Eagle4life55

1 hour ago, kentuckyman said:

Rhea does indeed have good feeder programs have good teams year in year out some better than others we all know how middle schools are up and down but all in all good teams year in and year out. Problem is these good middle school players end up quitting or going elsewhere to play. It is a problem hence back to back loosing seasons. Doesn’t matter how good a x and o coach you are if you don’t have the talent and athletes you can’t win it’s that simple.

Exactly! We didn’t have this problem until it was decided to play daddy ball and booster ball a couple of years ago. Now that those kids are leaving the program, maybe we can turn things back around. Kids left and didn’t play because they knew it didn’t matter who the best players were, this coach was going to play who he wanted where he wanted. He did and we have had back to back losing seasons while kids that left our program were and still are winning. I saw on twitter where the kid they wouldn’t let play QB has been named a Mr Football finalist. It’s sad and shameful that this administration let this HC destroy our program just so his kid could play QB and the boosters kids could start. Back up the truck!

Big Ed’s was great as always and congrats to Oak Ridge. 

Unfortunately, our Eagles proved me right. WORST team we’ve put on the field in YEARS. When the best team you beat all year is Lenoir City, you’re just not good. Winning only 4 games which include beating a team that didn’t win a game, a team 3 classes below you that had a losing record, and a team 2 classes below you with a losing record, is PATHETIC. This is what happens when you play daddy and booster ball in 5A. Back up the truck!

5 hours ago, kentuckyman said:

If Rhea county had all the talent that has went elsewhere and most importantly all the talent that is still walking the halls playing this year and next year it could have been the best 2 years of football in the history of the school. Mind blowing how coaches let this happen 

No doubt about it. The coaches didn’t let it happen, they made it happen. They had to run some off so they could play who they wanted to no matter the cost. Just not sure if we should call it daddy ball or booster ball or both. What’s mind blowing is the administration that has let this happen. 

1 hour ago, catswild said:

Then be ready to be amazed. I've seen your line on the internet and OR doesn't have a lineman who can start for your team. You'll see what I mean in a couple of days. You'll whip OR up front most of the night. If the OR speed doesn't make a huge difference for OR, then Rhea County wins this one. Our linemen work hard and give a good effort, but aren't the level of Rhea County. You're so used to seeing good linemen, that your opinion of your own line is a little suspect.  Once again, you'll see what I mean in a couple of days. Oh yea...if it rains much, then Rhea County wins big because then our speed advantage won't be as substantial.

I sure hope you’re right. I knew we were going to be down this year but never expected to end up with only 4 wins going into the playoffs. Especially after we picked up Brainerd. We’ve just lost a ton of talented players to other schools the last few years and it’s showing. When you’re trying to compete at this level and you have 6 kids starting at 1 school (that’s undefeated in 2A), one for the team that won our region, and one for one of the big private schools in Chattanooga, it hurts. And those are just the ones I know about. 

5 hours ago, catswild said:

I watch line play almost to the point where I sometimes don't even know where the ball is (I know...I'm a bit weird). And while our offensive line is better than I thought it would be, OR will not win another state championship until they get a few more REAL linemen. They were totally outmanned up front by HVA DB, Farragut, West, Powell, and athletically by Fulton. And they will also be totally outmanned by Rhea County. So I don't care who the coach is...that's an ongoing problem. They play with a guard who can't be over 5'7" 190, another guard who looks to be 5'10" 190 (I don't care what the program says) and two linemen who literally can barely move. They have one linemen who is a sophomore is will be VERY good before he's done. All the speed and athletes that they have is fine but against teams with REAL linemen, all that is negated. Because of this, they will struggle Friday night and I won't be surprised at all if they lose. You can watch Rhea County on the internet and if you do, you'll see what I mean.

I’ll be amazed if you’re “outmanned” by us upfront. Our biggest lineman is not 6ft tall. Our best lineman was our center that got hurt early in the year and what would have been our 2nd and 3rd best linemen are starting tackles at Soddy and Meigs. I did think the offense looked better last week with the split backs but the only win for us this week is a meal at Big Ed’s, which I am fired up about. 

