MeritIII

29-1 for the last two seasons with two gold balls.  Can any other team say that?  No other analysis needed.
 

This year’s team was tired of hearing how they weren’t as good as last year’s team and how we were rebuilding.  They reloaded with another gold ball.  
 

Really no need to discuss the how - it was 24-19 when the horn sounded and the West D held when needed.  Great teams just find a way to win.  Congratulations to these players and these coaches for showing how to build a program rather than just a team.  
 

Woulda Coulda Shoulda - but really enjoyed watching the second gold ball rolling down Northshore in the Christmas Parade. 

24 minutes ago, AllVol2012 said:

Do you realize how many of these guys played in just about every game last year because of all the blowouts? And they were on the sideline and in the state championship game last year with Page. They will be just fine. 

Never said West wouldn’t be fine, matter of fact I said I think West takes this one.  And yes - I’m fairly familiar with West both this season and last season.   Both teams are past the point as to who has played and who hasn’t as both teams are 15 games into the season - so both have figured out what they have.  Let the chips fly this Friday night and may the best team win.  (Hopefully my Rebels)

 

1 hour ago, WildWolf6 said:

None worth a quarter. Their schedule is not respectable for a 3x state contender. West played some good competition. The battle tested isn't even close. West wins 32-7. 

I assume you are trolling for some bulletin board material.  Page is 13-1 and is one of only two 5A teams left standing.  The poor mouthing no longer works in the finals.  Page had the lead against West last year halfway through the second quarter before West took over the game.  Page returns FAR more starters than West.  
 

That said - West played a very difficult schedule and has been battle tested - but you have to admit on the head to head - Page has more left from last year’s team than West does.  My heart and my head says West can take this one,  but I think it will be a battle to the end.  

Thought West had a good shot to win this one after watching a few WV games.  Just thought our speed would be too much.  Knew we could score - but really impressed with the offense last night.  Both backs had a good night and QB did his job when needed.  Defense played at another level.  Backs had no where to run and QB spent the night running for his life.  Pass rush was just insane.  I’ll give #1 credit - he kept plays alive that should have been negative plays.  Not sure they had 100 yards of total offense.  

1 hour ago, HTV said:

In talking with a friend on the West staff this morning, he tells me that Page has a tremendous defense, only lost a couple of starters from last year. 

The West offense is really clicking right now. ,

I anticipate a very competitive 5A championship game. 

Not sure what gives in this game, both teams have played great defense in the playoffs.  West has found an offense in the playoffs, but Page has been stingy giving up any points.  Not sure what the under/over is, but I am definitely taking the under.

Have to admit - I thought we would be decent this year - but I probably would not have bet a return to Championship game.  Great work by the players and coaches for getting better each week.  

1 hour ago, WestHigh4Life said:

I wonder how this will affect the gate also...radio and TV all over this one may cause some to stay home bc of weather.

Cleats better be ready to go if that field becomes a sponge. 

Also of course this is the friday night the storms happen...just blame Packer lol

Crowd has been light last 2 weeks, seems weird to me.  I guess many West fans have gotten spoiled that the season is just expected to go late into playoffs.  Rebel fans need to appreciate what they have and show up for the players and coaches that have put the time and effort into making this program and season what it is.  These type of seasons don’t last forever - SO SHOW UP - and enjoy the show.  

70% chance of Thunderstorms between 6-9 tomorrow night.  Who gets the advantage- if any - for a rain delay?  

These two teams have the last two 5A gold balls.  I can’t find another team in 5A that have a higher winning percentage than these two senior classes.  Powell will be playing in their 53rd game with a 79% winning percentage in the last 4 seasons.  West will be in game 56 with a 90% win rate.  Both Powell and West seniors will have won more games than some other teams have even played in.  It’s a shame they are in the same region.  Find me any other 5A school that can match either record in Tennessee over the last 4 years.  I checked several - a few are close but did not beat either in winning percentage.  

There will be no love lost between these two teams come Friday night, but there will nothing but respect for what they both have accomplished in the last few seasons.   This is especially true as both are in “rebuilding” seasons. 

Probably best all around defensive performance of the season.  Trojans had no ability to run or pass.  Their offense was non existent due to that ferocious Rebel defense.  I think they had less than 60 yards of total offense starting the fourth quarter and pretty sure they didn’t have any back break more than 20 yards the entire game.  Rebel offense showed up tonight when needed.  Mo West is better than they played tonight - but honestly walked into a buzz saw.  

4 minutes ago, Whs1984 said:

Lol well is was on the schedule for packer vision until they believed the bearden hype train 

So the local market missed out on this great matchup to watch a running clock?  Interesting.  I guess they missed out.  

27 minutes ago, osunut2 said:

West scores and wins it with the PAT.

West wins 24-23 in OT. Entertaining game between two evenly matched teams.

Another instant classic in the West/Powell series.  I’ll bet everyone enjoyed watching that on Rivalry Thursday.

1 hour ago, MidTennFootball said:

Nobody said they weren't but I think you sandbag alot when it comes to West, which Holtz did frequently 

Not sure I would say he sand bags, more like he has watched West the last few weeks and may have some concerns.  Unlike some teams that get on here in week 1 and declare themselves the second coming and let everyone know this is THEIR year baby and this in the bestest team ever assembled.  You usually stop hearing from those posters after week 2 of the playoffs.  WFL has been around awhile, he knows the drill.  

12 minutes ago, chrisburr said:

Bring back the Z-Plan!

The footer to your post kills any credibility for your comments.  May want to rethink your comments.  

