Whitehaven vs. Melrose

[kwc]

When I watched Melrose and MUS play earlier this year I didn't think either team would be all that great. Shows how much I know. Melrose has dominated since that game and MUS beat a great Olive Branch team.

 

I will have to favor Melrose also. Everyone in Orange Mound will be there.

 

 

RR:

 

Good to see you in the Whitehaven vs Melrose thread. This is definately a very good match-up. Both have the talenetd players and both have good coaching. I was hoping that this game would be on cable, but thay are going to show Briarcrest vs. Sheffield instead.

 

That MUS vs Melrose game you witnessed had two of the better defenses in that game. The Melrose QB still put up over 200 yards passing in that game. Make no mistake ... Whitehaven's 'D' is up to the task. Did you read the link to the article in today's Commercial appeal talking about the Middle LB for both schools? If you haven't, go check it out. Both are D-1 and will be playing on Saturdays next season.

[REBELRON]

I was very impressed with Greg King. Melrose has had some great linebackers the last few years. Javon McKinnon,Gregory Hardy and the young man that went to Miami.

 

 

Maryville has seen some good teams from 2004-2008 but no one was close to being as good as those Melrose teams were. I have never seen Maryville go up against a beter defense than what Melrose had. Those Maryville kids I talked to said they never been hit that hard in their life.

[kwc]

I was very impressed with Greg King. Melrose has had some great linebackers the last few years. Javon McKinnon,Gregory Hardy and the young man that went to Miami.

 

 

Maryville has seen some good teams from 2004-2008 but no one was close to being as good as those Melrose teams were. I have never seen Maryville go up against a beter defense than what Melrose had. Those Maryville kids I talked to said they never been hit that hard in their life.

 

 

RR:

 

That was a special team, and still Maryville won. As you know, I follow high school football in the City of Memphis and I have to agree ... that was one of the better teams Melrose has fielded when you add the little things that count like prepardness, determination, and disclipline. Those are attributes that could be directly linked to the head coach at that time, coach Ingram. I honestly have to say though; that wasn't the MOST TALENTED Melrose team. The teams fielded in the 90's that went to three straight championship games in a row while they were in 3A had more talent, in my humble opinion.

[REBELRON]

Losing Kenny Ingram hurt the Melrose program bigtime. Melrose would be going to Murfreesboro every year if Ingram was still coaching there.

 

I have been going to the State Championship games almost every year since 1993. I missed in 1994 and 2003. I watched the 2003 games on TV. I saw that 1996 Melrose team. I think Melrose was better on defense in 2004 and 2005. But! The 1996 team was way better offensively. Plus they had a great defense. Cedrick Wilson was a very special player. How many players have won a State Title in High School,National Championship in college and a Super Bowl in the NFL? Cedrick Wilson did that. I remember Cedrick ran a bootleg for a TD vs Tyner. He faked that Tyner player and made him look bad. I would have loved to seen Melrose and Brentwood Academy play that year.Cedrick Wilson is one of my favorite players to ever play at UT.

[kwc]

Losing Kenny Ingram hurt the Melrose program bigtime. Melrose would be going to Murfreesboro every year if Ingram was still coaching there.

 

I have been going to the State Championship games almost every year since 1993. I missed in 1994 and 2003. I watched the 2003 games on TV. I saw that 1996 Melrose team. I think Melrose was better on defense in 2004 and 2005. But! The 1996 team was way better offensively. Plus they had a great defense. Cedrick Wilson was a very special player. How many players have won a State Title in High School,National Championship in college and a Super Bowl in the NFL? Cedrick Wilson did that. I remember Cedrick ran a bootleg for a TD vs Tyner. He faked that Tyner player and made him look bad. I would have loved to seen Melrose and Brentwood Academy play that year.Cedrick Wilson is one of my favorite players to ever play at UT.

 

 

Just think. Cedrick wasn't the most recruited player from that team. Three guys from that team signed with UT. I can't remember right now the names of the other two players. One was a cornerback, who was the #2 recruit in the state that year. The other was a WR who lastd one year and flunked out because he wouldn't apply himself. Both were considered HIGHER in recruiting then Cedrick. If memory serves me correctly, I think Fulmer had to be convinced to sign Cedrick ... because Ced was signed as a QB and not a WR. Cedrick lasted at QB for one year. There was Peyton Manning and Tee Martin to contend with. He switched to WR and never looked back.

[Rob_M]

Just think. Cedrick wasn't the most recruited player from that team. Three guys from that team signed with UT. I can't remember right now the names of the other two players. One was a cornerback, who was the #2 recruit in the state that year. The other was a WR who lastd one year and flunked out because he wouldn't apply himself. Both were considered HIGHER in recruiting then Cedrick. If memory serves me correctly, I think Fulmer had to be convinced to sign Cedrick ... because Ced was signed as a QB and not a WR. Cedrick lasted at QB for one year. There was Peyton Manning and Tee Martin to contend with. He switched to WR and never looked back.

