Congratulations to State Champions MBA!

[WarriorFan]

MBA was by far the better team at Dudley Field tonight. BA had the athletes, but MBA was there to win. They had a tremendous intensity level, equivalent to their intensity level when they beat Florida powerhouse Jacksonville Bolles. Coach Rutledge did a fabulous job in preparing his team. It seemed like he knew exactly what BA was going to run. As a die-hard BA fan, I have to hand it to MBA. They know how to win the big game!

[rollredroll]

Classy post (I would have thought it was an MBA supporter starting this thread), especially considering it's past 12:30 AM and you could be sleeping. You and itzme and WesVols have been good representatives of BA and have helped me gain a new respect for your school in what is a pretty heated rivalry.

[WarriorFan]

BA could not match MBA's intensity. MBA may have had 50 kids on the field to BA's 100. Before the game began, I looked at both teams and said there is no way MBA could match up physically with BA. I was wrong. Goes to show you that a team like BA who is loaded with kids that look like Division I ball players in their uniforms can be taken by a smaller, quicker team with a high intensity level. Their defensive calls were by far superior. They blitzed about every play. MBA was well coached. Hopefully, Coach Flatt can get his team ready for next year. MBA is a definite thorn in BA's flesh. We have a hard time beating them. The rivalry is great though! It is always a great time to see two teams like MBA and BA match up. Back to the drawing board.....

[Edited by Brandon100 on 11-23-02 1:19A]

[bnvol15]

Congratulations seniors! NO ONE thought you could do it but you did. I would like to state that the BIG RED defense is amazing partly due to the amazing scout team it faced every day in practice, I OWN YOU THORNHILL! Watch out for MBA to again rise to power in division II-AAA, winning the next two state championships, and watch out #6 Trinity, your on the hit list!

[RyanRowdy]

Yeah, I would just like to say congrats to the guys on West End.

[Guest RLJ]

MBA...you played from the 1st quarter to the last quarter with absolute intensity. Congratulations on a great win. This was a team win and everyone contributed to make this one of the greatest games that MBA has even had!!!! No one thought that you could do it but you did...and we are so VERY PROUD OF YOU!!! Love, PROUD PARENTS

 

BA...You are a great team too and you displayed class to the end...you should be proud of a great season!!! Good luck to all players in the future.

[redmachine]

Congratulations MBA. True BA had the size advantage,but MBA had better athletes at the skill positions. While BA reportedly had a great secondary,MBA's defensive backs were superior and shut down BA's receivers. MBA also had the edge at quarterback,tight end, running back, and wide receivers.Coach Rutledge and his staff outcoached Coach Flatt and his staff and the MBA players had more intensity on both sides of the ball.

[WarriorFan]

Red Machine, I believe that BA did not come to play. They beat MBA so bad several weeks ago that they came in thinking that it would be the same; ie. an easy victory. The best thing I can say is that it's not good to read press clippings. No one really believed that MBA could pull this off, except MBA. No one in the papers gave MBA a chance. I am very proud for MBA, and can say without a doubt that they were the better team in all aspects of the game. I never saw BA's big defensive line in the backfield. To me, BA's play was horrible on both sides of the ball. I am sure that Coach Flatt was stunned. Watching from the stands, he looked very hurt. What this shows me is that Coach Rutledge is a great coach. He took the first loss and found weaknesses in BA, such as sending #6 over the middle after our linebackers had committed inside. BA was not prepared. I guess after playing for "The Bear" at Alabama, a long NFL career, college coaching, etc, Coach Rutledge may know something about the game of football. As a BA fan, this was not a hard loss to me, because we were soundly defeated in every part of our game. I will say, however, I would have run BA's #23 Holbert more, because he had plenty of success the first game. Last night, he was hard to stop as well. I guess after we got behind so early, we had no choice than to air it out. This game shows the BA family that we are going to have to take our program to another level to beat MBA. MBA has been tough for us to beat since the split. I don't ever remember for 25 years before Coach Bowers came in that MBA was really ever a threat, ie. a 6-4/8-3 team consistent. MBA made a commitment to their program several years ago, and it shows how far they have come. My hats off to MBA's Big Red. The MBA-BA rivalry is my favorite. I just hate that we haven't had more success against MBA. I am sure Coach Flatt will have his troops ready for next year. The intensity level is now kicked up another notch!

[Tribe2002]

Congratulations MBA. You all had a great team and now we can say we at least lost to a State Chamionship team in 3 OT's.

 

ROLL RED! and ROLL TRIBE!!!!!!!!

[rhinob59]

Wow..Congratulations to MBA!! Who would have thought that they could have beat supposedly "the best team ever"? (thanks for the quote puplelion..how's the crow tasting these days?). I'm curious, how did BA get 11 points (mathmatically, how is that possible? A TD and 2 safeties? A TD without a PAT, a FG, and a safety?). I'm sure both teams played hard, and I bet it was a really fun one to watch. Just a thought, not meant to poke fun at anyone, but BA, pretty much year to year the most consistant club in the Super Seven still has yet to win a Super Seven title..who'd have thunk it?

[WarriorFan]

Rhino, you are right. BA has never brought home a Division II championship. This BA team, however, was not a great team. I have said it in past posts, and I was proven right last night. They have some great looking athletes, but I would not have put this years BA team in the top 5 BA teams of all time. They hover around maybe the top 10-12 mark of the best BA teams ever. Gut checks in tight situations are the difference. Tremendous looking athletes, but they were soundly beaten in every aspect of the game last night. Give these kids at BA 3 more years of being coached by Coach Flatt, and I will promise you that you will see a change for the better. Coach Flatt knows how to get 110% from his kids. These junior and senior players have only one year under him. I can promise you that things will turn around at BA.

[Edited by Brandon100 on 11-23-02 12:07P]

[itzme]

Adding my congratulations to MBA as well. A real bitter pill to swallow for the BA players, and I feel badly for tyhem, but MBA improved so much as the year went on, you have to be impressed. Clearly, the better team won, darn it!

 

Incidentally, I wonder how the conversations were in the rutledge household this week. His daughter was the Homecoming Queen at BA a couple of years ago.