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Region 4-5A standings: 1. McMinn County Season Record: (5-1) Region Record: (3-0) 2. Rhea County Season Record: (4-2) Region Record: (2-0) 3 (tie) Ooltewah Season: 4-2 Region: 1-1 3 (tie) Walker Valley Season: 4-2 Region: 1-1 5 (tie) Cleveland Season: 4-3 Region: 1-2 5 (tie) Soddy-Daisy Season: 2-4 Region: 1-2 7. White County Season: 3-4 Region: 0-3 Region Analysis: Ooltewah flat out owned Soddy-Daisy tonight, and that is an understatement. The Owls rebounded after their loss at Rhea County and looked like the contenders they really are. Walker Valley definitely pulled off the biggest win in the region tonight downing the Blue Raiders in epic fashion. The Mustangs are tied for third with Ooltewah, and could still contend for the region crown. Oak Ridge may be getting more than they bargained for when the Wildcats come to Athens next Friday. McMinn is running that Wing-T all over its opponents and is currently standing at 5-1, with that one loss to Bradley Central looking more and more understandable every game. The Bears are one of the toughest teams in 6A this year and could give Maryville fits next week. McMinn is the current region leader at 3-0 in region play, and, boy, have they been playing like the top dog. Rhea County had its bye this week, but enters into a straight four weeks of region contests. The Eagles are gaining more and more traction as the playoffs loom over the horizon, and will be in the driver's seat of the Region if they win out and down McMinn in Week 11. I have no words for Cleveland. The Blue Raiders looked promising and dominant until the injury bug bit them where it hurt the most and has totally derailed their hopes at the Region title. Yes, they still play Rhea and Ooltewah, but that loss to Walker Valley by so many points all but takes them out of conversation as a title contender. They have a tough road ahead if they don't plan on an early basketball season. Soddy-Daisy and White County are who they are. One had hopes of making the playoffs for the second straight year in the region, the other is still searching for win #1 as a member of 4-5A. Both of those hopes look exponentially difficult to achieve now. From toughness, record, and all-around game play, here is my region standing heading into the final stretch: 1. Rhea County 2. McMinn County 3. Ooltewah 4. Walker Valley 5. Cleveland 6. Soddy-Daisy 7. White County Although McMinn's record is better, Rhea's non-conference games were against Baylor and Cathedral, two programs that play at very high caliber levels. Cathedral is actually miles better than Baylor, so that shows how much Rhea has improved since Week 1. The line is more solid, the running backs have found a groove, and Pemberton is gaining more confidence in the passing game. If someone other than Rhea is to win the region, they are going to have to pry it from their increasingly tight grasp. I just don't see anyone playing a full game as well as Rhea right now. The following three, however, are all still legitimate contenders and while one of those already had their shot at the Eagles and missed, the other two (maybe three if you count Cleveland) can help them out by beating them in the coming weeks.

My predictions for Week 6 Cleveland over Signal Mountain White County over Cumberland County Soddy-Daisy over East Hamilton Walker Valley over Tyner

Yes, it was.

I'm taking... Rhea County over Ooltewah in a good game. Rhea's running back unit produces another great performance on the ground and Jared Edwards gets his first catch of the year. The Rhea defense contains the Ooltewah rushing attack, but gives up enough big passes to keep Ooltewah in it. Cleveland over McMinn County in a statement win. McMinn's Wing-T looks solid, but can't overcome a Cleveland team looking to rebound from the home loss to Bradley. Soddy-Daisy over White County. The Warriors might make it pretty interesting, but I'll take Soddy due to home field advantage.

Ooltewah @ Rhea McMinn County @ Cleveland White County @ Soddy-Daisy Walker Valley on BYE.

Agreed! If Rhea wasn't playing that night, I would definitely be in Cleveland to watch!

Week 3 Predictions Rhea County over Clinton big time. Cleveland over Bradley Central in a shootout. Ooltewah over East Hamilton by 14. McMinn County over Lenoir City. Coffee County over Walker Valley in a hard fought game. Cookeville over White County by 21. Region 4-5A Week 3 record: 4-2.