54 minutes ago, Red Rebels said:

Class 6A, Region 2
Maryville wins, Bradley Central wins	Bradley Central	Bearden	Maryville	Cleveland
Maryville wins, Bearden wins	Bearden	Bradley Central	Maryville	Cleveland
Cleveland wins, Bradley Central wins, Farragut wins	Bradley Central	Bearden	?	?
Bearden wins, Cleveland wins, Farragut wins	Bearden	Bradley Central	?	?
Hardin Valley wins, Bradley Central wins, Farragut wins	Bradley Central	Bearden	Farragut	Maryville
Bearden wins, Hardin Valley wins, Farragut wins	Bearden	Bradley Central	Farragut	Maryville

 

I really feel sorry for whoever gets Maryville as 3 or 4 seed.  They may want to lose this week to try and drop down a few seeds to avoid that first round game.  My guess is Maryville is about to Maryville.  

29 minutes ago, ILB1999 said:

didn't west beat them at powell last year?

So West’s team last year - which was undefeated 15-0 state champions had to go on the road to beat Powell to even get a shot at Chattanooga.  Who the &$#* wouldn’t want that  game at home rather than on the road.  Yes - we won last year - but I wouldn’t put money on either of this years Powell or West teams to beat either of last years teams.  Home field means something.  I for one don’t want to drive there back to back years.

10 minutes ago, footballknox said:

So hear me out....are you better to win or lose this game? My reasoning....if you win out, you secure home field advantage.  If you lose, then you are put in a bracket with Knox Central (2 and 4 in the region go to the same bracket).  Some are saying they think that Region 2 may sweep Region 1.  Would you rather have to face Halls or Knox Central in the second round?  Again this is all hypothetical...just too much time to think about the different scenarios.  Who knows?  Region 1 could surprise us all. 

So to violate all rules of we take it one week at a time and will not look ahead as you have to win to advance -  see all previous years of West losing for whatever reason to teams we should have beaten that year - 

You want to win this as you don’t care about rounds 1 and 2 and assume you want the rematch at home in round 3.  Again - no disrespect to opponents in rds 1 and 2 - but no one wants Powell or West at home in the third round.  This game literally gives you home field to Chattanooga assuming you take care of business.  Powell wants it - West wants it and to deny that is just false.  There are only 2-3 teams on the East side in this field who have the chance to make the Championship.  That’s just being honest here.  Any of the others will have to pull back to back to back upsets to get there.  That’s the no Lou Holtz take on this.  Both sides want it - both sides need it - both sides respect the other - and neither side is that confident on what happens tomorrow.  That’s my two cents, but ask me in 4 weeks.

I now have a lot more respect for that Halls team.  They came to win and had West on their heels at times tonight.  I commented to some friends before the game when I saw the officials tonight that the flags were going to fly.  I’m not sure how Hall’s coach managed to not get ejected for a few of the calls that really hurt them tonight (especially the muffed punt that would have given Halls the ball deep in West territory).  
 

I’ll take the “W” and hope we clean things up before next Thursday.  Halls will surprise some teams in the playoffs,  they just have a tough Region.  

23 hours ago, Dawgz4life said:

“Does anyone want to bet?” 
 

sure I will.

If the bet is Bearden will put a running clock on Bradley in the second half,  I will take that bet.  Name the wager and where you would like to meet within 5 miles of Bearden’s house campus and we will place the bet with a third party to hold.  I will let you choose the amount, within reason and you have to bring cash.  

On 10/16/2023 at 11:19 PM, WestHigh4Life said:

I think ur right...West wins these next two...they have potential for four home playoff games.

Go Rebels

Is this game still on?  Very quiet considering what is on the line Friday night.  Not sure if Wests O shows up Friday - but I’m sure the D will.  Looking at Halls schedule, scores and record (and very few quarters on film) - I really can’t convince myself what to expect - but I definitely have my suspicions on how Friday night goes.  

1 hour ago, Bozothemav said:

Just admit we’re the better coached team. 

Nope

6 minutes ago, haweanbula said:

The refs are pretty bad on both sides. I'm sure the Ref was probably making a point to West coach. They seemed to have an axe to grind on both sides the ball. That white is notorious for having short man syndrome 

That crew definitely has yellow fever - both ways.  I know holding can be called on every play, but you called a lot of marginal holds and you let some flat out drag downs go.  I didn’t see the hold that had ACs td called back live, but watching replay I can see why that one was called.  They scored that drive anyway, but it did make it harder on them.  Anybody catch why they sent ACs punter off last night - knee pads?

All that said, the ump show was in full force last night.

21 minutes ago, WestHigh4Life said:

Facts not to mention AC didnt make a bigger deal on the field as the defense didnt argue he was down after the fact. 

I was wanting to know more about how to cancel and/or change flights - where did all those informative posts go?  Anybody figure out how West ended up with that last personal foul on the kneel?  That was almost funny.

3 minutes ago, GoatLocker said:

Yep,  going to be that guy.   West RB helmet touched the ground when got hit.   You could barely see it and the speed of the play.  Defense should have finished the tackle.

You gotta call them like you see them.  Not sure if he was down or not, but West got the TD.  Sometimes you get the breaks in a game.  I do think that TD saved the Rebels the one or two other holding calls the officials were ready to throw at any minute.  

2 hours ago, WestHigh4Life said:

Well at least West got to work on the punting game this week and didnt get one blocked like last week.

My game ball to punter and special teams - we didn’t give up any points.  

4 minutes ago, Mavericksinflight said:

AC needs make a few adjustments to score more. 

Well good news for West - not sure we could play any worse in the second half.  But who knows - I’ve been wrong before.