SCBear

Would love for this to be so but unless SC's offense has been playing opossum this summer and WB's defense has suddenly forgotten how to line up it ain't happening. I still believe it will be a close, low scoring game and wouldn't be surprised by at least one defensive score by either team. Is WB getting any healthier? Are they still going to run the spread like they did with all of their teams last year (Frosh, JV, Varsity)? With Garner out who are the playmakers we should look for? Please tell me there aren't any Walker boys with any eligibility left and that you have a mere mortal punting this year!

tpoole12 I didn't make it out to the Jamboree. Never have been much of a fan of those things actually with the starters playing next to nothing and the very short play time. Was hoping myself that someone who braved the long drive out to Heritage would give a brief recap of the SC/Alcoa game. Probably better that they didn't though since Alcoa handled us as easy as I was afraid they would. On the bright side, the Maryville Times reported that SC represented pretty well during the halftime competition. Zack Flynn threw the longest pass (heard the receiver dropped it though) and Aaron Pippen won the fastest back (though it was called back because of a clip). /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" /> Sorry to here about Garner. A very exciting playmaker that was fun to watch last year and will surely be missed by a young WB offense. This game sounds like it could be shaping up as one serious defensive battle now. With SC's apparent offensive woes still lingering over from last season and now a young WB minus their best offensive weapon we may have to forget the points and instead proclaim the team with the most yards as the winner (I'll still take WB however just because of Cole Lail).

GovMan Lord willing, I plan on being there. Always enjoy the trip to WB. Nice folks, good stadium. In fact, I enjoyed WB's new found spread offense (made me long for the Joey Matthews/Shane Kelly years) and hard hitting defense so much last year that I ended up attending as many WB games (DB, Ooltewah and classics like Maryville, Farragut) as I did SC's./rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> That was some high level football. Drats! I just read coonhunter's brief recap of the Clinton/SC scrimmage. I may have to downgrade my limited expectations for this team even more now. Man, I hope the the team, coaches and us fans don't have to endure another one like last season. I know coach Brewer doesn't put a lot of stock in scrimmage results but that is still disheartning news.

Agreed GovMan. Last year withstanding, this series has produced some of the most memorable games that have taken place in our last few seasons. Like you, I am also hoping that the series will not be terminated when the new realignment kicks in next year. Unfortunately I won’t be able to offer too much insight as I have not attended any of the practice sessions this year. Also finding informed SC fans posting on coacht is like searching for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Based on the unproven underclassmen and then factoring in how many (if any) off of last years good Freshmen team could possibly make an immediate impact and the "guess o’meter" will be off the charts, but here goes. Our offense sputtered something terrible at times last year due to a mired of problems. Everything from inconsistent QB play to a lack of playmakers at the WR position to just poor execution all the way around contributed to a rather lackluster unit that struggled to put points on the board or move the ball consistently against the better teams. The QB position will be especially interesting to see how it is addressed as a Steve Brewer coached team's success is always predicated on good QB play. This year the new QB will be Zack Flynn who throws a nice "touch" pass but is an average runner and a little on the short side (5'-9"). Key, returning players to look out for on the offense are WR’s Patrick Miller and Andrew Feezel. Underclassmen WR Charlie Fields and TE Alex Pate (6'-2") may also factor in to help give a much needed boost to the passing game. As far as the running attack, Tyler Thomas is a shifty sparkplug who will start at TB and had a very good Sophomore season before slumping with the rest of the team last year. We may also see Dakota Cogdill, a young but rugged RB who played very well for the Freshmen last year come in and contribute early. Patrick Sutton is the best of the three returning starters on the O Line and is a good one to build around. In light of the way this side of the ball performed last year and all of the question marks surrounding the new personnel this is a tough group to give an informed opinion on but if our passing attacke doesn't improve we will be hurting again. On the defense side we were solid for the most part. OK against the run with occasional breakdowns in our pass defense. It also didn’t help that the defense was repeatedly put in difficult situations due to the offense's inability to move the chains and by the numerous turnovers that were committed. We also lacked for depth and overall size up front so combined with their extended minutes they were forced to play, the bigger more physical teams would pound on us until we were just worn out by the second half of a lot of games. Our secondary was also very inexperienced as they were replacing three talented starters so we had occasional issues with blown assignments and young players getting their baptism by fire. My guess is that we will still run some variation of the 3-5 to utilize our team speed and quickness. Again, based on last years results, the players to watch for are DB Patrick Miller and specifically #1 Andrew Feezel who at LB is a real ball hawk. As far as the The kicking game is concerned I really don't have a clue who will be handling the punting, kickoffs or returns. I guess since there was no glaring weaknesses last year (nor standouts for that matter) you could say it was probably average by most standards. Hopefully, we will not have a repeat of the same kicking nightmare that we had when we last visited WB back in ’06. This may not be a region game but after last year’s very disappointing season (the first losing record I can remember under Brewer) this team needs a confidence builder in a big way so in that regard it is a very important to get off to a good start this season. I don't have any preconceived notions of grandeur for this team (I believe next year will be our stronger team by far) but I would look for improvement across the board and a return to the playoffs. As far as this game goes I am guessing a season opening loss to a rebuilding WB offense that will still have a very good defense to fall back on. Maybe some SC fans that attended either the McCallie Camp or other scrimmages can chime in with more detailed info.

