Pledgemaster

5 hours ago, ReitzFan said:

Sorry sparky. I took the time to reread this entire thread. Only one time was the word "college" used by any poster. It was used by M.O.M. in referencing 4.3 40 yard dash times. NOBODY in this thread inferred USJ was a college team playing a HS schedule. NOBODY. I suggest you stop trying to start something. I read nothing but people giving opinions about a football game. Sit down and be quiet Francis.

My team has a player who was transported to Vanderbilt for a brain bleed during the game. I don't have time to argue. I have a young man I need to be praying over, not arguing with you. Good evening. I'm done.

Any news on the injured player? I hate to hear this. Prayers offered.

Continued prayers.

Goodpasture is a good football team. #4 has elite speed. Big time football player.

On 3/10/2021 at 7:26 PM, ReitzFan said:

This afternoon, Trinity Christian Academy announced that Dexter Williams will be the next head boys basketball coach and athletic director for the Lions.

Big time hire!!!

Congratulations to Coach Williams and the TCA community. As stated throughout this thread, Dexter is fantastic coach, but an even better man. 

DA is a great team. Great players. Extremely well coached. I'm glad to see them move up, but would love the chance to play them. They are fun to watch. Congratulations to the Bears on three in a row. That is something that is hard to do at any level. Good luck next year.

DA is as big, fast, and athletic as most teams as I've seen at all levels. Swinea is obviously a great player, but DA is far from a one trick pony. Great QB play and a punishing line. Jaylen Brockman is the best lineman I have seen all year. USJ has played well since the loss to DA in the regular season and has great players, too. I think this game will be much closer than the first game. 

Great stadium.Very nice!

On 8/19/2020 at 11:47 PM, Bellsburg2 said:

Weather may be iffy for Friday night. Current forecast has high chances of rain throughout the day that seem to clear up a little before game time. If that forecast holds, might just be a good night for football (and not even feel like August).

Kickoff at 7:00, gates open at 6:00 and lock at 7:30.

Home seats are sold out but they did have some SRO tix left over. Hoping NCS fills their allotment and we should have a decent (spaced and masked) crowd on hand.

I hope that "clear up a little before game time" comes trues. There's some pretty significant rain out there right now. 

3 hours ago, tradertwo said:

Since you brought it up... I was not going to go here, because it will be perceived as a knock on the current players. Add to this years incarnation of the Bruins a QB who can make the throws that Smith could with wheels enough to run, a true RB who can accelerate through the line, a TE with good hands, and you will get your gold ball. Wallace was very capable pounding the ball into the line for short yardage and wearing down opponents, but he wasn't going to gash good defenses for big gains or pop long TD runs like the back they faced Thursday. Just a couple of completions on the long pass attempts in the championship game could have changed the outcome, but a QB who was mobile enough to buy time, or to turn pressures into positive yards would have changed punts to first downs, extended drives, and kept the defense on the sideline. USJ accounted themselves well for what weapons they had, just not enough horsepower to finish the job.

IMO USJ had one of the best TE/H backs around in #24.

8 minutes ago, WestTnGuru said:

Where do you predict USJ will finish in 2021............when they are in same division as CPA, CAK, ECS, Lausanne and the rest of AA?

We'll worry about that in 2021. I don't know anything about reclassification and truthfully don't really care at this time. The discussion wasn't about two years from now. 

Perhaps I'm being a homer, but I think next year will be a good one for USJ. Obviously, we are losing a lot of quality players, but I think we have players who are more than capable of replacing those who are leaving, which GTFan outlined well. DA will be stacked. NCS will be too. I think to pick us third in the region wouldn't be unreasonable. USJ returning to Cookeville is not out of the question. Indeed, a lot would have to go right for that to happen, but it is my opinion that USJ will be every bit as good next season.

The day has come. Getting  ready to head to Tucker stadium for the big match up. Looking for a good game for both teams, but obviously hopeful for a USJ Bruin victory. The Bruin faithful are in Cookeville en masse, and am sure that the DA folks are too. Going to be a good one. Safe travels for those still en route and prayers  for the teams to play injury-free.

4 hours ago, Kublah said:

Disappointing showing by USJ. DA just flat out wanted this one more and controlled the game from the opening kickoff.

Still think USJ is in the mix for the championship, but they've got some stuff to work on for sure!

Disappointing indeed, in all three facets of the game. Need to turn around quickly for FA next week. 

I agree that USJ is still in the mix.

I expect another good game. Hopefully, some positives will come out of last week's defeat for USJ. Again, the Bruins have to do a much better job of protecting the football. 

