00Chargers

Wait, so all public schools are allowed to do this?

The field is grass and flat torn up at this point. Linebackers aren’t big but strong and fast.

8-0 Covington at Half

I’m am highly concerned about this game. I believe Milan rolls in looking for war. I know they will shut the town down and bring a crowd. Covington has to have their head in this game or they will lose. We will have to match their passion because they will be playing their hearts out! I’ve heard the talk coming out of the bulldog area and they will be ready, Covington better be too. Go Chargers!

Thanks for the modesty 32hammer, but you know as well as everyone else that no one in 3A has they roster or depth to compete with Rankin’s team! I think there are about 5 teams that may be able to play competitively with you all: Maryville, Germantown, MUS, CPA, and maybe Lausanne.....perhaps Greenville as well. But no one in 3A!

The first 2 rounds have seen a soggy field and some heavy damage. Looks like we will have a 3rd week of cruddy field conditions. If Covington makes it past Milan Friday, the field will surely look rough for the semi-final. Time for field-turf Covington! If I hit the lotto, I'll have it put in..!

Hard for me to foresee a 2-8 team making it to the finals. However, Stratford's schedule has been tough and that has helped them. I really feel that Fairview will beat them Friday. Just my opinion. It really doesn't matter, we are all playing for the silver ball in the west barring something crazy. Lausanne and CPA match-up could go either way, they are pretty evenly matched. That's a tough semi-final pick. (Winner in parethesis) 1A: Greenback vs Huntington (Huntington) 2A: Meigs Co. vs Peabody (Meigs Co) 3A: Alcoa vs Covington (Alcoa) 4A: Greenville vs Haywood (Greenville) 5A: Knoxville Central vs Henry Co. (Knoxville Central) 6A: Maryville vs Germantown (Germantown) DIIA: Fayette Academy vs Davidson (Davidson) DIIAA: Lausanne vs Notre Dame (Lausanne) DIIAAA: Brentwood Academy vs MUS (MUS)

That's just not right...lol. We normal schools have the luxury of possible D1 talent coming around once every few years and that's usually one kid. You just named off 4 kids in one year! You guys are blessed by the high school football gods. We have one kid named Marcus Hayes (MJ) RB/DB in class of 2021 who is special. I feel like this kid has the potential to go down as one of Covington's best if things keep progressing the way they are. He is a Mr. Football nominee as a sophomore. Excited about this kid, just need more around him in the future.

Maybe he/she is thinking the trading of the first scores. Ha. As I recall, the first touchdowns were traded and the teams then traded several possessions before Covington scored again late in the second. After the half, it was all Covington. The Chargers did a great job capitalizing on MC's mistakes. I'm looking forward to the cold football weather and playoff atmosphere this Friday. I really hope that McNairy shuts the town down and brings the house. I'm not too worried about Charger nation, they'll be there in all their thermal & camouflage glory. I always hoped that Covington would have an alternate camo jersey for cold weather games as the stands seem to evolve from purple/gold to camo....!

Good point. I was unaware of how UTM was doing this year. Are there any good smaller school coaches around who may want to step up? Greenfield...Union City...Peabody...Dresdon?

What is wrong with Covington fans, EastNasty?

This is interesting with the freshman phenom they have. I'm sure his father (UTM coach) will have a say in who is hired and it'll more than likely be a pass oriented guy. Regardless, I went to one of their games this year and they have tremendous size. It was puzzling to me how they were no better than they were. I'm sure that will change very soon and that will mean trouble for other 7-3A programs.

In my unprofessional opinion, game 1 between these two teams was a bit of a misconception. The final score of 42-7 (I think) does not credit McNairy’s team. They made a lot of mistakes that night that contributed to that score. I believe this game will be more challenging for the Chargers. Covington looked great against Melrose putting up 42 before the half and the defense has been lights out since that disastrous final quarter of the SG game. The atmosphere this Friday should be great due to solid fan bases on both sides. I look for a solid game. McNairy has a good quarterback and passing game, which has been a weak area in Covington’s relentless defense. I feel that the Charger offense will get rolling second half and defense will continue to dominate the trenches resulting in an early thriller but ending with a double digit win by Covington....35-14

I was at the Covington game. It sure is sad to see what Melrose has become. I clearly remember the quarter-final game with them in ‘97, they probably brought three thousand. We had larger, wooden visitor stands and had to replace it after that game due to how packed they were. 20 fans tops were there on Friday. I’m expecting a much larger crowd this week from McNairy Co.

Hey Alcoa, I've seen the picture from last year's title game showing the difference in depth between your players and ours. How in the h-e double hockey sticks do you get that many boys to come out for football? Is it like in Texas, where high school football is a right of passage in Blount County? We have sooooo many athletes, giants, and god-gifted specimens walking behind the bleachers on Friday night. Not to mention, several athletes in other sports that could benefit the football team in so many ways. How do you do it? I get so irritated knowing how good we are and how really good we could be if we had your depth. Rankin knows what he is doing! Of course, I guess it was probably the same before Rankin.

Whew, I thought this was a pickem' post!! I've enjoyed reading all you guys' posts though. Listen, trash talking is one of the things what makes this sport so great. If you are passionate about your team that's awesome, so lets all chill and just have fun. I love my Chargers and hope they win it all, but I know getting to the semis alone is no easy task and whoever else is there when you get there should be respected. Both PC and Alcoa appear tougher this year, on paper, than last year so you won't hear much trash talking from this west Tennessean about either of those teams. It will take great play and minimal mistakes to take either of you guys down. Saying all that, good luck this Friday to PC, East, and Alcoa. I hope to see one of you in a few weeks!

Chadalyon, You are correct in your concern. Based on official TSSAA guidelines, cooperative programs should be classified by adding the enrollments of both schools together or taking the enrollment of the larger and multiplying 1.8, whichever number is smaller. This would put the enrollment for considering their classification at 1157. Based on this, they should be classified a 5A in football. I have no idea why they are still able to compete with much smaller programs. This has been addressed to the TSSAA and we shall see if something changes. Who knows???

I'll try to keep it as real as possible: 1.) Alcoa is leaps and bounds ahead of anyone else in 3A and only a handful if teams in the state regardless of classification that could even compete with them. (Makes me wish Covington was 4A or even 5A, they'd have a better shot) 2.) I believe Covington to be the best 3A team in West Tennessee, even though we almost blew our most recent game in the 4th quarter after being up 28-7. Home field advantage and a renewed sense of humility should push us to the 13-0 and a semi-final appearance. 3.) Pearl Cohn is dang good and full of athletes, many of who have already received D-1 offers. They battled MBA to an overtime defeat and lost another close one to an undefeated CPA team. (Both teams should be competing for a private school title) We will probably need some more magic, similar to last season, to get to 14-0 and a finals appearence. 4.) These are high school kids and anything could happen. So I will hope that the Chargers will go all the way. They gave a similar Alcoa (albeit, this edition does appear tougher) a great game last season through to the 4th quarter. Good Luck to all these kids and let's enjoy the rest of the season and playoffs!