pikevol3354

Warrior4ever, while I agree with you that we should be thankful that we now have a school board committed to making changes and that our football team is not competitive and something should be done to correct it, I think you are missing the MUCH BIGGER picture. Let's go back just a few years and think where Bledsoe County was in their athletic program. Just a few years ago we won the district in Football, Boys Basketball, Softball, Baseball and the Girls basketball team advanced past the district tournament. What has happened and what changed? We have a new administration than we did back then and every aspect of our system has declined. People talk about not having talent to compete with area schools, but what would our football team look like if we didn't have kids that went through Little Blue starting at Rhea, Sequatchie, and Meigs and were still playing here. It's not just football either. We have lost good teachers, administrators, basketball players, baseball players, softball players, and good students. This did not happen under the previous administration. I don't mean to sound negative but before people just say "fire the coach" they need to look at the overall problem and start asking why we are losing these kids and what can be done to change it.

Congrats to Forrest but this was sure a disappointing season for us. Another losing season. We are exactly where we were a year ago, lost in the first round and a losing 5-6 record. Good luck to all the teams who's season is not over. See you all next year.

With 6 classifications plus 2 divisions of private schools and taking 4 teams from each region, NO a goal of simply making the playoffs is not reasonable. When I played, yes that has been several years ago, we had 3 classifications that included private schools, and no one would have thought a 4th place finish in the region would have been acceptable. As far as a first year head coach, I was there when a first year head coach took Bledsoe to the quarterfinals and there were only 24 teams left playing in the entire state. To put that into perspective, that is the same number of teams that will be playing in the semi-finals NOT counting the private schools.

Truth Prevails is right, Bledsoe just isn't very good. They have not beaten a quality team or even a team that ended up with a winning record. The coach even said "our goal is to reach the playoffs" in the paper. What kind of goal is that? They take 4 teams from each region. The sad part is after this year Bledsoe will be much worse until this group of 8th graders are about Jrs. Their just isn't much behind this group of Srs until these kids get there.

Tyner is 3rd no matter what and the winner of the Meigs/Bledsoe game will be 4th. Regardless, Tyner is not going to lose and it come down to which team actually wants to travel and get beat in the first round and which one just wants this season to be over. Both Meigs and Bledsoe have had very disappointing seasons no matter which one wins. Both teams thought they were pretty good when the season started and found out that something different. Oh well, there's always next year.

Is anyone even going to the game from Bledsoe other than the parents? I admit it, I am not driving all the way over there to watch kids that don't even act like they want to play and to sit with parents that just want the season to be over so they can do something else. Sure, I want a Warrior win but this team just doesn't have that Warrior spirit and is just hard to watch.

What do you think guys? Do we turn things around and keep from a losing season or does it keep looking like we are going to lose out and finish even worse than last year?

Bledsoe will be rolling out a little different offense this week and Coach is pulling out all the stops. Unfortunately, won't matter. Marion rolls on and Bledsoe has to try and battle to not have a losing season. It's just not good at our end of valley.

I have been around Bledsoe football for over 40 years and unfortunately OldIndian is right. This one won't even be fun to watch.

Y'all got a great draw for your new district. That should make it much easier to get coaches interested in the job. A decent coach and you all win the district next year.

Well, the sportswriters in the Times picked Red Bank across the board. Let's see if they are right.

Just heard that Bledsoe will be without one of their starting receivers. He has been suspended from this week's game because he was ejected at the end of last week's game with Chattanooga Christian for getting in a fight. At least that is what I just heard. Can anyone confirm if this is right?

I really hate that Ken could not get along down there. I played against one of his teams back in the day that made it to the state finals when there were only 3 divisions. I don't think they should go very long without a coach. They need to go ahead and go after who they want and get them down there and let those boys know who is in charge if they are going to get that program where y'all want it.

It may be an uphill fight, but fight hard Grundy! We hope to see you again in round 2.

Does anyone know if any players were ejected at the end of the game Friday night?

Bledsoe is not loaded with athletes, but has size and 2 very big running backs. There was a rucus at the end of the game Friday night and I don't know if anyone was ejected or not. Flags flew, the refs were still on the field but the clock had not run out yet. But it was the last play. So, who knows and that could be a problem if we lost anyone because of that. Anyway, I think if Bledsoe keeps the pace slow and keeps their big backs in the game and controls the ball it will be very interesting.

This should be a good game. Bledsoe has just won 2 straight. Who wins this one?

Well, this win sure helped Bledsoe. Should be a good game with Red Bank.

I have played a little bit of ball at a couple of different levels and just have one question. What would make you try an onside kick with less than a minute to go after you come back and go ahead by 7?

Judging be what has been written on these boards and the talk around town, I have a question. Can people in Bledsoe County really support this team and the other sports teams right now? It seems that there are so many people mad at this coach or that coach, that they actually want them to lose so they can get someone else to replace them. I don't think this is just with football, it is with other sports too. If people can't get behind the kids and support them, they will not win. It is just that simple. I am not saying I have all the answers just asking a question. The truth is if a coach can not pull a community in around him and the communtiy will not support him, he won't be successful. I don't care who it is. Any thoughts?

Old Pirate, I sure hope you are right, but if we play like we did this past Friday we are going to have a very long season. Our team has an offense and a defense that has been built around one player and everyone knows he has not been healthy as of late. I still think we can have a good season if we can get a few things turned around.

I wish Dunlap luck this week. PF will be ready to play and they are much improved over last season. The new coach at Dunlap will get their program turned around, but let's be realistic. It takes time to develop a program and Dunlap has not even been competitive the last couple of years. I don't mean to offend, these are simple facts that we all know. I hope Dunlap fans don't get expectations for a good young coach that can't be met. Give him time and he will build a program you will be proud of, just don't expect more than is possible without giving him time to get you where you want to be. I hope my prediction is wrong and Dunlap starts with a win Friday, but my pick is PF by 13.

I don't know that I totally agree with the "bug" comment, and although Grundy did move the ball on us, our defense stepped up and stopped them once on forth down. Our offense did struggle against the Grundy defense, but that is to be expected in the first scrimmage. I do agree about not saying much and let the boys do the talking on the field. Our boys are really working hard and are getting better and I think we are going to have a very good season.

I am glad that everyone has confidence in our boys and I think we are going to have a good year, but don't just count on Grundy to lay down. I know we can beat them this afternoon, but remember these are not real games and this is to get some work done for all three teams. As far as Grundy's new coach, I am sure he will have those boys fired up and that they will play hard. I just don't know how much he has to work with. I guess we will all see in a couple of hours what these three teams are going to look like and how much work we have to do in the coming weeks to be ready to go. I think we have a real shot at the region this year if things come together ane everyone stays healthy.

The boys are working out 2 days a week, but on those 2 days they work really hard. I don't think anyone from last year signed to play at the next level at least I have not heard of anyone signing.