Stone Cold Castle

With THS having a couple of Thursday nite games, I took the opportunity to see the #1 team in the state play ther first game against Powell. Powell had the biggest o-line I've seen in past few years and was a formidable opponent but the score was still 42-10. What I took away from the game was a team that executes extremely well and capitalizes on the other teams mistakes. Maryville seemed to make the right calls throughout the game which shows how well prepared they are every week. Maryville's tradition can psyche out an opposing team before the refs blow the whistle. Offensive line is solid and gave QB time to pitch a tent. RB's ran the ball hard and if Vikes don't wrap up could be a long nite. No doubt, we will have to show up and play our best game of the year as will all teams that want to advance to the Boro. I can't wait for game to start. Hope we represent our area as we definitely get no respect for football in upper ET. To get respect you have to earn it as we haven't gone this far in playoffs for 32 years. Hats off to 4 gold balls in last 6 years! You've got our respect! Look forward to coming to your house. It will be a great atmosphere for high school football. It will be nice to be the underdog for once! Game before the Big Dance is quite an accomplishment for our boys and I'm extremely proud of our team whatever happens. GO VIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know why Coach Stubbs said that he wanted to play Maryville rather than Central. He wants to judge how far the THS program has come by playing the class 4A program in the state. By no means is he implying that Maryville is an easier opponent than Knox Central. Maryville is "THE KING DADDY" and he wants to go up against the most respected 4A football team in the state. The Viking ship is sailing in uncharted waters and I know that I'm extremely proud of what our team has accomplished. I'm confident our seniors will be ready to play the day after Turkey feast and our coaching staff will have them ready. We're down to 4 undefeated teams with 13-0 records. Anything can happen. GO VIKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't throw it is a little strong. Haven't had to is a little better analysis. Playoffs is all about survival and advance. You failed to mention THS special teams yardage over 200 yards. One game at a time. Your next game could be your last. I think both Vikes and Rebels saw that last Friday nite. I've said in previous posts that Maryville is #1 until proven otherwise. Maryville program is where all other 4A teams set as an example. The Vikes are having a great season and I'm enjoying the ride. I'm extremely proud of this group of young men and their accomplishments. The process of elimination approaches the hump game. From 32 to 16 to 8. To make it this far is an honor. I congratulate the remaining teams and wish them the best! I hope to see the THS "bounce" back against Betsy!

Thanks for your props on Marcus!

I quoted those scores for the very reason why you can't do comparisons.03, you missed my point. Football is a game of emotion. It's hard to get fired up every week but playoff time you better be ready or you're watching other teams play in stands the next week. Mo-West is a much better team than their record. I can't believe they didn't win the conference. Powell did give Maryville a good game for awhile but Rebs still won by 32 points. That's why I was impressed. They just don't make mistakes and execute very well. As I said earlier, Maryville is the team that everyone strives to be and while some of their fans "toot their horn" a little too much, the Rebs have made a habit of backing it up.

You can make comparisons all day long if you wish. Cherokee beat Mo-west 24-0, we beat Cherokee 48-14 Does it make sense we only win 17-6? The more I watch football, the more I know it's a game of emotion. We came off a very emotional win against #7 ranked team in state. I was scared of a let down and it happened. Mo-West was ready to play. They have been our nemesis and eliminated us 3 times in last 4 years. I know we didn't bring our A game but we survived. It's one game at a time. There's no tomorrow. Any talk of state championships by TN Hi is ludicrous. We have to win against South and that's all we should think about. I hope we roll up our sleeves and work to eliminate our mental mistakes. We have a good team but need "the bounce" as Coach Stubbs refers each week. It's playoff time and your next game could be your last. Since we've had 3 Thursday nite games, I did watch Maryville play Powell. I was impressed and respect the Maryville program. It's where all 4a teams strive to be. Are we there yet? No. But we are working hard in off season to improve. I do think this years Vikes have taken it up a notch and happy to get Mo-West monkey off our back. Congrats to Region 1 for sweep! It's been awhile.

Why don't you ask MHS coaches I heard they were at the game.

I appologize 03 for this post, thankfully I have deleted it. But I still do not understand how it appeared on the board. I may have carelessly left my name logged on and someone took advantage.......whatever be the case, please ignore that post and the names mentioned. And if you could do me a huge favor and delete that reply, it would save me alot of trouble in the future.....thanks

My bad.....jus didn't know

Defensive line is as good as I've seen in awhile. Big Mo is being recruited by the best team in Knoxville along with another SEC school. He is 220lb of muscle,runs a 4.58 forty,squats 575. Also a D-1 prospect, Zack already owns sack record as he broke it in game 7. The other two on line are not too shabby either. Maybe our schedule hasn't been as tough as Rebs but how many 5-A teams has Maryville led 49-7 at end of third qtr. I've said all along you have to take one game at a time and hope we do get a chance to play in semis. Good luck to DB and #10!!!!

