Dobyns Bennett & the Playoffs

[where's the love?]

I want to say how proud I am of these young men who played thier hearts out this year. It saddens me to see these seniors go out this way. I couldn't agree more with scheduling being a problem. It would be worth playing excellent teams (Reg 2-5A, Maryville, Mo-West or good SW Virginia, or NC teams) in non conference to get ready for the playoffs. It would be great for these kids to face tougher competition and get them ready for the playoffs. I find it hard to believe that money would be an issue for DB to travel. DB is one of the few programs in the state that has a full stadium at every home game. Congradulations to these young men on a great season!

[rancher]

Well, I started this thread on a serious note but looks like I will have to break that just long enough to give out the "Mo Ron of the day award"

 

direwolfe...... You call my lead post drivel, then go on to make your own "drivel"

post. So you really think that the #1 ranked team in the state and #1 seed playing the unranked and #4 seed team and losing to that team in the opening round of the playoffs puts the Indians close to winning a State Championship? And how do you know the rest of the games would be close had the Indians stayed in it? All the playoff teams are very good teams? Science Hill ring a bell? just to name one.

You are probably half right about Clark but way off in the rest of your post. So the "Mo Ron or the day award" goes to......direwolfe

No Jaco you are the MORON and direwolfe is right. An excellent thread direwolfe.

[WaCoJaCo]

No Jaco you are the MORON and direwolfe is right. An excellent thread direwolfe.

 

I think direwolfe and rancher are the same person. Theres no way you could have two different people that stupid on the same thread.

[WaCoJaCo]

Anybody else want to attack me, or should we get back to the thread topic?

[ying_zi]

Now now, does this board really have to devolve into calling people stupid over...high school football? Let's take a deep breath here.

 

I've got to say, though, I don't think direwolf and rancher are off topic - if the discussion is, "Why can't DB pull out wins in the playoffs?" is there any reason not to question coaching decisions?

 

I'm a DB grad and one of the seniors is a relative of mine, so I occasionally lurk. But I had to un-lurk to say that I think it's very reasonable to question Clark's ability to caoch a team in the playoffs. Every year is the same story, certainly from at least when I started at DB. So is there a taboo against questioning Clark? A secret cabal I should know about?

 

Flame away, anonymous message-board types!

 

Actually, really: Why the Clark-love? I watch enough Friday Night Lights to know that when the team even thinks about losing, you're supposed to start putting "For Sale" signs in the coach's yard.

 

-cynical DB grad.

[DBGRAD70]

I hope we can all refrain from running each other down here. Can we not keep it constructive for once? Just once please. this is too important a topic to let it self destruct.

 

direwolf's comments are mostly fine. It is okay to question coach Clark. Perhaps direwolf would have muted how he said part of what he had to say if he knew the stress Coach Clark is under with illness in his family. But coaching should not be off limits and those things can be pointed out in a positive way.

 

And I really think this should be more than just a DB thread. It is a regional problem that we're talking about here isn't it. DB is just the immediate object in question.

 

So let's continue the discussion and thoughts. Maybe somebody will read the contents and something might gel so that something good comes out of all this.

[WaCoJaCo]

Actually, being called ignorant and misguided by direwolf is what drew the "stupid" coment and earned him/her the"Mo Ron of the day award" That and him/her's total misreading of my lead post.

 

Poor play calling was one point that I made to begin with. And that falls squarly on Clarks shoulders. It is really weird with him. He has great moments during a game and then real bonehead moments. The pass to Throp at the end was a great call. The next three play calls were a joke. And when it was all said and done, those last three calls lost the game.

