fairplay2121

Spring practice is almost here. It should be an interesting spring. Many of Halls players are in baseball and track. I am not sure when those sports finish. I guess it is a good thing that some younger guys will get some extra reps, but with Maryville just four months off, it would be nice to get more practice time with the likely starters. I don't think the field house will even break ground before the fall, much less be complete. I heard that there is an issue with finding a suitable site. Maybe Farragut will share some of that 1.1 mil and help us out.

To my knowledge, Coach Ward is not ill. He is choosing to hang it up. It is also my understanding that the number 2 guy on offense was Coach Williams. I assume he will take over the offense. If this happens, he will probably be the QB coach as well. Someone will have to take over at RB. Either way, I suspect Coach J. will keep a close eye on the offense and the overall scheme will remain the same. It will be interesting to see if it gets tweaked any.

I have heard that a few returnees have started working out. The two names I hear the most are McConkey and Shaddix. Both sat out last year. Did anyone ever hear if Kitts signed with anyone? The only spring scrimmage I know about is D.B. at Home on May 9th at 5:30.

Congrats on your new hire Gibbs. According to the paper, you did an exhaustive search with mulitiple applicants from all over ther world and you didn't even need to leave the building to find your new coach. Are the Gibbs supporters pretty happy? And are the athletes that roam the halls of Gibbs going to come out and play football now? I hope it works out well.

Has anyone heard any news about the field house? I thought they waiting on Jan school board meeting. Has Gibbs named a coach? Is any Halls coaches still in the running? What do you all think about playing Maryville in Week #0 instead of week #9? Does it really make any difference? Just 3 months until spring practice.

I agree with you rebel. West probably won't be as explosive and athletic as this year but shouldn't fall off too bad. I see them fighting for the playoffs with the rest of us in 3 AAAA not playing home games in blount co. To answer LSMFT, Some kids do work out in the morning and it is still crowded and there are still some wait times on some benches and lift areas. Also. my understanding is that there is a three week layoff of organized lifting after the season.

I totally agree with your assessment that strength is the number one priority in the off season. We got pushed around by some teams this year. The team really needs the new weight room. It is a shame that they still don't have enough money to break ground. The players say that it is far to crowded in the current facility. I don't know if being the leading tackler always makes a person the best player on a defense. The line and contain guys are supposed to route the runners into holes that the LBs should fill. IMO LBs should lead the team in tackles. I will say I thought Hodge was the best LB we had this year. I think Leonard was the best lineman this year. And I think (even though he got burned a few times) Gresham was the best overall DB this year. We have all of those guys back. That is great news.

Ironman, You know me better than that. I was not calling out Hodge. I was pointing out that Hodge needs help. I don't think he (or any other MLB) should be making tackles 6 yards down field "outside the tackles." If it is the Middle LB's job, then we have to get a faster one that can get there and make the tackle at the line of scrimmage. I was trying to say that our run support from either the OLB and safeties was a weak spot. I am not qualified to call anyone out. I am not always sure whose job it is at times to be the outside contain guy or the run support guy off tackle. That defense, and the stunts out of it, can make it hard to tell sometimes except for Coach J. You might add Pixley to your linemen returning. He saw quite a bit of playing time at nose and Chad Bright saw plenty of time in the defensive backfield due to injury. It will be tough having to wait and see what next year holds. I enjoy finally having something positive to look forward to.

littlemn, To my knowledge, the coaching position at Gibbs has not been filled yet. I don't even know if they have started taking applications. Any talk is just that...talk. I am sure Qualls and many coaches are considering their options as this season ends. It would be interesting to see if Gibbs gets two coaches in a row that are Halls grads. My understanding is that Qualls grew up in Gibbs and has plenty of family and friends there. I would be surprised if Gibbs moves very fast in filling the position, but I am sure a new coach would love to get in there and get things going as soon as possible. ZCAR, I couldn't agree with you more. The defense is a huge concern. I might make some people mad, but I think we need some help at LB, particularly outside the tackles. Hodge made plenty of tackles, it just that usually it was 6 or more yards down field. How many freshmen do you guys see getting to play as sophamores? O'Laughlin is the best athlete but we are stocked up at RB. Maybe he will get a look at LB. He likes to hit and he has good speed. With two pretty good classes ahead of them, it should be tougher for this group to find places to play. That is a good thing, I guess.

