11AA

[ksgovols]

I know there's an '11' thread back on page 6 somewhere, but for clarity before the season starts, I thought I might start a 11AA thread that's a little easier to find.

 

After realignment this district will have Creekwood and Montgomery Central on the 4A side of things and Camden, Cheatham County, Harpeth, Waverly and Stewart County on the 3A side.

 

Putting on the pads next Monday (27th). How does everybody look?

 

This is Harpeth's best shot at the playoffs in Coach Loope's era. They have a senior dominated O-line plus senior qb Jeremy Roark and senior wr Perry Horkins. I'd say this is the most depth that Harpeth has had in awhile too. I look for them to make a strong push for the playoffs this season.

[OutofBounds]

Harpeth should be strong this year. Got their offensive coordinator back from 2 & 3 years ago and they will do lots of things from different sets. Defensively, they will be stronger than in the past year or two. I look for them to make a playoff run.

 

From what I have read, Camden appears to be the favorite in the new district alignment. I hear they only lost a handful of players on both sides of the ball. I am also hearing that CreekWood should be pretty strong as they didn't lose very many players from a year ago. As for Cheatham Co., I know they have a strong line and running game, but I hear they are completely rebuilding their receiving corp and their defensive secondary with young players. Stewart County lost some size from last year's squad, but they still have a good nucleus of speed. Waverly, from what I hear, is completely rebuilding because of so many lost players from a year ago. I hear the new Mont Central coach is starting to get his team dialed in to be more competitive and its still in process.

 

Camden it appears is the odds on favorite from the 3A side for the playoffs with contenders being Harpeth, Stewart Co, and Cheatham Co. CreekWood probably has a lock on the 4A spot before the season ever starts.

[BoardHater71]

Creek Wood was the coaches pick to win the district. They return a bunch of players from last year's team. Camden is the choice in 3A. They too have a lot of returning players from a team that had a stellar regular season last fall. Both Harpeth & Waverly Central return a good core of players from a year ago as well. Stewart Co. & Cheatham Co. will be looking to rebuild their teams as graduation hit both pretty hard. Montgomery Central returns the majority of their players and a new coach is supposedly bringing a lot of optimism to their program.

 

Every week teams are going to have to come ready to play in this district because from top-to-bottom it's going to be very competitive!

[Lions4ever]

Camden will be alot stronger and faster on both sides of the ball compared to last season, but they will also be somewhat untested at some key positions on both lines and RB. But with alot more offensive weapons, I expect the offense to open up in a way it hasn't for the last few years. If our OC uses what he has to its greatest potential...this'll be an offense that will be hard to contain. But of course that is all speculation at this point...

The season can't get here fast enough for me. Looking forward to the new region and also the return of McKenzie and Bruceton to the schedule. Right out of the gate McKenzie should give Camden all they want...it'll be quite the lithmus test for these young Lions.

 

Good Luck to all this season...

[OutofBounds]

This is the year that many Harpeth insiders predicted the team (going back 3 years) to be a serious contender for the playoffs. There was disappointment with last year's 2008 team due to a wholesale offensive re-alignment from 2007. Had the coaching change not been so dramatic for this group, the 4-6 campaign of 2008 could have been quite different. Having said that, the team essentially lost a year offensively when it should have been a stepping stone toward this season. Harpeth basically went away from building their offense around their personnel in favor of trying to fit their personnel into a new offensive scheme. Plain and simply, it didn't work. This year, however, they are getting back to building their offense around their personnel.......and it should show right off the bat. Predictability was a problem in 2008 and it won't be a problem this year. On offense, they lose only 2 offensive starters from a year ago, and 3 on the defensive side. The nucleus offensively and defensively is still intact and they are loaded with 2, 3, and 4 year starters. The Harpeth defense showed huge improvements toward the latter half of 2008, and the defensive unit will be able to do some things this year they haven't been able to do in the past. It should be an exciting year for the Harpeth fans who have waited a long time for this season to arrive.

