SCBear

Afraid you're not going to get much play with this thread. Past history says that neither school has much of a following that activately participates on coacht. Find it interesting that everyone is picking SC to win. Don't know much about this year's Bearden squad but they were pretty solid last season. Combined with all that SC lost seems like it should be a pretty close matchup. Which leads to a question that I have. How is that almost everyone is saying this years Bears will be very good? I have read numerious posts (even from other schools fans) that state how they all "hear" how good SC is going to be. The numbers just don't add up in my mind though. By my count we lost the majority of lineman on both sides of the ball, three of our top four receivers graduated and with the transfer of Peyton Otis to William Blount all of our starting LB's are now gone. I know Dorian Banks transferred in and that senior Joseph Hayes will provide an instant upgrade to the running attack and Manning returns at QB. It also sounds like we have pretty good team speed. However, there will be a lot of first year starters making their debuts and you don't win without the "big uglies" in the trenches. No way no how. I'll admit that I haven't seen any of the scrimmages but with all of those experienced gaps to fill this doesn't sound like a receipe for challenging any of the big boys in 6A.

Yea that thought crossed my mind for a second also except that Otis played very little at RB his entire time at SC. Even though I personally thought he was the second best RB on the team last year (we were a little thin at that position) he played almost exclusively at LB which to be honest is his best position IMO anyway. To be fair to the coaches, they probably didn't want to wear down one of their starting LB's by playing him both ways when there were other options at RB and we were mostly a pass first team. If Peyton transferred because of that it seems a little short sighted if you ask me because his best chance to make it in college is on the defensive side of the ball. Oh well, I wish we still had him. One of my favorite players. By the way, Dorian Banks is the RB/CB transfer from Ezell-Harding that you referenced but I know almost nothing about him except what little I have seen of his freshman highlights from last season. Seems like a nice player. A little on the small side (5'-8", 160 lbs) for the SEC it seems but if UT is at least looking at him that has to be a good sign.

No doubt the Govs got a good one. Solid RB and a better LB. Our defense especially will take a hit with his absence this year. Would be interesting to know the reasoning behind a two year starter transferring from a succesful program his senoir year (and yes I know his brother is a coach at WB).

Red We open at Bearden in week 0 and Maryville travels to SC sometime in September (sorry lost the article that gave the exact date). Needless to say this instantly upgrades our schedule tremendously and energizes the fan base as well. Even if we lose both games at least we will have learned something about our team long before November rolls around. Now if we could only somehow replace Cherokee and Cocke Co. with some other formidable programs I could once again attend a full season of games.

Yes it's true. SC dropped both WB and Halls and replaced them with Bearden and Maryville. Sorry 91 but this was long overdue. Already being forced to play in one of the weakest districts in the state (the IMAC) we couldn't continue to give up what few opportunities the T$$AA gave us to schedule better competition. Coach Brewer stated that he made the changes to upgrade the schedule as to better prepare his team for the playoffs. I enjoyed the rivalry with WB and respected their classy fans. We had some great early games in the series when Meadows had it rolling. However, over the last several years it had become a very one sided affair. Good luck on your coaching hire.

You guys tear me up. You all are so paranoid up in NET that you are now trying to manufacturer possible scenarios in which you could lose to a team that you beatdown so bad previously that the game was over before the end of the first half. I will say it again, this time even S-L-O-W-E-R. We do not have the QB to be even competitive with DB this year. Yes we dominated JC statistically but the game was in doubt in the 4th quarter because our QB single handily kept the patriots in the game with his turnovers and poor passing (3 TO's, should have been 4 and he missed a lot of open receivers and left a lot of points on the field). We have played three quality defenses this year (JC twice and DB) and he has struggled in all three games. Maybe you won't drill us by 30 points again but you'll win comfortably. Now everyone take a deep breath, relax and enjoy your trip to Maryville where football seasons go to die.

We don't have the QB to play with you guys this year so all the DB faithful can calm down and stop the inbred bickering. Game won't even be close........again.

I agree that this will be closer then the previous games. For some reason Mowest cannot stop the forward pass which SC has used to scorch them ever since they became division opponents. In fact most of the games have been pretty lopsided wins for the Bears. However, this SC team is not as good as previous years, especially at passing the ball which should help the Trojans chances immensly. We ran the ball well last week against Seymour when we went with our bigger running backs but that was because we had the size advantage. That won't be the case this week but I wish we would still go big again and limit the pistol formation so we could at least attempt to, (a) establish the run better and hopefully, ( keep from getting overwelmed at the line of scrimmage like we have at times this year. This would help our play action and keep the LB's from crashing the line on every play like JC and DB constantly did against us. On defense we have to limit the big play. Period. We will do pretty good for a few series and then give up a long play out of the blue. I think this will be a very close game that goes either way unless we do a better job of passing (and pass protection) then we did against the only two teams that were able to line up with us so far.