We will have to REALLY improve if we are going to make this game competitive. We have only won 4 games with those coming against 2A team with a losing record, a 3A team with a losing record, an 0-10 team that was mercy ruled every game, and a 5-5 Lenoir City that was just mercy ruled by Catholic. Anything can happen come playoff time, and I’ll be there Friday as always but this is simply the worst team we’ve had in years. 

As far as my kid, it’s been a long time since my kids played. I’m just a fan and a taxpayer. As far as kids following an “alpha” to Meigs, we should NEVER lose a kid to Meigs. Sorry you were offended by the booster club comment. Truth hurts!

We’ve lost several kids to other schools. Meigs has at least 5 or 6 starters that at least played Middle School here, including their QB. The HC has changed the offense every year for the last three just to try and make our QB look good. Our QB just happens to be his son. They decide who is going to play where before the kids ever walk on the field based on who they are, if they like their parents, and if their parents will help raise money or be in the booster club. In an interview last year the HC called the fans idiots because someone was complaining and a member of his family heard it. Our talent is down from a few years ago but it wouldn’t be if kids hadn’t left or just decided not to play. It’s just Daddy ball and will only get worse if something is not done. 

13 hours ago, DonDraper said:

Maybe Pemberton leaves anyway.   Hasn’t he always been kind of a Nomad?  Maybe you guys can hire Cummings if that happens.

I don't know too much about him but he has coached several places. I don't know who would be hired, but something has to be done about our good kids going to other schools or just not playing. No one is coming to the games, the number of players is way down from last year, we are going to have 2 straight losing records, and we are going to be third in a very weak region. Enough is enough.

We all know the reason several kids left and some aren't playing. When kids don't have a fair chance of earning playing time or in the position they want to play, they are either going to leave or they aren't going to play. It's that simple. There still is talk of a state championship for many of those kids that had so much success in middle school, it's just with another team and I wish them all the success in the world. I just wonder if our school officials are going to step up and do something before this bunch completely destroys our program.

3 hours ago, kentuckyman said:

Of the four wins Rhea co has none are quality wins every team has a losing record

brainerd 3-5

marion 3-4 

walker valley 0 for season 

lenoir 4-4 

not a good season anyway you look at it. And 2 of those teams are 2A and 3A

Very good point. If you really look at the wins and losses, this is as bad as the 1-9 & 2-8 teams of the previous Head Coach.

With last night's loss, we are looking at back to back losing seasons. This has only happened one other time in over 20 years! We, taxpayers, deserve a better product than we are getting for what we are paying. No one wants to talk about the fact that there is an undefeated team across the river with 5 or 6 starters that played middle school or part of their high school ball here. We need to be asking those in charge why these kids are leaving. I understand the one starting at Baylor, that's a great school and a great opportunity but not the others. No one is coming to the games, kids have and are leaving for other schools, our number of players is way down over the last few years, we don't have a single respectable win, and we are looking at back to back losing seasons. It's time we start asking why!

Hats off to Soddy for making plays when they needed to. Those two turnovers and the chop block in the first half sure didn't help us out any. I just have to wonder why after driving the ball down toward the red zone on the last drive did we attempt to throw on 2nd down and take that sack. Then we tried to throw it on third down and got sacked again. The 4th down incomplete pass looked like it was trying to set up a trick play like a hook and lateral or something. At that point we were too far behind the sticks and had to try something. At this point, I'm just glad Blackman opted not to play us. We all know we can't beat Cane Ridge and can't win on the road against Oak Ridge or Fulton. We just don't have that kind of team. We are going to have a 4 win season with one of those being a 2A Marion, a 3A Brainerd, Walker Valley that's going to be 0-10, and Lenoir City. Oh well, there's always next year!

Go Eagles!

Yes, if Rhea wins then Catholic would be first and Rhea 2nd. If Soddy wins, they will be first, Catholic 2nd, and Rhea 3rd.

