State of Tri-cities 5A/6A football

[blazer1set]

3 hours ago, StarBright87 said:

Blaze for 6a there's 2 teams that's holding the state hostage Oakland and Maryville. So the Memphis area teams can say this is the best it's going to get cause we're not beating Oakland and the 2 knoxville teams can say the same because we're not beating Maryville, this is the first year in forever that 6a is wide open.

From '17 to '20 when the 2 knoxville teams were in db conference db went 7-2 against Bearden and Farragut and would have faced Oakland some of those years had it not been for Maryville. This was the 1st year that realistically db would maybe had a chance at beating Maryville, still wouldn't matter because Bearden is loaded this year 

For 5a your trailblazer were just a year too early, last season West team probably the best team they ever had, if yall could have that team from last year I could see a semi game or maybe a state championship game, this West and Powell team are beatable. For TN High they're always going to suffer from living in a small town that you have the inner city kids split into 2 high schools. Tn high best player this year #1 Donnie Thomas he's a transfer from VA High had they not had him they wouldn't even won some of the games they did. Tn high will always need the athletes from VA high and VA high will always need the meat and potatoes guys from Tn High.

You're right, with the Tri-cities big schools it always seems to be a "well if this, or if that...." type of scenario.      I remember that 2012 DB team was smoking everybody coming & going and certainly looked like the first time in forever that they might make it to the big dance, then they got badly out-coached by you-know-who in the 3rd round and lost by 20 points.           As you say, if last year's Boone team was playing in this year's 5A landscape they would have a good shot.       I don't know, there is something magical that happens when you cross the Knox County line every time.      Maybe one day we will see the perfect storm materialize for a Tri team but I'm not holding my breath.

[gritsngravy]

On 11/4/2023 at 7:56 PM, WaCoJaCo said:

Somebody posted on another thread the other day that DB only practices 3 days a week. And during the fall break (1 week) didn't practice at all. I haven't been to a practice in over 10 years, so I don't know. Is this the norm. Is there a TSSAA rule that says you can't practice during fall break or can only practice 3 days a week? Or is our coaching staff this lazy? 

The only day DB takes off is Saturday. Film, 4 practices & game the other days. Practiced 3 days Fall break week so only missed 1 practice which is normally Thursday walk through. 

[MidTennFootball]

15 hours ago, StarBright87 said:

Blaze for 6a there's 2 teams that's holding the state hostage Oakland and Maryville. So the Memphis area teams can say this is the best it's going to get cause we're not beating Oakland and the 2 knoxville teams can say the same because we're not beating Maryville, this is the first year in forever that 6a is wide open.

From '17 to '20 when the 2 knoxville teams were in db conference db went 7-2 against Bearden and Farragut and would have faced Oakland some of those years had it not been for Maryville. This was the 1st year that realistically db would maybe had a chance at beating Maryville, still wouldn't matter because Bearden is loaded this year 

For 5a your trailblazer were just a year too early, last season West team probably the best team they ever had, if yall could have that team from last year I could see a semi game or maybe a state championship game, this West and Powell team are beatable. For TN High they're always going to suffer from living in a small town that you have the inner city kids split into 2 high schools. Tn high best player this year #1 Donnie Thomas he's a transfer from VA High had they not had him they wouldn't even won some of the games they did. Tn high will always need the athletes from VA high and VA high will always need the meat and potatoes guys from Tn High.

In 6A, you got as many as 8 teams that can win the title this year. The favorite is someone not named Oakland or Maryville. The changing landscape of HSFB is going to make it hard to establish the kind of run the Rebels achieved. 

Can't speak for 5A, I just get the feeling that winning championships isn't the kind of priority for the 6A NET programs like it is for the other strong programs in the state. 

[WaCoJaCo]

51 minutes ago, gritsngravy said:

The only day DB takes off is Saturday. Film, 4 practices & game the other days. Practiced 3 days Fall break week so only missed 1 practice which is normally Thursday walk through. 

