Acumen

Thanks Rebel! The team and the fans are excited to head south and watch two very good football teams compete. No doubt a big night for the seniors from each school. Tradition is something you guys ingrain in your kids from the hospital nursery to graduation day and the people involved in SH football are trying to build that up here as well. Friday night is a big deal for this community. I have no doubt that each kid on both sides of the ball will leave it all on the field and walk off the field with heads high and better for the experience. Best of luck Rebels and Go Toppers!

I doubt very much those "fire up" tactics are at play. The author is a Elizabethton graduate and some believe he uses his writing skills to jab SH whenever possible...not sure if the pen is mittier than the sword but I am sure that the team was very aware of the legend of Maryville football without the glowing reminders. In any event the kids believe in themselves and know only one team in 10 years has walked out of Maryville with a W...I think that alone is all the motivation any kid will need to lay it all on the field. I know my son has dreamed about Friday night for a very long time and was in the stands watching DB play on that field two years ago when he was a freshman and told me he was going to get his chance at Maryville before he graduated, that chance has come and when he walks off the field Friday he can check that off his HS bucket list. Win, lose or draw all you can hope for is a chance to compete. SH will compete and be ready to play 48 minutes of football. Not sure as a player you would want it any other way, to be the best you have to beat the best and there is no better in my mind then the team SH will play Friday night. Go Toppers!

Yes the local paper has actually had two additional articles this week on the fine Maryville football program...you guys are "Hercules" of HS football up here in NE TN. Our local paper wants to make sure our boys realize a forfeit due to Maryville's entire team getting the flu is the only chance we would ever have to keep the score on SH side of the ledger. Luckily most of the boys on the team only read the Home and Family section of the JC Press.. http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/122087/belief-just-part-of-the-big-wins http://www.johnsoncitypress.com/article/122072/real-test-for-toppers-still-awaits

Maybe if we use the "if you play with or against each other as a 5 year old in Pee Wee football" you are brothers....and maybe it goes 90 miles to Knoxville if you play travel team ball.

I took my son and 4 other teammates who are all now juniors on the SH team to watch Maryville and DB play in the playoffs in 2012. Everyone of the players and myself wanted to see DB win because when the local community shines we all shine. Much respect is due Maryville and rightfully so but in the TriCities we are all brothers in one way or another when it comes to athletics and brothers stick together. We may fight each other to the bitter end when we line up against each other but if we don't have each others back when one or the other lines up against an opponent of Maryville's stature then something is wrong with the definition of community and TriCities IMO...

To answer the #11 question. It started in 2012 when Reed Hayes was the first QB to wear the retired jersey. It has been and will be awarded to the starting QB every year until they change their minds. This was part of the fund raising campaign to raise money for the new field house in which Coach Spurrier has donated $100,000 and agreed to allow SH to put it on the back of future QBs.

You know Bud, not really sure who you are or what your beef is with Johnson City, I will say I personally know many of the kids parents on the current DB team and all I know is they conduct themselves with class and have their kids backs through thick and thin as it should be, however you on the other hand conduct yourself with a complete lack of class and I am sure most DB fans would rather your computer would catch a virus and you would go away. Grow up and try and be an adult and show some respect to the kids that left it all on the field for both teams. Really....

I am glad you are 100% certain. First other than #11 the skill players are all juniors and next year SH will have a QB with an outstanding arm and good enough feet to have rushed for over 200 hundred yards in two games against DB this season. They will have the top three receivers back and almost the entire defense. The seniors next year ran the table as 8th graders and Freshman even with a number of them playing Friday nights. Every year is a new season but I promise you SH will have plenty of talent to compete next year so there will be no fear of DB or any other team on the schedule. Line them up and play the game and check in with me next year and we can check out your 100% prediction...Roll Toppers Roll!

On the SH front I did hear a comment that because of the fear of new out of town teams not traveling well and really hurting gate there was talk of a home and away schedule between DB and SH where we get a home game against each other every year. Not sure it would be fun to play each other twice during the regular season but each team would get some much needed money and two weeks with no travel expenses. Not a big fan of that idea but money drives the discussion.

