Rhea County Off Season

[kamerb]

Post spring analysis:

 

The new offensive formation seems to be able to move the ball at an consistent rate. The jamboree scrimmage against Oxford and the Varsity/JV scrimmage with Oakland spoke volumes to me about how well our offense can sustain drives. Both Varsity and JV moved the ball very mechanically against Oakland, and both groups seemed packed with more than capable playmakers at o-line, quarterback, running back, and tight end. Zach Pemberton has gone from third string quarterback to challenging for starter as a rising sophomore. It should be interesting to see how the battle between him and Braxton Dieckhaus shapes up during the summer if the senior backup from last year decides to come back. The running back position behind Bice, Stephenson, and Davis looks talented and deep enough to make some noise come the game at Baylor with Christian Simon, A. J. Velasco, Chris Sturgeon, and Gavin Morrison being more than capable backing up Bice and Davis while Barger, Doug White, Jawan Martin, and others can back up Mason Stephenson. Tight end looks really impressive. Jared Edwards and Chandler Kaylor are backed up by Bradley Evans, Jared Kamer, Mason Reynolds, Peyton Samples, and Dakota White who all have played very well at the position throughout the spring and in the scrimmages. The offensive line played impressively in both scrimmages and proved that Rhea County's most depleted unit from 2015 is still capable of sustaining drives and setting up the skill position players to score.

 

The defense was another animal entirely. At Jacksonville State and on our own turf, the defense was good, but not as good as last year's unit which is understandable considering the massive losses of Pendleton, Downey, Aikman, Ortega, Sharp, and Patterson. I am sure that Coach TO and the position coaches will have their guys ready to go come the regular season kickoff. The defensive line was fairly impressive, but could use some work. I still think this unit has the chance to be the most talented unit on the team, but they need to figure out a rotation that'll keep the players fresh and ready to play which should be easy considering the depth and talent on the line. The linebackers to me are the biggest question mark. Talent is not the issue, but the arrangement is somewhat concerning. Eddie Davis and Mason Stephenson are excellent, but they are needed on offense as well. The rigors of the football season could cause issues later due to them playing both sides of the ball, and, although there is plenty of talent behind them, it could be devastating to one of those two guys if playing both sides of the ball produced the all too often serious injury. The secondary looked well prepared for the scrimmages and should be pretty good heading into the 2016 season. A welcome sight to me was seeing height and speed of the corners and safeties. Sevier County exposed the height and speed issue we had with our defensive backs last year as they exploited the mismatch they had with their receivers for four passing touchdowns. Logan Hall and A. J. Velasco both bring speed to the CB position and so do Aubrey Smith, Colby Prigmore, Jaden Austin, and Chris Sturgeon at safety. Austin, Prigmore, and Hall are all around 6ft tall or better, and the others looked very well equipped to play their positions as well.

 

I look forward to this upcoming season, and I think the coaches will have the team ready come the clash at Baylor in August.

[kamerb]

Summer workouts started today! The 2016 Rhea County Golden Eagles are officially together and have started the march to the football season! I am very excited to see this team hit the field as soon as possible, and I feel great things are in store for them!

 

From what I heard from my little brother, a lot of incoming freshmen were present today. Any thoughts on the the youngest class of Eagles for 2016? The only one he was able to see long enough to identify was Bradley Goodwin, the starting fullback from Spring City last season. Any others that anyone knows about?

[Eagle4life55]

Very good analysis of the spring. One thing that hurt against Oakland was a few players having to be on both ends of the field. It's great that they got so many reps, but that kept them from being able to keep kids fresh in some positions and got them out of the rotation they had going on defense that worked so well in Alabama. But again, this was a spring scrimmage and it was great that so many players got so much work in. A couple of other upcoming freshman to watch are Beeler who played linebacker for Rhea Middle and Jackson Langley (sp). Jackson was the FB/LB that played so well for Rhea Middle last year on their team that went undefeated. Also, Ross Pendergrass, QB, will be fun to watch as well.

[eagle01]

I saw Ross Pendergrass at a baseball game that kid has gotten big he has to be close to 6'3 and they say he has a big time arm.

[kamerb]

I saw Ross Pendergrass at a baseball game that kid has gotten big he has to be close to 6'3 and they say he has a big time arm.

