RCKickOffFootball

Blackman has several good athletes but as it goes in Middle Tennessee they have been up and down and have struggled to be consistent. Master Teague is a very good back and the they have several good receivers. The QB is average and has made a lot of mistakes this year. Just looking at the Dobyns Bennett match up they had and the one Maryville had I have to give the node to Maryville is a closer game than they have played all year. The one thing for sure is this will give Oakland a good measure of what Maryville is made of this year. Could be a tune up for a future match up between them. But the one thing for sure that Maryville needs to know is that Oakland is light years beyond Blackman this year.

I knew that, just living in yesterland in my head..lol

Excuse me???? I didn't have that high paid Maryville education like you and if all you have to do is hit someone on a typo I feel sorry for you. And by the way im at 95% on all of my picks this year...

Oakland steps into their second row game not having been challenged all year but this Friday night things get turned up a notch with a strong East Tennessee team from Science Hill comes into Murfreesboro. Science Hill is riding a 5 game winning streak with their only losses this year to Maryville, Bradley Central and this week’s Riverdale opponent Hardin Valley. Hardin Valley is capable of putting up points averaging 46 points a game over their 5 game winning streak. They bring a balance run pass offensive but have given up points on the other side of the ball. They are well coached and seem to be peaking at the right time with a 48-0 shout out over Siegel Friday. Oakland on the other hand has been dominating on both sides of the ball. After seeing then several times this year’s faults are hard to come by but they have been a little week over the middle on the short to intermediate passes. This game will be a step up on the level of competition they have faced in awhile so they will have to caution themselves on a mental let down. If they play with the intensity they are capable of bringing then they should advance on to the third round.

The Blackman Blaze will host Bradley Central this Friday night who is coming off a win against a like opponent Cookeville in a close game. Blackman also won over Cookeville coming from behind in a close game this year but the difference is these two teams are heading in different directions. Blackman has improved over the past few games and with their running game with Master Teague at the highest point it’s been all year they should be able to run into the third round, Bradley Central has played all year on a steady pace of consistency on both sides of the ball but will be a little under matched as they come into the Inferno. This game too could be a close one starting out slow but I see Blackman advancing pulling away late to a win.

Riverdale has improved as the year has gone by. They have a sophomore QB how is finally feeling his place and is a dual threat. The running game is by committee but number 25 Michael Scruggs is lightening fast and has one of the best lateral moves ive seen in years.He has been named offensive player of the week two weeks in a row in Middle Tennssee. Number 1 Marqwell Odom is a triple threat that you will see as a receiver , a running back and out of the wildcat. The defense is strong with number 18 Georgia Tech commit Gentry Bonds who is a magnet to the ball and has run back several INT;s for TD's this year. The big question is can they keep the mistakes to a minimum. If they can they will give Hardin Valley a wake up call about Middle Tennessee Football.

If Riverdale plays the type of game they played Friday night they should be able to pull this one out. The biggest issue for them is can they overcome the ups and downs they seem to have from week to week. The mistakes and penalties have hurt them but if they can get the offense going again like on Friday they could come out on top. The defense is getting better each week. The negative is Riverdale doesn't seem to play well on the road..

Congrats to Smyrna on a great season. This was one of my favorite teams to cover this year. Meet a lot of quality kids and a great staff. The injury bug was just too much for them to over come this year. The future is bright for the Bulldogs..

Blackman is a team that seems to be peaking at the right time. They have a dominate running game and move the ball well with the passing game. The question for them is can the defense step up and play a solid mistake free game. Blackman is always tough at home so if they can play the same game they did Friday night they should be able to come away with a second round win.

Rewarding a 1 win team by letting them in the playoffs is a trophy in itself. There is no justification for it!

Lets face it. Smyrna is a wounded dog. You just cant overcome the loss of a leader like Turner in one week and even though he was a backup, Wakins as a sophomore brought that quick slashing running that kept them in the race all season. It will be a win from the heart if the Bulldogs can pull this out. The one thing about a wounded dog is they will fight to the end..

There is more at stake here than a first round win. If they win they can claim improvement in the program but if they loose to a 4 win team then the improvement in this program everyone was hoping for will only be another disappointment.

Agreed money is one of their motivations but there is a under lying attitude that beginning to come out where everyone needs to be rewarded for their participation. They are contributing the society of wimps and life long losers.

Give'm All A Trophy * Are We Really There? Every year at this time the conversation always seems to pop up. They talk about teams that should not be in the state football playoffs. There are as many opinions on this as there are teams in the playoffs. Many who fall on the side of letting them all in base their opinions on topics like: It’s good to be able to play an extra game or what about the 3 loss team that won their first round or it’s great for the teams moral. That one’s a real head shaker. Traveling half way across the state to get pummeled by a no loss team is good for your moral? I just don’t get that one. And the one that truly makes no since is they did it because of travel. Let’s face it, most of these 1 and 2 loss teams are from the outer lying counties that are underfunded and have a hard time keeping their players in equipment much less coming up with the funds to travel across state just to get beat. I do understand playing the extra game but that can be done by adding a full game in the beginning of the year instead of playing these partial games in the jamborees. The TSSAA will all their wisdom has come up with this system to accommodate their needs. And just what are those needs? Could it be the extra gate revenue or the payment for TV rights? It doesn’t take a genius to see what their intentions truly are. Then it comes to the underlying truths that we are seeing in all youth sports these days. That’s the “let's give them all a trophy “ crowd. We see it spreading like wide fire in youth sports across the country. Sports programs that no longer have winners and losers but base their success on participation. It’s to the point where now they don’t even keep score. Having stock in a local trophy franchise is a good as gold right now. But the real question is what is this truly doing to our athletes? Is it taking away the drive to win and succeed? Is it making our youth soft both mentally and physically? Life is competition. There are winners and losers both on the field and in the board rooms. The winners have always taken the initiative to have the drive to do what’s necessary to win. They earned the right to be at the top. Participation trophies didn’t get them there. So being a commentary allows me to give my opinion and here it is. There is no way a 1,2, or 3 loss team should be in the playoffs. In my opinion the TSSAA needs to restructure the football playoff system to allow the top 4 teams from each region to earn the right to get in the same way many other states do. Give these kids something to work for and to be rewarded for. It can be done if they would put some effort into it and no worry about hurting a team’s feelings. After all its football and the feelings that come with it are pain and euphoria. We all have opinions. Share yours….

