LouP

I'm rather fascinated by this Stratford playoff run. I called the Stratford/Father Ryan game for ATW Sportscast on 8/31 and was struck by Stratford having plenty of talent but seemingly a total mess from a coaching/game plan standpoint. It was also a colossal chore to get a Stratford roster, even by usual Nashville Metro school standards. But somehow Stratford caught fire for the playoffs, and while Covington might end their dream tonight, what Stratford did to make the Division I-3A semifinals after a 2-8 regular season was nothing short of remarkable.

Final from Nashville tonight: Father Ryan 19, Overton 6. FRHS wore all purple (helmets, jerseys and pants) for the first time since 1993. New offense for the Irish this fall going from the spread to the wishbone triple option.

I saw Ensworth play twice last season -- they had a fantastic team. It's always a challenge to rebuild, but with a top-tier talent like Elder in the backfield, it will be difficult for any opposing defense to contain Ensworth's offense. He's a threat to potentially score a breakaway TD on any given carry.

If there's a better RB out there than Elder among any other TSSAA players, I'm not aware of who that would be. It's noteworthy Elder still has one year left at Ensworth, giving them a strong weapon returning for 2012. I agree - the MUS broadcast crew did a very good job. In particular the play-by-play man's performance was strong. The multi-camera shoot looked good. They used USTREAM and I never experienced any problems with buffering, slow-down, quality drop, etc. Well done.

I watched some of the internet feed of the Ensworth/MUS game. Someone coughed up the $750 to allow for video streaming, which I appreciate. The WMC radio guys did a good job with the audio portion of the broadcast, and the instant replays were a nice touch. MUS has a great defense and size to match up pretty well with Ensworth, better than most, and remember that's an MUS team that had a span in the regular season where they gave up just 3 points total in four games. The big difference seemed to be Ensworth RB Corn Elder. He had two 80+ yard TD runs, on one of which he does an amazing fake-out of the MUS defender. And he's just a junior! I've seen him play in person twice this season and he is the real deal. Elder is a future college football star if he stays healthy, unless he decides to give up football to play basketball.

The play where Elder appeared to get hurt on 10/29 was a long run, a busted play near midfield IIRC where Elder cut to the near side, scrambled across the field toward the far side, and then went into the end zone and out on the far side as a Father Ryan defender made contact with him, knocking him to the turf. He stayed down for 2-3 minutes in a weird situation where he was far enough away from the end zone to where play was able to continue (the run was called back for an Ensworth penalty) while trainers tended to him. I hope Elder is okay, and if he is I suspect he will have the full attention of the FRHS defense on 11/11. Father Ryan's defense did a great job of containing St. Benedict standout RB Jordan Wilkins on Friday night, but it won't be so simple to keep Elder in check. Ensworth has a vastly superior offensive line to SBA; no offense to SBA, but it's the truth. Ensworth is a very, very talented team, and even without Elder they have a loaded roster. The main injury concern for Father Ryan is for punter/kicker John Arnold, who suffered a concussion making a tackle against Ensworth in the regular season finale. He missed most of the second half of that game and then all of the SBA playoff game. Arnold has made a huge difference on Ryan's special teams all year, from his kickoffs reaching the end zone the vast majority of the time to him having the leg strength and accuracy to hit long field goals to him also being a very good punter. FRHS has others to fill in for his various roles, but none of them possess Arnold's talent at those various spots. In the old days Arnold would be playing for sure on 11/11. But in this era of awareness about horrible things like CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) and other long-term problems related to multiple concussions, that is not a given at this point. Concussions are no joke.

I still haven't been able to find any updates on Elder's status, but I hope he's alright. We'll see for sure this Friday at the FRHS/Ensworth II-AA quarterfinal game.

