Trojanx

And now the Trojans are in the spotlight at #12 in the Dandy Dozen.

Yes, the Trojans are 3-0 which is a good thing. Getting there the way we played the last two games is not such a good thing. Munford, which is a mediocre team gaves us all we wanted, almost matching our first down stats and equaling our total yards. Bartlett, which is a mediocre team gaves us more than we wanted. If we do not learn how to cover the middle of the field on pass coverage and start protecting the ball better, we are going to lose against good passing teams (Brighton, Craigmont, Arlington). Bolton should (and I say should lightly) be an easy win for us. There should be no excuses for Millington after the Bolton game as it gives us 4 games to work the bugs out. Dont get me wrong Millington fans...I want us to go 10-0 as bad as anybody. It takes two things for that to happen...good players and good coaching. If we have that, we have a 10-0 season! Go Trojans!!!!

Way to go on Millington... a win tonite puts us at 3-0! Now, on Ridgeway beating Whitehaven????????

I have heard from a players parents that the coach is not very popular at all. There were complaints about him last year. If a coach is not liked or respected by his players and parents, it is usually a recipe for bad seasons. The kids will not give maximum effort and the parents will not lend support. I hope that is not the case though.

Is there any Munford fans on here? Defend yourself!

If Millington plays like they did last week, Munford could finally have their parade. There was no excuse for that many fumbles or the poor coverage on kickoffs or penalties. The team looked tired and flat. The defense did well although. I dont know...with that many fumbles most teams will lose, but we didnt. The penalties got a little ridiculous on the referee's end. There is no way anyone could convince me that we were holding that many times and not one Bartlett lineman held not once somewhere, sometime, anytime throughout the whole game? Come on ref's!?!?!?! Enough of that rant. Millington should win this game big. "Should' is the key word.

I thought Gtown had a decent game against CBHS and should have stayed in. I think Gtown is a better team than Arlington. Varlas is not sure what to do with Arl as they have been in and out of the DD. I still say get the privates schools and the out of state teams out of it. They are listed in the Arkansas and Mississippi polls in their own states.

Winners: South Panola- they have something to prove getting beat on TV Wooddale- working hard to bounce back Briarcrest-will outcoach and outplay melrose Whitehaven- too loaded Collierville- Houston did not look good in scrimmage against Millington Millington-out to make a statement

Yeah, an outside firm that people in the school have a lot of influence with, especially if it is for a gifted athlete. Almost all of the inner city kids who play sports for a private school are on some type of financial assistance. Those "academic scholarships" are a big part of why the privates ar in a div. all their own.

Meeting up to eat before the game is a good idea and we can get dou to buy!

Millington should be 4-0 when they get to Brighton who I think we will beat also and then Cordova who I think is a little down this year. If we cut down on little mistakes on offense and tighten down on pass coverages, we could easily be 6-0 when we get to Trezevant, 7-0 when we get to Craigmont which actually starts the meat of our season. If we have all the kinks worked out by then (which we should) we could win the conference.

OK Trojan fans. Was last Friday a preview of things to come or was Kirby that bad or a little of both? Will Bartlett present more of a challenge? Still say the D needs to tighten up a little. A lot of the teams we play are starting to go to the pass. Are we defending it well enough yet? What does Bartlett do offensively and defensively?

The district may be a little tougher than I thought. The jury is still out on Craigmont but I think they will get beat by Blount, Al. Arlington suprised me with a win over WS. I have a hard time with Arl being that good as they lost so many Sr.s from last year and I think WS and Ridgeway may have been a little overranked. The new guy with the Dandy Dozen is basing everything on what these teams did last year. If the Trojans can eliminate the little mistakes (off-sides, illegal shifts, giving up the big play) and tighten up the defense just a little, I think the district title is ours for the taking!

Arlington gets beat by White Station. Arlington lost too much last year off a slightly better than average team. Craigmont gets beat by Blount Ala. Craigmont lost too much last year off a better than average team who got out coached by a 5-5 team. (They do have a good QB though). Kirby gets beat by Millington. Kirby is big and has some talent but they will be outcoached and outplayed by a hungry Millington team looking to redeem themselves.

Most, maybe not all private schools in west tn recruit. Now, it may be only certain players or they will hold mini-camps or combines. That is how they get a peek at public school talent.Sometimes parents from publics approach them, bring in video of their kid and see what kind of financial assistance they can offer. Or they will hear through the grapevine about a kid or two at a school who is above average talent and he will be asked to attend the "free" mini-camp or combine at that school. Then they are approached by someone (booster or asst. coach) and asked to tour the faciities which are usually a lot better than the public school they came from and if they and the parents like what they see and would like their kid to have a "great opportunity" at a great education, they have the kid take their entrance exam to see if he would qualify academically. At this point tuition assistance is discussed. If the kid passes the entrance exam, tuition assistance becomes a big topic and the kid is offered an "academic scholarship" to give a kid who can't afford the chance to get a great athletic...I mean academic opportunity. Now, you can call this recruting, soliciting, offering, or just plain ole trying to help a kid out with an opportunity to have a great "academic opportunity", (which it is)but it is funny he just happens to be an above average athlete. The "academic scholarship" is why the privates are in a division all their own. Yes, the public schools simply should refuse to play them because it is an unlevel playing field but some coaches like the challenge of seeing how they will do against a team who usually has better facilities and a slightly stacked team.

24 years of season openers..I think that may be a record. I thought I attended a lot of games having my third son playing now. I hope the Trojans go 10-0.

From what I understand Kirby is a better than what a lot of people think. Heard they are very big and have some athletes and a pretty good scrambling QB. It will be a good season opener for us.

The Trojans are a mystery this year. Lost some games to district teams by only a few points last year and are returning a lot of key players. How will that turn out this year. Will they be mediocre again this year or will they blow the hats off some people?

Craigmont is still suspect. They lost a lot of Sr.s and key players last year. They did have some talent on the team last year and lost to a mediocre school in the playoffs. Have a little less talent this year. What does that do for them? A good QB a team does not make!!!

Looking forward to it!!!

Dont like the Dandy Dozen at all. Four of the teams are privates who are in a seperate league because of their ability to offer scholarships and should have their own deal and two of the schools are not even in our county or state. That has to do with Comm Appeal sales.

I fully agree with you that Brighton was highly overrated last year, but I dont think they are rated at all this year so no big deal if you beat them tonight which I think you will. As for west Tn. teams...there is as much talent over here as anywhere in the state. What west Tn teams dont have is the coaching and facilities. Most, not all, of the west Tn teams are low income schools whose facilities arent the greatest in the state and they do the best with what they have.

Would be pretty suprised if Brighton beats Riverdale. They dont have the talent at QB they had last year which is vital to their success as they love to pass the ball. Also dont have the experience of playing quality 6A teams.

The OL-DL will be Ok. They have several backups who have been doing pretty good in practice and did well last night rotating in. J. Offley, J. Mangrum, and the tall white kid (cant remember his name), and a couple more names I cant remember all rotated in and did well, even putting in a scoring drive. The QB position is always up in the air but I didnt see anything last night that had me really worried with the QB.He made some good decisions on the options which i thought was good. He did fairly well and will get better as the season progresses building his confidence and getting the experience. Secondary showed much improvement last night as Houston threw the ball a lot and did not score. Good experience for our secondary and will be needed when we play good passing teams. I still think we allow too much cushion for receivers and seem to always give up a big pass play somewhere during the game. Lineman were in the backfield sveral times putting pressure on the QB which is vital. The big linebacker D. Evans did a good job filling some holes and had a big hit on a receiver. I think we are a dark horse this year....good!!