Panthers08

I apologize if this thread has already been started. If that's the case I didn't see it. Darryl Smith, a former Powell standout and co-offensive coordinator, died last week of complications stemming from gall bladder and pancreas problems. Darryl played at UT as well as in the NFL and CFL before retiring and becoming very active in the Boys and Girls club in Knoxville. Later, Darryl went on to coach at Central, Powell, and I believe a one year stint at Oak Ridge. I just want to say that Darryl was one of the most special guys I've ever been around. He was one of the most brilliant football minds I've seen in high school football, and he had an unbelievable way of relating with his players and getting the most out of them. He meant a lot to me and I definitely looked up to him an awful lot as a coach. Beyond all that though, the man just had a presence about him. He always had something funny to say, and he usually had a great story to tell. Darryl was just the type of guy that you could sit and listen to for hours and never be bored. My thoughts and prayers go out to Lee, Ben, Matt, and Karen. I know its tough on them. RIP Darryl you will be sorely missed.

Is anyone going to be posting updates on the board as it happens?

I know this is off topic, but for any of you powell fans who may want to know...I'm listening to the EKU vs. Cincy game and Cody Watts (former Powell QB) just caught a 61 yard touchdown pass. He's got 3 catches right now for close to 100 yards. Just wanted to pass that along.

Well I can't believe that the vols won this game. They were by far the worse team. They have no depth compared to Memphis. They had no chance to match Memphis's talent on the inside. Give me a break. That's such a joke. Tennesse goes 10 deep. No REALLY, ten deep. Who contributed big for Memphis's deep bench. Brian Williams grabbed four big boards off the bench. Jordan Howell came in and managed the game well although he didn't shoot it well at all. He made good decisions. Tabb played good perimeter defense, as he is known to do, and JP Prince carries us for a stretch in the second half and steps up as a 47 percent free throw shooter to help ice the game. And on top of that, Tennesse owned the boards when no one gave them a chance and the biggest field goal of the game comes from Tyler Smith...working in the POST. Great win for the Pearl and company. Maybe now we will get the respect from the nation that we were getting from the state of Tennessee all along (per ESPN fan poll that showed UT was carrying the state of TN by a wide margin.) Now we just gotta make sure that we don't have a let down on Tuesday. I despise Memphis and their coach...he's a ######, but I do have to say that they are a heck of a ball team. I thought they got some calls, but I'm looking through orange tinted glasses so UT probably got some calls too. Besides, a loss by 4 points to number 2 (now number 1) isn't exactly a back breaker. Memphis is gonna be a force in March and so will the vols. Great game to watch.

Well we all know how meaningless these end of the season games are once both teams have qualified for the post-season. Just as Eli Manning and the New York Giants. It probably would have worked out better for them if they would have rested their starters week 16 against New England too. What a joke. You play to win the game period. You can make all the excuses you want about the game being meaningless, and in a literal on paper sort of way you would be one hundred percent correct. I don't think that any of those Oak Ridge kids, once they stepped on the floor and tipped it off, would say that game was meaningless. Every kid that puts the time in to be on a high school team is a competitor. That means if they're keeping score, they want to win. Get off this meaningless game kick. It's simple Powell came in there and shot lights out, and they still had to scrap to win. Stop acting like Oak Ridge didn't care about the game and give Powell a little bit of credit, huh?

Non faculty do have to take a test in order to be able to coach that's true. And Irishball the other problem involved here is if no coaches can volunteer, where does the next batch of coaches come from? Instead of having a young man come in and help out wherever he can and learn for a couple of years before landing a job, now they are going to be forced to learn on the fly. It's really a detriment to the level of coaching across Knox County. Also the assumption of it being a liablity issue is correct. Let's say myself or Mocs is leading a drill, and little tommy rolls his ankle and injures himself. Well now little tommy goes home and tells mommy that it was a volunteer coach leading the drill and suddenly the law suits start flying the HC the AD...it would be a mess. Not to mention there have been allegations leveled against some other volunteer coaches that I know of regarding inappropriate relationships with students....Knox County is just watching out for itself with this rule...as much as I disagree with it, they have some pretty solid reasons.

