D2 - Class A Analysis

[genesis]

Interested in any insight anyone can share on the D2-A division for 2009 in terms of top teams and players.

 

East/Middle: Davidson Academy, DCA, Ezell-Harding, FRA, King's Academy, Mt. Juliet, St. Andrew's, Webb and Zion

 

West: Bishop Byrne, ECS, Fayette, FACS, Harding, JCS, Rossville, St. George's, SBEC, TRA, and USJ.

[rollredroll]

Conventional wisdom would say ECS from the West and Webb from the East/Middle.

 

I don't know what each program has coming back in 2009, but all other things being equal, those two would be where I would lean for the title game.

 

Of the West teams listed, ECS is clearly the best program of that bunch (and for all of DII-A for that matter).

[genesis]

Conventional wisdom would say ECS from the West and Webb from the East/Middle.

 

I don't know what each program has coming back in 2009, but all other things being equal, those two would be where I would lean for the title game.

 

Of the West teams listed, ECS is clearly the best program of that bunch (and for all of DII-A for that matter).

 

Thanks good info. Any players in the division that you have insight on as being on the D1 college recruiting radar?

[ReitzFan]

Conventional wisdom would say ECS from the West and Webb from the East/Middle.

 

I don't know what each program has coming back in 2009, but all other things being equal, those two would be where I would lean for the title game.

 

Of the West teams listed, ECS is clearly the best program of that bunch (and for all of DII-A for that matter).

 

 

Davidson Acadamy has to be the heavy favorite coming out of the middle/east. Afterall, since they moved to D2 at the beginning of the 2005 season, they have won the state championship 3 times in 4 tries. Their outstanding tailback, Justin Williams, returns for his junior year. I have seen this kid each of the last two years and there are very few, if any, better at this level. He will play at the next level.

 

In the west, there are 3 favorites in JCS, USJ, and ECS.

 

JCS made it to the third round of the D1-AA playoffs last season against schools much larger than themselves. They return alot of talent including QB Cody Jones. Jones threw for over 2000 yards last season. He was also a finalist for Mr. Football as a kicker during his sophmore season. They also return an outstanding wide out in Zach Parker. Noah Chandler is a talented junior who can do damage at multiple positions. Sophmore to be Drae Bowles can score any time he touches the football.

 

USJ will feature one of the very best QB's in all of West Tennessee in junior Jake Overby. He threw way over 2000 yards last season. He was at 2034 yards and 21 td's after just 7 weeks last season. I don't have his final numbers, but you can bet they were much higher than the ones I posted. Austin Martindale and Dusty Bright will return for their senior seasons at WR. Both have great hands and run good routes.

 

Sadly, I was not able to find out alot of information on ECS. But, they are dropping down from D2 AA and had a 7-3 record last season. Thus, they will be a force to be delt with in Class A.

 

Here are a few common opponant scores from last season that may be of interest.

 

ECS 42 Carver 6

JCS 35 Carver 14

 

ECS 26 Briarcrest 21

USJ 48 Briarcrest 12

 

USJ 22 JCS 21

[Trojan Fan]

Reitz appears to have a good handle on it.

 

My guess would be that ECS is a prohibitive favorite in the western district of of the West region. Size-wise (both school and players) they're just bigger than everybody else and had a very solid team last year in DII-AA (repeating what others have insightfully noted above). SBEC returns a lot and will likely be the 2nd pick in the preseason. QB Ryan Dubois was over 2,000 yards with, I think, around 30 TDs last year. Should be lots of balls in the air when JCS, USJ, and SBEC go at it this year. I see that all 3 are playing each other in the regular season. Harding will likely be salty but they lost a LOT of seniors of a very good team from last year so unless there are a lot of transfers in they'll almost assuredly drop off some this year. Marlon Brown was very, very good but he's not nearly the only senior they lost. FACS has more coming back than Harding but wasn't quite as good last year as HA, either. I expect those two will fight it out for #3 and likely still give SBEC a fight for #2. I'll give FACS the slight nod at #3 due to a little more experience coming back. Bishop Byrne, barring a lot of new transfers, is likely to have another challenging season but is still a very proud program. Never count them out but they are on a bit of a downswing the last couple of years.