I stand corrected -- you can have a live video stream, but you have to pay $750 per game to do so along with getting permission from the TSSAA ahead of time for it. I had been told by multiple people that it couldn't be done, but that isn't the case as per the TSSAA website: TSSAA Media PDF

If you're going to quote me, at least keep it in context: "nearly a four hour drive" and a "four hour drive" aren't the same thing. It's 197 miles from Nashville to Cordova as per Google Maps. We made it there in about 3 1/2 hours, though that included a stop for a late lunch in Jackson. Father Ryan didn't have as many fans make the trip for the game as I had hoped they would -- perhaps my claim of it being nearly a four hour drive scared them away. Results from tonight's four II-AA first round games: #7-E/M Father Ryan 17, #3-W St. Benedict 0 #6-E/M McCallie 24, #4-E/M BGA 17 #5-E/M MBA 40, #4-W Briarcrest 14 #3-E/M Brentwood Academy 48, #8-E/M Pope John Paul II 21 Quarterfinal matchups for 11/11/11: #7-E/M Father Ryan at #2-E/M Ensworth #6-E/M McCallie at #1-W MUS (calculate your own travel time for that one, McCallie fans) #5-E/M MBA at #1-E/M Baylor #3-E/M Brentwood Academy at #2-W Christian Brothers

Congrats to McCallie on the victory. I was keeping up with scores during the Father Ryan/St. Benedict broadcast for other II-AA scores of interest and saw McCallie up 7-3, then 14-3 in the second, then 17-3 in the third. BGA rallied, making it 17-9 and then 17-17 by the time we signed off in Cordova. On the way back I saw the 24-17 final. Good luck to McCallie next week at MUS.

When McCallie gets its running game going its offense can be tough to stop, working patiently and methodically. It's a challenging road for them though: at BGA, at MUS, then possibly at Ensworth in the semifinals and a potential finals matchup against possibly Baylor or BA. That's a tough quartet of games to win, particularly all away from home.

Brentwood Academy has a great squad, but there would be nothing easy about playing this year's Baylor team in Chattanooga. I've seen both BA and Baylor play this season and both teams are excellent, and if they win out they would be slated to meet in the II-AA semifinal round.

The webcast of Father Ryan vs. St. Benedict at Auburndale in Cordova on Friday will be audio only, even though Cordova is nearly a four hour drive from Nashville. I presume that is true for the rest of the broadcast teams, and I've heard nothing about the TSSAA doing any online streaming of the playoffs this year.

BA deserves mention -- they have a great team. A potential semifinal matchup with Baylor would be a rematch of BA's 10-7 win over the Red Raiders, the only loss Baylor had this year. That game was in Brentwood; the rematch would be in Chattanooga. If BA won that, they'd possibly have to face Ensworth in the II-AA Championship Game, the only II-AA team that beat BA this season. (Edited to fix mascot mistake)

Why it's intriguing to me: because BGA has the ability to score on deep passes and I'm curious as to how they would do against MUS' strong defense. BGA lost to three great teams, but so did MUS: 9-1 Ensworth, 10-0 Olive Branch, and 7-3 South Panola. MUS had a stretch this year where they allowed just three points total in the span of four games. BGA has scored 14 or more points in all but one game this year. That, to me, is an intriguing matchup. And, yes, I live in the greater Nashville area, so that would make me a Mid-Stater.

Thanks for posting the link. If BGA beats McCallie, the quarterfinal matchup of BGA at MUS would be intriguing. Baylor has a tricky road, particularly for a #1 seed: MBA (if MBA beats Briarcrest they'll have won 5 of their last 6), likely BA in the semifinal, and if they win those games a likely showdown with Ensworth in the II-AA Championship Game.