The Red Devils finished runner-up in a tough region. Where do we go from here? The Big Concerns 1. The coaches - Who returns and who moves on? I hope all return. But success usually allows for some to move on up. 2. The offense - The offense was better but loses 5-6 starters. They lose the best rusher, the best receiver and both FBs. The center and two other regulars are also gone from the O-line. 3. The defense - The defense loses 5 starters. We lose one in the secondary. Three regulars graduate up front. (#33, #56, #73) One LB is gone but the rest are back. Who do you all see emerging next fall to fill in?

First, good game to the Cleveland team. They played a good game. I am very proud of the team ZCAR. Many teams would have folded being down by 12 in the second half. I will not and have not questioned their heart since the West game. My biggest fear in this game was our injuries and stopping an athletic QB. That Cleveland QB scared me to death. My question is why didn't they run him more often, especially in the second half with a lead. I wondered if he got hurt or something. We hardly ever stopped him on the run. Now, hats of to our team. #12 ran hard against "8 men in the box" for over 125 yards by my count. #1 had some huge plays. The first TD catch and run and several big possesion catches for first downs were very big. Turner ran instead of throwing to open recievers a couple of times but he hit his target when he threw it most of the time. Great bootleg call for the last score by the coaches. It was a good team effort. I think we won and didn't play our best game. It will take an almost perfect game against Red Bank and beyond. I hope we have a great week of practice. I hope we take a huge crowd to Chattanooga next week. They have worked hard enough for the Halls community to get behind them. I kind of felt sorry for the Cleveland players. It looked like there was more Cleveland players than fans. The fans I talked to were very classy. I am just talking about numbers. Go Big Red.

I am afraid that I agree with you Ironman. Region 3 4A is down a little this year IMO. Even Maryville isn't as intimidating. I would not be surprised if Maryville was the only team from R 3 to win. They could have their hands full as well. I am not doom and gloom. I just think that Cleveland is catching Halls at the right time. If we don't have #2, #12 and #4 in the secondary, we could be in for a track meet. I am hoping our speed at DE and OLB will allow us to pressure Cleveland in the backfield. Otherwise we will just have to out-score them. Right now I am thinking Cleveland 42 Halls 38

I heard that practice yesterday was pretty much a walk-through. I would be surprised if Halls does very much hitting this week. I hope Halls can get healthy enough to compete Friday night. But the fact is that even if Kitts, Cottrell, Turner, Johnson, etc... play Friday, they will not be 100% and they will not see much, if any, full speed practice this week. I hope Halls can overcome this and find a way to win against a very athletic Cleveland team.

Thanks for update pirateman. #33 is also nursing a hand injury and #56 is still touch and go on his ankle. This MASH unit will give it a good try Friday night. The time change and the cold front coming in could make for a colder game this Friday. I don't know much about Cleveland. I have heard they have a pretty good passing game and that the QB is a real threat to run. Sounds like half the teams we have played this year. (Central, Clinton, etc..) To me the big issue is stopping the big play. If #12 can go and we can limit the big plays we should have a chance to win. I think Halls has some good RBs coming up. But Kitts spreads the field and all opens it up for #33 and #23 and the rest IMO. We have been in every game this year with the exception of Bearden. They had a very good line and lots of senior experience. I think Halls now believes that they can play with anybody, and they should. Good luck guys. It's been a great season. Keep it up. Time to step it up a notch. We are in the playoffs.

The bad news. Halls is banged up. Several tried to play in pain but couldn't go. Halls looked much less effective for most of the game without #12 and #4. The good news. Halls found a way to win without #12 and #4. They scored two touchdowns and the defense held a pretty athletic offense in to 13 points. Not a pretty win, but a win when we needed it on the road. I hope some people can get well this week.

