be running the ball the most. I'd like to know what his average yards per carry are.

Great points.

fairplay -

 

- I see your point. Truth is, things did change - namely personel. My two cents is the biggest cahange was #3. Your comment about #46 (Fitz) and #88 (Stienke) are well taken.

 

- #46 plyed like a man possesed, which was nice to see.I think #45 continued to play some while we had success, maybe you saw something I didn't.

 

- My point is this, SOMETHING CHANGED!! I think the biggest thing was #3 getting into the game.

 

- Sophmores don't beat seniors!! Never have, never will. WE ARE 0-2, that's a fact. If we choose to think "nothing changed", we will be 0-3.

I enjoy our discussion of our favorite team. I am not trying to be difficult. I might be playing devil's advocate a little.

My point was that the results may not have been soley about who was in the game. I noticed more twins in our formation in second half. That may have helped. It could be several things. I think some intensity changed. I think a more balanced running attack evolved.

About the subject of sophs beating seniors. You might want to look at Bearden's Young (a soph) who is making a huge impact on his 5A team (2-0). Farragut??™s Hudson is a soph, Webb's Blance (a freshman) had a huge game last night. Sensabaugh at DB helped turn around their season last year as a freshman. I could probably list many more.

#6 is a sophomore. But if memory serves me, I think he is older than those in his class. He played all youth ball with Gibson and the junior class until 8th grade and high school. That being said, he has more to learn. But IMO he should be no one's "back-up" as mentioned earlier. I do think there should be a greater number of carries for the other two and the FB. I think it should be pretty equal. It seems like when #6 is in, he gets the bigger share and the opponents are catching on. That is not his fault.

Like I said, I enjoy the debate. Let's get ready for the Battle of Black Oak Ridge.

Don't be. The frustration will be over next week when we humble Central finally after how many years? They got took to the woodshed the first two games. Campbell Co. crushed Powell with over 300 yards rushing. We should win out from here.

 

SC had minus yards rushing.

 

Also, you have to have individual acheivers with a team emphasis if you don't you won't get far. So you can't have one without the other if you want to go deep in the playoffs. I agree with Ironman you have to test the seniors and if they don't respond then let the underclassmen have their chance.

Central has several great athletes that can turn the game into a track meet if are not ready to play. Powell and Clinton are the same way. You might have also forgot about (2-0) Bearden. And there is no way I am ready to write in "8-2" right now. I do agree that we have show signs of being a good football team. However, we need the injuries to stop and consistency to begin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

- Faiplay2121 -

- I usually agree with you, but come on!! Why did the "patheic offense" of five quarters all of a sudden cahange just AT THE EXACT moment #3 comes in? Give the kid his due.

 

- EVERY point we have scored this year has come with #3 in the game!! EVERY point!! We have not punted on a series with #3 in the game. Am I the only one that sees this?

 

- Again, I have no ties whatsoever to #3 or his family. I also like both #3 and #6, and think they are great kids. Sometimes teams play better with certain combinations, and I have noticed this for a long time now.Friday night we all saw this. Thankfully it doesn't take losing the Central game before we found it out.

Then how did we look like a powerhouse in our opening drive against Maryville. He was not in for the entire drive. It is balance. After several plays, it becomes apparent what we are going to do. It becomes a run to #6 or a fake to him and give to the FB or #23 on a counter. When he leaves, the defense does not know what to expect and we mix it up. I too, have no ties to anyone one on the entire offense or defense.

My two cents -

 

- In today's paper Coach J said "we didn't make any changes, we just started getting a push and getting the yards.." WE MADE A CHANGE! #3 (Gibson) came into the game and stayed.

 

- That's a fact, pure and simple. What a slap in the face to this kid to minimize his importance to the turn around of this offense and that game. Again, what a slap in the face to imply it had nothing to do with him. WOW!

I hope he is not as sensitive as you. There were other pure and simple facts I noticed. #88 played tight end to give #45 some rest. Maybe that was the change that made the difference. Maybe it was #46 being at FB more last night. #34 was limping some. I hope it is not a slap in the face to those kids to not be mentioned too. Let's find a hero, and let's find someone to blame. That is real productive.

I am sure #23's big runs had little if anything to do with #3. I still think it had more to do with spreading the carries around and keeping the defense guessing. I have no idea why we don't mix up the carries when #6 is in more often, but I think the defenses are catching on. I would like to know how many times #23 gets the ball when #6 is in versus when he is out.