VictoryFormation

Don't even know what the second chance points are, but feel confident in saying it's the difference in the game.

Good write up on JT. https://www.tennessean.com/story/sports/high-school/2023/11/30/tssaa-football-championships-upperman-fan-died-bluecross-bowl/71700721007/

Although he didn't have anyone on this years team, he had five sons play for Upperman. He was a part of the program, but the program was a bigger part of him.

I can vouch for this. When we lived in Oneida, I was a railbird at the home games. Always interesting. One night there was a new guy there, believe he was someone's family member from out of town. Anyways, he was cracking jokes all night and he was hilarious. Most memorable was when one of the raglars shouted: "You're playing scared!" "If you're scared you're gonna get hurt!" Guy didn't miss a beat and yelled back: "Yeah, that's what my wife said!" Always good times on the reservation.

Not sure what you guys are saying about Upperman's offense. They had the ball I believe six times last week and scored on five of those possessions, that's pretty efficient. Probably would have been six if they'd put their 6'4" QB under center and let him lean forward for a half yard. With their defense, not gonna be a lot of shootouts, so it's less about how often or in what manner they score, just continue to be efficient and effective at what you do and take care of the ball and they'll be fine.

Hopefully, the passing game continues to develop. The QB and the recievers are good enough to make plays. Have to make a focused effort to work on it during games though. First couple of games, the run game was working well and did not really go away from it. Last week, while one of the TDs was through the air, still would have liked to seen them open it up a little more. Like you said, gonna have to do it sometime.

Understand what you're saying, but a good defense always gives you a chance. And their defense is pretty stout.

Coach Johnson's son may be the only Freshman suiting up on Fridays.

Upperman lost two senior starters and has recently lost another starter due to injury.

Yes and no, his family actually moved. They do have one transfer, and he sat out a year. Only one I know of.

BigMan, 0-3 or 1-2, lay off the prediction business, lol

Are you going to Sparta, 89? Would like to hear your thoughts on the Warriors if you do.

I believe if he's anywhere near 100%, we could see the re-emergence of Rollins. For two years he was the best play maker in their region; only one better in the area was Dowell at Sparta. Since his injury last year, he's not been in the conversation. If he's recovered enough, we could see JRoll 2.0

I know people like that also. However, you do realize that Cookeville city limits are only about 4 miles from Upperman High don't you? That's much closer than driving to Cookeville High. We have a Cookeville zip code. Can be at Upperman in 5-7 minutes, four to five times as long to get to Cookeville, depending on traffic. It's not Baxter, Cookeville, or Monterey school system, it's Putnam County and most go to the closest school, no matter what city limits they live in.

Exactly, "no merit" being the key phrase here. One of these uninformed people said they get 5-10 talented players a year transferring in. That would be nearly half the team. Been up and down the roster and can tell you that statement has no merit. Real easy to say something like that on a message board though. Funny thing is, no matter how many times one repeats a lie, it never becomes the truth.

Understood, thanks Swipes. With Upperman, I think the jelly factor gets magnified a bit because they were the whipping boy for so long. I think in the two years before Ben Herron took over they won a total of two games, and each one of those was over Pickett County. Outside of that, they weren't very competitive. I believe Ben said his first spring practice there were like 19 players. Within about three years, that number was closer to 100 and they've continued to build the program. However, I'm sure there are some around who still wish Upperman was the team you scheduled for your homecoming win.

Putnam County also has multiple high schools.

So, let's add some context here. These are the top five teams from the first AP poll and the population of the counties where they reside: Greeneville 70,621 Anderson County 77,576 Elizabethton 56,134 Pearl Cohn 703,593 Red Bank 369,135 So, are you saying none of these schools should be in 4A? Or, is it just Upperman you have a problem with?

Thanks. The history of the county's neglect of both Baxter and Monterey is almost as interesting as it is sad. The Baxter area is growing, so the tide is slowly turning.

You can basically count the businesses in Baxter on two hands. Everything else is in Cookeville and they don't want to offend their customer base by associating with anything Baxter related.

Upperman was 1A when it opened. They're now 4A and not a dime has been spent on football facilities. Like UCM said, they found 100's of thousands for Cookeville last year, but nothing for Upperman.

Yes

Sorry, looks like 8:00 now

Kickoff moved back to 7:30

Upperman D line is no joke, but I worry about City QB breaking contain, resetting, and throwing over everyone's head. Gonna have to maintain some rush and coverage discipline with him.