TFL2001

Are they you're starting QB? Anyone who knows anything about SH football will tell you the entire offense goes as the QB, Bedard, goes. Losing him is the ultimate loss for that team.

Says that the Toppers starting QB really is extremely important to their success. As is the starting QB for most teams. Defense looked good until the QB went down. That completely took the air out of the entire team.

DB fans, thought you all would like to know that Maryville looks very beatable this year. I just left the SH game and really was not all that impressed (despite the score). The Toppers were moving the ball easily against the Rebels until their starting QB was knocked out of the game on their first drive. You all have a great shot of getting Maryville this year. I'm not DB fan but I really think you all can beat them.

I'm going to be completely honest. I'm not saying the Toppers would have won but this game would have been very close and there's no doubt in my mind about that had Bedard not been injured. SH moved the ball easily on Maryville in their first drive. They were about to score and cut the score to 10-7 when Bedard went out, and never returned (Rumor is a concussion). Topper defense was playing well and the Topper offense looked very good on that first drive. This would have been a great game if the SH QB had not been knocked out of it. As for DB, I'll tell you this, Maryville looks very beatable this year and I think you guys have a great shot against them.

There isn't one. From what I've heard the team from NC isn't very good. It's also kind of difficult to start a thread on a team no one around seems to know very much about. The only thing I've been told about them is "not all that good". That's literally it. I'm sure a thread will appear at some point tomorrow though.

Real classy, Bradley Central. Way to represent your community. I know I won't be back there to see a game again anytime soon, if ever. I know a lot of other people who went last night who feel the same way.

Wasn't that the year Crockett's student-run twitter page tweeted racist comments to the SH football team? Yeah, not a smart thing to do. The SH football team saved their words for the field.

He hasn't graduated. He's a senior this year, as are most of the other SH kids that transferred to play with him. They'll go back to being nothing special after these kids graduate next summer. Everyone knows this.

Not just his son. 4-5 other SH kids transferred with him because they all wanted to play basketball together. His son is one of the best basketball players in the state. I'll be real interested in how they do once all these SH transfers graduate next year. Their fans have talked so much trash over the last two years and I think they're in for a big wakeup call when Good's kid and the other SH transfers are gone. As for their football team, much like the basketball team, they make a living off getting transfers because the homegrown talent isn't any good. They've also got a bit of reputation for playing dirty. Just ask any team from their former conference.

Doubt it. I've never seen any. I think Mo West wins this one easily. Crockett does have experience and a pretty good QB and RB but I'd be surprised if they're able to hang with the Trojans. They've shown in the past they can't hang with the big boys. Their stadium/facilities also leave a lot to be desired.

SH has a lot to prove this week. They didn't look all that good the other night vs Elizabethton. They will face a better team on the road this week. If the special teams issue and OL can take a big step forward I think the Toppers will be fine. They have the talent. Red zone offense has definitely got to improve. Like Acumen said, they really had no problem at all moving the ball against the Cyclones the other night. However, once they got in the red zone, they made dumb mistakes that cost them a lot of points. You're not going to win many games in this conference if you do that. I need to see more from Bedard this week too, especially with passing. He didn't look nearly as sharp as I know he can be.

Mathes is a great athlete and you're right, he's a big part of this Topper team. He had a couple of big plays last night. But the player for SH that I was most impressed with was Ty Perkins. He had several clutch catches that kept some drives going. He and Mathes were definitely the standouts on the offense last night. Without them we don't win that game. Hopefully Bedard's performance had a lot to do nerves. He's "the guy" this year so I think knowing that, along with it being the first game of the year, affected his play last night. He wasn't bad but he wasn't great. As for Russell, he had a couple real nice runs and one catch for about 20 yards. This was his first game though with a new team so I only expect him to get better. I expect the whole team to get better. The biggest issues that I saw with the Toppers were OL and special teams. The biggest issues I saw with Elizabethton were the passing game and the OL/DL play. SH's DL dominated the Cyclone OL.

SH better improve or it's going to be a long season.

Both teams (SH and Elizabethton) didn't seem all that comfortable throwing the ball tonight. The only real weapon at WR that I saw for the Cyclones was #5.

Elizabethton should win this one going away. If you all could develop a passing game you'd have a very good offense.

Were you there? A LOT of improvement is needed for BOTH teams. Not one more than the other. As far as the game goes, I give the edge to: QB-SH Passing game-SH Run game-Tie OL-Tie DL-SH Secondary-Elizabethton Special Teams-Elizabethton

I was impressed with the way the Cyclones didn't fold when they got down 14-0. They never gave up and fought hard all night. I was certainly impressed with that "never say die" attitude. However, as I stated earlier, the overall play of both teams really didn't impress me. I don't know if it was first game jitters or what but both teams simply didn't look all that good. The passing game for both teams needs a lot of work. SH looked a little better passing the ball but not by much. I thought Elizabethton looked pretty much on par with the Toppers as far as the run game goes. Neither QB looked sharp. Bedard had 3-4 big plays in the air but he also had a ton of incompletions and what, 2-3 interceptions? Both teams need to improve in the red zone. SH had numerous opportunities (4 or 5) in the red zone and shot themselves in the foot with either a dumb penalty or a turnover. Elizabethton had either one or two missed opportunities in the red zone as well. The way I saw it both the Toppers and Cyclones have a whole lot they need to improve on.

I'm going to be completely honest here when I say I wasn't really impressed at all with either team. The Toppers have a lot of work to do. Defense played pretty well but the offense was very disappointing. 4-5 times they got in the red zone and came away with ZERO points! Aside from 3-4 passes Bedard did not look very good at QB, especially in the passing game. The WR corp (which returned all but 1 player) was a huge disappointment, except for Perkins. Russell looks like the best RB but it's not going to be easy to showcase his talent unless the OL takes a big step forward each week. And last but not least, the kicking game. Wow. 3 missed FG attempts. Moorleghen needs A LOT of work. Toppers escaped this week. There's no other way to put it. They simply got lucky.

Way too many red zone scoring opportunities being missed by SH. Is that 3 or 4 times they've been inside the red zone and come away with 0 points? Embarrassing. Elizabethton is hanging in there.

Great get for the Vols!

South isn't very good at all this year. TN High wins easily.

I've heard nothing like this and seriously doubt it's true. He's been practicing with the Varsity team and even played in their scrimmage with Knox Catholic last week. Sounds like some bitter DB fans trying to start a rumor.

Score prediction. SH-42 Elizabethton-17

Good win for DB tonight. OR is a on a totally different level than TN High though. DB's defense will have to bring it's A game. Several really good players for the Wildcats. Isn't that who Tee Higgins plays for? He's one of the top prospects in the state for the class of 2017 and is being recruited hard by the likes of USC, UT, FSU, Clemson etc. And the kid they have that signed with ASU is Darel Middleton. It will be interesting to see how the DB defense tries to stop these guys.

I don't know much about TN High this year but with this being the first game for both teams I think it will be relatively close. I know more about DB going into this game so I'm going with the Indians, 35-21.