Ensworth defeated Father Ryan High School last night 29-7. Father Ryan's only points came on a pick-six by FRHS DB Ryan Bossing on only the first interception that Ensworth QB Andrew Bowers has thrown this season. Ensworth surprised FRHS with a successful onside kick to start the game and looked very strong throughout. Potentially big news: Ensworth RB Corn Elder suffered some sort of injury in the second half. On a busted play he ran to the near side, then the far side, and all the way into the end zone. He ended up down after the TD for 2-3 minutes I would estimate. Hopefully it was nothing serious, but whatever the injury was, Elder didn't return. I looked online but haven't found anything further about it. The game actually had more playoff relevance for Ensworth than it did for Father Ryan, which knew it was locked as the #7 seed in II-AA Middle/East before any of the action began last night. Ensworth kept its starters in longer than I expected, perhaps doing so in anticipation of their upcoming bye week. I'm heading to Cordova with the ATW Sportscast crew to call (audio only) the Father Ryan/St. Benedict at Auburndale playoff game this upcoming Friday. This is only their third all-time meeting; FRHS beat St. Benedict in 2001 and 2002.

I'm going to be broadcasting the Ensworth/FRHS game on Friday for ATW Sportscast, and I look forward to seeing Elder in action again. He's averaged nearly ten yards a carry (9.92) this season, and it's rather astonishing to me that Elder scored 4 TDs total against BA last week: two rushing (24 carries for 265 yards) and two receiving (four receptions for 144 yards). BA has an excellent defense, but Elder tore through them similar to how he did in the playoff semifinals last year. Remember: he's only a junior. I expect Elder to be heavily recruited in football, though I've heard good things about his basketball skills as well (though I've never seen him play basketball). Elder's 2011 game-by-game rushing stats (rushing TDs in parentheses) MUS: 17/135 (2) Knox Webb: 13/132 (2) McCallie: 24/231 (2) Raleigh-Egypt: 5/86 (2) Baylor: 19/81 BGA: 21/266 (1) PJP: 9/116 MBA: 17/166 (2) BA: 24/265 (2) Elder also had three receptions for 90 yards and three receiving TDs against Raleigh-Egypt. Baylor held him to only 81 yards on 19 carries, though he also had four receptions for 67 yards in that game. There are other excellent running backs in II-AA, but Elder has elite talent and should end up with the award. He'll have a great chance to win it in 2012 as well.

I'm not sure how many west Tennessee people read this board, but I'm interested in predictions for the St. Benedict at Auburndale showdown this Friday at Christian Brothers. The winner will be the #2 West seed and receive a first-round bye, while the loser will be the #3 West seed and, in all likelihood, host Father Ryan (the presumptive #7 M/E seed) in Shelby County one week from Friday. Since I am slated to be on the call for the Father Ryan playoff game for ATW Sportscast, I'm trying to do a bit of prep work on both of the possible FRHS opponents. Any projections on how the Benedict/CBHS game will play out? Any major players on either team to keep a close lookout for one week from Friday?

BGA ended up winning 33-7, though Father Ryan's starting QB was out with a back injury which limited them on offense. BGA impressed me with their deep passing game, and they looked even better than the BGA team I saw play last year.

I've seen both teams play in person this year, and they're both very good. Baylor has an amazing defense, running the 3-4 about as well as you could hope on the high school level, including having a 370 lb. NT and good speed/athleticism at the OLB spots. Baylor's place kicker is very very good, and their offense is proficient. BGA has burner speed at wide receiver -- Baylor will need to watch out for long bombs, particularly when they have seven up front and bring both OLBs on a blitz. As for Baylor, they have great RB depth which will challenge BGA's defensive line, particularly in the second half, plus Baylor has several big/talented linemen to open up running lanes. I anticipate a Baylor win, but it's not impossible to think that BGA could pull out a victory.

There is a tiebreaker for number of opponents with 50% or more victories, so scheduling multiple opponents unlikely to finish at .500 could work against a II-AA school.

Thank you -- it didn't make any sense to me for head-to-head to not be in it.