I think White County could surprise a team and win their first game in 4-5A play, but I don't see it happening here unless they do a Baylor-grade job of containing our run game and force us to throw. I think we have only completed two passes in the regular season for what I would venture to say is less than 20 yards overall. We scored nine times last night. Eight were on offense. All of them were on the ground. Our defense has achieved more yards off of passes than our offense has in the regular season thanks to Alex Barton's 20+ yard pick-six last night as well as Christian Simon's long interception return. We have to get better in the passing game if we want to make another deep playoff run. We also have to work on fumbles. We had more than we should have against McMinn Central. Looking at the schedule and score comparisons, Rhea County should win this one pretty easily if they can protect the football. Prediction: Rhea County 47, White County 14

Sophomore starters: Payton Dugger, #57, N Zach Pemberton, #7, QB Hayden Frasier, #1, PK Chandler Kaylor, #42, TE/MLB Aulbrey Smith, #13, DB Juniors: Ty Goodwin, #59, C Bradley Evans, #84, DT Christian Simon, #22, DB Chris Sturgeon, #3, DB Jawan Martin, #55, MLB

His name is Payton Dugger, and he is a sophomore.

Pure chaos for opening week. The preseason top three in our region all dropped their openers. Walker Valley had the least embarrassing loss because they at least scored on their opponents starters. Ooltewah scored against Riverdale's backups, but they at least crossed the goal line. Rhea County, I have said all I need to. The reigning champ, preseason favorite, and media darling all fell. The only remaining loss across the region came from Soddy. The region underdog contender Cleveland flat out owned Week One. Period. The other two teams in our region, White County and McMinn County both won in routs. Talk about crazy. Region rank by preseason poll with week one result: Rhea: L, 0-35 Walker Valley: L, 28-40 Ooltewah: L, 14-47 Cleveland: W, 51-20 Soddy-Daisy: L, 14-22 McMinn County: W, 41-7 White County: W, 35-7 The class of each team's opponent tells a different tale, though: Rhea: Baylor, Division 2, AA Walker Valley: Bradley Central, 6A Ooltewah: Riverdale, 6A Cleveland: Sevier County, 5A Soddy-Daisy: Red Bank, 3A McMinn County: McMinn Central, 3A White County: Monterey, 1A All of the wins except for Cleveland came against a team from at least 2 classes down. Three of the four losses came against teams from higher classes. This, in my opinion, makes Cleveland the king of the week for our region because their season opener was the most impressive of all the region. Congrats, Blue Raiders. Better luck next week to the other six teams!

I think Rhea County will be looking to make a statement with this one. Yes, we got blanked by Baylor. Yes, we coughed up the football way too many times. However, I believe this game will be running clock by half-time if the offense gets going. They'll be looking to quiet the fears and questions that are nagging at the team, and they will do so. Rhea County 56, McMinn Central 10

My thoughts on tonight. The offense could not get anything going. After flashing so much promise in the scrimmages, they were flat out stopped by turnovers and a monstrous front seven for Baylor. The Red Raiders owned the line on defense against a tough rushing attack from Rhea County. There were a few bright spots, though. Mason Stephenson had a couple of decent runs. Eddie Davis stood out on both offense and defense. Bice had a nice carry up the gut, but they all seemed to have trouble finding that first down marker. The O-line needs to get off the ball faster and block. Our QB looked rattled. He is just a sophomore and just started against a team with a level of talent that a good chunk of the other sophomores on Rhea's roster, or most rosters for that matter, will never have to face in their entire high school career in the most difficult offensive position on the field. He deserves some slack. I have full faith the offense will make the necessary adjustments over the next week and be ready when McMinn Central comes to visit. Grade: F I was proud of our defense. Yes, they gave up deep passes, but even Baylor can't run those every play because of the risk of interceptions and incompletions. If you run the ball for a short gain, you have lost a down, but you're that much closer to getting a 1st down. If you pass and it falls incomplete, that's a used down that earned you nothing but the clock stopping. Rhea defended the run about as well as I had anticipated, and kept a lot of short passes controlled. They won't be facing a team like Baylor in region play, no offense to any other teams, but it is just a fact. Baylor can pick and choose who they want from just about wherever they want. There is always going to be a marked talent difference between public and upper-level private schools. Our defense played well enough for me to feel confident about it heading into the rest of the season. That score would have been much uglier if not for some big stops by our defense, but they have to work on pass coverage. Grade: C+ Injury update: I've heard from multiple sources that Doug White (#30, Junior, OLB/RB) is likely lost for the season due to a compression fracture in his collarbone. He had a great game before the injury, and I hate to see a kid go down like that after such a great start. Prayers for him and his family that he makes a speedy recovery.

