MBA @ Ensworth

[AverageJoe90]

What's everyones thoughts and predictions on the game? A buddy and I are trying to find a competitive and good game every week to go to. Would this be a game worth attending?

[bellringer83]

What's everyones thoughts and predictions on the game? A buddy and I are trying to find a competitive and good game every week to go to. Would this be a game worth attending?

MBA defense has 2 shutouts and EHS did not show much O vs Oakland.

MBA offense has not been very impressive in 1st 2 games.

 

I wouldn't go if you want to see a high-scoring affair but it should be a hard-fought game.

 

EHS has to be doubly smarting after their playoff loss to MBA last year and after the opening loss to Oakland. They had high hopes to compete for the title last year. Both teams are playing a lot of inexperienced players.

 

Has anyone heard if Antonio recovered during the week off? Did EHS make any changes to stimulate their offense?

 

I think that MBA was somewhat intimidated by EHS until the playoff victory last year. They are much more confident this year.

[VandyHoosiers]

Bowers said Richardson was hurt but not injured so I'm sure he'll be in the starting lineup.

[doct]

What's everyones thoughts and predictions on the game? A buddy and I are trying to find a competitive and good game every week to go to. Would this be a game worth attending?

I think MBA runs away with this one. I don't see it being close. MBA has a terrific defense and is coached as well as any program in the state. Their depth will wear down EHS, MBA's numbers become a real factor in this game. In fact, MBA's 2 wins over Pearl Cohn and MHS are very impressive, and solidify them as Div II's best so far. I say MBA by 21.

[allabouttheO]

We have seen both of these teams, one in preseason and the other in week 0. I would say MBA will take this over in the second half.

[KWoodroof]

What's everyones thoughts and predictions on the game? A buddy and I are trying to find a competitive and good game every week to go to. Would this be a game worth attending?

It will be competitive, and you'll see two well-coached teams. The last three games between these two have been pretty wild. Rivalry football, however, is not always pretty.

[MidTennFootball]

Having seen both teaams, I would say that unless Ensworth got dramatically better in the bye week, they are going to have a rough go of it. My prediction is MBA 21 Ensworth 7

[big red big blue]

Ricky has not been the coach he was at MBA when he was guiding the Big Red to titles in '98, '99, and '00. His abysmal coaching performance against MBA in the play-offs last year will go down as one of the most inexplicably horrible jobs I have ever seen in a meaningful football game from a well-regarded coach. But even before that, I've been genuienly unimpressed with his play-calling and overall strategy, dating back to the first MBA-EHS game when he refused to abandon the shotgun even as the center kept launching the ball over the QB's head. I'm not really sure if MBA brings out the best or worst in Ricky. He has a shot at redemption this week, but won't have all of that firepower in the backfield he had last year.

 

Coach McGugin at MBA is simply the better coach right now. He has managed personnel and changed his philosophy to meet the strengths of the team and find ways to match up with the opponents. His first team, the undefeated title team, was essentially a "3 yards and a cloud of dust" special teams/defense first squad. When Wise took over at QB, he changed to a more wide open approach. Now we are seeing more of what worked in '07....defense, ST's, and running game.

 

Early pick is 10-0 MBA.

[cbg]

Ricky has not been the coach he was at MBA when he was guiding the Big Red to titles in '98, '99, and '00. His abysmal coaching performance against MBA in the play-offs last year will go down as one of the most inexplicably horrible jobs I have ever seen in a meaningful football game from a well-regarded coach. But even before that, I've been genuienly unimpressed with his play-calling and overall strategy, dating back to the first MBA-EHS game when he refused to abandon the shotgun even as the center kept launching the ball over the QB's head. I'm not really sure if MBA brings out the best or worst in Ricky. He has a shot at redemption this week, but won't have all of that firepower in the backfield he had last year.

 

Coach McGugin at MBA is simply the better coach right now. He has managed personnel and changed his philosophy to meet the strengths of the team and find ways to match up with the opponents. His first team, the undefeated title team, was essentially a "3 yards and a cloud of dust" special teams/defense first squad. When Wise took over at QB, he changed to a more wide open approach. Now we are seeing more of what worked in '07....defense, ST's, and running game.

 

Early pick is 10-0 MBA.

