Haywood Co at Obion Co. Central

[VOREBS]

I'm going to say one more thing about the jr high championship before the moderators shut this down for talking middle school stuff....

The Mustangs played a game against Sharon in which they won 56-38...They put their "B" team in before half...Sharon was awful...But,their guys scored on almost every play against our younger guys..Had we put our "B" team in early against Lake Road,they would have come back and won the game in a very short period of time and LR would not have put in their younger kids and rightly so...The Generals scored very easily and very quickly on our younger kids...The kids at Ridgemont(8th graders)were in their last game and the coaches "let them play" at the end of the game...If that bothers some,you know,I can't help that...It is NOT the responsibilty of OUR coaches to make YOUR team feel good...The LR coaches have the responsibilty to get their team ready to play and they didn't,point blank...All this,"we were nervous because it was the first time our kids had been to the Rebel Bowl" is bogus and just excuses..The Generals got it handed to them from the opening kickoff,plain and simple...If the coaches and players at LR want to get revenge,basketball season is coming up soon and these two schools play each other at least twice...You guys will get the opportunity to get a little "payback"..But let me warn you now,these Mustangs are better at basketball than football and almost all the guys that were on the football team play basketball....

VOREBS...I'm not directing this post to you...I absolutely agree the volunteer coaches not being on the sideline was shameful.....I'll tell you what I would like to see...I would like to see our county teams consolidate and play together...We could do like the youth league does...I think we could join the athletic conference that Union City,Dyersburg,Humboldt,Lake County and Halls is in(may be another team or two in that conf.)It would greatly help our high school team in that we would see better competition earlier and would promote the OC Rebel"team concept" other than the 4 feeder schools being against each other and the fans being against each other, which does happen and continues after these kids get to OCCHS...I think it is something that needs to be looked at....

Now,I'm putting this subject to bed....

backintha....I don't think you will ever see the county schools together at the jr high ranks. I just feel that this will never gain the support needed to pass. And I am not sure that it would be best if they did. The youth league did combine last year, and the numbers are down. Many kids,(or their parents) decided to get of the football program when the teams went together. There are some problems with the combined teams, with the current jr high situation. After 6th grade in youth league, the players go back to play for their respective schools, and this is going to leave some schools without players who have played different positions now having to step back into that spot after two or three years of not playing that position. Ex...Only one of the four schools will have a kid that has played quarterback, or tailback, or fullback, or ever center or wide-out. this is going to show in the next few years in the jr high ranks. When this new system was put in last year, I was not for it, and after almost two seasons in the system, I still have the same reservations. Nothing against getting the kids together, or the way things are done, but I still feel that we have lost a great number of kids that were playing football, that are not now, for whatever reason. When kids are in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, I don't think you can say what kind of player they would be in high school. It seems that with some of these kids, we will never find out, and that is a shame.

There would be some good to come out of putting a County jr high team on the field, but as you said, the group of seniors played against each other, and have come together into a tight-knit group, and it did not take them long to come together, as I remember their freshman year.

 

 

GO REBELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VOREBS]

I love his passion....He played his guts out last night..As always..

Amen!!!!!!! He did indeed. Having watched Matt grow up, and having the pleasure of getting to coach him some he is a GREAT young man, and player. Rebfan, I 'm gonna miss seeing him and the rest of this bunch play as well. Its been a blessing to watch these guys grow into what they are today.

 

GO REBELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[VOREBS]

I think the MAJOR thing the guys and fans have to do is not start pointing fingers...OC should be 7-1 3-1 right now..The last two games have been bitter,bitter pills to swallow....I think it's going to be very difficult for the coaches to keep these guys on a "football page" the next two weeks...The guys won't be in school to kind of stay focused in that way....Senior Night is next Friday..It will be an emotional time...The Rebs are not facing a juggernaut in Chester County,which will add to the focus factor......OC can still finish 7-3 3-3..That would be a big accomplishment..But,we as parents and fans or coaches can't play the game for them...They have to want it...They have to want it real bad or this could be a very disappointing end to what could have been a special year for the Rebels...The 8th grade guys will get to hang out with the football team Friday night...It will be the first and only time my two sons will be on the same sideline together for a game..I'm looking forward to that...I'm not looking forward to going out on that field with Steven for his last time...That will be awful emotional. Steven has put his heart and soul into this program and has missed out on some things non-athletes get to experience in high school.I'm very proud of him and his coaches and teammates..They are a joy to be around..Although,I'm a UC grad,I would have had it no other way having Steven go to OC and be a Rebel...

I'm looking forward to 4 more years with Shawn beginning his Rebel career next fall....

I think they will Want it, and will get it. I still think there are some things this bunch will do in the last three weeks of the season that will make for a good conclusion to their high school careers!