BC The Bears will be partaking in the Blount County Jamboree at Heritage High School this Friday, August 15. They will play against Alcoa but I am not sure which quarter or at what time.

Actually your coach was just playing the percentages. The way your line and running backs were gashing our defense the whole night the odds were actually higher that your holder would fumble the snap or your kicker would miss the extra point then those of your fullback not making three yards.

Congrats to the Patriots and also a "Big Thank You" for officially putting this dog of a season to bed. It would have been beyond embarrassing for a program like Sevier County and their losing record to be allowed to participate in the post season. The magnitude of the beat down that Farragut and a running back like Sterling would have administered to us would have literally taken years for the program to recover from.

It's actually a playoff game for both teams. With the way the remaining region schedule is laid out the loser will be out and the winner will play in the post season (barring some unforseen major upsets that is). Unfortunately, with this being our worst team in at least 10 years it is kind of hard to really get pumped up for an extra game where you would just get annihilated by any number of good Region 2 squads. I knew we would struggle coming out of the gate but this team has just not gotten any better since the opening kick off. Very fustrating season to say the least. It is one thing to lose a bunch of games that are at least still competitive going into the second half (see DB for an example) but it is all together a totally different animal when your getting your doors blown off by any semi-descent team before halftime. A couple of weeks ago I would have layed odds that SC would take this elimination game. However, after JC's win against SH and our abysmal performance against DB I fear that with our fragile physcie we may just lay down for this one at the first sight of adversity. If JC gets up early I don't know if we have the resolve to make a comeback. Shoot this horse and put it out of its misery. JC - 24 SC - 14

If Sevier County's offense can muster one TD, much less two, against the Tribe defense that I saw play WB than I will be beyond shocked. In fact, based upon our season long penchant for turning the ball over and general lack of execution, it's a pretty good bet that DB's defense will out score our offense by themselves. DB - 32 SC - 7

