RocketHouse

This job could be appealing to a coach who wants to compete for region titles for the next four seasons (at least) and have a shot at playing late into November. Toughest games on next year's schedule are at Marion Co and hosting Gordonsville. Region 4 hosts thru the semis next season. Depth, skill, and experience will all be there. Returning players for Forrest will be a junior and a senior QB who have both started a season of high school ball. Four out of the five starting offensive lineman return. Forrest may have 4 out of the top 5 backs in Region 4 2A next season and they will be 9th, 10th and 11th graders. One RB will be at least 6'3" 200 pounds next season. He was grossly underused. We may have one of the fastest players in 2A. Another player should be one of the top receivers. Defense has to replace one LB and one lineman and will be better next season. We have some really good athletes no one has ever heard of because they didn't get opportunities last season. We have some really good players who haven't played since middle school roaming the halls. The right guy can easily have over 80 guys on the roster next season and the biggest problem will be coming up with ways to get the ball to all the athletes. Community support and pride in the program is as good as anywhere. Great mix of small town rural life on the edge of bigger cities. If the coach can run a modern, no huddle shotgun offense and consistently run plays before the play clock expires with 11 men on the field we may name a street after you and will without doubt sing your praises on the T.

Might want to go back and read the 2020 threads. It's deja vu all over again.

Last season this game was 14-13 with 6 minutes to play in the 2nd quarter before McKenzie blew it open. 90% of the Rebels graduated while 90% plus of the Raiders will be playing this Friday. The win against Huntingdon is impressive. The score against Dresden is not. We played two good teams with good coaches this season, Moore County and Smith County. They are very comparable. Moore County should handle McKenzie Friday in Lynchburg.

Should be a good game. ER won't be able to turn around and hand it to #1 30 times this game and have success. Other backs have to have opportunities. Their freshman QB will have to turn it loose. Smith has more discipline and better balance. Doubt Smith is outcoached. ER has the big play threat and more of a chance to score on special teams. Why doesn't #2 get carries at RB when #1 is out? Why doesn't #0 get any work on offense?

That's my assessment too. Offense is more dynamic with the run pass option. Rest of 2A is glad you don't have both for the next 2 seasons. I hope Martin transfers too.

How bout now? The Smith County freshman QB is a stud!

What was the price of diesel fuel in Fayetteville last Friday afternoon? How did the game turn out?

Who knew facts would trigger football fans. No team in Region 4 would qualify for the playoffs in Regions 5 or 6. Any fanbase who had delusions of playoff success passed round 1 was delusional. I've seen some impressive Marion teams in 15, 16, and 21. The teams that we played in 22 and 23 weren't in the same league. Just watched the replay this morning. Kudos to the ER announcers for not losing their cool but it was ridiculous. To say the refs controlled the first half is an understatement. One of the most biased officiating halves in TSSAA history. Obvious Marion penalties not called while throwing flags at ER. This game would have been over in the 2nd quarter if not for that crew. This cuts deep coming from ER. This is called projection by psychologists.

We played both squads a week apart. No comparison that Smith is the better team. Better coaching, better offense, better defense. It's theirs to lose.

Don't give me the injury crap, Forrest did all this without its starting QB and the best lineman in 2A. Barely a month ago, Forrest outrushed Marion 267 yards to 185. Marion had 70 of those on one play and another 40 of those rushing yards on the last series after faking a kneel down with less than 2 minutes to play when the game was decided. Forrest out passed Marion 53 to 39. Forrest had 3 turnovers to zero for Marion. Forrest had 14 penalties for 150 yards and wiped out another 100 yards of rushing. In spite of all that Forrest was in control of the game in the 4th quarter until coaching malpractice reared its head. If East Robertson is a legit contender this game won't be close.

Advocates need to bring their A game.

My point was homegrown or new blood shouldn't matter. Pick the best candidate. From 2013-2017 we ran the same offense and defense with three different head coaches. In 5 years they won 40 games and lost 19. The outlier was a 4-7 2017. Much more difficult schedule in these 5 seasons. No Hickmans, or East Hickmans, or Eaglevilles in 2nd round of playoffs. In Stephenson's 6 seasons he changed things and went 40-30. The outlier was a 12-1 2019 squad. The level of competition went way way down after the 2019 reclassification. No one can say the program is better now than it was when he took over.

Last years starter transferred to Beech. There is very little drop off to their freshman playing now. He's a stud as well.

Smith has the size to control the line of scrimmage and stop the run but City's offense is made for defenses like this. Should be a good game if Willoughby plays like he did against NCS. If he plays like he did against Cascade then a long night for Tigers.

ER has the better players. Coaching should be even. ER wins if they don't have 150 yards in penalties or tons of turnovers.

