AllRegion

It did- way more beautifully than some other predictions that had Bearden getting bounced early, lol!

I’m so torn with this one. Bradley has looked dominant in the playoffs, but has had times this year where they let off the gas and looked not as unbeatable. However, Bearden hasn’t played the level of quality competition yet in the playoffs to get a gauge of how they’ll respond after the rough Week 11 game. This is a coin flip game almost, but I’d take Bradley in a close one

Congrats to Bearden on the win! This one was a little closer than I expected, but in the playoffs, a win is a win. Going to be a great rematch with Bradley next week

There are some great games on the East side of the bracket this year! Can’t wait to watch this one, and then the matchup with Bearden in Round 3 for whoever wins

You don’t need any hands (or feet, or any appendages for that matter) to count the number of playoff wins that Jefferson County has since 2003, so maybe pump the brakes on the season-long unprovoked Gov-bashing and worry about that first

Go Govs!

18-3 and ranked #1 in the state.

You put it a lot better than I could, but I agree completely. I also fully admit my bias, because I am a big Ron Gray supporter- however, I think he will be able to get the play in the trenches turned around and that could be the piece to a potential run. All in all, I can't wait to see how the team looks after a whole offseason cycle with this staff.

Right? That's a great point too. Lamar Brown has them rolling- they're 50-7 since 2019, and I don't see it slowing down, so I can't blame you for calling the repeat

I get that, and you're right. I went out on a pretty big limb, but every year there's a team or so who puts it together a little bit unexpectedly, and I think that has a chance to be Oak Ridge next year. Maybe I'm putting too much faith in Cummings, but I couldn't go all favorites with my picks, because that's not how it usually ends up playing out. When push comes to shove, I wouldn't be surprised to see Powell or West represent the East in 5A next year, but I had to give just one for the list lol.

Yes, they did! That's my bad- thanks for catching that. I'm amending my pick to Gordonsville for 1A

I'll go ahead and make my picks for 2023 State Champions 1A- Gordonsville 2A- Huntingdon 3A- Alcoa 4A- Pearl Cohn 5A- Oak Ridge 6A- Oakland A- NCS AA- Knoxville Webb AAA- Brentwood Academy

Bearden is Maryville's opponent this week, and some were saying that they expected Bearden to give Maryville a super close game or even beat them. I was explaining why I don't think that's an accurate take, even given Maryville's "relative" issues

That's a fair point, and I agree. I still think the gap between Maryville and Bearden is too large for it to make a huge difference for the present time, but the issues on D will pose more of a problem against teams like West and later in the playoffs

I would agree with that completely! The only public school that I'd take against Alcoa is Oakland, and even that might be close.

The Alcoa team that barely beat Maryville is (IMO) the best or second-best public school team in the state, so judging Maryville for losing a close one to them isn't entirely fair. Does anyone think that Bearden would be able to play Alcoa that close? I personally don't, so that's why I can't get too swept up in the hype and expect anything but another Maryville win. I've seen it too many times before, and I'll have to witness otherwise before I believe it.

I have to give you credit, Barney- you were right on the money and I missed the mark bad. Time for me to eat my crow on this one!

As disappointing as it will be to some- William Blount will beat the Mountaineers. The Govs have never been 0-10 and this is pretty much the only shot at a W for them. I don’t think that streak ends this year.

Does anyone have a picture so we can see what one of the team pages looks like?

I agree 100%! It's been awfully quiet for mid-July so it's hard to get an accurate read of where things stand

I'd bet that WB will beat Heritage

WB's region in 2020 had 5 good football teams for WB to have to beat, and the Govs' region in 2021 only has 2.

This is the game that I'll be attending this week for sure! I look for South-Doyle to pull the upset (mild upset, I guess) in a close one.

This is true. If WB wins out vs. Cleveland and LC, and Cleveland beats Ooltewah, the Govs make the playoffs again