Agree! Just think no band this week which means the band parents won't be there and more importantly no band to create a game night atmosphere. The thing that bothers me as well is SH has over 2,000 students and the student section even when it is early in the season never seems to be over a couple hundred kids. I know a school that size is more like a commuter community college and most kids just go to school and never get to know their classmates or participate in outside school activities but the student section on Friday had maybe 70 kids. Seems the same during basketball season as well. I moved my family here from another state and did not attend HS here but it has always struck me the lack of community support SH gets in terms of fan base for games. I started bringing my kids to football, basketball and baseball games at SH when they were 4 years old and now one has graduated, another is a junior and another in grade school and over the years it has been the same, come late in the season when the games mean something the fans disappear. SH has spent a great deal of money on great facilities and to see a mostly empty football stadium and basketball gyms is sad to see. I digress...we have a football game to play Friday and it still will happen even if the stands are empty. The kids will give it all they have and leave their love of the game on the field and that goes for SH and DB. Maybe they will livestream it and at least some of the fans can sit in front of a fire and watch the game. Go Toppers!

Aussie I guess you are correct on the cold but having played in the midwest where temps in the 30s bring out shorts, flip flops and t-shirts and we always had a packed house because high school sports was just as big as the University programs it was disappointing...at least they could come for a half on senior night and show support. Hopefully the community will rally this week because cold weather is here to stay I am afraid. The game against BC was a gut check and the kids know every game from here on out will take Brentwood Academy type effort to get to keep playing the next Friday. Go Toppers!!

No predictions here from this SH fan because I had never watched you play other than what I watched on Hudl. After seeing your program what I can say is you are well coached and you have a lot of talented kids. Your sophomore QB is a real talent, great feet, good arm, sees the field well. Your offense will be in good hands then next couple of years! You guys gave us all we wanted and then some. Should be fun next year and who knows we may return the favor and be making the drive down to SE TN. Go Toppers!

It was a pretty disappointing performance on both sides of the ball last night for SH even though we did score 59 points our offense had too many penalties, blocks in the back and holds along with a few false starts. Need to clean those up. We lost yet another onside kick when a kid jumped up trying to bat the ball instead of letting it go back to the next level and turning upfield and blocking. Better have the hands team on every kick. Kick off teams were terrible when the ball did not go into the end zone, seemed like they started past their own 40 yard line every time. Cold nights means it is very hard to kick it into the end zone. We better get that fixed and get use to the ball being run back instead of downed in the end zone. The defense actually played the run very well last night except for the QB delayed runs. The QB from BC was an outstanding talent as a Soph. Great feet and a good arm, he will only get better. Very impressive. The biggest disappointment however was the play of the defensive backs. I asked my son if they were in zone coverage all night and he said no mostly man, hard to believe man coverage could ever look like that. Seemed they all were standing around staring at each other instead of making a play on the ball. The TD to end the half, once the kid caught the ball at the 10 yard line no one tackled him and the clock had expired. Just terrible effort. The thing about last night that really was sad to see was the lack of community support for the kids, empty stands after the kids have worked their butts off this year. Not sure what to say except it is hard to believe you would have just a couple hundred people show up for a playoff game. The city should be ashamed it can't muster support for its high school football team. I am sure it will be different this Friday at least on the visitors side but I have my doubts anyone from JC will be willing to sit in the cold and cheer the kids on...sad commentary. Tough to beat a team twice in a season especially when you play them twice in three weeks but this team is special in many ways so I have faith they can do it! Go Toppers!!

Yes of course any kid that has ever strapped on the pads could come off a high ankle sprain that keeps them out 4 weeks, come back and basically play the game on one leg and with the need to control the ball carry it 7 times and make a 41 yard run where he makes three players miss, runs over another then cuts back across the field to score to put his team up 14. Yes nothing special about that kids effort last night anyone could do that...

Cap...have not been called "dude" in a very long time but Ok. If you read my posts I don't think I discussed excuses nor really discuss the outcome of the game beyond playing kids hurt, what I did discuss was the dysfunction of the current team and the fact that the kids and coaches need to take a leadership role in order for the team to reach it's potential. They have some extremely talented players and with talent comes responsibility both in work ethic and leadership. Both are severely lacking currently and I hope the kids wake up before it is too late and then wake up thirty years later talking trash about playing for SH in 2014 and what could have been. Cap I tend to stay away from hypotheticals and leave it to the bleacher pundits to talk about what a team would or would not be in a world that doesn't currently exist. I am more concerned about the coaches and the kids making a team with its current roster the best it can be and that is the source of the frustration and it has nothing to do with "my little Johnny" as he has been more than cable of getting himself noticed with no help needed from "his parents". But thank you for the analysis of my motives. You are absolutely correct about the scoring opportunities, the time which seemed to take forever for the officials to set the ball for play and start the play clock and then the 25 seconds did take the air out of the ball and was very smart tactics. The defenses lack of ability to stop the run allowed for long sustained drives and very few scoring opportunities. Fortunately SH scored on enough to win but winning is not the only thing that is critical to these players success later in this season and in later in life. Hopefully this was a wake up call and the kids will learn how they prepared to play a football game after BA was not in the teams best interest. If that makes me "one of those parents" so be it.