As I said I volunteered as a football coach the year after I graduated at Powell and was forced to move down and work with the middle school because of the new rule. Irishball you're correct the only difference between a "non-faculty" coach and a volunteer coach is the fact that a "non-faculty" coach is paid. It's not a matter, as previously mentioned, of throwing a dollar someone's way. It's a matter of that person recieving a coaching supplement. The football program, and I can only assume the basketball program as well, has a select number of supplements to go around. Every coach on staff must be recieving a supplement or he is considered volunteer. Thats my understanding of the new rule. If im mistaken I'm sure Mocs will correct me.

While we're on it. Mocs, as you probably know me and my brother are in the same boat with the football team as you are with the basketball team due to the volunteer coaching rule. Any chance that with enough support we could get that thing over ruled? Just something thats been waying on my mind. I worked with the middle school this year and enjoyed it pretty well but nothing beats Friday night... And like I said Powell is a team that can beat anyone or lost to just about anyone. Seymore is good enough to throw the team on his back at times but he can't do it alone. I haven't had a chance to see this team play all that much this year, but I know most of the kids pretty well, and I am confident that they will be a factor come tournament time. Coach Ogan is one of the best around and I won't ever count one of his teams out until theres no time left on the clock.

I won't be able to make it to the game tonight... I've got a church league game of my own to play in, but I want to wish my panthers the best of luck tonight in what should be a dog fight in Jeff Hunter gym. I just want to point out that for all the match-up problems you are alluding to for Powell on the defensive end they will have mis-matches at the offensive end too. Seymore is a tough matchup for any post player and Nick Gordan isn't a true 4...actually he's an ideal 3. It'll be tough for Farragut's bigs to match the quickness of Powell in the post (I think I don't know anything about Farragut, but you guys make it sound like they are really big inside.) And if they sit in a zone and Powell gets it going they could come out on top. Basically Powell is a team with a lot of shooters that is really fun to watch and on any given night they can beat anyone but if the shots aren't falling they are highly capable of losing to just about anyone too. Good luck to coach Ogan and the boys tonight.

fair point about Powell showing up in the tournament, and your right in recent years OR has kind of wilted when the heat comes on. Although, they have more talent this year then they have had before and that says a lot. Also, I didn't mean to imply that JA would have made a difference in the outcome, Powell got outplayed for the majority of that game. I just would have liked to have seen him be able to come in and make a few good box outs and maybe check a couple of cutters just to see how OR would have responded to that. I thought the game was very poorly officiated for both teams with fouls being ignored on both ends....something jordan probably wouldn't have minded too much knowing him. Either way I didn't mean to imply that he would have changed the outcome just maybe changed the tone a little big, glad to hear he's getting recognition for the monster year he had on the grid iron. I totally agree with everything that you said about Matt. From the first day that kid stepped on campus he was impressive. I remember practicing against him his freshman year (my sophomore year) and being so impressed simply with the way he carried himself and how he always seemed in control on the floor. That being said Andrew is going to be just fine, you and I both know that...he'll put the work in to get the most out of his ability...and ability is something he's not short on.

Just want to add my thoughts on this game. I thought that Oak Ridge did a nice job of attacking what I perceive to be Powell's biggest weakness as a team this year. They just aren't that tough. As a whole the team generally plays soft. The refs were letting both teams play and it wasn't until late that the Panthers matched Oak Ridges physical style of play. Not coincidently, when Powell finally started played tougher they made a run to cut the lead to ten but it was too little too late. Oak Ridge is a scary team this year. They have long athletic post guys and really really good guard play. I thought the MO on them last year was to take away the inside and make them shoot over over the top of you....that didn't seem to be the way to go last Friday. Powell played a little box and one with Andrew on Stephens and when Oak Ridge had perimeter guys pop open they were knocking down open looks from the outside. Mocs, I'm interested to get your opinion. I just feel like that Powell didn't respond well to the physical tone that OR set. I thought that Jordan Allen would have helped out considerably in this game. Is he no longer with the team? And also I don't think that OR would have been able to set that physical tone against players like Lee Smith and Matt Hargis....just my two cents.

