SECfighter

Well FYI if Carter Co decided to consolidate and make 1 high school the enrollment according to TSSAA would be approximately 2482, which would make it the 2nd largest high school in the state. So the high school would join District 1-AAA competing with you know who and since it would be a 6A school it would compete with D-B and Science Hill for only 1 automatic qualifier to get in playoffs. Which means the playoff bracket for this hypothetical school would lead to Maryville, Farragut, and Bearden on a consistent basis. If you would rather this scenario be the case on a yearly basis for Carter Co then I would have to strongly disagree.

Really Asheville looks alot like A-E? Im sorry do you all not list your guys that are 6'6" and 6'8" I missed them on your roster! And how many D-1 kids are on your roster like Asheville? Are you sure you saw Asheville,NC? Look,this is the facts Asheville was bigger,faster,and stronger than us and we could have won!I dont think A-E is that caliber this year,but your young, from what Ive seen we match up well and may the best team win and be safe thats the most important thing! Good luck and remember DONT SING IT, BRING IT! SECfighter wrote: First of all A-E has very very little in similarity with Asheville concerning scheme. Size advantage is definitely with Asheville as well even though A-E has some kids with good size, and as I have posted before A-E does NOT have the speed of Asheville, but they do have the advantage of quickness over Asheville. Those 6-6 and 6-8 kids were really 6-4 and 6-5, but both made plays espesically # 81 who is supposed to be a jr. Asheville was not faster than EHS, it was very even but EHS had more players in that game with top end closing type speed than Asheville. * Remember the heinous officiating call on an EHS 43 yard TD run with 8 min left in the game was a huge swing and then the fumble that was a turnover on a QB sneak on 3rd and long 3-4 min left in game by EHS at their own 10 yard line just trying to eat up clock and punt with a 3-3 ball game really hurt. Orange and Black wrote: Go Cyclones!!!

Well, while I agree with your point about it being harder to defend against the run when a team spreads you out and forces you to defend 70% passing, I didn't actually refer to CAK running the ball against Betsy. My comment was that I don't think that your D line is the strength of your defense. I may be wrong in my analysis, but I based that on my observation of the 3 games I saw of E Town. Don't get me wrong, I thought the O Line and D Line were good, but not dominant. On offense, ETown was not able to get consistent push against CAK's D line as was evedinced by the infamous attempts on 3rd and 4th down at their own 35ish yard line. On defense, they were able to get some pressure but on closer examination, it was the coverage of the receivers that for the most part created the opportunity for Betsy to pressure the CAK QB. CAK has a very good OL and DL, but I think A-E does too. If A-E was primarily a passing team, I would like your chances better. My concern here is the match up. I don't think the Knoxville vs. NET teams thing has ANY thing to do with this game. ETown has proved that they are for real and a very solid team. I hope I'm wrong, I would like to see ETown win. For what it's worth, take my opinion with a grain of salt. Since about half way through the season, I have probably been one of the most outspoken "believers" in A-E, with the exception of some of their own fans, who are extremely impressed with their team. One more thing, I know I predicted that A-E would win this game, but they are no Alcoa! Alcoa is at a different level, and A-E will find out next week if they do in fact advance. Alot of teams are intimidated by the Alcoa record and the confidence of their fans can be intimidating too. I think some of the A-E fans have the same attitude as Alcoa. But they've got a long ways to go in my book in being consistent before I'll look at them at that level. If they run over E Town and then Alcoa, then I'll put them up at level. I apologize about stating that you said that CAK ran on EHS.. I was assuming that is what you were getting across. Yes the defensive backfield for EHS is highly talented and has played solid even with the loss of # 14. I am neutral in my stance with my posts on here concerning teams and matchups. The EHS defensive front did pressure the CAK OL, and wreak havoc for the QB whether or not the EHS DBs caused it to happen on a play or not. What I remember from the game concerning the CAK O vs EHS D is that CAK had approximately 190 yards of total offense with 138 through the air, and 4 turnovers coming by 3 INTs and Forced Fumble. The INTs didnt harm CAK though since they all were deep passes. The CAK EHS game was determined on approximately 5 plays and 1 series. The 3 missed kicks by EHS that were all high percentage kicks for the Cyclones. The turnover on downs on 4th down early in game by EHS at their own 30 which lead to CAK's first TD. The INT right before half that gave CAK great field position again for their 2nd TD. Yes Kick Coverage for EHS was not good enough and CAK's defensive front 8 played very good espescially # 45 at DE. The series I mentioned is where CAK fumbled in their own territory and the D for CAK held EHS by stopping them and EHS missed a field goal. I really felt like it was a contest where EHS let too many opportunities slip by than CAK doing what they were supposed to to win, but that is why CAK finished with a victory. Injuries did not play a factor either. CAK did what they needed to with turnovers and a short field; EHS did not when they had that same opportunity.

Everything That 2nd place and lower does not do and finish.

First off Roadrunner1 what is your direct point that you are trying to get across? Another is that no one should ever make the cross between play in high school and play at the collegiate level. They are at different levels, so making a correlation about hitting like a team of Eric Berry's is not correct to say. The best localized football for several years in the state of TN has been in a 50 minute driving radius from downtown Knoxville and in Murfreesboro-Nashville Metro area; so yeah, NET football can not compare to the competition in Knoxville area. That 6-6 team A-E lost to is Catholic, who is one of the two most impressive football teams Ive seen this year ( Red Bank- Sorry Greeneville you have a very daunting task friday night ) and Ive seen Alcoa and Catholic was more impressive to me. The 9-2 program being Ootlewah, c'mon man lol Ootlewah was legit and A-E played them tight. Brainerd the 8-4 team was A-E's only smudge for the season to this point IMO and they recovered nicely from that setback. If A-E places TD (s) up friday night then the two point plays could end up being crucial to both sides. One last thing, the comment made by the CAK fan about how they had success running the ball on EHS.. It is easier to run on a defense when you spread the field out constantly and attempt as many passes as CAK does. You have to be pass conscious first when defending CAK. It doesnt take a coach to figure that out.