Thanks for the compliment. Yes SC has a fine coaching staff and a solid program but since the advent of another county high school back in '99 (Pigeon Forge) the numbers have just not been there for us to draw from consistently. Thus after a talented class graduates we follow that up with down years where we are just not very competitive with the better teams in the region and area. This same scenerio has played out exactly the same way for the last several years. As an example of the differences in programs look no further than DB this year. Both teams lost many quality starters but the Tribe has been much more competitive in their losses than us. We will eventually be back but not this year. You will see for yourself tonight. Before the season started I thought Region 1 would finish as follows: 1. Bearden 2. DB 3. Science Hill 4. Jeff Co. / Sevier Co. That finish was predicated not just on perceived returning talent but also how the schedules layed out for each team. A good, veteran Bearden squad had to travel to DB but that was going to be early in the season so advantage the Bulldogs. A young but maturing DB was catching the Toppers at home the last game of the season so advantage the Tribe. Science Hill has to travel not only to DB but also to Bearden. That will be a tough duo for the Toppers to overcome. I felt that both Sevier Co. and Jeff Co. were a notch below those teams so I thought their matchup in October would decide the fourth playoff spot. So far the teams and season seem to be going along pretty much according to this scenerio. I guess we'll just set back and see how it all plays out starting with tonights matchup /popcorneater.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":popcorneater:" border="0" alt="popcorneater.gif" />

For whatever reason, there never are many SC fans who post on CoachT even when the Bears have a good team much less when they are down such as this year. Also outside of my original thumbnail report of our season there is just not much else to discuss about us (at least not positive). Unfortunately, we are not in the same position as schools such as DB, Ooltewah, Oak Ridge, etc. where we can "reload" with a talented, albeit, inexperienced athletes once a senoir laden team has graduated. Instead, we go into a "rebuilding" mode which means that our season will play out in this scenerio: not very competitive losses to the really good teams, close hard fought wins/losses to the lesser/comparable teams followed by a blow out loss in the first round of the playoffs (yes I have followed SC football far too long /rolleyes.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":rolleyes:" border="0" alt="rolleyes.gif" /> ). As far as this weeks game, it sounds like SH has a good defense with a good rushing attack and an adequate passing game. I will say that the one glimmer of hope that SC has is that the two teams that gave us the most trouble had outstanding passing QB's and big, athletic WR's. I don't know if it has changed but what little I remember reading about SH was that they were just average in the passing department this year. If that is still the case then maybe the Bears stand some small chance of springing the upset since their run defense has actually been pretty descent. Also the two teams that beat us soundly were two of the better teams from their respective regions (WB will finish first or second I believe and West will finish second behind Maryville). That means that against the teams that had comparable talent to us we have fared better and given a much better showing of ourselves. I guess we will find out which catagory Science Hill falls into tomorrow night. As to the importance of this game, yes it is important in regard to determining the pecking order of Region 1. The winner will have the inside track to a third place finish while the loser will have an uphill battle to claim the the fourth and final playoff spot. I believe that Bearden and DB settled first and second place a couple of weeks ago and would be surprised if either of them lose any of their remaining region matchups. So that leaves Sevier County, Science Hill and Jefferson County to battle it out in a round robin format for the last two playoff positions IMO.

Don't have a dog in the fight but not all 1-3 records are created equal. Take it from this fan whose team is also 1-3. Despite being in a rebuilding mode, the Tribe has shown themselves quite well against the toughest slate of games anyone in the state has played. I believe that was what the original poster was implying. By the way, DB by two touchdowns.

Unfortunately this edition of the Smoky Bears has a plethora of problems plaguing them. The long and short of it: Untimely penalties, turnovers and a general lack of execution by the offense as a whole. Inexperienced QB who has had trouble with his decision making. QB who has thrown more pick sixes than touchdown passes. Possession type Wide Receivers who have trouble possessing passes. Lack of speed and true playmaker at the wide receiver position. Above defencies result in a one dimensional run offense that is more easily defended. Poor offensive play puts defense in constant peril. Poor offense results in extended playing time for the defense. Prolonged field time provides more opportunities to expose our inexperienced secondary. Prolonged field time also exposes lack of depth and ultimately wears down the many two-way players. All of these deficiencies came to a head last week against a good West team in one of the worst performances in many a season. The team looked very dejected and almost broken during halftime and after the game. Fustrations and tempers were understandably running high. Hope the coaching staff can rally the team and not lose these young men. Before the season I assumed this team would struggle to make the playoffs even with Region 1 being down. So far I haven't seen anything to change my mind. Toppers by two touchdowns.

