TNVolFan2000

This is a crazy year. Some, like me, with immune systems that are not up to par and with the rising cases in our county, are supporting but from home listening to the radio. Normally I would be there with several other family members, but we have opted out from attending not only the high school games but UT games as well. Too many in the immediate family that have compromised immune systems. This would have been a good year to have the streaming like we used to have. Don't confuse lack of attendance as lack of support especially this year.

Really not surprised.

All teams suffer from over-confidence at times and can be influenced by their fan base into thinking ... piece of cake. Just reading through this ... I see most folks are saying this should be a piece of cake for Powell. I doubt the football team is oblivious to that thought.

This is a team sport. Talent is a factor but the most important factor is a team playing as a team, being prepared and not making mistakes. Strength of schedules is subjective not objective. I would have never thought Marion County could hang with, let alone beat, Rhea County ... but it happened. I expect the Eagles to be better prepared and fully aware that nothing is guaranteed and that the victories must be earned by playing smart as a team.

WV is a good and dangerous team not to be taken lightly. Over confidence can easily get a team beat.

They need to change to take only the top 2 teams - you are always going to have teams with losing records if you include 4 from each region.

There will always be complaints regardless of how many classes.

So this is like the review of a call where there is not enough to confirm it or overrule it ... so things stand as they are. This also says loud and clear that that when there is no "pictures" per se, the TSSAA is more inclined to believe administrators with power than the students they support.

Would have thought the overall record would have been the tie breaker. That is the way most sports do.

You seriously expect folks to believe that Catholic does not need to offer aid and scholarships to attract certain players? Maybe the schools lets those that can't afford it attend out of the kindness of their heart. If that is not an issue - why switch classifications? There is no other reason to do so.

Truth is their decision has nothing to do with who will or will not play them. They need to offer aid to get the better players. They can't and stay where they are at. There is also not enough folks with money that have sons that are superstar athletes. Playing by that rule very long and the good players go elsewhere and they are no longer a dominant team as they don't have the student population to play in 5A without recruiting. It is a matter of time before the loses in the district / classification they are in start happening - these are bigger public schools not the smaller 3A schools they played before. They can't continue to compete if they can't get the players and they can't get the players if they can't offer aid. Thus they are bailing ...

The TSSAA clearly indicates they use the numbers provided by the department of education. That may or may not be the actual total you see on the site which is the enrollment as of ONE specific date in the school year. I suspect the number decreases as the year progresses and students drop out or transfer. The high school also has special programs that allow some students to continue to attend even after they graduate. I'm assuming they are adjusted out for the purpose of enrollment for athletic purposes as they would not qualify.

Another site has enrollment at 1518. Not sure where you are seeing 1554.

I see 1489 on the TSSAA website.

I suspect they need to offer financial aid in order to attract the talent and keep their numbers up. Or they were afraid that however they got around this would turn out to be against the rules.

It is the first day of the real season where all teams are 0-0 again! Win or go home time!

Seems that the reporters that pick games in the local newspaper are sold on West with this one. Not sure that is because they know something or are just reacting to the records of the two teams. Go Eagles!

You are not the only one that is confused by this.

Comparison of teams may help. SD played teams that typically score points including Walker Valley that is very good at scoring but has no defense. OR had Clinton and Karns that doesn't seem to score much on any team that is relatively good. That is not meant to diminish the OR defense - just that sometimes the numbers speak more to who the opponents were more than anything else. I will say, SD can score quickly. You will want to get ahead by at least 2 scores and maintain that.

Soddy Daisy fans don't travel as well as Rhea County fans do. They might surprise me but while they brought a good crowd to Evensville for the game with Rhea - it wasn't enough to cause you all concern.

Don't go to sleep on Soddy or you may have two thorns in your Wildcat claw.

LOL - figured you would comment on that. Penalties did keep at least 2, maybe 3 of the SD drives alive. Good game otherwise.

Exactly. And I am sure the opposing teams try to figure out the wing t as well. Advantage both ways.

I believe the switch out of the gun back to the offense that has produced the wins is best. Just my opinion but it seems to fit with the personnel on the team and what works best.

The offense that Rhea runs is a BIG advantage to them both offensively and defensively. A couple of points: Teams that play against us have the same issues of preparing that we have in preparing against them. Unless they run the offense, they are not effective at simulating it either. When effective the run oriented football style slows the game down, gives defensive players a rest and in general neutralizes situations where the other team is faster, stronger, etc. Playing against spread teams is not new. Rhea has been doing that for years and has been very successful against them - look at the records, maybe not so much this year, but the last 4 years. Against a team like Catholic, you can either try to outscore them (aka Soddy's approach - obviously Soddy running a similar offense did not really help them on the defense side of the house either) or slow the scoring down with a methodical offense that keeps a offense that will score no matter the defense on the sidelines.