I must admit that I'm impressed. No doubt Maryville is #1 team in state. Is Central that bad or Maryville that good?

Agreed. Unbelievable turn around since he became coach. Atheletes were always walking the halls, now they''re playin'. THS coaches have taken this team to another level but it's hard to argue about East's record setting year. PREDICTION ON GAME: I think a Nidiffer will be on the winning side of this game. Pats have had a great season and look forward to a packed Stone Castle on Friday nite. This is what high school football is all about! Our heartfelt prayers go out to #44 and his family. We love ya Zack!

Well said. The last six years or so Maryville has set the standard for success in TN high school football. I have the utmost respect for what they have accomplished recently and they have earned the right to toot their horns. I keep saying that you have to take one game at a time and not get caught up in the hoopla of how excited we may be over the success of our teams. I'm enjoying the ride this year and pray each week that nobody gets hurt. It's just a game. We sometimes forget that they are just young men having the time of their lives and building great memories that we get to enjoy every Friday nite.

Hey Loyal Reb! If we're both fortunate enough to make it to the semi's, I really appreciate your posts as they make great locker room material. As far as our defensive line being SOFT, I'll put our D-line up against any team in the state. In case you didn't know, All-State Mo Whitten is being recruited by Va Tech/TN. He's 220 lbs. runs a 4.58 forty and holds 5 weight lifting records at TN HI. Also, Zack Morton just broke the sack record with 3 games left in season and is being recruited by several D-1 schools. And another thing, Mo is only the fourth fastest on the team. Your post is just an attempt to get under the Vikes skin and you throughly succeeded with me and WGPicks.

I think that Powell would be very comparable to Science Hill when they had a healthy QB. I think they would finish second in Region 1 or first in Region 2. I'm not doubting the talent in Knoxville or the capabilities of a very good Maryville team. I just haven't seen anyone in the same class as MoWest last year. I think we have a very good team and know that there are other good teams out there also. I just get tired of some Rebel fans already saying that they will win the state.Can they? Yes. Will they? Maybe. You have to get there one game at a time.I'm also tired of everyone bashing our schedule. We can't help who we play in our area. Remember what the good book says LoyalReb-"the exalted will be humbled and the humble will be exalted." Congratulations to DB on number 1 ranking, hope you end up there at the end of the season....good luck #10 thumb

Here we go again. People talking smack against teams they have never seen play. LoyalReb how can you be so confident that both teams will even be in the semi's? I like our chances, but you have to play one game at a time. As I said in an earlier post, Maryville has an excellent team but I'm not blown away or in awe of not being able to compete with the mighty Rebels. You have won it all on a fairly consistent basis lately and maybe I would be bragging too. But this is a new year and you cannot rely on the past. I've saw the game against Powell and your offense is solid. Even you had questions about your D in an earlier post. Powell moved the ball on you. The game was closer than the score would indicate. I was starting to think that you were different than all of the other Rebel fans but I guess I was wrong. I heard that Oak Ridge beat you guys in a scrimmage and DB beat OR by a decent margin. I'm definitely not saying THS could beat DB but I think that we could give them as good a game as OR. That's why you put on the pads and play the game. I know THS will not get any repect because we haven't been to the dance in awhile. That's ok. Mo West hadn't been there in awhile either and look what happened last year.

I'm tired of people talking about teams they've never seen play. Maryville has an excellent team this year. How do I know this? I saw them play. However, I have also seen every THS game this year, and they are a very good team also. THS has a lot of team speed and the Defense has been unbelievable. Vikes have a lot of weapons where you cannot key on any certain player. I think that the Cherokee coach put it best when he said, "there are athletes all over the field." So get off your high and mighty horse and realize that there are a lot of games left to play, and it's not automatic that either Rebs or Vikes will make it that far in the playoffs. We'll take one game at a time and see how far we go. If Maryville's defense was anywhere close to that of Mo West in 03', then I would agree that Maryville will bring back the state championship, but they are not even close. Your offense could score on anyone, and you have an excellent coaching staff, but so do we. Best of luck to both teams. If we meet up in the semi's, then so be it.