 

 

 

Let's see If I can test my memory a little here..... I believe that Andre Lott was the DB from Melrose that you are talking about. He ended up being all SEC at Tennessee and had a cup of coffee in the NFL. The WR is a little tougher to recollect.... Was It Kevin Woods?

[REBELRON]

Andre Lott and Kevin Taylor. When I saw Kevin Taylor I thought he would light it up at UT. He was awesome in the state title game vs Tyner. He had 200yds receiving.

 

Other studs that played for Melrose from 1996-98 were

 

Kindall Morehead. Alabama

Antoine Lias. Kentucky

David Payne. Signed with Bama but never made it.

Dwayne Robinson. Kentucky

Mondre Dickerson. UT

[Rob_M]

Andre Lott and Kevin Taylor. When I saw Kevin Taylor I thought he would light it up at UT. He was awesome in the state title game vs Tyner. He had 200yds receiving.

 

Other studs that played for Melrose from 1996-98 were

 

Kindall Morehead. Alabama

Antoine Lias. Kentucky

David Payne. Signed with Bama but never made it.

Dwayne Robinson. Kentucky

Mondre Dickerson. UT

 

 

 

Kevin Taylor... That's right Ron... Thanks for the reminder. KT was caught in a numbers game in Knoxville and wasn't committed enough to the game of football to compete for PT. He was looking up on the depth chart at Joey Kent, and Marcus Nash two of the most accomplished college WR's in Vol History.

[kwc]

Andre Lott and Kevin Taylor. When I saw Kevin Taylor I thought he would light it up at UT. He was awesome in the state title game vs Tyner. He had 200yds receiving.

 

Other studs that played for Melrose from 1996-98 were

 

Kindall Morehead. Alabama

Antoine Lias. Kentucky

David Payne. Signed with Bama but never made it.

Dwayne Robinson. Kentucky

Mondre Dickerson. UT

 

 

Actually, Antoine Lias never made it to Kentucky.

[kwc]

Man oh Man oh Man. WHAT A GAME! I know Melrose fans aren't too happy with the outcome but THAT was a DEFENSIVE BATTLE. Melrose won the stats game. According to the Commercial appeal; Melrose's QB Tromarcus Toney's stats were as follows: 16 comp., 27 attemps, 178 yards, 1 interception. Melrose's RB, Marcus Nash had 109 yards on 13 carries. The Melrose WR's ... Justin Calhoun: 3 catches for 33 yards; Darell Washington: 5 catches for 53 yards, and Mike Porter: 4 catches for 54 yards. After all of that ... Whitehaven held them to one TD. The first half ended scoreless even though Melrose got into the Witehaven red zone three times. Awesome .... awesome game. Whitehaven mounted the scoring drive it needed when it mattered. BOTH defenses are AWESOME! Man ... talk about some hard hitting! I saw Melrose's MLB, Greg King just waylay one of our players on the sideline. I was surprised the young man got up. WHEW! Big props to thw Whitehaven OL and the OC for calling the right plays at the right time.

 

After the game I was talking to a fellow alumn when the LSU rb coach stopped to talk to my friend. I didn't ask the coach who he was there to see because I wasn't aquainted with him but when he left I asked my friend. He wasn't too sure who he was there to look at exactly but he said that he was interested in the MLB. I was like which one? He said, I'm not sure. I'm sure this game was stratigically selected so he could see guys from both teams and make evaluations. It's always good to see the coaches from the universities at the games. I'm thinking he was there to see the Melrose MLB even though the Whitehaven MLB is a D-1 player himself.

 

Anyway ... that was a classic. Two major high school programs slugging it out. This game can only make BOTH teams stronger. Great .... great .... great competition. I'm glad Melrose and Whitehaven play each other. Even though one has to lose ... it's a win-win situation in my book because both schools are two of the best in the state. It gets you prepared for region play and it carries over into the post season. I hope this series NEVER ends!

 

Man ... swarming defenses ... Man!