As a level headed DB fan I understand your unwillingness to count your chickens before they hatch but as an outsider making an unbiased prediction I am afforded that luxury. Plus it doesn't hurt that I can count on one hand the Region 1 lossess that the Tribe has suffered since I have been following Big East football. That's what Bearden has to overcome Friday night. A good team, playing at home with a history of dominating its region 1 foes. As far as the rest of the region teams go (no disrespect intended), you can mark it down, the winner of this game will be the Region 1 champ.

Before the season I was picking Bearden in this matchup. However, after seeing DB in person against WB and catching some of Bearden's game against West I believe that the Indians will now prevail in a close, hard fought game. Also, after the performance that I witnessed against a very good Gov team it appears that the predicted demise and ruin of this DB team by a few may have been a little premature. No, this is not the DB power house of seasons past that would steam roll over the opposition but even a down Indian team is still better than 80% of the competition. Bearden has a fine team for sure so it will be interesting to see if they can overcome the ghosts of seasons past and end a long losing streak, in a tough enviroment to a team that has been able to consistently find ways to beat them. DB knows they can beat Bearden. Do the Bulldogs have the same mindset and confidence? Either way, it ought to be a good game with the winner claiming the Region 1 championship and the loser getting second place as a consolation prize.

Good call on the team's tendencies. When I think of Halls I always think of a tough, stingy run defense, a great kicking game and a low risk, grind it out offense that won't pass unless they're 100% sure they will complete it. On the other hand, Brewer definitley favors the pass being the ex-QB he is......if he has the tools at his disposal. Unfortunately, it appears the tool shed is a little barren this year. Something else to consider - In its last four trips to Halls, the Bears have defeated the Red Devils exactly one time (including a loss by their '99 State Championship squad).

That is not good news for DB fans then. I assumed the Tribe would just reload with some good, albeit, inexperienced players across the board. If that is indeed the case about your secondary then you won't want to hear that Meadows has installed a spread offense where they are running 3,4 & 5 wide receiver formations. They also have a big WR in #4 Brad Cochran (6'-3") who also has pretty good hands and speed. I know he got loose in our secondary a few times for some nice plays. If Clark doesn't utilize his bench at least some, you better hope for rain cause between the heat and that physical Gov defense you will see the effects of both by the second half just like we did. Sounds like it might just be a long year for all of Region 1 (We will find out about Bearden in a couple of weeks when they take on Farragut). Its a Shame about the DB band. I was hoping to get to see them tomorrow night. Always enjoy their halftime shows.

Actually SC played pretty good defense last week, especially against the run. To be honest though, WB went to a lot of spread formations and lined up very little in any sort of power sets. The passing game is where they did most of their damage as they took advantage of our young secondary on a couple of big plays. In fact, two of the Govenor's three offensive TD's were because of blown assignments that left WR's running wide open without a defender within 20 yards of them. Our D also got worn down in the second half because of so many two-way players and our offense's inability to sustain any drives. Agreed. This is where our QB has to play and make better decisions then last week. Had a terrible pass on our own goal line that WB returned for the only score of the first half. Had another pass picked off in the third that lead to another TD that broke the game open. Actually that is a misnomer. Even though Taylor Helton was on the 4 x 800 relay team that finished fourth in the state his indecisive play resulted in him running very timidly and uneffective. Surprisely WB's pass rushers (especially their LB's) were able to run him down on several occasions. We are not a physically dominating team. Neither Shawn Hodge nor Tyler Thomas are going to break many tackles when you wrap them up but they can be pretty elusive in the open field given time and space. Because of our inexperienced QB and WR's I don't know how effective we will even be at completing a pass much less breaking any tackles after the catch. We were very anemic in the passing game against WB. Hopefully they will all get on the same page and get their timing down better between the route being run and where the pass is supposed to be delivered. We also need our offensive line to play better by opening some running lanes and giving Helton more time to throw the ball. I hope our defense can play the run as well as we did last week. As far as hoping to contain Dayton or any WR for that matter, our green secondary will have to play more consistent and cut down on the gaffs that led to the big plays for WB. For the past several years the Halls/SC matchups have pretty much broken down this way: when the teams are comparable in talent the games tend to be close, low scoring affairs that Halls always seems to win. When there has been a discrepenacy in talent then SC has won and almost always by a large margin. Guess what......this is one of those years where it appears the teams are more evenly matched. Halls 17 SC 7