WaCo- they would have put 60 up with #7 at QB instead he put a one leg kid out there and ran #7 for 5 carries for 78 yards in the first two possessions until he blew out his ankle. If they let the #7 sit back and use his arm they score just fine and they give #11 another week to heal. It is all about the stats and the kids run the show, "how can I play college if I am on the sidelines not piling up stats"...player first team second is what I am seeing out of some. Everyone at the game could see the body language and pouting going on during the game. Coaches need to step in but turn the other way. So much talent but 11 kids need to be in sync on both sides of the ball to be special...time will tell if they put team in front of me. I think #11 will play this week Aussie until the get up 20+ then the Sophomore will play I guess...

I took a while to cool down from what I saw Friday before I posted. Frustrated from start to finish. Very poor coaching decisions from the head man and even worse leadership from the supposed senior leaders. Some things need to change for this team to reach its potential and it starts with leadership from the coaches and the captains. Kids need to stop reading the press and doing double jointed back patting and the coaching staff needs to stick to their word and if a kid needs discipline then do it, don't just say it then a minute later forget what you said. Having two sets of rules you lose the respect of the entire team. If you don't discipline kids they do things like taunt and get 15 yard penalties because their is no consequence to their actions. The coaches knew that #11 was playing on one leg going into the game. He looked like he did against Volunteer last year which was terrible. He is good when he can run first and throw second but if you take the run away because physically he is unable to run then he is not a strong enough passer to sit in the pocket and throw and it did not take long for the Viking's coaches to figure out he couldn't run Saw it last year at Volunteer and saw the same thing Friday night. Guys were open and he flat out missed them time and time again and then dropped his head and walked off the field. If the coaches take a different approach and start the other QB that was able to play with two good legs maybe the game goes different and he doesn't end up getting a knee/ankle injury getting rolled up on an inside run. Live by the sword, die by the sword...but at some point you need to make better decisions on players saying they can play hurt and be the adult and not let the kid play hurt no matter how good he is. Next three weeks the kids need to get healthy and get a heavy dose of discipline and maturity if they have any chance of being a team that can understand the true definition of "team" and start acting like one, without it the season will get much shorter than it should be...

The kids are a little beat up from the BA battle. Those kids were not only big but fast and as we all know from physics Mass x Velocity = Force and there was a lot force generated when those bodies collided. The O line for BA was not only big but great athletes as well, probably the best on their team. The defense needs to find a way to stop the run, our pass defense downfield was good it was the screens that killed us. Hopefully there is no let down from the big game, I doubt there will be as this team wants to repeat as conference champions and try to get some games at home in the playoffs and earn a trip south to see how they stack up against the anointed one! The offense is so balanced even if one or two have an off night there is enough to carry the load. The yards after catch last week was a stat over looked as usual in the paper but I bet 75% of the passing yards came after the catch, we have kids that can run when they catch the football and our running back had 95 yards on only 10 carries so we can run it if we need and that defense was the best we will face the rest of the way. If the defense shows up this should be over before it makes it to the third quarter, lets hope we get out healthy and are ready for the next game. Go Toppers!

What a fun game to watch and a great athletic facility, first class all the way! SH certainly played hard enough to win. The jarring hit at the 5 yard line on a 4th down pass with 1:19 to go in the first that jarred the ball out of #7s hands was a big play. If caught SH goes into half up 28-17. Instead BA gets the ball and scores in less than a minute and BA goes into half up 24-21. We were a few mistakes away from a signature win. I am not much for morale victories, I am more a Vince Lombardi mindset guy but having said that I much prefer playing the BAs and losing then putting 70 points a game up against some east TN teams. This proved to a lot of people that SH is a good football team and it should give them confidence once November playoff time comes around. I was very proud of the Toppers they came ready to play. Lots to build on from here forward. Go Toppers!