I will be surprised if either team scores more than three touchdowns.

I was really impressed with #24 for Knoxville Catholic.

Odom and Shields on this game:

These two along with Fayette Academy are the three undefeated teams in Division II-A West play. USJ has played well behind quarterback Andrew Smith, who stepped into the role after starter Cody Smith got hurt in Week 2. Nashville Christian is giving up 11.8 points per game, while USJ is giving up 8.2.

Shields' pick: Nashville Christian 27, USJ 20

Odom's pick: Nashville Christian 35, USJ 31

Any gifts for those who can answer at least one of those “fun facts”?

11 minutes ago, ReitzFan said:

I will say that I appreciate your kind words for Kevin Davis. You are correct in that he is a fine athlete and individual. His entire family is.

In reference to the students coming around the track to our side. Yes members of our Administration that did stop that. Sadly, that was not the first time that that particular event has happened not only at TCA but at usj as well. There were other incidents at that game and other things done buy both usj students and players that leave a particularly bad taste in the mouths of TCA folks over the last few years. As you are new to usj, you might not know of many of them. And that would be understandable. Just like if you knew of the incidents in years past you would better understand why we have a bitter taste in our mouths. It is not losing to usj that is the big thing. It is the off field and off Court things that I, along with others, do not forget.

Before I forget, let me say that you were young son certainly has a rather Stout foot. While his kickoffs and field goal kicking ability are impressive, it is his ability to punt the ball so well that makes me the most impressed. I could see him playing Major Division 1 football with that leg. And it will only get better over the next couple of years.

I won’t comment on the initial part of this post, but I do want to say thank you for the nice word about Ben. Ben actually trained some with Joao this past summer. I’m looking forward to see what’s in store for TCA’s  #10.

12 minutes ago, ReitzFan said:

You must think TCA has a ton of money to be able to afford to concrete the area around our football field. However, that concrete path has produced 3 gold medals in the last 2 years. That concrete path stands a very good chance of producing two more gold medals this year. Concrete path? I can remember when many of the parking lots at TCA and many of the access roads around the school were nothing but gravel. I wish we had enough money to afford to concrete everything

The fact that the school has produced the best track athlete in the state is something to be proud of. Kevin is a top notch athlete and a great young man.

I am very new to USJ, but have quickly become very proud of the fact that my child goes to school there. If I’m being honest, I’m not a big fan of the students running to the TCA side and understand your being annoyed in the moment at that. However, as has been stated here before, a teacher/coach headed them off, stopped them, and sent them back to the appropriate place. While I am new to USj, I’m not new to high school athletics. I have seen less than sporting behavior from individuals at every school. I’m not sure why some of you seem to be so obsessed with  anything that USJ does. This whole thread about a game you have nothing to do with is evidence of that. Im reminded of something I heard one time: “When you stand heads and shoulders above the rest, you make a bigger target.”

1 hour ago, ReitzFan said:

I am just curious. Did the usj student body get on the track and walk over and taunt the Columbia Academy fans like they attempted to do a couple of weeks ago against another team? Asking for a friend.

I don’t remember the USJ students running around a track. I remember them running around the concrete path at TCA, but never around a track.

But, you can tell your “friend” that they didn’t attempt to do that to the CA fans.

I was an assistant coach on a public middle school team two years ago. Our only loss was to a strong, athletic, and well coached USJ team in OT. We played TCA the first game of the season. Our team (Northeast Middle) had 36 players and TCA had 13, as stated above. Those two teams had ZERO business playing each other. To cancel games because of numbers is completely understandable because ultimately, middle school football is about coaching kids to be prepared for high school. I have a difficult time trash talking about middle school football, and find it harder to look at middle school as a predictor of high school success. What Kublah said about middle school being about having a bigger, faster RB is spot on.

I didn’t witness anything that was out of the ordinary in the game, as far as “shenanigans” go. In my experience, any “chippy” behavior is a two way street. No one just stands back and takes it, just like no one keeps giving if the other person isn’t “playing along”. It’s a rivalry game. That stuff happens, but again, I didn’t see it. 

Just now, Intense said:

Welcome to the T.  Your son is an excellent kicker!  Will we see three on side kicks in a row this year?

Thanks! I appreciate the kind words. I doubt it seriously, but who knows what Coach Hardegree has planned on special teams. As a freshman, Ben couldn't consistently kick touchbacks, so the onside kicks were a necessity to keep from kicking to Davis. I look forward to a good game on Friday.