Battleground Academy 2009-2010

[sportshooter]

Giles County looked good and has a stud at QB. Ole Miss is interested in him. Their defense kept 8 in the box and came after BGA. It was a mismatch in the first scrimmage. After a long break the teams came back and scrimmaged again for an hour simulating real game conditions with their number 1 teams. BGA looked like a different team in the second scrimmage and drove the field to tie it at 7-7 when the scrimmage ended.

 

BGA is very young and made a lot of mistakes in the first scrimmage. I bet we see a lot of improvement in their next scrimmage at Blackman next Wednesday.

[bluegoldwhiteblack]

BGA vs. Blackman

 

BGA played a much better scrimage against Blackman yesterday. on the opening drives both teams took the ball into the endzone, BGA's on a long drive and Blackman on a big TD run up the middle. As the game went on both defenses started to stop the opposing offense although BGA had too many turnovers. and going into the halftime Blackman led 14-7. After the break was over both defenses shut down the opposing offenses until a third and 11 for Blackman when they dialed up a screen pass and took it to the house. Then the 2nd teams of both schools went in and BGA drove it straight down the field inside the blackman 5 yd line but could not get in and Blackman took over on downs so the varsity portion of the scrimmage ended in a 21-7 advantage to Blackman.

[sportshooter]

BGA's last scrimmage took place last night vs. Independence. This was normal game conditions other than the whistle was blown before contact with the kick returners. BGA coaches stayed on the sidelines vs. being on the field with the players. Indy coaches called plays from the field. Point being this was as close to a real game as you will find in a scrimmage. The first teams played for three quarters and the score was 14-14. This is very encouraging for BGA as compared to their first two scrimmages vs. Giles and Blackman. There was a light rain most of the scrimmage and BGA's first team offense did not have a turnover. BGA has issues on defense. The D had trouble stopping Indy on third and long and gave up several long runs. I am concerned that BGA is too small at linebacker and safety to stop the run. Open field tackling has been poor. I hope the coaches will address this before next Friday's opener. Otherwise, I think it will be a long day vs. the two RB's at Franklin.

[AP.battleground.59]

As biased as this opinion is, I fully believe if the FHS/BGA game were played last year it would have been more fun/epic/etc (both finished in the top 25 in the state last year) and BGA would've won But alas, I wasn't lucky enough to get to play in this rivalry, so...

 

BGA lost alot of fire power from last year on both O and D, but every new starter that was forced to step up played well. The front seven on defense really impressed me the most. Loeffel will be great at linebacker (he was the one player that seemed to consistently be running downhill and making great reads versus the run). The secondary is very small, which worries me in region play though.

 

I think Thomson did everything he could have, especially in his first start, so that is really encouraging for the future (if the interception went to any other player for Franklin, BGA would have won). It looked like they leaned very heavily on roll outs to pass, which will be harder, again, in region play to execute, and the lack of a downfield threat at receiver will cause issues. Bass made plays all night, and Moore coming back will just add to his explosiveness.

 

I think, by the end of the season, this game will prove to be more the product of Franklin rebuilding than BGA being really good, but regardless, this really erased alot of doubts about this year and the future. A ton of sophomores are going both ways, and plenty of freshman got meaningful playing time. QB seems to be in good hands, and it finally seems like they settled on a defensive scheme that can be used every single week by switching to a 3-4 (which eliminates the size disadvantage). The coaching staff seemed to adjust perfectly to having different personnel for the first time in two years, and as always, throwing youth into the fire just strengthens the the future. I still see BGA going 4-7 (beating Marshall Co, Pearl Cohn, Ryan, and JPII) and then losing in the opening round of the playoffs. I think Baylor, McCallie, BA, EHS, and MBA will be a little out of their league this year, but BGA will fight and definitely have a chance in every single game. And in the end, a 4-7 rebuilding year with a strong base for the future may prove moving to DII-AA as a good idea. Good luck the rest of the year guys.

[Johnboy]

BGA moved up for the opportunity to play the best competition in the state. The coaches all wanted the opportunity to enrich the student athletes. The school did benefit monitairy. Than normally goes hand in hand. BGA was not a fottbal power at the time of the move. With time Tim Johnson and his coaches will deliver a state championship to this proud institution. Kurt Page tried to get the Board and administration to buy into the belief that BGA can compete in every sport while maintaining educational integrity.

 

This is a great move by this proud institution.