Maryville and 5A

[REBELRON]

In East Tennessee 4A is tougher than 5A. The only 2 threats to Maryville year in and year out in East Tennessee would be Oak Ridge and Dobyns Bennett. I think Maryville would beat them more than they would beat Maryville because of coaching. That is as long as Quarles and staff stay there. When that staff leaves Maryville will slip big time. Maryville will still be good but not an elite team. Coaches like Quarles and his staff don't grow on trees.

 

 

Oak Ridge and DB are elite 5A teams in East Tennessee. Farragut has been pretty good. They have a lot of talent. Ooltawah has been good lately. Soddy Daisy will have a very strong team every now and then. The Chattanooga schools cutting middle school football and cutting the coaching staffs killed those teams.

 

Sevier County was a powerhouse. They used to whip Maryville. Maryville wasn't quite as good back then as they are now. I believe the new Pigeon Forge High School killed the Sevier County program. Jefferson County used to be very strong. They are having big problems up there now. If they had Quarles and his staff they would go back to the old days when they were winning big.

 

 

Where 5A is very strong in in Middle Tennessee. Brentwood,Ravenwood,Franklin,Riverdale,Lincoln County. Those are some good teams.

 

Bottom line. With Quarles and that staff Maryville can compete with any team in Tennessee. With that staff I would feel good about Maryville's chances against any team. I know Maryville won't win every game though. They will win most of them though.

[BDURHAM]

Chattanoga only cut middle schools for one year.

 

I agree with you about Maryville's staff. They

are very good.

 

Doesn't Maryville have the highest enrollment of

the 4A schools?

[wingman10]

GQ is one of the best coaches and he does have a great staff. I have always been impressed with how GQ practices and treats his players. Rebels will be a state contender as long as he is there.

[Tnbreakers]

Rebelron,

 

I have to agree with you on this one. I have 2 kids that play for Oak Ridge and I would say your statement is very accurate. I for one do not buy into all the 5A is better than all 4A teams, but there are a few that would dominate each year. The quality of athletes at the big time schools such as Maryville, OR, DB, and Central are pretty much the same, but what is undisputable is the quality of coaching at Maryville. The scrimmages betweeen OR and Maryville are pretty much a stalemate due to what each coach is trying to accomplish, but it is quite a discussion piece for the fans. One has to look back no further than the Fulton and AE games. Coaching will always win the big games when athletic ability is pretty much equal. Not a slam at anyone, but just making a point that your assesment is correct. The rest of the crap that people say about 4A vs 5A is just that CRAP!

[TG24]

Soddy Daisy really doesn't belong anywhere near a list like that.

[JC4life]

There is not a huge difference between 4A and 5A but there is a definite difference. Game to game 4A and 5A are pretty equal when it comes to the good teams, the major difference IMO is the playoffs. How far a 4A team has to go before they meet a team with at least half way equal talent is MUCH larger than it is in 5A. In 5A it is normally the quarter finals, depending on what region though it can be as early as the 2nd round. With 4A it can be as far as the championship game before a team meets as team close to themselves.

 

NOW, with all that said Maryville is unlike any other 4A school. With their high enrollment, Maryville is closer to a 5A school than a 4A school. Its not just enrollment that makes them different though, Maryville has the benefit of open enrollment so players can pay to go to Maryville just to play sports(academics play a role as well though). Anyone who thinks Maryville wouldn`t compete on the 5A level(and there are people) doesn`t know what they`re talking about. However, I don`t think Maryville would have had as much championship sucess on the 5A level that they have on 4A. I still think they would have a championship or two, but not as many as they have now. IMO Maryville is the equivalent of a good 5A team playing in 4A, not to take anything away from them because they have beat teams with more talent than them. I don`t know why we debate this every off season, we won`t know anything until probably 2009. What is there to do though I guess.

[rollredroll]

A bigger issue is not so much would Maryville be successful in 5A (they would be, IMO) as it is if the number of classes currently in Division I is too many. Let's go to 3 or 4 DI classes and eliminate some of the sub-.500 teams that make it to the playoffs.

 

Having a Maryville in the highest classification ultimately would make the largest DI classification playoffs all the more interesting. Ridgeway - a program with not much history prior to the current decade - has made a nice transition from 3A to 4A to 5A; it's foolish not think that a storied program like Maryville wouldn't be able to make noise in the highest DI classification.

[THSVikings2004]

Chattanoga only cut middle schools for one year.

 

I agree with you about Maryville's staff. They

are very good.

 

Doesn't Maryville have the highest enrollment of

the 4A schools?

 

 

Rhea Co. and David Crockett have a higher enrollment. Crockett easily has a 5A amount but I doubt they will move up.

[STARSNBARS]

I agree with everyone's comments. I have a respect for O.R. , D-B, etc. their programs and their fans.

 

However, when someone comes on and starts spewing garbage about how Maryville "cooks books", "is chicken", knows where Quarles "gets his info" etc. , and don't know what their talking about, I have to reply.

 

Back in the 1970's Maryville and O.R. started a long relationship of scrimmaging each other. Ted Wilson and Emory Hale were great friends, coaches, and Christian gentlemen. The main reason this relationship started was because neither team could find a lot of teams wanting to scrimmage them, so they just scrimmaged each other.

 

I'm elated that the same can be said about Stanton Stevens and George Quarles and that they share the same qualities as Wilson and Hale.

 

Maryville plays within the framework of the TSSAA and their enrollment and competition policies. Yes, Maryville is one of the largest 4A schools in the state and starting in the fall of 2009 will be one of the smallest 5A schools in the state.

[pepvol]

28-0 with 10 new starters on offense ... i guess i can understand some frustration coming from " THE BIG BOYS " Oak ridge . It's ok big boys ... i got to admit you guys might have made the top 5 in the teams we played last year !! HAHAHA ! It's ok Senile Dad , We understand how frustrated you must be watching Maryville win year after year . I'm sure by telling yourself how much better OR is than Maryville , that it helps you deal with that dusty trophy case a whole lot better .

[Champ man]

The 5-A classification is not what makes O.R. one of the better football programs in the state. Being 5-A is a classification not a qualification. IMO Good Coaches, Good PLAYERS and Good Support from the community is the Qualification and its not limited to any one classification. For the sake of conversation IMO the 5-A classification being used as a trump card over 4-A is ridiculous especially when your comparing the Maryville football program to 5-A!

[JC4life]

For the sake of conversation IMO the 5-A classification being used as a trump card over 4-A is ridiculous especially when your comparing the Maryville football program to 5-A!

Outside of Maryville what other 4A team do you think could/would compete on the 5A level? For one game or even one season I agree with you that the classification probably wouldn`t matter when it comes to the top teams, but what about over the course of a few seasons? We pretty much agree that Maryville could move up and still compete, but what if Mo West(10-0 regular season) moved up? They`d finish 3rd in their region and wouldn`t get out of the 2nd round. This argument goes out the window when you look below Maryville at the rest of 4A.