Well, that was E-M-B-A-R-R-A-S-S-I-N-G!!!!!! Congrats to DB on a dominating performance. I would also like to apologize on behalf of our coaches and players for their absence tonight......they missed seeing a really good team in action As far as Sevier Co........all I can say is......."Houston,we have a problem!" We've got some major issues to address and that is coming from someone who predicted we would lose by a comfortable margin

Even though I wouldn't look for the classic matchups that we had last year at least we are playing quality competition for the second week in a row that will let us know how we stand among the state's best. Really looking forward to this annual matchup. Don't think this Sevier Co squad is quite as good as last years while the Tribe is probably better. Last year we had the passing attack to compete with just about anyone...........this year......I am not so sure. Just can't see the Bears having enough defense to coral all those playmakers and our offense really struggled last week the first time we played a quality defense. Hope I am wrong and pleasently surprised but.............. DB - 35 SC - 17

Oooooouuucccchhh!

In case any of the DB faithful are interested here are some of SC's highlights against Willie B this year. This is Luke Manning's debut as starting QB where he had 16 completitions in a row before he threw an incomplete pass in the 3rd quarter.

After thinking some more about it this is a very valid point and maybe something that I was guilty of in short changing the Pats a little. They appear improved to me over last year's squad. To my untrained eyes Jeff Co has a very good defense and executed their defensive game plan very well against us. Their Line was big and physical (especially some "big" man who was listed as 6'-2" and 270 lbs who could flat out move). The most impressive thing to me though was the play of their secondary. They were consistently in good position all night and played our receivers better then anyone else I have seen since Maryville in last year's playoff loss. Very few times did our QB have easy throws or receivers running wide open. The Pats offense is also improved because of Dearies Jones. He is a very good RB who is quick and fast. Combined with their elusive QB that is quite a load of athletcism in the backfield for anyone to have to contend with. The only thing I believe holding them back is their inability to pass consistently. Looking at their schedule I wouldn't be surprised if they finished the rest of the season without another loss.

The good: SC showed great resolve in pulling out a gut check win against a quality opponent. When Jeff Co scored the go ahead TD with only a couple of minutes left they could have quit but they fought through. No win is bad no matter how ugly. SC's QB put a bad outing behind him to lead a nice two minute game winning drive for the victory. We have a deep corp of pretty good receivers. The bad: Not game related but our cream puff out of conference schedule does us no favors and has to be revamped. We already play in a weak conference where we are forced to play numerious smaller schools that are not very competitive. It makes no sense then why we continue to schedule teams that don't provide us any real tests (or little fan excitement) when the T$$AA gives us three mulligans a year. Outside of DB we have to upgrade the OC schedule. Rant off. Figured since this is a DB thread I figured our former Big East brethren would appreciate a fellow fan bemoaning this crummy realignment. Back to the game - our Defense and especially our line after an intitial good couple of quarters really struggled against the option. Especially concerning since the Pats are a one dimensional offense. Also struggled with too many missed tackles. DB will light us up even more if we don't wrap up and finish runners off any better The O Line seemed to be overwelmed by the Pats D Line all night. To be fair however not all of it was their fault since our schemes (especially the empty backfield sets) rely upon the QB to make a quick read and throw so they can't be expected to sustain blocks when there is an all out jail break like Jeff was bringing which leads to the most concerning portion of the game: The QB position. We are not a dynamic running team so the QB is the straw that stirs the drink. We don't have great RB's to bail us out if the passing attack is not clicking. This goes back to my previous rant about scheduling. Halls and WB could not put the pressure on our offense like Jeff Co did. The QB struggled the whole night with decision making and poor throws due to the pressure applied. Was in stark contrast to when he could set back and look the field over without any pressure like the two previous games........tonight however........well we won. Got really rattled and the coaches even set him for a couple of series in the 2nd quarter. This is Manning's first year starting so maybe this is part of his growing process but who knows. This team reminds me of the squad of a couple of years ago. A solid team but without a QB that can run the offense to it's most effecient, especially in the passing game against the better defenses we will see like we had in Cullen Lavoi last year. I am hoping the game winning two minute drive means the lights came on for our QB but I am not overly optmistic. DB will have more athletes, speed and playmakers then Jeff Co so I would expect our short comings to be exposed even more. I am sure their coaching staff will take the same approach as the Pats and bring lots of D pressure with their front 7 and we already know their offense returns everyone. The Tribe should exact some revenge for last years's playoff loss and get a 35 - 14 win.

