LouPickney

The George Plaster Show will broadcast live from Father Ryan ahead of tonight's 2022 Irish varsity football home opener against Brentwood High School. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGnlPcXyV44

Nice job with the show. It's tough to keep track of everything, particularly early in the season. Your show is very helpful with that. Reggie the cat is off to a 2-0 start for the week after last night's games. The cat image in his name box is a nice touch.

Here's the fair catch kick from last year's BA/CPA game. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fair_catch_kick

If you want to see a fun game from this past weekend, it's worth checking out Brentwood Academy's 50-49 overtime loss at home to Eagle's Landing Christian Academy out of Georgia. WR #1 for ELCA is remarkably fast, ditto for RB #6. BA QB #12 is more elusive than you'd expect a player with his size to be. BA, which trailed by 14 midway through the third quarter, scored a game-tying touchdown on the final play of regulation. ELCA used a prevent defense late and it backfired. In overtime, BA scored a touchdown and kicked an XP, only for ELCA to score a TD of its own and then convert on a two-point conversion to win the game. This Friday it's CPA at BA.

The player is alert and talking per WCMT. Per the coach who was interviewed, the player exited the field saying he needed to leave the game and then needed medical attention soon after. The player is being taken to Le Bonheur in Jackson.

Sending my best wishes from Nashville. Game ruled a no-contest per WCMT radio. They said the injured player from Greenfield is stabilized and being taken a hospital in Jackson. You can hear the emotion in the announcers' voices.

I recently created a play-by-play demo reel video and thought it might be of interest here. I've opened my bookings through the end of 2022. Lou@LouPickney.com for any inquiries. These are from broadcasts I did for Father Ryan, but I included several big plays from the opposition to demonstrate range and depth of research.

CPA at MBA (Thu. 9/8) and Christian Brothers at Briarcrest (Thu. 9/15) are two games that stand out for Division II, though I haven't seen the complete list yet. As I understand it, every TSSAA school is playing at least one game this season on a Thursday due to a shortage of game officials.

Congrats to McCallie on winning its third consecutive II-AAA state title. McCallie 28, MBA 7. Jonathan Hutton and Chad Withrow did a great job on the TV call, not surprisingly. Best wishes for MBA DL #34, who suffered an injury late in the game.

Here are some highlights from the McCallie at MBA regular-season game posted on YouTube by WDEF in Chattanooga (via WZTV Nashville) though it doesn't have the late part.

It's exceedingly rare to see a safety on a kickoff return in modern-day high school football with the automatic touchback rule. You have to willingly run back into the end zone with possession for that to happen. I just hope Pope's kick returner is okay, as he was down for quite some time after the play. On the other side of the bracket, MBA QB #12 had a great game against Christian Brothers, connecting on multiple long downfield passes. CBHS had trouble getting its offense going in ways that mirrored the struggles JP2 had against McCallie. Congratulations to the semifinal winners, and good luck in the state championship game.

Really tough start to the second half for Pope Prep, getting tackled in the end zone for a safety. McCallie promptly scored another TD after the free kick. And they just scored again. Early Q4: McCallie 44, Pope Prep 7 MBA leads CBHS 35-7 at the half.

Half: McCallie 27, Pope Prep 7 Christian Brothers at MBA is about to kick off.

11:51 Q2: McCallie 20, Pope Prep 0 One key to the game for JP2 was establishing the run. Thus far it has been a challenge.

For anyone looking for tonight's II-AAA semifinal games... Pope Prep at McCallie (6p CST) will be on LocalLive, though you need to register with a free account to watch McCallie's games. Note the 7p Eastern start time. LocalLive: https://events.locallive.tv/events/65684 As for Christian Brothers at MBA (7p CST), per Montgomery Bell Academy's website: "Due to an exclusive agreement between the TSSAA and the NFHS Network, MBA is not permitted to livestream video of the Division II AAA Football Playoff Game vs. Christian Brothers on Friday, November 19, 2021." NFHS ($10.99/month subscription required): https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/events/tssaa/gamed0f917d66 MBA radio version: https://www.hippieradio945.com/ Ch. 30 TV in Nashville has the Pearl Cohn/Tullahoma game tonight.

FINAL: Christian Brothers 35, Briarcrest 33 This is good news for MBA fans, as Montgomery Bell Academy will be at home in the semifinal round as a result of Briarcrest's loss. Semifinals E3 Pope Prep at E1 McCallie W5 Christian Brothers at E2 MBA McCallie beat Pope Prep 58-27 late last month in Hendersonville. CBHS and MBA didn't meet in the regular season, though last season MBA won 25-24 at CBHS.

CBHS leads by nine over Briarcrest. The NFHS feed of the game looks like it's operating on a one-hour delay when it actually works. It might actually be intentionally delayed, but with NFHS it can be tough to tell. How is it that Ensworth's student broadcasts were consistently better than the bulk of what I saw on NFHS this year?

FINAL: Pope Prep 24, Brentwood Academy 21

Father Ryan was down 28 with under five minutes to play and had a chance to win it at the end. Pope Prep had the ball at the BA 7, chance to win on a field goal in a game tied at 21. MBA won 35-0 over Baylor. Christian Brothers leads Briarcrest 35-12.

Fake punt TD pass for Father Ryan, a McCallie fumble, and ultimately a late frenzy including a pair of onside kick recoveries. McCallie had put their second-team defense in at one point. It reminded me of Baylor/McCallie where Baylor got aggressive with its passing in Q4 and likewise rallied to be down one score late. But this was even more intense of a swing. NFHS has been a nightmare for me. I have 300/300 Mbps fiber internet so it's not on my end. Games won't load, spinning circle, maybe get 90 seconds of blurry video. At least BA and MBA have had very good audio broadcasts.

FRHS turnover on downs in the red zone ends it. A valiant rally falls short. The Irish were down 42-14 at one point. Congratulations to McCallie on the 42-35 victory. They'll host the Pope Prep/BA winner next Friday night.

Father Ryan recovered the onside kick. My goodness.

Never say never... McCallie 42, Father Ryan 35. Q4 1:24 FRHS has an onside kick forthcoming.

Q4: McCallie 42, Father Ryan 14 Half: MBA 7, Baylor 0 Half: BA 14, Pope Prep 6 Half: Christian Brothers 28, Briarcrest 6

McCallie just went up 28-7 on Father Ryan. BA leads 7-3 against Pope Prep. There are going to be some very unhappy Eagles fans with this broadcast situation. End Q1 and it's scoreless for Baylor at MBA. CBHS is up 14-0 at Briarcrest per Briarcrest Twitter. The broadcast still won't load.