If DB doesn't at least have some semblence of a passing attack then they might as well not get off the bus. WB has a really stout front seven and while you may be able to have a succesful running play here or there they will not allow many drives sustained by the ground attack only. Walker at DE and Cail at LB were men among boys against us. As far as the secondary, our inexperienced QB and Receivers were rather anemic in the passing game so I can't really tell how good or bad they are (WB did have one pick six on a terrible pass down at our goal line and another one on a nice play by the DB). However, I do know that no one dimensional team can grind out a victory via the run on this bunch. As far as the offense, WB also has opened it up more this year so they are more effective at passing the ball then previous seasons. The only concern I would have if I was a Gov fan was that this new passing offense seemed to transform them into more of a finesse team. I was expecting to get hammered on by a bruising rushing attack (much like last year) with the occasional pass mixed in. However, because of their inconsistency in running the ball they struggled some sustaining drives and punching the the ball into the endzone. Post game observations: WB has a really nice team (especially their defense) DB will probably play them closer than us (based on assumption of better Secondary and better QB & Receiver play) WB will still win however, 23 - 10 After this weekends losses and seeing other games it is apparent that Region 1 is really down and inferior again to our Region 2 brethren this year. Any one of their top four teams could win region 1 IMO.

tpoole12 You can catch the game locally on WSEV-FM 105.5

Thanks for the report and welcome aboard jacensolojedi. I have to ask a question since you are apparently in the know. Who is this Josh Carr? This is about the third or fourth scrimmage report that I have read where he was specifically singled out for his play (he was even listed in todays Knoxville News-Sentinel's Prep Xtra preview for SC as a player to watch). The only problem is I can't for the life of me remember him from last year. In fact, I checked a football program from '06 and he isn't even listed among the rosters for either the varsity or Freshmen squads (for that matter Alex Pate doesn't seem to exist neither according to this program). Maybe Josh is a transfer perhaps? Or did coach Brewer cull him from the hallowed hallways of SC? Inquiring minds want to know.

Yea, Shawn started the first two games at Free Safety before he suffered a high ankle sprain on the first play of the third game (against Karns). He missed several games following and even after he eventually returned, he never was able to contribute like before the injury. He is a nice athlete for sure. The move he put on the WB QB on his Pick Six last year was definitley an ankle breaker.

Andrew Feezel and Daniel Cotter both started at LB (more like a rover back in our scheme) last year and played limited backup roles as wideouts on the offense. This year they both will be called upon to contribute more with the lack of experienced WR's. The new QB is Taylor Helton and yes he his is #5 In my previous post I was speculating about Shawn Hodge moving but I know that they did throw a few swing passes to Tyler Thomas last year (especially the Ooltewah playoff game) so maybe that is who fsutandem was referencing in his post. Pure speculation on my part.

