MSURacer

I think Henry County wins, but I echo SEC's post. Can't let up. First region game.

I have always heard the problems at Henry Co during those years were higher up than Donnie Webb, but I am not much for details on that kind of thing.

I’ve been there many times, Indiana are not true Yankees. It’s basically the south’s middle finger. But regardless of the result, good on Oakland for scheduling. Respect.

Heck of a win tonight. This team has some special players and might just be for real. Got a hungry Springfield team coming in next week and then possibly the best team we’ll see all year at Brentwood the following week. LFG

This is another good point. 5A and 6A discussion for West TN on here has never been as active as Middle or East, and it's largely a function of scarcity. But if you go to the 1A or 3A boards, it is swallowed up with West TN fans.

I don't know, but many people just check scores on FB or Twitter now. And then there's sites like YouTube and Hudl, which feature everything you could ever want to know about a particular player including bio and highlights. I still like to come here to learn about certain teams, as there are many knowledgeable posters, and some of the banter is hilarious, but a lot of the basics can be gotten elsewhere now. Not a knock on this site at all, it's just the reality that we've gotten from the ubiquity of wifi and smart phones.

Social media has killed a great deal of discussion on the T. I am guilty of it myself. I still love this site, but I find myself checking it less and less with each passing year.

True. Beech has always been the master of doing that. It’s nice to be on the offensive side of it.

I don’t know a thing about Smyrna, but Riverdale just blanked them 36-0. Sounds like they have some D1 caliber players on their team. I’m expecting a tough matchup for HC. Hoping for a good game.

22-play drive. Gotta be a school record.

Good game Big Red! Much tougher test next week, but it's easy to see the potential we've been hinting at during preseason. And nice call @TryNotToSuck. Score prediction was nearly spot on.

Significant step back from last season? That was never a big stretch. We lost one of the best QBs in program history along with an excellent senior class. However, there are still enough ingredients for a solid team. Just gotta see if they all come together.

That's about how I feel. I think this team will have its growing pains, but it could end up a formidable unit by season's end. I know absolutely nothing about Brighton. Game is a total ? at this point.

Same. The whole story is just bizarre.

I expect Hendersonville to be tough. I think last year was an anomaly for them. They were in the 6A semifinals just 2 years ago, and even when they're not particularly strong they're usually still at least competitive. They can beat any team in this region on a given night.

7-6A and 7-5A could switch classifications for the playoffs and it might honestly create some better matchups in the first few rounds. As it stands, I think Clarksville High, Northeast, and Rossview will all do pretty well in this region consistently. Dickson County may even emerge from the ashes. Good luck to all our former region brethren. In the words of that Hunger Games reference people used to throw around back in the District 10-AAA days, "May the odds be ever in your favor."

We’ve been pretty up and down in scrimmages so far, but it’s been against stout competition. It might take some time for this Henry Co team to get its feet under it, but if I had to guess I’d say it’ll be another pretty dang solid one by October-November.

I will always have a soft spot for our 2006 team. That senior class went 1-9 as freshmen and 2-8 as sophomores before making it all the way to the semifinals as seniors. We got demolished by Hillsboro once we got there, but they really got the ball rolling for Henry County’s program after some very dormant years. The 2nd round 35-28 win at Melrose stood out the most to me. Orange Mound was a very tough place to win in those days.

Beech is the best program in this region and should probably be favored to win it most years. Henry County, Springfield, and Hendersonville are all good enough to take the crown in a given year with the right team. Portland could always put together a scrappy team that makes the playoffs if one of the others has a down year. Hunters Lane is likely a basement dweller unless they score some generational talent.

No denying it's a very good hire for Bartlett. 6A will be challenging, but Bartlett could be the next up and coming program.

@reddyrebel6 what’s going on down there?

Not a bad list, although he did say public only. If I had to swap out the 5 privates on this list for 5 publics, I'd probably go with Ravenwood, West, Powell, Beech, and Elizabethton. Pearl Cohn, Haywood, and my Henry County Patriots would all be solid honorable mentions. Also hard to leave out some of the year-over-year dominant programs from the lower classes. But...limited slots I know.

I used to be against this idea, but I have come to largely agree with you, mainly due to region alignment issues. It is simply a nightmare to configure 8 fairly sized and fairly grouped regions across six different classifications. As much as I hated the z-plan, it was honestly better for that purpose, as it only required 3 classifications for the regular season. But I think when considering both regular and postseason, the 5-class system from 1993-2008 was best/most optimal, and would probably still work pretty well even with the state's growth.

Semis you mean? Honestly I don't think so. Feels more like a step back year than a step forward year. We lost a lot off of last year's team, and we are stepping into a tougher region. Even making it back to the quarters or semis would be a pretty successful season IMO. More likely I am expecting a 5 or 6 win regular season and a 1st or 2nd round playoff exit.

Agreed. Murfreesboro was the best location we have used IMO, but I am not opposed to the Titans new stadium when it opens up. Crowd size bedamned, I think high school kids would love the chance to play the biggest game of their lives on that field.