[ksgovols]

I agree OutofBounds, it was the wrong year to bring in a run oriented offense and it took too long to get out of it in time to make the playoffs. Losses to Waverly and East Robertson early in the year come to mind. Last year's squad should have been 6-4 at a minimum.

 

More depth on the O-line and D-line would be great, but I'm sure that's the case most everywhere.

 

This is the year. Lot of seniors and behind them a small junior class and then a talented sophomore class. Don't know much about the freshmen yet.

[BoardHater71]

I agree OutofBounds, it was the wrong year to bring in a run oriented offense and it took too long to get out of it in time to make the playoffs. Losses to Waverly and East Robertson early in the year come to mind. Last year's squad should have been 6-4 at a minimum.

 

More depth on the O-line and D-line would be great, but I'm sure that's the case most everywhere.

 

This is the year. Lot of seniors and behind them a small junior class and then a talented sophomore class. Don't know much about the freshmen yet.

 

 

Waverly Central has a lot coming back this year also. Hale, Bercik, and Fuller are all returning players who posted some good numbers on a playoff team a year ago. I'm not so sure they are going to take kindly to you referring to them as a game Harpeth "should have" won a year ago.

 

Hickman Co. will be rebuilding altogether and this is a game I suspect Harpeth to win right out of the gate this upcoming season. The next 7 games for the Indians will all be "toss ups" in my opinion. Camden, East Robertson, Creek Wood, Fairview, Waverly, Cheatham, & Jo Byrns make up that span of games. If Harpeth can survive that span of games then they'll be a playoff team. I do know that it won't be "easy" by any means.

[ksgovols]

The Indians were leading in both of those games in the 4th quarter catfish. Those are games you feel like you have a shot at winning and Waverly lost most of their O-line as I recall.

[BoardHater71]

I am not disputing that fact at all. Last year in week six Cheatham Co. dominated their matchup against Marshall Co. The Cubs rushed for more than 300 yards while Marshall Co. could not seem to get much of anything going on offense for 90% of the night. 3 big plays (all on 3rd or 4th down & 10+ yards) + 1 costly turnover late propelled Marshall Co. to a win. That win is what landed Marshall Co. in the playoffs and at the same time that loss is what cost Cheatham Co. a trip to the playoffs for what would have been a 7th consecutive year.

[Hoganknows]

Hogan would put Camden and Creek Wood as the teams to beat.

 

Cheatham Co., Harpeth and Waverly as spoliers.

 

Stewart Co. and Mont. Central as outsiders looking in.

[OutofBounds]

Don't think anyone can argue that Camden and CreekWood are the 11AA District favorites in 3A and 4A, respectively. I also think that Waverly, Harpeth, Cheatham are your primary contenders for runner-up on the 3A side, but don't know that I see them necessarily as spoliers unless possibly to each other. I still wouldn't underestimate Stewart County and the role they will play. They could potentionally be in the prime spot to play the role of spoiler for the 3A runner up teams. None of the 3A teams in the District can overlook any other 3A team with certainty and expect to cruise into the playoffs. At a glance, I definitely don't see any 3A vs 3A blowouts among this group, and there certainly aren't any Loretto's here for sure. These game are going to be tight and to the wire for the most part IMO.

[ksgovols]

I would say the district will be more competitive top to bottom than the last district which had Hickman Co. and Lewis Co. heads and shoulders above the rest and Loretto and East Hickman that played for their 1 win of the season against each other.

 

There should be a little more parity in this district and the rivalries will mean a whole bunch more since it's the same as basketball and baseball. The gates will be bigger and the atmosphere should be better. I don't think it's going to translate to post season success necessarily, but the regular season is going to be tons better than I can ever remember it. The 8 fans that are going to miss the Loretto trip will be disappointed, but it's a big picture sort of thing.

 

For a change, I think TSSAA got this thing right.