Interesting news. I wonder if the running back that could be moved to WR is Hodge? Would actually make some sense I believe with the loss of Feezel and Pippen. Shawn has great moves and speed but is a little on the slender side and doesn't appear to possess the strength to churn out yards and break tackles like Thomas does IMO. However, give him time and space to manuever, like at the Slot or H back possession and he has the ability to take it to the house on any play. High praise indeed for Helton. It will be interesting to see how he performs full time at QB. From his limited playing time last year it appeared that he was a pretty good athlete with a good arm but I haven't seen enough of him to offer up the Kelly comparison yet. I hope you are right though cause it's going to take a team effort to replace Watson. I know Will Hewitt returns to anchor the O Line with one or two other starters returning but I am not sure what to expect from the underclassmen. Actually this is where the majority of our games are going to be won or loss. Without solid line play it won't matter how fast Thomas & Co. are if there is no running room. The defense is where I feel we will struggle the most also with all of the losses to graduation. If I am not mistaken I believe we only have something like 3 or 4 starters returning so this side of the ball is going to be pretty green. Again, how fast the D Line develops will be key. If strong teams like WB are able to run the ball down our throat than it won't really matter how inexperienced our secondary is. If I am not mistaken I believe I read where coach Ratledge is switching to a 5-3 scheme from the 3-5 set that we run last year when we were loaded with experienced LB's. The kicking game I know even less about. I wonder who will replace Watson and all of the yards and TD's he provided for us as PR? The team is at McCallie High School this week so hopefully they will get alot of these questions answered and won't suffer any injuries. Given what little I know about our underclassmen and with the team that I know WB will field (how many Walker boys are in that community anyway?) I wouldn't be surprised to see the Govs win by 2-3 TD's. Last season was our year to get the victory, not this year. Hope I am wrong and am as surprised by the this years outcome as I was after last years gut wrenching fumble on WB's goaline in the waning minutes.

The Bears will definitely take a step back this year from where they have been the previous couple of seasons. How far they will drop however, is anyones guess. We lost many two-way starters and most of our playmakers on both sides of the ball. Gone on the defensive side is two-thirds of our secondary, our best LB and our best down lineman. On offense we lost our top two wideouts, our FB and a couple of good linemen. Of course the biggest void left behind was by Cory Watson who will not only be missed at QB and CB but also the big plays he provided with his electrifying punt returns. On the bright side we still return the speedy TB tandem of Tyler Thomas and Shawn Hodge. I am especially interested in seeing what the coaching staff does with a healthy Hodge (he only played in the first two games before he suffered a high ankle sprain the very first play of the Karns game and was very limited the rest of the year). Senior Taylor Helton will take over the starting QB duties and even though he is not the athlete that Watson was he may be a little better passer and a is a decent runner in his own right. Hopefully part time contributers Andrew Feezel, Daniel Cotter and some underclassmen can step up at the WR positions to take some pressure off of the running attack. The O line will be anchored by a very good (and large, 6'-4"/300 + lbs) Will Hewitt but only time will tell if his inexperienced linemates will meld into a solid, cohesive unit. The defense will be short on experience with all of the departures and is quite frankly full of question marks. Again Feezel and Cotter at LB's are experienced, heady playmakers that you can rebuild around but I am just not sure what to expect from the remaining cast. How will the revamped secondary holdup without Watson and Feezel manning the corners? Will the D line be physical enough without Chad Henderson in the middle to not get manhandled by the better lines? Who will step up and replace Austin Williams and All Region LB Cory Baxter? Hopefully Coach Ratledge can coach up this bunch of youngsters real fast because I fear we will struggle early while every one gains that much needed experience. Like I mentioned previously we can't help but drop off some from the consecutive 9-3 seasons that we posted previously. There is just too much talent and experience to be replaced plus coupled with the strides that SH, Bearden and JC have made in the off season (and yes DB will also drop off some too but by the time we play them, the Tribe will probably be much improved). Based solely on what I know we have coming back and with no crystal ball available to reveal such intangibles such as injuries, new player development, lucky/unlucky bounces, etc. I could see this team going anywhere from 5-5 to 7-3 and fighting for the fourth playoff spot in Region 1. Maybe someone with closer ties to the program (who follows the Frosh and JV teams better) can add some insight about the incoming underclassmen because I know very little of what to expect from this group except that they are going to get a crash course in varsity football 101 when they take the field against a very good WB squad in the season opener.