Baylor vs Ensworth for State Championship

[owlbooster]

Congrats to Ensworth, best high school team in the state of Tennessee, that money can buy.

What a nice sportsmanlike compliment! You must be from East Tennessee, Blount County perhaps???

[baylorbigdog1976]

Ensworth has great players but they also have hands down the best coach in football to go along with it. I would say talent wise BA has had the most athletes on a football team the past two years ... Even this year, I thought BA would be a better match up for Ensworth because of the speed on their team. What Ricky Bowers does so well is he Gets the most out of what he has and the kids really play hard for him but he also is a mastermind when it comes to game planning against a team. Many coaches run the same offense regardless of the other team or game situation but he prepares for teams similar to how a coach would prepare in the NFL or a major college. A pure genius who could coach in major college if he wanted. I just hung up the phone with a friend who knows Ricky well and he laughed when I told him the score and without corn elder ... He just said typical Bowers... Gets beat by a team early in the year then comes back and picks them apart.

[owlbooster]

Ensworth has great players but they also have hands down the best coach in football to go along with it....

Can't disagree. Won without Richardson last year and Elder this year. However, he did strike out when Jefferson and Darkwa were there.

[owlbooster]

Ensworth has great players but they also have hands down the best coach in football to go along with it....

Can't disagree. Won without Richardson last year and Elder this year. However, he did strike out when Jefferson and Darkwa were there.

[shakinthefat]

You have to stop Elder to win

Whoops... YOU HAVE TO STOP RICO TO WIN!

Ensworth deserves the championship. Baylor seemed nervous, shell shocked after 1st 5 min, and the defense was soft. Ricky is tough to beat twice in one year.

Ensworth can go ahead and reserve the buses to Cookeville again next year.

[Chicago]

Best game EHS has played all year.

The offensive line executed well all night.

QB and backs did a great job.

And the defense came up with some big plays to keep Baylor out of the picture.

[baylorbigdog1976]

Well it will not be a cakewalk but I woul agree. Baylor loses 14 of their starters and ensworth only has 10 seniors. BA has a young team but they do lose the meat of their line. BA should be excellent at the skill positions but the coaching is the trump card. Not sure about MBA but hopefully we will have competitive football again next year. This was baylors best shot in decades, just ran up against a motivated , well coached team. Great year for d 2 football though !

[jon26]

After the fast start and big plays by Ensworth...Baylor could just not get it going. Kudos to Ensworth for winning the championship. They certainly played like champions. Hope Corn Elder is ok. They did not miss a beat with #7 playing in his place. Disappointing way to end an otherwise fantastic season for Baylor.

[Hoganknows]

What a nice sportsmanlike compliment! You must be from East Tennessee, Blount County perhaps???

 

Nope, Hogan lives 10 minutes from the campus

[deadaim]

Whoops... YOU HAVE TO STOP RICO TO WIN!

Ensworth deserves the championship. Baylor seemed nervous, shell shocked after 1st 5 min, and the defense was soft. Ricky is tough to beat twice in one year.

Ensworth can go ahead and reserve the buses to Cookeville again next year.

I got the opportunity to watch this game in person and you get to see some things that perhaps are not shown on television. First, the first play on offense for Ensworth was brilliant- run the stretch right to Elder, hide the fullback and hand him the ball- Baylor bought the flow and the only defensive player between the line of scrimmage and beulah land- a linebacker- had committed to the stretch and could not make the tackle. Seven points before you could take a breath. Next a kill shot on a naked bootleg that should have been anticipated by Baylor as Ensworth went for the jugular was dropped for a touchdown. No problem for EHS as Elder goes untouched next play for six. The called quarterback draws were excellent and Baylor could never get on the edge with its linebackers to stop the stretch- the few times it did the cut back lane was wide open.

 

I thought the keys to the game were:

1. Although Baylor was delivered a knockout punch, it got back up and flipped the field on Ensworth. Baylor, which had established a ground game, then went three and out on three passes. The first was dropped after a big hit on the sidelines. They then called two more passes which failed. I thought that was a mistake.

 

2. Baylor never blocked the Ensworth middle linebacker who made many tackles.

 

3. Baylor blew two touchdowns when wide open receivers were overthrown on dual sprint routes when the Ensworth safeties blew the coverage. This would have kept it close when it mattered.

 

4. Corey Batey shut down Baylor's very fine receiver number 7.

 

5.Ensworth was reckless in the way they played. I mean that in a positive way. Bowers had a career game too.

 

6. Speed and big hits are killer.

 

7. The score would have been worse with Elder in as many times the cutback lane was open. Elder usually hits it and the excellent Ensworth second string back did not.

 

8. The Baylor adjustment at half out of its 3-3 stack, which has served them well this year, to a five man front, did nothing and perhaps made things worse.

 

The Ensworth team showed everyone that one man is dispensible. I did not believe it until I saw it with my own eyes. The only teams to beat Ensworth the last three years has been MBA and Baylor-there may be more I have forgotten. The only way to defeat Ensworth these three years is to physically beat them up. Baylor did that earlier this year and MBA did it last year and the year before in split decisions after getting mauled in the other game. The moment you fail to do that and get out of your power game and into something else-like trying to match speed and athletic ability- you are a dead man walking. Baylor learned that painful lesson last night.

[owlbooster]

Nope, Hogan lives 10 minutes from the campus

Well, that makes your cheap shot at the repeat state champions even sorrier.

[bruisermom]

Congratulations to Ensworth. This was a complete turn around from the game at Baylor. Bowers really had the team prepared. Long ride home but the Red Raiders had a fantastic season. Go Baylor!