The travel is only an excuse, the kids are young and they should be able to handle the drive. The key is getting out to a fast start and gain some confidence early. Hopefully that will happen. I will be in the stands so I hope the game is worth the trip! Go Toppers!

When he scrambles it is not necessarily a busted play but designed. If you take a look at the Siegal play where he scrambled back through the end zone and hit Patton for a 80+ yard touchdown the play starts as a roll right with the fullback blocking on the roll. The primary was covered and he rolled back across the field and found the secondary receiver. In the two years he has played varsity QB there have been very few pass plays where he had a traditional pocket drop and read. He typically has a primary read and then moves to scramble which has been designed for a number of reasons. Some are busted plays but some are designed and so go as planned

I agree with you on the passing yards many have been yards after the catch but there is no doubt Malik is special finding guys running free after the play breaks down. He has also been able to avoid taking hits on runs which he needs to do as he certainly is not a big enough kid to stay in bounds and absorb a hit. Regarding when Bedard plays QB if you look at the film they line up trips with Malik opposite and he is told to find Malik. The other receivers don't run full routes but are told to work open if Malik does not work open. That is what happened when he hit Patton on the 63 yrd TD against Eliz. Basically if they single or double cover Malik he has been told to throw it up and let Malik go get it, if triple covered roll and find a secondary receiver. I think this is a very talented group for SH but team chemistry could and should be much better, there are a number of senior stars that should be leaders but they have chosen a different path. If you look at next years team the scoring leaders through 4 games has a lot of juniors and the defense has a good number of Sophomores either starting or playing important minutes. I think SH will have a very solid team next year assuming everyone is healthy, they will not however be this deep. This is the junior/senior class that SH people have been talking about since Jr. Topper days, can you imagine if Jacque Bruce and a few others from that group were still in JC playing for the Toppers... I think SH will be prepared to play and give BA a solid effort. I also believe unlike last year the kids do believe they belong on the field with BA. If they can continue the first quarter scoring I think it will be a close game and SH will have a chance to play. If the defense gives up some big plays early and drop their heads it will be a long night. Hey the first hurdle to winning is believing you can and the kids believe they can so now they need to believe it on the field. Go Toppers!

The BA game is a signature game for this team. The junior and senior class have been together through the Jr. Topper program since they were playing flag at 5-6 and they have been talking about the junior/senior year since. They have been successful at every level but to be considered special you have to play the best and prove you can play with the best. Last year they proved they were not ready with the results they produced against both Nashville area teams. This year these two classes get their last chance to play together and show they are a talented football team that can take the SH program to another level. I believe they will play hard and win or lose show the can play with the best and BA banged up or not is one of the best in the state. Regarding a "one man show" comment earlier. It takes 11 players on each side of the ball doing their assignment on any given play to achieve success. I would make the bold statement that as good as Malik is SH would be 4-0 at this point with or without him. There are kids that can step in and make plays to move the football. They may not be scrambling around like him but I don't doubt they would be moving the football and scoring points. The reason Malik has been able to have games like last night is SH has shown it has a balanced attack on offense and as soon as you key on one player another one is ready to step up and make a play. If they didn't have those other talented players stopping one man becomes very easy to do no matter how good he is. Looking forward to watching how they respond playing a team that will hit harder and run faster. Last year they wilted under that pressure hopefully a year of maturity will bring a better result.

If you guys are better this year after the 48-0 beat down we took at home last year, yikes. I believe you are better as I saw a number of your players at summer camps this year and they are very talented athletes. Playing a school like BA either provides a great opportunity for kids to step up and man up or shrink and hide on the sidelines. The next two weeks will tell what kind of kids SH has this year as they will be tested playing the programs from Nashville that consistently win against good competition. I believe in the kids from SH and I think they will show up and play the next two Fridays and give their best effort. Playing a college feeder program like BA will certainly take a flawless effort to make it entertaining to watch. Looking forward to the trip over to your facility and hope we give you all you can handle and the kids come home healthy and ready to face TN High.

They both played in the Siegal game and both were out for BA last year. Siegal last year torched our D-backs for long throw after long throw but we scored with them for a while then turnovers on the offense side killed us. I believe we threw 3 picks and they capitalized on all of them. It was pure misery to sit through and drive the 4 hour trip back because we should have played much better. This year we do have better talent in most areas and Siegal does not have the same level as last year based on the video from their first 4 games. If the program wants to be taken seriously this is one SH needs to win and win with conviction.