 

I haven't seen JCS or USJ but all indications are that they'll both be very tough in the eastern district of the West region. St. George's was rebuilding last year...still need another year, I think, but I'd look for them to be surprisingly tough this year. Fayette likely battles it out with SGIS for 3rd place while Rossville and TRA are still likely building again this year before they can. It should be particularly interesting in this district with USJ, JCS, and Fayette all coming from DI football while the other 3 are coming from DII. Lots of new faces and locations to get used to. The western district (should we call it the "Memphis city" district? even though SBEC is in Mississippi just across the line and I'm not sure FACS is in the city limits or not) is pretty familiar with each other except for ECS.

 

I can't speak to the East nearly as well but the poster mentioning Davidson was right on. On the lines they were a bit bigger than the rest of DII-A last year and I don't know if they lost any linemen at all. In fact, I think they return all but about 4-5 players period from last year. The WR/K was awfully good but I don't think they lose much more. Now, I don't know about Webb's size on the lines but it may well be like ECS...just bigger as a bigger sized school usually is. I don't know much about the other schools in detail but nothing in comparative scores from last year makes me think that there's another school that's clearly better than DA or Webb in that region.

 

Question on Jake Overby. Is that Preston Overby the baseball player who's so highly touted?..or a brother? I'm looking forward to baseball next year to see that young man play.

[movinonup]

Question on Jake Overby. Is that Preston Overby the baseball player who's so highly touted?..or a brother? I'm looking forward to baseball next year to see that young man play.

 

 

 

Jake Overby is Preston's younger brother.

 

(Thanks for the great post----can't wait for the season to start ! )

[Yale Formation]

Is Riverside Christian from Fayetteville in the East/Middle Div. 2-A group?

[Trojan Fan]

Is Riverside Christian from Fayetteville in the East/Middle Div. 2-A group?

 

 

Yes. It says King's Academy in a post above but they are NOT competing for the playoffs in football. Replace them with Riverside. Great to have all the new east/middle teams joining up. I know DA has to be glad that their travel to Memphis has gone away. Those guys were real road warriors.

 

See the post below and scroll down for the most accurate description of who's in DII-A as well as the underlining to show who is playing football.

 

http://tennessee.coacht.com/boards/index.p...howtopic=187702

 

There was debate on whether or not the West would have a round robin 11-team region or divide into 2 districts. Everything I've been told points to two districts within the region but I never have seen it from a media outlet.

[PowerSweep]

Webb's line is very small and usually is always very small. However, with the Wing-T offense they run, their lineman really need to be quick and able to run because they do a lot of pulling and trapping.

 

Skill positions on offense for Webb are solid. They have a sophomore RB who rushed for over 1,000 as a freshman. They have 2-3 others who can really run and a very good fullback as well. QB is a returning Junior who has started since he was a freshman. They lost all of their line so young ones will have to step up.

 

Defense should be pretty solid as they return 2 of 3 LBs and 3 of 4 DBs. LBs can run and hit. One CB is proven the other will be young but athletic. The two Safeties are both seniors and are getting interest from small DI and DI-AA schools. Tall, rangy and athletic who like to hit.

 

Should be an interesting year for Webb if young lineman can step up on both sides of the ball.

[genesis]

Interesting link out of the Memphis paper. Only a handful of D2-A players listed on the Most Wanted list.

 

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/...anted-football/

[Trojan Fan]

Speaking of DII-A analysis for this year, who knows how the playoffs will be set up? I believe both West and East/Middle are split into two districts apiece for this year but I'm not 100% sure.

 

Will they take the top 2 from each district to get 8 playoff teams? I suppose they could take the districts champs and then the next 2 best region records so 1 district could have 3 teams and the other have 1 in each of the two regions.

 

Also wonder will they play only within the region before the state championship game or will they mix the playoffs b/w West and East/Middle with teams from the different regions playing each other in the 1st and 2nd rounds?

[ReitzFan]

Speaking of DII-A analysis for this year, who knows how the playoffs will be set up? I believe both West and East/Middle are split into two districts apiece for this year but I'm not 100% sure.

 

Will they take the top 2 from each district to get 8 playoff teams? I suppose they could take the districts champs and then the next 2 best region records so 1 district could have 3 teams and the other have 1 in each of the two regions.

 

Also wonder will they play only within the region before the state championship game or will they mix the playoffs b/w West and East/Middle with teams from the different regions playing each other in the 1st and 2nd rounds?

 

 

From what I understand, 12 teams will make the D2-A playoffs. 6 from the west and 6 from the middle/east. The #1 and #2 seeds from each side will receive first round byes in the playoffs. Based on the playoff calander on the TSSAA web site, this would be the only format that fits.