slowrunnertn

Big Dave, I am sorry about your dad and I will pray for him and your family but I think the Big Red Wins again by 10! It will be a lot of fun.

I am glad that they are moving the game back to McCallie but it will be interesting to watch how all the big blue back track after they talked about how Baylor was being so unreasonable by having the game at Baylor which has 5 times more parking and the stadium holds 50% more capacity. The game environment that Baylor has had since returning the game back to campus is second to none and I would expect the same at McCallie.

I though the Webb team played a very good game and just got worn down due to so many players going both ways. As a former high school and D1 football offical, that was one of the worst called games that I have seen in a long time. Unfortunately, the TSSAA is moving to a 7 man crew like college football but they do not have the talent to field a 7 man crew. It is a very hard job to get enough qualified officials to field a good 5 man crew and when you add officials that aren't ready to be on the field, you get what you had on Friday night. You would never see a competent offical let the the game get to the point where you are having to eject the head coach for this game and the next game due to sideline warnings. It is the officials job to manage the game not just call fouls. Another example of how bad this crew was was on a first down after the ball was marked ready for play Baylor jumps offsides, so they move the ball back 5 yards and then they move the chains back 5 yards to give Baylor a 1st and 10 not 1st and 15 like it should have been. The same thing happened a few quarters later to Webb and they got it correct and made them start 1 and 15. While I do not know the exact rules of ejection in high school but Todd Kelly's penalty for blatently targeting a defensless player probably should have resulted in a ejection like close a dozen ejections in the NCAA games this past weekend. Once again the TSSAA does not need to move to a 7 man crew until they have the talent to field 7 competent officials.

I was not going to comment but when I saw this topic I had to respond. My sons had a game last week where the ref working the field should never be doing games above middle school baseball. I am a former football official who worked my way up to Division 1 college football so I have been around some really professional refs and some very poor refs. In my sons game last week the field ref missed 5 easy calls (1 for us and 4 against us). After he missed the 1st call the opposing coach went ballistic, which he should have. The ref proceeded to make 4 unbelievable calls. He simply could not handle the pressure. My goal when I was officiating was for at the end of the game that no one would know I was there. Not only did everybody know this ref was there, the result of his calls allowed for a run which effected the outcome of the game. I don't know if there is a shortage of baseball refs in Chattanooga but the overall quality I have seen this year is below par. I know there are some really good refs in Chattanooga just not enough of them. I am sure it is hard to recruit quality refs but hopefully we can find a way so the kids who work their tails off are not impacted by calls by refs that should not be scheduled for games higher than their abilities.

I think both MBA and Baylor have an excellent chance of coming away with a victory. Year in and year out, the west division teams have good records yet go no where in the playoffs. Both MBA and Baylor have played tougher competition on a weekly basis and it will show this weekend. Both MBA and Baylor by a touchdaown. The margin of victory would be more if the games weren't in Memphis.

Brentwood has many skill players that made plays Friday night but Baylor was its own worst enemy. Baylor threw 3 interceptions, a blocked punt for a TD and two dropped pick sixes and a dropped pass for a touchdown on a fake field goal. If any of our players make those plays, which they didn't, it is a very different game. There was only 46 yards in total offense difference between the two teams. Brentwood Academy was the better team Friday night but if Baylor corrects their mental mistakes (12 penalties) and we make a play or two, which we did not do Friday night, then I like Baylor's chances in a rematch. When Brentwood pulled their starters in the last few minutes of the game, Baylor also put in their second team.

I think it will be a great game. Most people only remember the championship game last year, which is the only one that counts, but the regular season game was a whipping that Ensworth would like to forget. As I see it, Ensworth was lucky to get away with a win from a very good MUS teams and has not played anybody since then. Baylor has had to rely on a very strong defense which they will need against Corn and company to win the game but their offense really seems to be getting in sync in the second half of the MBA game for the first time this season. If Baylor kicks every kickoff in the endzone and every punt out of bounds then I think Baylor wins by a field goal, since Baylor has another great kicker this year. It should be a fast pace game.

I think the Hamilton county crews for the most part good.

Any thoughts on the game Friday?

I expect it be a barn burner like last year but I think Baylor wins by 2 touchdowns pulling away late in the game.

I missed the point also.

It should be a great game. I am glad to see good non-district teams play each other. No matter how it comes out both teams should get better from playing each other. If it is anything like last year, the teams whose defenses slow down the opposing offenses a few series probably will be the winner. Last year was a shoot out.

I think that depends on if Baylor can get in a rythem on offense. If they can do that then they can score a lot of points. They have to be able to get a consistent snap from the center. That has slowed them down in most scrimmages this fall. I think Baylor' s defensive will pretty stingy with the points. From what I have read SD has not been to effective in controlling the line of scrimmage but if they can do that, they the talent to make thing happen offensively.

Recruiting today is about promotion of the players. The coaches at Ridgeland have done a great job of promoting their athletes and they should be congratulated for it. Unfortunatly most coaches today do not understand that the process has changed drastically over the last 5 years. I personally do not think Vonn would have received all the opportunity that he so well deserves if he had not changed schools. Many capable players who want to play college football will never get the opportunity because coaches have not put forth the effort to stay up to speed on the recruiting process for the kids. Ensworth, for example has a dedicated resource to just be the recruiting coordinator for the athletes of all sports. Programs like Ensworth and Ridgeland will keep attracting the players that want to go to the next level. What most coaches don't realize is that if they will help promote their players, their program will receive more recognition and they will have kids like Vonn want to go to school there and they will win more games and keep their jobs longer.

I think it is a toss up. Both QBs really looked good and moved the ball very effectively. The competition has made both QBs even better. Coach Massey has a hard decision to make and I would bet both play until there is some separation from one of them. I hope the separation is from them playing great and not just one having a bad game.