CasualBystander

Notredame66, "back-7" will win you 7-on-7 tournaments, but when it comes to being talked about as a "final 4" type team against the likes of Oakland & Blackman it will come down to stopping the ground game. Because the best teams will have the secondary to match up against Wharton.

The Independence Eagles & the Centennial Cougars have the same issue. Both teams have weapons all over the field (more so than any other team within this district). Nobody is arguing that Sanders, Gaulden, and Wharton aren't scary to play against. But both teams have weak links in their respective chains. A) Lackluster QB play Lackluster Linemen CHS' stat line on Friday night is proof of it's inability to move the ball in the air (It is a little different when Rector doesn't have a Jennings or other transfer QBs o save his day). If you saw Indy play in the pre-season, you would understand that screens & short passes are the only completions they can buy. Both teams are going to have tough times stuffing the run, or forcing their will consistently against other teams.

What did we learn about District 11-AAA in week 0? People noticed RHS' new wide-out (my personal dark horse candidate). I believe Ravenwood is ready to scare some people. Brentwood had a rough first outing (and it is not going to get better next week). Brentwood will have growing pains this year. Centennial failed to live up to the hype, and disappointed Lord Rector. Which begs the question; "what are the REALISTIC expectations for the Cougars this year?" Indy handled it's business in week 0 (like many expected). Vic sounded healthy, and the scheme sounds exhilarating to watch. Health will be the issue as the season progresses. We will get our first look at Franklin this upcoming week in a good comparison game against Clarksville NE. We know the rulers will out, measuring themselves against CHS.

It is to my knowledge that CHS has been working on the QB position and it will be their biggest question mark all year long.

Maybe I just don't see it, but I do not buy the #10 being the "real deal" or "the best QB in the district". And Until he wins a big game against Brentwood, Ravenwood, Indy, or Centennial I don't know if anybody can buy it either.

I echo the sentiment on being surprised by Franklin's play Friday night. I've heard the consensus of people on these boards rejoicing in FHS's downfall, and I didn't see it on the football field. I saw a team play good defense against a powerful running team, and that will win football games. Also I believe Franklin plays NE and Indy as well, so tough schedules abound.

I believe many view BHS as an unknown due to lack of Friday night experience & new coaching staff. However Brentwood has always stayed consistently competitive. CHS supporters would have you believe they are a state champ contender, but other than beating a down Franklin team (and all programs have "down" years) they are yet to consistently compete and beat the perennial powerhouses of the region. After a rough scrimmage against Smyrna, many are asking questions rather than staking claims... This district should be exciting. It is full of unknowns, and harsh rivalries.

Valiant effort, but Hillsboro is no longer I the district, and Summit & Dickson County were added.

From what I saw at the Indy vs. Columbia scrimmage: 1) Both teams looked better on defense than offense. 2) Indy does not have any muscle & size up front (on either DL or OL) 3) Indy struggled throwing the football (regardless of all the athletic speed on the field) Indy's lack of linemen definitely seems to be impairing their ability to run the ball between the tackles. On defense they seem to be trying to mask the lack of DL with a hybrid 2-6-3. VW is on the field and moving well, however he seems to still be cautiously stretching the hip & back continually. Blades offense is constantly pairing VW & Golden on the same side of the field 9which could be a headache for DCs in the region)

From what I saw 1's-on-1's it was: Cane Ridge 1 - Brentwood 1 This is not a typical Brentwood team in terms of up-front size & muscle, and like others have eluded to that is leading to a struggle running the ball between the tackles. The spread-option seems to only be successful when Maher (QB) keeps it. But then again as "Myhumbleopinion" maybe it was a sloppy day for the Bruins. Both teams were running similar spread offenses with 3-4 wide-outs, shotgun, and 1 running back formations. Cane Ridge ran more jet sweep motions and pistol sets. I believe Cane Ridge's athleticism gave BHS issues, and was a monkey-wrench in Brentwood's spread.

Tuesday Dickson Co. at Henry Co., 6:30 p.m. Antioch at Ravenwood Cane Ridge at Brentwood Wednesday Columbia at Independence, 5 p.m. Thursday Franklin at BGA, 5 p.m. Friday Siegel at Centennial, 6 p.m. Brentwood at Antioch Ravenwood at Wilson Central Smith Co. at Independence

Highlife, do we have a time on those? The newspaper only listed locations?

I know Smyrna is always a lethally athletic team any year, but at times they don't seem to have the system & overall program in place that the other 7AAA schools have.

Milo, I agree I for one am not buying the hype from the CHS camp of supporters. I know beating Franklin for the first time was a milestone, but I am not sure it is a signal of impending prominence.

Yes sir, thank you!

What time is that scrimmage? And where?

Sounds like a limited amount of athletes, when QBs & RBs are playing DBs as well.... Hence is 4-5 wide a proper offense?

The Franklin vs Blackman scrimmage finished: Blackman 3 -- Franklin 1. Franklin seems to be configuring it's spread offense as well (possibly due to some injuries). Franklin's camp seem to endlessly optimistic regarding the second year under Head Coach Webb and further growth & maturity. However Franklin still seems to be juggling players & schemes around in an attempt to work out the kink. Will it be year 3 before Franklin defines its identity? The Centennial vs. Smyrna scrimmage finished: Smyrna 3 -- Centennial 2. I know it's too early to start inferring results from these first scrimmages, but CHS fans are saying the District Title is theirs to lose, meanwhile Smyrna is considered to be in a re-building year & a struggling bottom feeder in 7-AAA... Smyrna's offense was very vanilla, and CHS struggled against the running game.

[FHS] Has #23 come back healthy from last year? I believe the proper word is "eligible" rather than "back" when it comes to TE. [DCHS] Then not to much has changed... [RHS] My personal dark horse [CHS] Didn't they have another transfer quarterback?

I heard FHS is scrimmaging Blackman at some point.

Every level of high school football comes with different challenges. Lower Classifications have less athletes, more multi-sport athletes (taking time away from football), and kids playing offense & defense. One or two studs can make or break you at this level. Coaches have to really coach according to their weapons rather than a system. Higher classifications are full of more football-only players, depth, and multiple football concepts week in week out. It takes numerous play makers because every team has a few. Would MJ win in a one game match up with FC? Of course, they would have a small army, that if for no other reason would win the war of attrition by numbers and O-only & D-only athletes.

I would venture a guess that Brentwood has always lacked the amount of athletes to fun & gun like that. Now a few surrounding schools would argue that Brentwood has bent the rules when it comes to open zoning over the years to procure a select few athletes...

Which is an interesting concept because most option-based offenses are built around masking O-Line weaknesses due to leaving DLinemen unblocked and "optioning" off them. Now correct me if I'm wrong, but hadn't Crawford gone to more option based spread attacks at certain points based on his personnel?

I second that, I would like to here some information from Dickson Co. & Summit... And possibly some tangible input from CHS.

Thanks MyHumbleOpinion for some Brentwood insight, because they are a program I am highly interested in this upcoming year. Brentwood High has run a consistent program over the years, and has done a great job at hiring from within the BHS family. However I am interested in seeing how they handle the graduation rates from last year, and how a new system will translate onto the field. Coach Crawford & Coach P. ran similar if not identical systems which led to high continuity.