[compusatman]

There is a mentality from about I guess the Joe Montanna era forward that in highschool if you don't throw the ball you are not going to win. It is evident in region 1 and 2 that this notion is prevalent. I think coaches get too caught up in the "Spread or Die" frame of mind. It was posted that Coach Clark made a major blunder by not powering his way into the end zone with his 'Dozers. I have only seen 2 scrimmages this summer and THS and SSHS this fall and I did not witness Clark get hypnotized into playing spread only. But, I will say that I think there is a definate need for any team to have a power running set just for balance. Not being at the Blount game I can't comment but it seems as though it was a no brainer. The need to utilize the power running set that is. I mean what you are saying is either it is always a coaching mistake or the players always cave in when the stakes are high. The fan base is there. The facilities are top notch. The community is supportive. The Band is Awsome. OK, coaches make bad calls sometimes. And players are human. How many games did DB sweat? I saw one. THS. DB finally blew them out but mostly because of THS's one dimensionalism. DB, in the first quarter was lost. They found themselves and regrouped but in the first period they did not have a trick. They were sort of shell shocked. If THS had more offensive sets to use then they would have been in the game. Except for one thing...there defensive backfield. That was the straw that broke their camels back...along with turnovers. What I'm saying is I saw the whole DB team freeze and not know what to do next. They finally got going but it was almost like they blew a fuse and did not have a replacement. Were there other close games like that? And did they react simalarly?

[DBGRAD70]

They finally got going but it was almost like they blew a fuse and did not have a replacement. Were there other close games like that? And did they react simalarly?

Yes, Bearden, Science Hill, Sevier Co. Any team that puts up a real fight, you might see that happen. It is a problem. Team or coaching? On the other hand, they have a real never give up determination which has been lacking in some past teams. That is why they won the Sevier Co. game. It's why Science Hill was stood up on the 1 yard line and never scored.

[WaCoJaCo]

compusatman, I think what you saw at the Tennessee High game was a team not prepared to play a game. Not in the right frame of mind. It took them a while to realize that Tennessee High had come to play and they finally woke up. This has also been a problem over the years that falls on the coaches shoulders. They seam to have no way to motivate the players. Either the players motivate themselves or they don't. You never see coaches up and down the DB bench fireing up the players. And most of the fans are just as dead. I hate to have to see players on the field waving their arms at the lazy fans trying to get them to make some noise.

 

When DB and Bearden played this year Clark went to the power running using Pappas in the forth quarter. He rushed for 60 yrds. in the forth quarter alone. That is what won the game for DB. Bearden had a bigger and stronger defensive line. So DB did have a power running game. I don't think Pappas had 10 carries the rest of the year, and only had 3 carries against WB. Go figure???

[Boonie]

I think most of us on here are guilty of coaching on Saturday morning. If the plays Coach Clark called had worked some would say he was a genius, since they didn't work in the end most of us second guess his play calling. I only saw DB twice, against Elizabethton and South. DB looked pretty impressive both times.

I can agree with most on here that with Pappas at fullback and Sylvester at tailback DB should be able to score on three tries from the five yard line on most anybody. We will never know since those plays weren't ran.

 

The two games I saw and with Riverdale being a little down ( maybe ) and Oak Ridge being way down from previous years led me to believe that the Tribe would get over the hump this year. And if they had hit the field goal, went to overtime and won the game maybe they would have won it all. Who knows.

 

Next year is a new season. You guys have a lot coming back and I would suspect you will go at least 8 - 2 and make the playoffs once again, you may even be 10 - 0 again. What next? I don't know why you don't win in the playoffs. Lots of reasons come to mind as possibilities but no one really knows for sure....looking past opponents, late season injuries, "cold weather" performance, not throwing anything new into the playbook for the playoffs, who knows?

 

Sometimes the best thing that can happen to a team is losing one in the regular season to show them they don't win just by showing up....I'm not saying this is the case but it could be part of it.

[1_and_1_make_2]

The pass to Throp at the end was a great call. The next three play calls were a joke. And when it was all said and done, those last three calls lost the game.

What if Josef would have dropped that pass, or Bo over threw him, would it still have been a great call. It was very gutsy, and now we compliment coach Clark for that call. But i agree with everyone about not using ANY player with a big frame for the last 3 plays. I sit and think in coach clark's shoes, and wonder why oh why not use Pappas who has trained for that moment since like the 7th grade. It makes no sense, it just makes no sense.