Departing Week One with only one more member team left to play, I give frontrunner status to Cleveland. My family will probably make me wash my mouth out with soap now, but the Blue Raiders looked dominant in their game with Sevier. After disappointing starts from the pre-season frontrunners (Rhea County and Walker Valley), Cleveland, so far, made the biggest statement in the race for region relevance. Soddy lost, White County beat Monterey from a lower class, and McMinn County won their county rivalry with Central, also from a lower class, pretty handily. Rhea County played probably the toughest of the openers in our region and lost big time. Walker Valley faced their rival from the next class up and looked okay, but Bradley still won pretty solidly. Current region king Ooltewah has yet to play, so I might be changing this before the weekend is over, but Cleveland hands down had the best performance so far, so the team of the week for our region goes to the Blue Raiders. To Cleveland, White, and McMinn County: Congratulations on starting off in the winning side! To my Eagles, Soddy-Daisy, and Walker Valley: Better luck next week, guys! To Ooltewah: Good luck tomorrow! I'll be cheering for you against Riverdale! Go win it for #BigBoyFootball!

My predictions Rhea County over Baylor in a tight game. Ooltewah over Riverdale in a defensive battle. Cleveland over Sevier County on the last drive of the game. McMinn County over McMinn Central in a rout. Bradley County over Walker Valley in a shootout between Gibson and Copeland. White County over Monterey. Soddy over Red Bank in a good, but overlooked game.

For anyone who is not going to make it to the game, it will be streamed live on Rhea Review's YouTube channel complete with an overview camera that will catch the game from the stands, a sideline camera that will be in the heat of the action on the field, and a top notch announcing crew from the campus of Baylor this Friday night!

My prediction personally is that either team can win it, and the one with the fewest mistakes will. I think Rhea uses this one to test how effective they can chew the time off of the clock and keep Baylor's offense off of the field long enough to escape with a nailbiting win. Baylor will score a long one on a pass and get within striking distance to tie, but settle for a field goal and Rhea County eats the rest of the clock to win. Rhea County 21, Baylor 17

From what I understood, the coaches did not feel it would be in the team's best interest to participate in the jamboree due to injury concerns and the close proximity to the Baylor game. Last season, the Baylor offense scored 28 on Rhea's defense, while Rhea's offense scored 14 on Baylor's defense. Both teams had a pick six in the game. Rhea County got off to a rocky start when Baylor scored their pick six on the second play of the game and had a 0-21 deficit heading into the locker room before a defensive penalty set up Rhea County for their first score on an untimed down. Rhea rallied to tie the game, but Baylor scored two times before that odd score at the end for Rhea. This season, I think Rhea's defense will be alright. The defensive line and linebackers are already proven to be tough, and the secondary has improved over the course of the scrimmages to where I feel confident that they can keep passing offenses throttled down enough to put the Power-T in favorable position to chew the clock, score, and win.

Alright, Eagle fans! The 2016 football season is less than one week away from officially starting. What are everyone's thoughts on the game at Baylor? I know we return a lot of playmakers from last season, and Baylor is always tough and talented. Will it be a loss for Rhea County, or the end to Baylor's undefeated streak against Chattanooga area public high schools that they have held on to since 1999? Also, what about the defection of Gabriel Stulce (Spring City, RB/LB) and Dawson Lytle (Rhea Middle, WR/LB?) to the Red Raiders? Do you think it'll have an effect on how some of our boys play?

What are everyone's thoughts on the scrimmage at East Hamilton?

Barring bad weather, the Eagles will be traveling to scrimmage the Hurricanes tomorrow.

Baylor defeated Rhea 35-27 in Evensville last year in a pretty well fought game once the Eagles got a rhythm going, and Rhea returns six starters on offense and six on defense.

I agree. I was far too zealous in my posting. Scrimmages are not games, nor should they be treated as such. I am just far too excited about the football season I guess

Excited for the trip to Fulton! Ready to get the 2016 season rolling!