6A Quarterfinals: Oakland @ Lebanon

[IKickTheBall]

14 hours ago, Blaze45 said:

Blue devils are playing good ball. That said Riverdale offense was non-existent last night and for the last half of the season. While I tip my hat to the Blue devils for the win, I don't believe this game will be a nail-biter  at all ... I think the real game should Oakland get past Maryville will be the Summit  match up. That's the game I hope to see. 

Riverdale's OC is terrible. He clearly doesn't understand simple run concepts by his commentary during the Blue Cross Games. Another example of how being a good player doesn't make you a coach and certainly not a play caller.

[MonsterGreen44]

Coach Gentry and his staff has turned the whole program around, hats off to them. I think this game will be closer than some think

[Blaze45]

19 hours ago, MidTennFootball said:

Riverdale wasn't terribly talented on offense, but they shouldn't have struggled as much as they did. After Connard transferred, they had zero depth at TB and Holcomb is not the type of QB that makes plays with his feet

 

19 hours ago, blazer1set said:

I feel your pain bud....  As a Boone (5A) fan our offense has been horrible this year but our defense was the best in NET.    Some years it is just the opposite, the problem is that we can never get that awesome Offense -AND- Defense in the same season.      Maybe that is the dilemma for most high schools not named Alcoa or Maryville.     What do we chalk that up to, is it all in coaching?     Or sometimes you just simply don't have the athletes?

Prime example for us this year at Blackman.  We proved we could move the ball on just about everyone. Unfortunately we couldn't take of business on the defensive side of the ball. As for Riverdale's offense they really needed more depth in that tailback position Like Mid-Tenn mentioned. It will be interesting to see how Riverdale approaches that this off season  

[CougarDadx2]

Blue Devil's D will be tested. I think they will hold on early, but eventually the Patriots will find a way, too many weapons. You focus on James, they throw to Horton, or run the wildcat with Patterson. You bring pressure, Hewitt is smart and not slow either. On the O side of the ball, the Devil's will score some points, but Oakland adjusts well.

[Blaze45]

19 hours ago, thegreatone36 said:

If you have been keeping up with the Lebanon defense, you'd know that the Riverdale offense of last night had more to do with Lebanon, and less to do with R'dale. Lebanon is stout on that side. 

I am hopeful of a good game this coming Friday. But it's gonna be a huge hill to climb for Lebanon to beat the top HS team in Tennessee.

I have watched Lebanon plenty and while they are quick to the ball and aggressive, they really have not played a very offensive dominate team.  This will be a good game due to coaching on the Blue devil sideline. If you look at level of competition played, Oakland is much better suited/prepare to run the table. They have faced very good QB's with both CPA and Lipscomb. Where as I don't believe Lebanon has faced a team nearly as balanced as Oakland. They will be as quick or quicker to the ball than Lebanon and they have enough weapons that they will chew you up if you key on any one single one of them . Lebanon is going to have to play great assignment football and match athlete for athlete  which is why it is so hard. Most schools can't do both. 

[MidTennFootball]

1 hour ago, CougarDadx2 said:

Blue Devil's D will be tested. I think they will hold on early, but eventually the Patriots will find a way, too many weapons. You focus on James, they throw to Horton, or run the wildcat with Patterson. You bring pressure, Hewitt is smart and not slow either. On the O side of the ball, the Devil's will score some points, but Oakland adjusts well.

Something worth keeping an eye on is the emergence of Khalil James. He's made some great plays the last few weeks. 

With their win over Riverdale putting them at 11-1, that now sets the mark for most wins in school history for Lebanon. . Their top 2 playmakers are juniors, so I wouldn't be surprised if this matchup occurs a year from now as well

[thegreatone36]

6 hours ago, Blaze45 said:

I have watched Lebanon plenty and while they are quick to the ball and aggressive, they really have not played a very offensive dominate team.  This will be a good game due to coaching on the Blue devil sideline. If you look at level of competition played, Oakland is much better suited/prepare to run the table. They have faced very good QB's with both CPA and Lipscomb. Where as I don't believe Lebanon has faced a team nearly as balanced as Oakland. They will be as quick or quicker to the ball than Lebanon and they have enough weapons that they will chew you up if you key on any one single one of them . Lebanon is going to have to play great assignment football and match athlete for athlete  which is why it is so hard. Most schools can't do both. 

No doubt it's an uphill battle this Friday. Oakand continuing to prove that they are just better than even the best teams in 6A. Enjoy the dominance while it lasts for any Oakland fan reading this. Go to the games and soak it up. The level of elite they are right now never lasts for decades. You'll look back on this at some point. 

Edited November 14, 2021 by thegreatone36

[MidTennFootball]

9 minutes ago, thegreatone36 said:

No doubt it's an uphill battle this Friday. Oakand continuing to prove that they are just better than even the best teams in 6A. Enjoy the dominance while it lasts for any Oakland fan reading this. Go to the games and soak it up. The level of elite they are right now never lasts for decades. You'll look back on this at some point. 

Don't think it's going away anytime soon. Maryville has been winning at this level for 25 years, so it can last for decades.

That said, I started going to Oakland games when we were bad, so I don't take it for granted. Trying to win state will require things this program has never done before, so we still got to keep getting better

Edited November 14, 2021 by MidTennFootball

[thegreatone36]

Just now, MidTennFootball said:

Don't think it's going away anytime soon. Maryville has been winning at this level for 25 years, so it can last for decades. That said, I started going to Oakland games when we were bad, so I don't take it for granted

You never know. I don't think anybody ever -expects- to see their team fall until it actually happens. On paper, yea it seems that they could go a long time. But it doesn't always work out that way. All I'm saying. But sounds like you are one of the ones not taking it for granted, so this may not be for you. Oakland playing at a level nobody else can touch for now. & with the coach that I wish my team had taken when they had the chance in 2012 after Robert retired. 

[MidTennFootball]

2 minutes ago, thegreatone36 said:

You never know. I don't think anybody ever -expects- to see their team fall until it actually happens. On paper, yea it seems that they could go a long time. But it doesn't always work out that way. All I'm saying. But sounds like you are one of the ones not taking it for granted, so this may not be for you. Oakland playing at a level nobody else can touch for now. & with the coach that I wish my team had taken when they had the chance in 2012 after Robert retired. 

If Oakland's feeder teams struggled, Id be a little worried about a down year, but MS and Freshman haven't lost a game in awhile. Most of the chest thumping for Oakland is done by bandwagon fans (especially if they have an axe to grind with Maryville)

Creasy should get alot of the credit, but McDaniel left him a really good program that was just starting to find it's legs with it's feeder programs and he has a very very good coaching staff. Creasy could leave tomorrow, promote Steven Jackson and I honestly don't think Oakland would miss a beat

[91goldeneagle]

51 minutes ago, MidTennFootball said:

If Oakland's feeder teams struggled, Id be a little worried about a down year, but MS and Freshman haven't lost a game in awhile. Most of the chest thumping for Oakland is done by bandwagon fans (especially if they have an axe to grind with Maryville)

Creasy should get alot of the credit, but McDaniel left him a really good program that was just starting to find it's legs with it's feeder programs and he has a very very good coaching staff. Creasy could leave tomorrow, promote Steven Jackson and I honestly don't think Oakland would miss a beat

Has Oakland ever won @ maryville?

[MidTennFootball]

9 minutes ago, 91goldeneagle said:

Has Oakland ever won @ maryville?

Nope. Only time the home team has lost in the series was the first time they played each other at Oakland in 2014, which is also the last time Oakland has lost a home game (unless your counting losing to Hoover @MTSU in 2015)