RedRobin1

So you think it was the principal and other faculty that did it? Or perhaps the Fairly coaching staff and players? Good to know that you can sniff out those perpetrators from all the way across the state. I agree that this is a tragedy. but you can't blame the school and penalize the players unless and until you know who actually did the damage. The football program is one of the few positives in some students' lives at some schools - why you wanna attack it without any basis to believe that this had anything to do with them?

Well....not really as simple as that because their enrollment would not allow them to drop to D2-A. It's not even close.

No. 47 on your list (Father Ryan) is not in this division.

No injury. His hands were cramping. It was very hot at field level (nice breeze in the stands) after very cool weather for most of the pre-season practice schedule and a lot of kids were cramping up.

I just did - actually, it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be - I guess it's easy to get spoiled when they had not lost a home game since mid-September, 2010, playing against some awesome out-of-state competition. The ones that really killed me were the posts questioning the decisions of their own coaching staff, which I believe remains essentially intact after winning the last 3 state titles (by, believe this or not, scores in the title games of 38-0, 62-21 and 67-7!!!!!!!!).

I don't know about folks on the message boards - many "fans" seem emboldened by the anonymous nature of the media to show their rear ends when things don't go according to their plans - but most of the people who actually attended the game at Trinity were incredibly gracious and nice to those of us from "south of the border". Their athletic staff in particular went out of their way to be gracious hosts. In my opinion, they are a first-class program.

2013 enrollment, per TSSAA: Ensworth 422 (boys & girls) Webb 453 (boys & girls) BA 473 (boys & girls) MUS 475 (all boys) MBA 487 (all boys) McCallie 649 (all boys) Baylor 729 (boys & girls) Webb was last in our division during the 2008 season; their division record that year was 0-5. Since moving down, they have won 3 out of 4 D2-A state championships. As you may be able to discern, I do not feel sorry for them. Best wishes to the Rebels in the big one this week!!!

Shhhh....while everyone on these boards has come to expect more than a little whining from the Knox Webb posters, if you whine too loud, some of them might recognize a little of the ol' pot calling the kettle black when they check and see that the average enrollment of the region teams that Webb rolled through in undefeated seasons to win their last two D2-A championships was less than 200 students, which is a whole lot less than Webb's 453. How big was that roster at Zion Christian (total of less than 65 boys in the whole school) when ya whupped up on 'em 53-0 last year? They probably had plenty of players so that none of them had to go both ways, didn't they? How many "position coaches" do they keep on their payroll? Or how 'bout Riverside Christian, which has less kids (including girls) in the whole high school than you have players on your roster? Oh, yeah - they forfeited to you a couple of years ago when one of their players was injured the week before you were scheduled to roll into town, leaving them with less than 11 players. Anyway, some on these boards may buy your whine, but believe me, many don't.

Webb does not play Ensworth. They do play Baylor.

Did Beech scrimmage Oakland? If so, how did Hurd and the Beech running game look against the Patriots' defense?

I personally think that two Roman Catholic high schools in Nashville is one too many as far as fielding a competitive football team goes. While non-Catholics can and do attend both JP2 and Ryan, non-Catholic kids that are seriously interested in playing football currently have a host of other options that do not require sitting through religion classes; the athletic base of these two schools is Catholic kids and since JP2 moved into the same division as Ryan, that base seems too diluted to field two competitive teams in the most competitive division in Tennessee high school football. Perhaps John Paul becoming a Saint will help?

I am really looking forward to the outcome of the CBHS-MBA and MUS-BA games during Week 0. I think both of those games are very interesting - especially so early in the season. I do not think that this is by any means a cakewalk for Ensworth. I think MBA, Baylor and BA all have a chance at beating them during the regular season and then throw MUS and CBHS into the mix in the playoffs. I expect to see a very exciting season!!!!

I do NOT predict this to happen, but could they be thinking Webb might beat Maryville and then lose to Baylor in Week 1? While I expect Maryville to beat Webb, I think that this scenario is possible.

Thanks! Good luck to you this year! imho, NCS is a great place to watch a HS football game!

Who did you see Lancaster Christian scrimmage against?

Hey owlbooster; prolly the best people to give an opinion regarding the relative academic, athletic, social, etc. merits of Ensworth are the substantial and ever-inceasing number of MBA and Harpeth Hall graduates who are sending their progeny to EHS. Wonder why that is??? Best wishes to MUS and the other teams from the west this year!

MBA and MUS also had far more National Merit Semi-Finalists ("NMSF") than did University School of Nashville last year, and I guarantee that you will not find anyone knowledgeable about education in Tennessee who considers USN to be anything other than an "elite academic school". The NMSF are determined solely by a score on a standardized test; some schools emphasize and "teach to" standardized tests, other schools do not. Standardized test results no longer have the cachet that they once did in academia. Harvard University offered admission to less than 900 applicants from the 2013 high school graduating class through its "Early Action" program; 3 of those offers went to Ensworth students. None of those 3 was a NMSF.

"Elite" is obviously in the eye of the beholder, but I would just like to point out that since graduating its first senior class in 2008, Ensworth has had 2 Presidential Scholars (2009 and 2013). MBA and MUS have combined for a total of 0 during that same period. There follows a description of this award from the U.S. Department of Education web site: The U.S. Presidential Scholars Program was established in 1964, by executive order of the President, to recognize and honor some of our nation's most distinguished graduating high school seniors. In 1979, the program was extended to recognize students who demonstrate exceptional talent in the visual, creative and performing arts. Each year, up to 141 students are named as Presidential Scholars, one of the nation's highest honors for high school students. Neither of the awards to Ensworth students was in the "visual, creative and performing arts" category. Both MUS and MBA are excellent academic schools. So is Ensworth.

Wow - 84 games between Maryville and Alcoa???!!!??? That is one heck of a long-running rivalry. Another long rivalry of which I am aware is Baylor-McCallie; I think that one runs about 80 games. Please don't anyone shoot me for asking, but do you know what the won-loss record is for those games?

Sorry you couldn't get into Ensworth, Dude; we all know that heck hath no fury like a woman scorned. Keep on hatin' - I'm sure your life is better for it.

Bowers has done an excellent job regardless of the talent available. During his early years at Ensworth, he had far less talent than he now has, yet had excellent seasons and beat some very very talented teams. That success has led to more talent being attracted to him at Ensworth; kids attend that school for many diverse reasons, but any kid that wants to play football can appreciate the tremendous coaching and training he will receive from Bowers and the rest of his staff. Success breeds success, and Ensworth is clearly enjoying the truth of that maxim, but it all started with great coaching. If anyone wants to see the type of coach Bowers is, I suggest that they attend an Ensworth basketball game. It is much easier to observe a coach in action in basketball than in football. Bower's basketball teams, featuring mostly kids that also play football, have won the last 3 D2-AA basketball state championships against teams with far more "basketball talent", including nationally ranked players and programs. Last year was a good example, when Ensworth, whose tallest player was a 6'4" sophomore whose natural position is shooting guard, beat Briarcrest (featuring 6'8" senior Austin Nichols) and gave the ultra-talented CPA a significant scare in the close confines of CPA's home gym. I sincerely doubt that anyone who has watched a Bowers-led basketball team will ever again accuse Ricky of simply "recruiting" talent and then just rolling out the balls to let them play. It's the same in football, though it may be harder for the average fan to see.