There will be a lot of violent hitting since both these teams fly to the ball and have acceleration to help out. I also believe there should be a few really major collisions on top of that so hopefully everyone stays helathy and safe out there. Taylor Hodge # 14 is greatly missed since he is extremely well versed in every aspect of the game. He is the kind of player that simply does what he is supposed to and does not mess up, he is a leader by example, and you know he always gives a couple big plays for the team every game. That is what he is and does. I truly believe though that EHS has been forced to step up and fill the void of his absence because if not they dont play well and EHS might be home if they didnt. # 36 has became the kicker and has done a very admirable job to this point. On offense EHS luckily had considerable depth at WR and his loss there has been the least damage. At Safety is where # 14 was an extremely special and valuable player, he has some of the best instincts and speed you will ever find playing that position. IMO he is THE best Alley support I have ever seen to this point at the high school level. # 33 Cody Forbes has stepped in and has been sufficient playing there so far. Forbes has actually placed more size and possible top speed at the position as well. Ball skills and hard hitting are still there with # 33 playing. What is lacking though is the experience and unbelievable instincts that # 14 gave the Cyclones; yet, what matters against defending A-E more that anything is Tackling and Containment as I stated in my previous post. What the majority of people watching this game will be surprised by is that the Cyclones actually really do have more top speed as a team ( not talking about quickness ) that the Roadrunners. Being absolutely truthful A-E fans with no disrepect at all or any favoritism toward any team.. Asheville High School in NC has more distinctive SPEED this year than does the Roadrunners. A player from each team that many people severely overlook for their abilities is # 4 for A-E and # 58 for EHS. # 4 IMO will more than likely be the fastest player on the field and # 58's abilities at Nose Man is unreal for high school. My last point is on the schedules these two teams have played this year.. IMO A-E has a tight edge in the more difficult aspect, mainly due to their non-district schedule was highly impressive with road games at MO East, Ootlewah, and Catholic. The only game that takes away from EHS non-district schedule is Volunteer at home. EHS had very strong opponents in CAK and Greeneville, but they were also at home which helped, and Asheville away was a tough contest. Both these programs are in weak districts concerning competition, yet I believe Fulton and Carter are more dangerous than anyone else in EHS district. Both teams will be ready to play against each other, and there will not be a psychological advantage for either side. *A-E fans need to know that Greeneville is a very good program this year and they have put up an avg of 40 points in their 12 games so far yet the Cyclones shut them out.

It is correct for the dominant Knoxville area teams to be able to boast since they have shown (in most cases) they are who you have to go through to become a state champion; however, it is also essential to understand that for anyone in these last 3 rounds of the 2009 TSSAA playoffs to become a state champion the present is what matters. The past successes of programs can only become a positive if the opponent allows fear and intimidation to come into affect. I will say this.. The 2009 Elizabethton Cyclones do not fear anyone and will not be intimidated either. A-E is the most athletic and quickest team EHS has faced this year and will prob be regardless of the outcome. A-E is not the fastest, biggest, most sound, or most disciplined EHS has met. What A-E does is let their playmakers make plays and their defense forces you to throw on them and get the ball running wise sideline to sideline. That is due to their extremely tight 8 man front and man free coverage. If you cant find ways to throw on them and if you do not block # 10 at ILB they will more than likely end up having their way on defense. If you do not tackle them they will gash you easily. # 15 is hands down their most dangerous playmaker to this point and it is evident since he might have the most yards in the nation gained on sneaks. Tackling and Containment are priority 1 when defending A-E. IMO they are not very sound at all as a team, yet they do what they do consistently. You know exactly what you are getting when you play them. They show many tendencies on a consistent basis, but you still have to beat it and they know that. I believe both these teams Friday night will be ready and amped for a battle. This contest should end with a moderately tight score, basically a margin of 3-16 points between the victor and defeated. It is possible for this one to end up being a blowout going either way. That is because empirical evidence has shown EHS is sound on defense, special teams has been good not great this year since the kick coverage has been hot and cold.. and the CAK game was decided largely by missed kicks, which is an anomaly when looking at how good EHS has been at kicking in every other game, the offense has big play ability and does a very good job passing. EHS Glaring Weaknesses in 2009 to this point- Inabilty to run block consistently, Kick Coverage inconsistent as stated above, Turnovers in own territory giving defense short field to work with, and Offense doing a poor job percentage wise at scoring ( Concern based mainly with TDs ) when given good field position. A-E has some of the best big play ability in the state, and that is because of their athleticism and defenses taking poor angles, not shedding blocks correctly, being in the wrong alignments once the play is snapped and going, and sub-par tackling. They play extremely hard and fast to the football on defense and every team should get to the ball like they do. Their run defense has been very good. They are a threat in the return game. They would be undefeated more than likely if they did not commit so many costly penalties and that is a major issue for them. They are above average as a team at tackling which could pose a problem for them. They have not faced a team that is as efficient at passing as EHS is. Some matchups to keep up with friday night.. Which team tackles better, EHS Passing vs A-E Pass Defense, Turnover differential and injuries of course, Clock management leading to half and possibly end of game if close, Possible big plays with special teams, and the most underlooked aspect.. WHO CONTROLS FIELD POSITION THROUGHOUT!!!