Its not just the amount of students. Its about having a community draw that will want better players to move into the school. Lets face, parents with players will do anything they can do to get their child noticed but lets face it, Lebanon is not the school or the desirable area for parents to want to move to. So your talent pool is based upon homers which currently is not that good.

A lot on the line for Warrior Football. With a win they can say weve improved but with a loss they can also say its been another disappointing season. The balance of their fate is in their hands.

Here is the reality of Lebanon Football. Maybe the coach has something to do with it but I don't believe that's the problem here. Lebanon is a victim of their own towns political decisions. Their choices in not allowing residential expansion and concentrating on industrial and commercial expansion has caused the town to be choked off as it pertains to student body growth. Because of this over the past number of years the major expansion in residential has occurred in the out lying county areas. Thus the growth of Wilson Central. Families want to live where their children will thrive and until the good ole boy powers at be in Lebanon stop lining their own pockets with commercial and industrial business taxes nothing will change. Just look around at the fastest growing areas for high school football. They all have the same thing in common. A great growing residential community that is a draw to families. Lets face it, Lebanon is not an exciting town to live in unless your into fairs and antiques. And until the antiques in office in Lebanon wake up there is not going to be much of a change. Good teams have great communities and good coaches. You have to have a reason for someone to want to live there.

It wasn't that bad. One of the players had a glove fall off his hand in the line and another players got it. It was more of a chest thumping thing than anything..

The one thing you need too understand about any computer poll is they do not take in consideration head to head matches. They are based soley on stats..

Oakland's one weakness is the short pass over the middle and the deep ball down the middle. If Smyrna can concentrate on this they may be able to put up some points. Swing out passes or sideline passes could be Smyrna's doom. Oakland has taken the sideline away from every opponent they have played so far. Field position will play a big roll in this game. Smyrna cant afford to play on their side of the field all night. If Oakland gets up early you'll see the seconds getting a lot of playing time saving the starters for the playoff run. Good luck to both. Either way it would be nice to see the all the Rutherford County teams go deep into the playoffs.

I don't know where your getting your computer number from but if you want to see the real computer number here they are for Tennessee. Just goes to show you how any poll can be manipulated if you leave out all the reporting aspects, especially on computer rankings. 1 Oakland (Murfreesboro) 9-0 61.2 24.4 +1 2 Knoxville Catholic (Knoxville) 9-0 58.3 22.4 -1 3 Montgomery Bell Academy (Nashville) 8-1 57.2 35.1 -- 4 Maryville 9-0 56.8 29.5 -- 5 Brentwood Academy (Brentwood) 6-2 55.1 31.7 -- 6 McCallie (Chattanooga) 6-3 51.4 35.9 +4 7 Memphis University (Memphis) 9-0 49.2 19.2 -1 8 Cane Ridge (Nashville) 9-0 48.2 16.8 +3 9 Pearl-Cohn (Nashville) 8-1 47.4 16.5 -2 10 Alcoa 8-1 46.5 18.5 +4 11 Ensworth (Nashville) 6-3 45.9 36.3 +2 12 Independence (Thompson's Station) 9-0 45.6 15.4 -4 13 Bradley Central (Cleveland) 7-2 44.7 31.6 -4 14 Whitehaven (Memphis) 9-0 44.3 17.7 +3 15 Mount Juliet (Mt. Juliet) 7-2 44.2 25.7 +5 16 Franklin 7-2 43.4 29.2 -4 17 Lausanne Collegiate (Memphis) 9-0 42.3 8.9 +1 18 Greeneville 9-0 42.1 6.6 -3 19 Stratford (Nashville) 9-0 40.1 10.1 +2 20 Marshall County (Lewisburg) 8-1 39.7 12.9 +2 21 Hardin Valley Academy (Knoxville) 7-2 38.9 20.8 -2 22 Wilson Central (Lebanon) 7-2 38.8 22.3 +3 23 Cordova 9-0 38.0 10.6 +1 24 Haywood (Brownsville) 8-1 37.9 21.8 -1 25 Fulton (Knoxville) 6-3 37.5 22.4 +3

Wow, That's going to be a trick since Crossville isnt playing in this game. Riverdales challenge will be can they move on from last weeks game. They have had a let down after each win this year. The worse thing they could do is look beyond this Cookeville team. This one will be closer than everyone thinks. Riverdale 28 Cookeville 21 being decided in the forth quarter.

RC Kickoff Football Game Of The Week Oakland continues to roll with another big win over Cookeviile and Smyrna is coming off a heart breaking loss to Riverdale. At the beginning of the year everything pointed to this game on the calendar to be the game that could decide the region champion. With the injuries Smyrna has suffered and the emotional losses, is this still the game that surprises some people or just an exclamation point to an already outstanding season for Oakland?

I guess I have seen the Bulldogs this year. 4 times to be exact. Now tell me again about that great passing game...I do understand that the result would have been different if they hadn't been bitten by the injury bug this year...

Oh, there was a whole lot of times other than that when the "ugly" came out. I was up and down both sidelines all game...