This will be an interesting game to watch. Halls has a home game in the playoffs riding on this game. This is some pressure but Halls is in either way. This is senior night and the last game for South Doyle. South Doyle has a very good running back in #34 (I think) and Halls has a very good running back in #12. Line play is a strength for both teams. This will be won in the trenches. I guess the score to end up about... Halls 34 S.D. 21

Good call, You either were being nice and got lucky or you saw something I had not seen. Either way it was a good game.

Halls showed alot of heart tonight. Carr didn't play. (sick) #2 played limited and was limping bad. Halls QB went down of defense in the 2nd quarter and did not return. Maryville scored first and often but somehow, Halls kept coming back. Kitts got over 120 yards with Maryville putting 8-9 in the box most every play. I hate moral victories, but I have to applaud the effort. I would have liked to have seen a few more sweeps but I thought Coach Ward called a pretty good ball game. Dayton finally had a great game against a great team. That is a good sign. I hope Turner is okay but Dowdy backed him up really well for a Soph. forced into his first real action against Maryville. Maryville's offense is very good. Burnette played well and so did the WRs. Maybe we will take care of business and get to play you guys again. Good game and congrats on the win. To answer an earlier question.... #62 is Caleb Leonard and he is a junior.

The website has been updated. The Maryville game on the website was a mistake. Halls freshmen and JV play Catholic this Monday. There are several very good freshmen teams around.

The Halls freshmen won. Halls 40 Lenoir City 20

I don't think toughness is the issue. But I appreciate your attempt at reverse psychology to get the guys fired up. The issue to me is self doubt. The doubt that caused Halls to lose to Central and almost lose to Powell. Losing to the same team for years in a row causes some to doubt breaking the streak is possible. I think the Halls coaches' challenge will be getting the players to believe that they will win. Otherwise, they will believe the paper and talk on here that they are supposed to lose. Position by position, I would give Maryville the edge at TE, QB and LB. I think Halls may have a slight edge at RB, OL and DL. I think WRs and DBs are pretty even talent wise, but Maryville's system is much better for WRs to excel in, IMO. I have not heard anything about Maryville's kicker. Inside the 25, Kahn is pretty solid for Halls so I will say even. Overall, I give the slight edge to Maryville. The biggest thing is that the Maryville kids know they are going to win. Halls kids are probably hoping they can win. It's kinda of corny but, "You've gotta believe." If both teams play at their potential, this could be a great game. Rain is predicted all week but not for the game. Go Big Red

First of all, I am very proud of this Halls team. They have overcome alot and they have seen some good play out of younger players. If I read the standings correct, they have secured a playoff spot with two games to play. It has been a while since that has happened. However, I am not sure why you say that "this should be a good game." Maryville has faired much better against every common opponent. I know of three 2-way starters for Halls who are injured plus the tight end is playing in a cast. All will probably play, but will be less than 100%. Don't get me wrong. Halls could possibly win. The Halls players should go into the game expecting to do just that. But I am afraid that Halls is likely to give up alot of passing yards and will struggle on offense because they have become less of a threat through the air. To win, Halls needs to have similar success to what they had in the West game. They have to pressure the QB, get a couple of pics and they need to have success running the football. Go Big Red.

Halls could have looked sharper in the first half. Had some calls go against them and looked a little flat. Took care of business in the 3rd quarter and put it away. Seniors should be proud. Wes didn't get many yards due to good returns and INT return. About 90 yards and 4 TD's in 2 1/2 quarters. Halls 41 L. C. 3

Halls Freshmen are doing pretty good. Since losing to Bearden in OT, they have beaten Clinton (28-16) and Powell (44-21). They are now 6 - 1. They have Lenoir City on Monday and end with a game against Catholic.

I don't remember for sure. I don't like talking about the bad decisions these teenagers make off the field here on a football board. I really don't even like talking about kids and parents moving. If they want to go, that is their choice. I just thought Ron overreacted a little. I have no issue with him. I think we should talk football. Halls is working hard at practice. I thought #4 looked a little sharper on Tuesday. If he gets his passing game under control, Halls could be a tough team to beat. #33, #12, #56, #50, #1, #73, #27, #53, #41, #19, #59, #30, #51, #6, #24, #44 and #9, Thanks for hanging on through the tough times and laying a good foundation for the future. (Sorry if I left off a Senior or included the number of one that may have quit.)