LouPickney

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

Father Ryan kicker John Arnold has an amazing leg and has been an unsung hero for FRHS this year for the difference he has made on special teams -- he's a great place kicker and also a fantastic punter. But I saw Baylor's Henrique Ribeiro play and, for sure, he is also very talented. Both guys have Division I-A/FBS level talent, IMO, but Ribiero hitting that 57-yard FG against Bradley Central probably put him in top position to win the award.

Father Ryan played Brentwood Academy closer than the final score might make it seem. BA has a very good team, but FRHS had the ball down 17-10 in the fourth quarter with a chance to tie the game. I like the floom zoom video from earlier in this thread: it made me reminisce about working at Opryland in the summer of 1994.