There is no mention of head-to-head in any tie-breakers on the TSSAA website. I'm presuming that Ensworth's win over MUS in August is being ignored for II-AA M/E seeding purposes, similar to Cal/Colorado in NCAA football playing this year in a non-conference game despite both now being in the Pac-12. According to this .pdf file, the tie-breaker is determined in this order: 1. The team with the greatest number of victories. Ensworth and Baylor would be 9-1 and Brentwood Academy would be 8-2. BA would be punished for its loss to a very tough Trinity team out of Louisville and be the first eliminated. The process would begin again, and Ensworth and Baylor at 9-1 would push. Baylor having beaten Ensworth 42-14 would not come into play, unless I'm wrong about head-to-head not being taken into consideration. 2. The team who plays the greatest number of team who win 50 percent or more of their games. The TSSAA has turned the word "team" into a plural noun. Division play offsets. They played three non II-AA M/E games each: Ensworth: MUS (6-3), Knox Webb (7-2), and Raleigh Egypt (1-8) Baylor: Soddy-Daisy (3-6), Bradley Central (7-2), and Columbia Central (8-1) Both would have 2-of-3 non II-AA M/E opponents with records of 50%+, so they would push. 3. The team who has the greatest number of victories over teams winning 50 percent or more of their games. Ensworth and Baylor will have the same number, since there is no way Raleigh Egypt or Soddy-Daisy can possibly finish with a .500 or better record and their II-AA M/E opponents offset. 4. The team whose opponents have earned the most victories. II-AA M/E play offsets. Ensworth: 6+7+1 = 14 Baylor: 3+7+8 = 18 Even if MUS, Knox Webb, and Raleigh Egypt all win on 10/28 and Soddy-Daisy, Bradley Central, and Columbia Central all lose, it would still be Baylor with more opponent victories at 18-17. So, on the fourth tie-breaker, Baylor would get the #1 M/E seed. It does seem unbalanced in that respect, though it would also seem unfair if the Middle/East got three byes and the West only got one, particularly if the West had two very strong teams in a given year. The II-AA playoff format is non-traditional, to be sure, and is more akin to a college basketball conference post-season tournament than a typical high school football playoff system.

The #2 M/E seed may be more attractive than the #1 M/E seed, as the #1 and #3 M/E teams would meet in the semifinals if they won out. Not to slight MUS, but Ensworth already beat them in Memphis to start the year in a game where Ensworth lead 21-0 in the first quarter. I believe this is how it would play out based on what I read on the TSSAA website. Things have changed since the days when there were only three divisions (A, AA, AAA) total in the entire state. If BA, Ensworth, Baylor, and MBA all win on 10/28: II-AA MIDDLE/EAST 1. Baylor 9-1 (6-1) 2. Ensworth 9-1 (6-1) 3. BA 8-2 (6-1) 4. BGA 7-3 (4-3) 5. MBA 5-5 (3-4) 6. McCallie 4-5 (2-5) 7. Father Ryan 4-6 (1-6) 8. Pope John Paul II 2-8 (0-7) IF MUS and Christian Brothers win on 10/28: II-AA WEST 1. MUS 7-3 (3-0) 2. Christian Brothers 8-2 (2-1) 3. St. Benedict at Auburndale 6-3 (1-2) 4. Briarcrest 4-6 (0-3) First Round: Bye: #1M/E Baylor, #2M/E Ensworth, #1W MUS, #2W Christian Brothers #7M/E Father Ryan at #3W St. Benedict, #6M/E McCallie at #4M/E BGA, #4W Briarcrest at #5M/E MBA, #8M/E John Paul II at #3M/E BA Quarterfinals: Father Ryan/St. Benedict winner at Ensworth McCallie/BGA winner at MUS Briarcrest/MBA winner at Baylor John Paul II/BA winner at Christian Brothers Semifinals: FRHS/Benedict/Ensworth vs. McCallie/BGA/MUS (higher seed hosts) Briarcrest/MBA/Baylor vs. BA/JPII/Christian Brothers (higher seed hosts) Finals: Winners of the two semifinal games play