He was on the previous staff for a couple of seasons. Previous coach quit in May 2018 and the principal promoted Stephenson, the DC, to head coach without any sort of coaching search. No head coach or offensive coordinator experience and he became both overnight. --------------------------------------------------------------- 840 said: Home grown coaches have been winners... stay that way. Kriesky only recent outsider who has won... Moosey and ES have not Need to connect with community, and grassroot this thing. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Homegrown coaches should be considered but open it up to anyone and see who applies. Moose was 6-4. Coleman was 7-3. Kriesky and Stephenson's win percentages are as good or better than Johns and Coleman. ES was on staff for a few years before being promoted so he could be considered both. I'd lean toward a fresh start. No one homegrown has experience with a spread offense. Anyone can coach defense at Forrest. It's pass time we opened up the offense. We played 11 games this season Forrest and Cornersville were the only schools that lined up under center and huddled. Everyone else is no huddle, shotgun. Not only are they the best high school live stream around but they write articles too. Tcsports1 News - Rockets and Stephenson Part Ways Rockets and Stephenson Part Ways Posted on November 7, 2023 7:03 am by Troy Cashion The Forrest Rockets have parted ways with veteran head football coach Eli Stephenson in a move which was announced early Monday morning. Stephenson, who inherited the job after the departure of then coach Brent Johns prior to the 2018 season, compiled an overall mark of 40 wins and 30 losses in his 6 year tenure. Stephenson will leave with a playoff record of 5-5. He guided the Rockets to the quarterfinal playoff rounds of both the 2019 and 2021 seasons which both ended in close losses to Decatur Riverside in Chapel Hill. The last two seasons have seen the Rockets go a combined 7-14. They missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008 after dropping 7 of their last 8 games in 2022 and finishing at 3-7. This season, despite a 4 game win streak, they dropped their last 6 games and finished at 4-7 after a first round playoff loss at the hands of Smith County on Friday. The opening should generate a lot of interest as the Rockets have the facilities, booster club, fan support, and roster that would be attractive to potential applicants. The Rockets lost their 3 region games this season by a combined total of only 18 points. Despite the loss of 13 seniors, it will be a roster with plenty of potential and upside for the incoming coach.

This makes sense. Community and Grundy County can't compete with 1A teams and there is nothing their 3A region opponents get out of playing them. People will complain regardless of what TSSAA does and this would take some work so unlikely to happen. Would love to see Alcoa play up. Fayetteville and McKenzie last four years could have won most 2A, 3A and 4A regions.

Bump to have a place to talk about Forrest without cluttering the Smith County thread. BTW, the Owls are an impressive 2A football team. Best of luck.

Not sure about point one. Roster may not look the same without a change. Several players decided not to leave or take the year off because they were promised a new offense. New OC ran the show in the spring summer and was well liked; he got canned after week 1 and the same old plays returned. Fool me once is in play now. Players aren't falling for the new coordinator line again. If they make a change and hire the right guy look out 2024. This is what our QBs had to put up with this year. Hill played baseball and missed spring practice. Cantrell didn't get a single rep this spring/ summer with the new coach. Hill went down week 1 and Cantrell was forced back into play and did well in my opinion. With two guys who have proven they can play on the roster, you can let them run more next season and play defense knowing that a good backup is on hand if one gets injured.

Every team says it but I truly believe it was an all around good group of seniors. I haven't had anyone playing since 2019 and planned to stop posting after that but decided to stay on another year since Hill and Kirby's group were always on my grandsons team. Then you get attached to the next group of seniors and the next. Now I want to see how Fields and I'm sure the 8th graders do in high school so I might be a lifer. I'll try to find some stats to highlight the seniors in the next week or two. Thanks to all the seniors for their effort this year.

2022-23 Recap 2022 team had a solid core returning from a quarterfinal appearance and were ranked #2 in the state in 2A. 7-14 overall record. Worst 2 year span at Forrest since 2004-5. Mercy Ruled 4 times. 2-7 region record. Region wins over a 2-8 Cannon County and a 2-8 Summertown. Best win(s): vs 1A 2022 Eagleville (6-5) or 1A 2023 Cornersville (6-5) 2022 Wins were against: 6-5 Eagleville, 2-7 Cornersville, 2-8 Summertown 2023 Wins were against: 6-5 Cornersville, 2-8 Cannon, 1-9 Community, 5-6 White House Heritage

That's a lot of lying!

They lost 41-0 to state champion Tyner. But beat this years 4-6 team 28-6. Also, squeaked out wins against 5-5 City, 4-6 Forrest, and 4-6 Dade. Westy has a chance.

Had to chuckle watching Monday Night Football with the Lions in 2 minute offense. After running a play Lions coach is running down the sidelines screaming timeout and it takes the NFL official 2-3 seconds to see him, signal timeout, and stop the clock. At Fayetteville the clock starts three seconds after the snap and stops as the RB hits the ground. Fayetteville coach raises hands and signals TO, three seconds pass as players get the signal and then call timeout, referee waves arm to stop the clock which hasn't run in 4 seconds. Dan Campbell and the Lions have some work to do.