I think that Wilkes playing defense probably helped his case a little bit, but the only people who know for sure is the voters. Obviously there is no Middle Tennessee bias in 4A though. East Tennesse clean sweep. Just an observation. As for the Burnette Phillips debate...I watched them both play twice this year. I think that they got it right and here's why. Burnette has never lost a football game as the starter, and he plays agains much MUCH tougher competition week in and week out. The argument that Phillips lead his team back from deficits only hurts his argument. That just means that those weaker teams from out east were enough to keep him in check so that they could build those leads against his team. That whole offense was built around Curt. That fact coupled with the weakness of that region explains the nintendo numbers that Phillips put up. Maryville is very mulitple on offense and likes to run the football as well as throw it. And I know this didn't play in to the voting, but when the two played on the same field Burnette was the better QB. All in all I think the voters got it right in 4A although there couldn't have been too much complaining if Phillips would have won. He is a pretty darn good athlete, and put up remarkable numbers

You must have gotten mixed up with the wrong part of the Maryville faithful itstartshereman. I have been to several games at maryville and played in even more and have never received anything but respect. I don't know who or what you encountered in Blount County, but don't let that leave a sour taste in your mouth about the progra, and it's fans, as a whole. That's as classy of a group as your gonna find in high school football. I'll throw my two cents in to add to what papa said. It's tough to say what would happen if both attended South. They ran that spread "option" offense (theres no read from what I saw, but I digress.) Brent wouldn't be good with that type of offense. I know Maryville spreads the field but they do not run the zone read play that is the bread and better of South style of offense. Now I'm not saying that Coach Carter couldn't change his system to accomodate a kid like Burnette, I just don't think its fair to jump to the conclusion if they both went to South then Brent would start at QB. Whoever it was that said that Curt throws it as well as Burnette is dead wrong. Curt runs it a lot better and throws it pretty well, but Burnette made throws last Friday that Curt can't make period (just like I said he would... ::strains arm patting self on back:/smile.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":)" border="0" alt="smile.gif" /> Along that same line, Curt made plays with his feet that Burnette could never dream about making. It's all a matter of what you want to do with your offense.

I also want to recant a little bit of my knock on Phillips arm strength. He looked like he has a little more zip then I thought when I watched him last night. Someone told me that some other schools were looking at Curt as a TE. I know hes made up his mind, but is there any truth to other schools looking at him at other positions? After watching last nights game, I will say this. I think the coaches at South are getting a lot of credit when Curt and the other players deserve it all. Their whole play book last night was QB sweeps and straight gives to fletcher then when they threw it was a simple flat-slant/post combination making it an easy read for Phillips. The truth is they run their offense under the guise of a read option, but not one time did Curt really read the defensive end. He either handed it to Fletcher or on occasion made a cheap fake and headed the other way. For the spread offense to be as effective as it can be you have to be able to read it. And I don't understand why coach carter wouldn't trust a 4 year letterman (if i've been informed correctly he didn't start as a freshman) to read an option. If I'm wrong someone please correct me....I just want some more info on this. Also, in 4A football it's really tought to play your starting QB, and best player, on offense, defense, punt, punt return, and kickoff return and him not be completely gassed by the end of the game.

I feel pretty good about the way I predicted this game. Phillips made some big plays with his escapability, like I said that he might. And I think it was 83southrebel that said Curt was sneaky fast and thats true. I think because his legs are so powerful he covers a lot of ground with each stride so he doesn't look to be running that fast but I believe that he has 4.55 speed after last night. South did not take a true shot down the field all night and I only remember two passes (the two to Johnson) that Curt even went down the field at all on. Burnette was the better QUARTERBACK on the field last night. Curt looked more like a running back as he carried the ball 26 time according to the prep xtra. Thats ridiculous. South was running single wing last night. I said that Fletcher would be effective in this game and he wsa impressive last night. He better saddle up for next year. Nice win Rebs bring another gold ball back to 3-4a