 

GO REBELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Purple & Gold Standard]

backintha....I don't think you will ever see the county schools together at the jr high ranks. I just feel that this will never gain the support needed to pass. And I am not sure that it would be best if they did. The youth league did combine last year, and the numbers are down. Many kids,(or their parents) decided to get of the football program when the teams went together. There are some problems with the combined teams, with the current jr high situation. After 6th grade in youth league, the players go back to play for their respective schools, and this is going to leave some schools without players who have played different positions now having to step back into that spot after two or three years of not playing that position. Ex...Only one of the four schools will have a kid that has played quarterback, or tailback, or fullback, or ever center or wide-out. this is going to show in the next few years in the jr high ranks. When this new system was put in last year, I was not for it, and after almost two seasons in the system, I still have the same reservations. Nothing against getting the kids together, or the way things are done, but I still feel that we have lost a great number of kids that were playing football, that are not now, for whatever reason. When kids are in the 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th grades, I don't think you can say what kind of player they would be in high school. It seems that with some of these kids, we will never find out, and that is a shame.

There would be some good to come out of putting a County jr high team on the field, but as you said, the group of seniors played against each other, and have come together into a tight-knit group, and it did not take them long to come together, as I remember their freshman year.

GO REBELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There are pros and cons for consolidating the athletic programs....But,until we get a full commitment from everyone and decide we want a championship caliber program and do what it takes to get that done we are going to continue to struggle...A school with almost 900 students shouldn't have to struggle to win as much as OC does..There are alot of guys walking up and down the halls at that school that could have helped this program...Some decided to concentrate on other sports,which is fine...There are some that decided that they just didn't want to do anything,which is fine also....We have to figure out some way to keep these kids out all four years...You know we had over 35 freshmen that started with this group of 16 seniors....I think Darren Bowling and his staff are headed into the right direction....I think the consensus is around the region that he is doing a darn good job with this program..The Rebels are much more competitive with the very tough teams in this region...But we are going to have to figure out a way to get over the hump...

[VOREBS]

There are pros and cons for consolidating the athletic programs....But,until we get a full commitment from everyone and decide we want a championship caliber program and do what it takes to get that done we are going to continue to struggle...A school with almost 900 students shouldn't have to struggle to win as much as OC does..There are alot of guys walking up and down the halls at that school that could have helped this program...Some decided to concentrate on other sports,which is fine...There are some that decided that they just didn't want to do anything,which is fine also....We have to figure out some way to keep these kids out all four years...You know we had over 35 freshmen that started with this group of 16 seniors....I think Darren Bowling and his staff are headed into the right direction....I think the consensus is around the region that he is doing a darn good job with this program..The Rebels are much more competitive with the very tough teams in this region...But we are going to have to figure out a way to get over the hump...

backintha....I agree there should be guys playing that are not, and with that many students, numbers should never be a problem. But that is what I was talking about with the numbers being down in the youth league after the change. These kids were playing football, but now in the 3rd thru 6th grades are not. I for one doubt that they will come back out in the 7th and 8th grades, and I really don't see them coming back out for football in high school. I also agree that Coach Bowling is a great coach, and is doing a SUPER job with the Rebel program, and yes the program is headed in the right direction. I do not know what the answer is, this is just my opinion of the youth league situation. I really enjoy working with the kids, and look forward to continuing. As I said, there are some good and some bad things to the new system, just as there was good and bad with the old system. I, like you just want what is best for the kids, and the programs.

 

 

GO REBELS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Purple & Gold Standard]

An Obion County Junior High Rebel football team would be hard to stop though...Can you imagine what a team with Bowling,Weaks,Ward,Mayo,Decker,York,Ferguson,Jackson,Smyth and those guys could have done???..Just take the All-County team for example,I would line them up against anyone and take my chances..But,we'll probably never know....The challenge will be to keep those guys playing football when they get to high school and then get them to stay for four years...I'm not sure why the numbers are down in the youth leagues,maybe the travel to a central practice location,I don't know...But,even if you were lucky enough to have 20 kids on a team in the old system,in reality maybe 6 or 7 were going to continue to play into junior high anyway....It would be a tough move but a proactive one..It would pay off in the long run..It would probably even be cheaper on the school system..You would have less expense on uniforms and all the other equipment you have to have to run a football program..You would be cutting it down from four teams to one..You would cut travel....You wouldn't have sometimes three or four busses hauling players all around the area on one or two nights a week..I would imagine the cost was the main reason they went to a new system anyway....The kids that are playing outside competition now are going to better for it in the future...You really have to look big picture and take into consideration what Larry Shank's vision for this program was in the first place...To prepare kids to be football players and give them a taste of what it's like before they get to the 7th grade level and have better developed players when they hit the 9th grade....I don't think there is any question the level of play in the junior high ranks has gotten much better since the Youth League has started...I'll tell you this,if Ridgemont doesn't have quite a few 6th graders come out next year,they will have a tough time fielding a team,Black Oak has trouble with that most all the time...Under a one team junior high school team,I don't think you would ever have that problem when you have four schools to chose from,not in 7th and 8th grade anyway...The junior high programs are there to prepare the kids to play at high school anyway,don't lose sight of that fact..I don't see why they shouldn't be playing together and under the high school system as early as possible...