[TraderB]

Man oh Man oh Man. WHAT A GAME! I know Melrose fans aren't too happy with the outcome but THAT was a DEFENSIVE BATTLE. Melrose won the stats game. According to the Commercial appeal; Melrose's QB Tromarcus Toney's stats were as follows: 16 comp., 27 attemps, 178 yards, 1 interception. Melrose's RB, Marcus Nash had 109 yards on 13 carries. The Melrose WR's ... Justin Calhoun: 3 catches for 33 yards; Darell Washington: 5 catches for 53 yards, and Mike Porter: 4 catches for 54 yards. After all of that ... Whitehaven held them to one TD. The first half ended scoreless even though Melrose got into the Witehaven red zone three times. Awesome .... awesome game. Whitehaven mounted the scoring drive it needed when it mattered. BOTH defenses are AWESOME! Man ... talk about some hard hitting! I saw Melrose's MLB, Greg King just waylay one of our players on the sideline. I was surprised the young man got up. WHEW! Big props to thw Whitehaven OL and the OC for calling the right plays at the right time....Man ... swarming defenses ...

 

 

KWC,

 

I agree--great game.

 

With an eye towards the post-season (I think it's a safe bet that both these teams will make the playoffs), I have several observations about these two teams, relative to the areas that need improvement:

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Melrose has 4 critical areas:

 

 

1) Red Zone offense ...... Horrible! Unimaginative.

 

Three empty trips deep into the opponent's red zone is unacceptable, especially against a quality opponent such as Whitehaven. Melrose had the same issues vs MUS, with (if my memory is working) 2 empty trips...You MUST be able to run the ball, blow people off the ball, once in the red zone.

 

At the very least, Melrose needs to develop a stable of "trick" plays for use in those situations....Currently, Melrose is absolutely TOO PREDICTABLE and unproductive!

 

Suggestion: Melrose should get in touch with that Coach Quarles guy, from Maryville!!

 

He seems to be a TRICK-PLAY MASTER, having unleashed quite a few, effective "Red Zone Trick Plays." He might be able to spare a couple, with the agreement that Melrose does NOT use them against Maryville, should the two teams meet up.../roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

 

Hey, RebelRon---Can you get in touch with Coach Q, for Melrose??? /roflol.gif" style="vertical-align:middle" emoid=":roflol:" border="0" alt="roflol.gif" />

 

 

 

2) OL run blocking. Poor.

 

Melrose's OL coaches need to quickly get back to the drawing board & work on improving the OL's run-blocking techniques/schemes! They were terrible vs MUS. They were horrible vs Whitehaven. I mean....we're talking about an OL that averages around 260-270! With that kind of size, they should be blowing everybody off the line of scrimmage!

 

 

3) CONSISTENT running game. Non-existent.

 

Melrose would be 4-0, not 2 wins/2 losses....While Melrose's lack of a kicking is always an issue, I maintain that if Melrose possessed a half-way decent running game then they would likely have scored at least 1-extra TD in each of its losing games.... I mean, they were INSIDE the 5-yard line twice vs MUS, and twice more vs Whitehaven....NOT a single TD to show for it, just a bunch of incomplete passes.

 

4) Kicking Game . Non-existent....

 

Given Melrose's ability to get INTO the red zone (although frequently failing to score), a kicker would easily be be Melrose's leading scorer.

 

Unless Melrose can correct these 4 things, at least the first 3, then they're gonna' have a difficult time advancing past the 1st round of the playoffs.

 

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Whitehaven has only one, possibly two areas that need improvement.

 

 

1) Passing game. Poor.

 

Should this Whitehaven team develop some simblance of a passing game, they could very well make a deep run into the playoffs. Currently, the passing game is pathetic, IMO. The QB appears a very tenative and woefully inaccurate.....This puts entirely too much pressure on the running game, allowing defenses to "key" the run.

 

It would be a crime and shame for Whitehaven to waste its Championship-caliber defense, all because of a sub-par passing game!

 

 

2) Running game. Acceptable.

 

While Whitehaven's running game (and ENTIRE offense, for that matter) was pathetic during the 1st-half vs Melrose, I must give credit to Whitehaven's coaching staff....They OBVIOUSLY made key adjustments to its running schemes, and moved the ball much more effectively in the 2nd-half. They put together a Championship-caliber drive, aided exclusively by the run, to score the game-wining TD.

 

I won't be too critical of Whitehaven's running game because Melrose's defense, while not a stingy as last year, is STILL formidable. Therefore, it's likely a safer bet to credit Melrose's run-defense for CAUSING Whitehaven's impotence.

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While Melrose may have dominated the stats last night vs Whitehaven, stats do not win ballgames! Defense and Execution win ballgames. Both defenses did outstanding jobs.

 

Whitehaven executed when it mattered most--in the Red Zone and down the stretch.

 

Melrose did not.... That's why they lost.....TWICE!

[MarkH]

When I watched Melrose and MUS play earlier this year I didn't think either team would be all that great. Shows how much I know. Melrose has dominated since that game and MUS beat a great Olive Branch team.

 

I will have to favor Melrose also. Everyone in Orange Mound will be there.

 

 

Ron,

 

Olive Branch is not a great team. They are a very good offensive team with a pretty poor defense.