Injuries sure seem to be an issue this season. We are also still having way too many penalties and mental mistakes. We allowed a below average 2A Marion to hang around and were just a couple of plays away from giving that one away. We simply can't do that against Soddy. If we don't play a lot better than we did this past Friday, it could get ugly. Folks had unrealistic expectations for this year's team and when they didn't deliver early in the season, everyone stopped coming out to support. I can't ever remember seeing such a small crowd at homecoming. I think all these things together are impacting the players. They know folks are disappointed by the lack of people coming to the games. Fans tend to forget that the boys are disappointed in this season too. This season can still be respectable. We just have to clean up the mistakes get a win over Soddy and hopefully pull off a 1st round playoff win. That would get us to 6-5 in the end and that's not bad. We just don't have the team we did a few years ago and we can't expect to put those kinds of teams together every year. Now, let's all do our part this week to encourage the team and actually show up at the game Friday night.

Well, we certainly didn't play our best game and was probably lucky the score wasn't worse. I really thought we could win this one and have a chance to make something of this season, yet. I must say I am really disappointed in how few people are coming to the games. It's been several years since I have seen crowds this small at our home games. I guess it's time to start looking at the bright side. We have a struggling 2A Marion County team this week that I don't think we can possibly lose to and we were able to get Blackman off the schedule and replaced with Brainerd. If we didn't have those two games, we would be struggling. Oh well, I'll still be here pulling for our Eagles and still hoping we turn things around.

Catholic is really down. They have not beaten a quality team. We haven't either and have struggled with penalties, fumbles, and what appear to be mental mistakes. With Catholic's starting QB injured and the beating they took last week, I just don't see them being  able to come in here and get a win. We may not be where some thought we would at this point and this team has not performed as some thought they would, but don't give up hope. We'll get the win and still have a good chance of winning the region and winning a first-round playoff game.

I agree with what someone else said earlier, this is not the best match for us. What Bradley has been doing well is what we have had some difficulty with. Good thing for us is this is not a region game and Soddy upset Catholic.

In all my years of following Eagle football I have never seen so many injuries. We just can't seem to keep our kids healthy or catch a break. Although it's wasn't a region game this was one we didn't need to lose if we are going to win more than 5 or 6 games.

It's a 2A vs. a 5A. Can't compete or compare those levels. Enough said.

Eagles will take this one with little effort. Cleveland is a little down and lots of folks are really down on them. That's not a good combination. With getting Blackman off the schedule and several teams being down from where they were last year, everyone knows we are 7-3 or 8-2 and headed for the 2nd round of the playoffs. Rhea by 3 TDs and never close.

The kid at Meigs would not have played RB here because of depth or the system. He would have played RB because of who the HC is determined to play at QB. That just is what it is and I totally understand it. I haven't witnessed anything on this thread talking down about any players but have noticed that many, like me, hate to see us losing kids and would like to see more of our kids here getting the opportunities to play ball at the next level. I KNOW we have enough talent and we have lots that would like to play after high school that aren't getting the chance. I don't pretend to know how to fix that but if  a kid has the desire and talent to play at the next level, I hope they get too. I haven't missed a game in over 10 years and won't miss one this year.

I saw on Twitter the Jr. QB at Meigs that played middle school here got a scholarship offer from Tennessee Tech. Sure wish we hadn't lost him.

19 hours ago, QB14 said:

I think it is a combo of those things. Regardless, Evensville is not as lively with enthusiasm around the football program as they have been in the last few seasons. With the other sports beginning to show signs of vast improvement, such as soccer, basketball, fishing, baseball, and track, football is beginning to lose some of its grip on the student athletes, especially with the lack of playoff success the last couple seasons. Regular kids in high school looking to join a sport normally don't look at last season's record of 5-6 being because the competition was tougher than the previous year's 9-3 competition. They see it as the program not doing well. Games like 2013 East Hamilton, 2014 Cookeville, 2014 Ooltewah, 2015 Farragut, and having seasons like 10-2, 13-1, and 10-4 are solid recruiting tools, not barely skinning by McMinn in OT or losing to Catholic, Blackman, and Cane Ridge by 20+ points and going 5-6. 

Good points. It probably didn't help replacing Blackman with Brainerd, either. I don't know why that change was made but it's a joke for us to be playing Brainerd. Who cares if we beat them by 40? Well, everyone knows we are looking at a 6-4 season this year and with the numbers dropping it may be worse next year if things don't get turned around. If Meigs has another year like they did last season, I'm afraid we will lose even more players to them.