Thanks for clearing that up. I feel a smidgen better at least. 

[blazer1set]

10 hours ago, MidTennFootball said:

In 6A, you got as many as 8 teams that can win the title this year. The favorite is someone not named Oakland or Maryville. The changing landscape of HSFB is going to make it hard to establish the kind of run the Rebels achieved. 

Can't speak for 5A, I just get the feeling that winning championships isn't the kind of priority for the 6A NET programs like it is for the other strong programs in the state. 

It's the same for NET 5A.        None of the big schools in NET start off the season with a championship in mind, it's more like beating your biggest rival, or trying to win Region 1, or whatever.          That is where I find myself as a fan now as well, at some point you have to just realize that it's never going to happen, so I go out and support my team during the regular season and don't worry too much about the playoffs.

[DBKPT93]

11 hours ago, WaCoJaCo said:

Thanks for clearing that up. I feel a smidgen better at least. 

I heard the past 2 years they have moved the Thursday walk through to 7 am so the confusion might be where they are not practicing in the afternoon people might think they only practice 3 days a week. 

[ViperRight382]

The state of Tri-cities 5a/6a football is in the same state it has always been. Other than the 4a programs, no one has EVER won a state championship in the modern era. If you exclude a couple of the Sullivan South teams in the mid to late 2000’s, no one has even sniffed a state championship, and I believe they may have been 4a at that time. One of those years, a bad DB team smoked a semi finals Sullivan South team in the regular season. Bottom line, the “big schools” in the tri-cites have never had the talent on the field to consistently compete at a state championship level.

[blazer1set]

4 minutes ago, ViperRight382 said:

The state of Tri-cities 5a/6a football is in the same state it has always been. Other than the 4a programs, no one has EVER won a state championship in the modern era. If you exclude a couple of the Sullivan South teams in the mid to late 2000’s, no one has even sniffed a state championship, and I believe they may have been 4a at that time. One of those years, a bad DB team smoked a semi finals Sullivan South team in the regular season. Bottom line, the “big schools” in the tri-cites have never had the talent on the field to consistently compete at a state championship level.

99% of the time that is correct.       Exceptions I can think of would be the 2012 DB team and 2014 Science Hill.     Of course both of those teams got obliterated in the 3rd round by you-know-who by a combined score of 86-20

[blitzinbuc]

2 hours ago, ViperRight382 said:

The state of Tri-cities 5a/6a football is in the same state it has always been. Other than the 4a programs, no one has EVER won a state championship in the modern era. If you exclude a couple of the Sullivan South teams in the mid to late 2000’s, no one has even sniffed a state championship, and I believe they may have been 4a at that time. One of those years, a bad DB team smoked a semi finals Sullivan South team in the regular season. Bottom line, the “big schools” in the tri-cites have never had the talent on the field to consistently compete at a state championship level.

When's the last time a tri-cities 5A or 6A football team even played in a state championship game? 

[MidTennFootball]

9 minutes ago, blitzinbuc said:

When's the last time a tri-cities 5A or 6A football team even played in a state championship game? 

Closest I can think of is when DB made the semis in 98,00,02

[blazer1set]

1 hour ago, blitzinbuc said:

When's the last time a tri-cities 5A or 6A football team even played in a state championship game? 

Tennessee High (currently 5A) from Bristol TN won state in 1971 & 1972, but there were no 5A/6A classes back then so not sure if that counts

[blitzinbuc]

20 hours ago, blazer1set said:

Tennessee High (currently 5A) from Bristol TN won state in 1971 & 1972, but there were no 5A/6A classes back then so not sure if that counts

I saw Bristol beat Knox Central in a playoff game at Neyland Stadium one of those years. They were awesome! I think there were just 3 classifications back then, A, AA, and AAA. 

As big of a school as D-B was, I don't think they've ever even played in a state championship game since the playoffs began in 1969!!!!!  All of their mythical state championship were awarded via the media.