 

IMO, Ricky Bowers is still a very good high school football coach. When he was at MBA he had around 600 boys to select from and did he not have 3 players end up playing in the NFL? How many high school teams have 3 future NFL players not to mention several college players all playing on the same team. Not to make excuses but now he has some very good players but his team has little to no depth due to only having around 200 boys in the high school. High school football at the highest level is a numbers game and other than CBHS I am not sure that any team in D2AA has more boy's than MBA. One other thing that people must remember is that Ensworth has only had 3 classes graduate. It takes time for a school to establish a reputation both good & bad for academics and athletics. The most difficult thing to do in sports in not getting to the championship level but staying @ the championship level for a long period of time. Look for Ensworth to have a couple of years where they are not on top of D2 but they will return to have very strong teams.

[rollredroll]

And therein lies the rub, cbg.

 

Yes, it does take time for a school to establish a reputation both good and bad for academics and athletics. And yet, MBA supporters were taken to task years ago as EHS was coming on the scene by conjecturing that the ramp-up period to reach MBA’s “level†(whatever that level is) would take years and years, in the face of “We’re going to be better than MBA in no time flat.â€

 

It seems rather convenient now to make it a time issue.

 

A Tennessean quote attributed to the EHS side after the 2007 loss to MBA was something very close to the effect of, “They’ve played 1,000 games; we’ve played six.†I don’t recall any quotes after the 2008 and 2009 EHS regular season wins to the effect of, “We’ve just pulled a miracle, beating a school three times our size and which has been around 130+ years longer.â€

 

It seems rather convenient now also to make it a depth issue.

 

Of the original Super 7, MBA has always been the fourth largest, behind CBHS, McCallie, and Father Ryan. MUS is fifth largest, Baylor sixth, and Brentwood Academy seventh of those original seven teams. The TSSAA enrollment logs from the 2001-2005 and 2005-2009 classification periods will support these rankings based on size.

 

cbg, given the infancy of EHS and its small size, what is your opinion as to how EHS has performed thus far?

Edited August 30, 2010 by rollredroll

[big red big blue]

you are right, RRR: that dog don't hunt, though to be sure we'll see him out in the fields the next few weeks.

 

When you beat MBA, one of the winningest programs in the history of the state, by a combined score of 91-49 in years 2 and 3 of varsity football, the idea of "cute cuddly overachieving upstart" is no longer relevant. In year 3 of varsity football they also knocked off powerhouses Oakland, Smyrna, and BA. How many titles do those victims of EHS' 3rd varsity team have from 2005+ among them?

 

I know RB is/was a great coach, just hard to imagine that he, whatever superior Xs/Os skill he possesses, could assemble one of the best teams in the state in just 3 years, especially as a I private school without a defined zone of kids to draw from (left one right on a tee for you, shakinthefat...don't disappoint me, now).

[cbg]

And therein lies the rub, cbg.

 

Yes, it does take time for a school to establish a reputation both good and bad for academics and athletics. And yet, MBA supporters were taken to task years ago as EHS was coming on the scene by conjecturing that the ramp-up period to reach MBA’s “level†(whatever that level is) would take years and years, in the face of “We’re going to be better than MBA in no time flat.â€

 

It seems rather convenient now to make it a time issue.

 

A Tennessean quote attributed to the EHS side after the 2007 loss to MBA was something very close to the effect of, “They’ve played 1,000 games; we’ve played six.†I don’t recall any quotes after the 2008 and 2009 EHS regular season wins to the effect of, “We’ve just pulled a miracle, beating a school three times our size and which has been around 130+ years longer.â€

 

It seems rather convenient now also to make it a depth issue.

 

Of the original Super 7, MBA has always been the fourth largest, behind CBHS, McCallie, and Father Ryan. MUS is fifth largest, Baylor sixth, and Brentwood Academy seventh of those original seven teams. The TSSAA enrollment logs from the 2001-2005 and 2005-2009 classification periods will support these rankings based on size.

 

cbg, given the infancy of EHS and its small size, what is your opinion as to how EHS has performed thus far?

 

Let's understand one thing: I am not for or against Ensworth & Ricky Bowers. IMO, Ricky is a good high school football coach & Ensworth has done very well for a new program. Very few schools could have accomplished what the Ensworth athletic program has in such a short period of time.

 

These are the numbers that I could find:

Christian Brothers: 801 students in grades 9-12(all male)

Father Ryan: 858 students in grades 9-12(429 males)

McCallie: 890 students in grades 9-12(220 boarding) (all male)

Baylor: 708 students in grades 9-12 (354 males) (102 male boarding)

Montgomery Bell Academy: 589 students in grades 9-12 (all male)