I honestly think Pendergrass is the quarterback of the future for the Eagles. I don't see him passing Zach Pemberton on the depth chart, but not too long ago, I was banking on Seth Stulce and Braxton Dieckhaus to be duking it out for the starting job right now, but it looks like neither of them are going to play this year, so him being named the starter wouldn't be as far fetched as first thought. While I don't think he will be the starter this year, a few outstanding summer performances from him and some lackluster performances from Pemberton could change that. From the little I watched him play, he has a great arm with surprising accuracy for such a young player, and he is a threat with his legs. He has more dual-threat potential than any other quarterback I've seen at Rhea County in a very long time. Rhea Middle seemed to have many designed QB-keeps to the weak side of the defense that accounted for a number of big-time plays for them, including a touchdown or two from 10+ yards away. We will no doubt know by the game with Baylor who will be taking snaps with the first team offense. I just enjoy the intrigue of a talented QB battle.

[eagle01]

No Doubt Pendergrass is QB for the future as he will grow and mature and get better with time. Hopefully these young

QB's will be able to give us a balanced attack. I think we will miss Braxton this year.

Edited June 3, 2016 by eagle01

[kamerb]

No Doubt Pendergrass is QB for the future as he will grow and mature and get better with time. Hopefully these young

QB's will be able to give us a balanced attack. I think we will miss Braxton this year.

Agreed. Braxton has been doing most of the backup duty for the last season and a half (All of it in 2015 and swapped duties at backup with Seth Stulce in 2014), and his experience at the position will be irreplaceable considering, if I'm not mistaken, Pemberton and Frasier never took a snap on varsity last season. They are both great players, but never taking a varsity snap could lead to a few hiccups when they first hit the field.

[kamerb]

Post spring 1st team:

 

(These are my own personal opinion. Feel free to disagree)

 

Offense

 

QB- Zach Pemberton

RB- Eddie Davis/Cody Bice

FB- Mason Stephenson

TE- Jared Edwards/Chandler Kaylor

C-Ty Goodwin

G-Tyler Brown/Parson

T-Justin Tucker/Zach McCarthy

 

Defense

 

DT- Bradley Evans/Tyler Brown

N- Zach Swafford

OLB- Mason Stephenson/Eddie Davis

MLB- Chandler Kaylor/Jawan Martin

CB- A.J. Velasco/Cody Bice

S- Aubrey Smith/Chris Sturgeon

Edited June 8, 2016 by kamerb

[Eagle4life55]

I could disagree with a couple of spots here or there but I think you evaluate these players pretty good. It will be interesting to see how hard these boys work this summer and how they come along these next couple of months.

[kamerb]

I could disagree with a couple of spots here or there but I think you evaluate these players pretty good. It will be interesting to see how hard these boys work this summer and how they come along these next couple of months.

It definitely will. I look forward to seeing where this team goes this season, and can't wait for the game at Baylor. Baylor is still undefeated against Chattanooga area public high schools since Rhea County beat them way back in 1999. I am definitely hoping the Eagles of 1999 and 2016 become the bookends of that streak! This team, in my opinion, has the talent to make the state championship game, but talent is not the issue. Depth and determination are. Does this team have what it takes to make it a third straight season in the semis? Definitely. Can they achieve what the 2014 and 2015 teams could not and get penciled in for Cookeville? That remains to be seen.

[eagle01]

My opinion for what it's worth that is a good assesement I have a few others I would like to see in game type situations in the defensive back positions. I agree depth may be a problem at a lot of positions we have talent but not sure on depth. Can't wait for season opener hopefully some of the younger players will step up and become key players also. Still concerned at quarterback we are awful young and inexperienced and as we have learned from the past 2 years you can't depend solely on the run of your planning on going to cookeville.

[Rhea Co.]

It definitely will. I look forward to seeing where this team goes this season, and can't wait for the game at Baylor. Baylor is still undefeated against Chattanooga area public high schools since Rhea County beat them way back in 1999. I am definitely hoping the Eagles of 1999 and 2016 become the bookends of that streak! This team, in my opinion, has the talent to make the state championship game, but talent is not the issue. Depth and determination are. Does this team have what it takes to make it a third straight season in the semis? Definitely. Can they achieve what the 2014 and 2015 teams could not and get penciled in for Cookeville? That remains to be seen.

Yes it would be fitting to be the one to put an end to that streak. It will be interesting to see what Baylor has too.

Starting talent wise we can play with anyone in 5A, but we do need to develop more depth. Which we have summer and fall camp to develop more depth and really the first few games to find some depth too. Depth wise we are going to be young but talented. The key will be getting those young guys up to varsity game speed.

 

Also I have talked to a few others about this off of here, but looking ahead to 2017 with reclassification. It looks like we will be heading back up with Maryville, Blackman, and other bigger schools. This year will be our best chance at getting a shot state title.

Edited June 10, 2016 by Rhea Co.