cow451

Having played for John Cropp at Tennessee High in the early 70’s, I have to give him a nod. He was a math teacher and did analytics before computers could be lifted without a forklift. He was sharp at catching tendencies of opponents and his own team. We beat lots of teams with bigger players using the Houston Veer.

My bad. Thanx for the correction!

You had a great team. I recall all three state champs were from the eastern portion of the state.

An interesting bit of trivia: Tennessee High did not throw a single pass in that 0-0 game. They were coached by Fred Keller who was extreme old school.

In 1971, Tennessee High beat Science Hill 14-7 and Elizabethton 42-14 on the way to state championship.

No playoff until 1969. In 1971, Tennessee High was state champion. The common opponent was Science Hill, which THS beat 14-7.

I had the opportunity to play against them in the Semis (Tenn. High). They were much bigger and had all that talent. Although they beat us by twelve, it was not that close. We scored to make it 14-8, then they came right back to go up 26-8. We got a late TD to make it look respectable, 26-14. Leo Martin (I think that was his name) was a monster.

I coached one year of girl's youth softball. That was enough. I loved the kids but 1/3 of the parents were either frustrated ex-or non-athletes trying to live through the kid. I never had much trouble personally because we had a new team and we were simply not as talented as most of the other teams in our division. Once I told the parents that, two pulled their kids and went looking for better diamonds. I doubt either kid made a high school roster later. But the other parents were cool with honesty and we could deal with questions like grownups do. However, there are coaches that think yelling is the same thing as teaching. I played for one of the best hisgh school football teams in the nation and one reason was that the coaches could teach and only yelled when it made sense. And they never rode the officials, even with a bad call. Overall I think most high school football coaches are better than in my day. My only complaint generally is that some are so "scheme" focused, they come up short on addressing fundamentals. So, Parents: Shut up and watch the game. If you think you can do better, get a degree and a coaching job.... or get a striped shirt and try reffing a few games.

Baylor has been whipping McCallie with better personnel, period. McCallie had a very slight edge during the BJ Coleman years. Looks like it is evening out now with McCallie again having a top-drawer QB. I do agree there is some desperation now. Baylor moved it back to campus for that reason, but lost the first time after the move. I don't see any home field advantage on either campus.

I'l have to go with Spurrier of Science Hill and B.J. Coleman of McCallie.

Now, both Grace and Silverdale are private, so what's to debate? Silverdale is an old-fashioned ground-and-pound team. I'm a bit surprised they have done so well. The only loss was in OT and they've pulled some close ones. Silverdale is big on their fans acting like grown-ups. The Head sends out a letter to families each year making expectations very clear. It's a relatively new program and that may explain the lack of coacht activity.

The Head Coach has resigned.

Marion County has suspended several coaches in the wake of a growing cheating and vandalism scandal. Marion County coaches are accused of vandalizing their own facilities to make it appear arch rival South Pittsburg fans had done so (to "psych up" the team). There are also allegations that they have stolen opponents' playbooks and paid a young man to practice with the team in game preparation. If true, there may be some coaching careers ending, some games forfeited and possibly more.

I'd look at a "Bowl" game as a glorified scrimmage like the Pro Bowl. Multisport players should pass if another sport is underway and that would be priority, (basketball, for example). I'd tend to sit a "banged up" underclassman player since this game doesn't really count. That would open up some playing time for a few players, whether they be seniors or not. I'd try my best to get all the seniors on the field one last time. I would also want to look for a chance to get promising underclassmen some time to see how they have progressed. It would be a challenge to get the team up for a game after being eliminated from the playoffs anyway, so I'd have to be creative. How many of these games actually exist anymore?

They moved out of D-II several years ago because they were getting killed in football by McCallie, Baylor, et al. As I understand it, ND students participating in TSSAA sports do not receive aid.