Rhea County Off Season

[kamerb]

The Lift-a-thon this year has changed my mind about the team's direction in 2016. Prior to, I was skeptical. I thought we'd be good, but nowhere near the teams of 2014 and 15. I saw a 7-3 or 6-4 regular season with Quarterfinals or less in the playoffs, but now I am thinking along the lines of a possible 8-2 or 9-1 regular season with a good shot at a third straight Semifinal appearance and possible trip to Cookeville. Seeing those guys in high form lifting weights and showing their raw power has nearly convinced me that Rhea County will have another special year. We do have some fairly large questions at QB and the OL, but after seeing the team lift, the OL question is more "Who will be where?" than a "What the heck are we going to do?" QB is still troubling to me. Braxton Dieckhaus did not attend the Lift-a-thon, and there are many people I'm hearing from that he is all but certain to play baseball only his senior season. This leaves rising sophomore, Zach Pemberton, the 3rd string QB, or Logan Hall, a rising junior who was the Freshman team QB in 2014 that has since played WB in a couple of varsity games, as the probable starters. No word yet on whether Seth Stulce will return. If he does, the job is essentially his for the taking being the only QB with serious varsity experience. The May 21 scrimmage with Oakland will give a much better picture as to where the current team is standing heading into summer practices and workouts. There is the potential next year to see a few players that have little or no varsity experience that will be asked to take on a role much bigger than they have had. The starting weakside linebacker was Gavin Downey who will be playing in that same role next year, just for the University of the Cumberlands instead of Rhea County. Both of the candidates to replace him are rising juniors, one of which has only played football since the 8th grade and has only been on the field for two varsity plays prior the upcoming season (my little brother). I am confident that the coaches will find the right people to fill those roles. What are everyone else's thoughts?

[kamerb]

Also, Jared Edwards, currently Rhea County's only D1 prospect, picked up an offer from Eastern Kentucky as well as a 3-star rating by 247 Sports!

Edited March 23, 2016 by kamerb

[kamerb]

Excited to hear that Rhea County will be traveling to Jacksonville State University in Alabama on May 13th to scrimmage Oxford High School!

[wingman10]

The Lift-a-thon this year has changed my mind about the team's direction in 2016. Prior to, I was skeptical. I thought we'd be good, but nowhere near the teams of 2014 and 15. I saw a 7-3 or 6-4 regular season with Quarterfinals or less in the playoffs, but now I am thinking along the lines of a possible 8-2 or 9-1 regular season with a good shot at a third straight Semifinal appearance and possible trip to Cookeville. Seeing those guys in high form lifting weights and showing their raw power has nearly convinced me that Rhea County will have another special year. We do have some fairly large questions at QB and the OL, but after seeing the team lift, the OL question is more "Who will be where?" than a "What the heck are we going to do?" QB is still troubling to me. Braxton Dieckhaus did not attend the Lift-a-thon, and there are many people I'm hearing from that he is all but certain to play baseball only his senior season. This leaves rising sophomore, Zach Pemberton, the 3rd string QB, or Logan Hall, a rising junior who was the Freshman team QB in 2014 that has since played WB in a couple of varsity games, as the probable starters. No word yet on whether Seth Stulce will return. If he does, the job is essentially his for the taking being the only QB with serious varsity experience. The May 21 scrimmage with Oakland will give a much better picture as to where the current team is standing heading into summer practices and workouts. There is the potential next year to see a few players that have little or no varsity experience that will be asked to take on a role much bigger than they have had. The starting weakside linebacker was Gavin Downey who will be playing in that same role next year, just for the University of the Cumberlands instead of Rhea County. Both of the candidates to replace him are rising juniors, one of which has only played football since the 8th grade and has only been on the field for two varsity plays prior the upcoming season (my little brother). I am confident that the coaches will find the right people to fill those roles. What are everyone else's thoughts?

good post...tough scrimmage coming up...with they type of team you are describing, it can give the qb time to get some experience

[kamerb]

Previously unknown or underrated players to watch out for?

 

My picks

 

Darius Moses, SR. WR (possibly)

Colby Prigmore, SR. WR

Jared Kamer, JR. OLB/TE

A.J. Velasco, JR. RB

Dakota White, JR. DE/PK (Possibly)

Peyton Barger, SR. FB/S

Christian Simon, JR. RB/?

 

*(Possibly means that they are not currently on the team, but have said they intend to play next season)

 

*Possible competition from a freshman on the QB depth chart*

 

Rhea Middle's QB from last season (from what I gathered from the little I watched him play) looks like a serious contender at QB if he sticks with it in high school. Not sure if he's a rising freshman, though? He looks too tall to be any younger than 8th, but Spring City had a D-lineman last year that stood well over 6ft tall that was only in 7th this past season.

Edited May 2, 2016 by kamerb

[Rhea Co.]

For those who can't go to Jax State tomorrow Rhea Review will have a live stream of the scrimmage on YouTube. I'm looking forward to heading down and seeing this one.

 

Also congrats to Jared Edwards on picking up another offer, this time from UTC. Making this his 16th D1 offer so far.

Edited May 13, 2016 by Rhea Co.

[RCfan]

For those who can't go to Jax State tomorrow Rhea Review will have a live stream of the scrimmage on YouTube. I'm looking forward to heading down and seeing this one.

 

Also congrats to Jared Edwards on picking up another offer, this time from UTC. Making this his 16th D1 offer so far.

Thanks for the info RheaCo, GO EAGLES!!!

[kamerb]

What a way to start off the road to the 2016 season! A 22-14 Rhea County win in Alabama! What are everone else's thoughts on the scrimmage against Oxford?

[Rhea Co.]

What a way to start off the road to the 2016 season! A 22-14 Rhea County win in Alabama! What are everone else's thoughts on the scrimmage against Oxford?

Overall I thought we played ok for the first true live action of the spring. I think next week will be a better test with Oakland. The offense looked pretty good for the first game. We moved it up and down the field pretty well. Eddie Davis ran hard and made some plays. The defense is about where I thought it would be. We lost a lot on defense and we are finding out who is going to step up and fill those spots. I thought Oxford was a decent team that had some good looking athletes. The highly touted ILB KJ Britt made some plays,but I thought we did a good job against him.

 

Now the team that played before us James Clemens High, that was a very good looking football team with some SEC caliber players on their defense.

Edited May 14, 2016 by Rhea Co.

[STARSNBARS]

Ray haz a good coach...He haz a sistem, tha kidz buy inn, and play hard....

[RCfan]

What a way to start off the road to the 2016 season! A 22-14 Rhea County win in Alabama! What are everone else's thoughts on the scrimmage against Oxford?

Eagles looked good for the first action of the year. I liked the format of the scrimmage with no kicking game but the rest was pretty much game type. We all knew the defense would be a little green but CTO should have them in place and solid by the Baylor game. Now the offense.....I love it!!! I have always been a fan of the old T formation offense and I think it fits the personnel. Eddie Davis could have a monster year, he was a standout on both sides of the ball last night. Looking forward to seeing how much this group improves after another week of practice Saturday against a really good Oakland team.

[ADS1]

I thought the scrimmage showed us having pretty good talent and depth.  I agree, that by the time we travel to Baylor, we will be firing on all cylinders.