Bear fans may want to wait and see how we do against our first reat test of the season tonight against an improved Jeff Co before we worry about DB. We really don't know how good we are so tonight should be a good barometer against a Patriot squad that will be wanting some payback for last year's beat down. We'll find out a lot tonight. Hopefully we play well, get the win, with no injuries and then we can look forward to a great matchup next week.

Class post.

Have stayed out of the thread all week cause there just isn't much to add. For the sake of brevity I just cut and pasted what I orginally posted in the SC/DB thread last week. "Having said all of that I believe the winner will enjoy its last playoff victory this year cause nobody is getting within a sniff of the Maryville team I saw that demolished Farragut. Wouldn't be surprised if the Rebels don't let anyone play them within three touchdowns on their way to another gold ball. " and "My comment is not a slight of either of our teams as both DB and SC are pretty good in their own right. However, after having seen Maryville a couple of times this year they are playing a different game then the rest of us. Take your running game and our passing attack and combine that with a very good defense and kicking game. Then throw in a great coaching staff who always seems to have the Rebels prepared and well......I just don't see any weaknesses....anywhere. Yea a football is not round and can take a weird bounce and all but unless something crazy happens like a ton of turnovers or key injuries occur I will be shocked if Maryville is seriously challenged this year. I believe they are that good." Not sure who JJGriz's team is but no sane Sevier County fan would be talking trash. Playing anyone else and I would give us at least a puncher's chance but the Rebels are just too good and there is nothing to be ashamed about because of it. We've had a very good year and I am proud of what we accomplished. I just hope we will represent well and at least let the Rebel nation know they have been in a ball game. Unfortunately, if we have another start like we had last week with such poor play on both sides of the ball, GQ will be emptying his bench long before the 4th quarter...........again.

To cut to the chase this game boils down to pretty much one very simple but key point: Slow/Stop SC's passing attack. If HV's defense can limit our ability to throw and catch then they will have a very good chance for the upset. Everything we do offensively is predicated on our ability to complete passes and spread the field. We don't have the personnel to line up and just run the ball and be nearly as effective. Stop our passing and you can beat us. It's that simple.

TNHSBBALLFAN has pretty much nailed it. Mo. East has a better team then their record shows and they are a big, bruising club that is a real load with Ricker at QB. However, not to take anything away from the Hurricanes cause they played well but they couldn't have asked for better weather and field conditions to augment their grind-it-out rushing attack and negate Sevier County's speed and passing.

fsutandem Thanks for the props. If anyone is interested you could also go to their website where all of this seasons highlights are located. seviercountyfootball

Sounds like HV is pretty much one dimensional with a very good rushing attack but not much of a passing game but haven't heard anyone mention their defense, special teams, kickers, etc. How is it and what do they play. What is their defensive philosphy? Big up front, small, fast, blitz alot......especially interested in their secondary. Doesn't sound like the Oak Ridge contigent is all that impressed.

Wildcats will win. They are getting better each week and also got a break being put in a weaker quad 2 where they can make some noise just like last year. That riverdale/wildcat rematch ought to be a good one.

No way in the world Sevier County will be seeded above DB. Absolutely no way.

motownanddown Didn't hear the ME radio crew but it definitly was a strange call and one that I can see why they wouldn't agree with. Ricker definitly bobbled the snap and while falling down backwards under pressure of a sack, it appeared he kind of pushed the ball down to the ground in an attempt to spike it before he was down. I am assuming that the referee believed that Ricker never regained complete control of the ball before the spike and there for ruled it a fumble. Whatever the referee believed he saw, to his credit, he was the one that made the call and he made it emphatically, immediately and with no consultation with any of the other officials (which would make sense since he was in his normal position in the backfield and had the closest and best view of the play). To be honest, I am not sure if it was a fumble or not. It happened so fast and with the rainy conditions and the players all massed together in the mud it was really hard to see it clearly. Hated that an exciting game and one that impacted so many teams ended in such a controversial manner. Would have really loved to see a replay.