2024 Heritage Mountaineers

[BarneySox2007]

6 hours ago, MHS85 said:

Same ole, same ole for the neers. Pretty good looking skill guys but no O/D line. QB looked pretty good until G-P started blitzing then the line looked like pretty bad. Punter was extremely weak. I don't expect much from the red and columbia blue.

I went also Saturday and saw the same thing. Major difference between last years QB and this years but it didn't help any with all the dropped passes. The punting game will guarantee them 8 maybe 9 loses in that department alone. The way the half ended made me get up and leave, I'de seen enough so I left and went by the Wood Shed and offered my condolences before leaving.

[FarmTeam]

13 hours ago, REBELRON said:

When I was at Maryville the Heritage Mountaineers were pretty good. They had those big farm boys playing football. When I watched Maryville vs Heritage the last several years I don't see those big farm boys on the LOS.  Do those big farm boys not want to play football?

Well football is HARD, and a lot of them farm boys got all the  legacy farms around them sold to developers before they were even born, and they don’t know what real work is anymore. Most will never know what it was like to do 2-a-days and bale hay or cut tobacco in 98 degree weather, in between those practices. We’re dealing w/a softer and weaker generation, raised by millennial parents that don’t make their boys do anything  hard anymore, much less work, or value hard physical work, like football requires.  

Just saying. 

MOST young men would rather sit around in the air conditioning and play video games than show up and work for sthing bigger than their own  growing big behinds. It’s a problem every where. 

Not all of them tho. Still got SEVERAL who are farm strong and/ or are willing to put in the work in the wt room, not quit, and not transfer elsewhere. Part of that’s on the school for letting the program slowly fall off a cliff for over a decade, leading to kids understandably going elsewhere, but also the current culture of work ethic & commitment that all programs struggle with. They still have a lot of work to do, but the transformation in the whole program over the last 2 yrs has been incredible, given the previous shape it was in. More kids are coming out to play each yr, staying at HHS, and putting in the work.  Gonna take more than a couple of seasons tho to see big results, 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2024 by FarmTeam

[Red Rebels]

12 hours ago, FarmTeam said:

Well football is HARD, and a lot of them farm boys got all the  legacy farms around them sold to developers before they were even born, and they don’t know what real work is anymore. Most will never know what it was like to do 2-a-days and bale hay or cut tobacco in 98 degree weather, in between those practices. We’re dealing w/a softer and weaker generation, raised by millennial parents that don’t make their boys do anything  hard anymore, much less work, or value hard physical work, like football requires.  

Just saying. 

MOST young men would rather sit around in the air conditioning and play video games than show up and work for sthing bigger than their own  growing big behinds. It’s a problem every where. 

Not all of them tho. Still got SEVERAL who are farm strong and/ or are willing to put in the work in the wt room, not quit, and not transfer elsewhere. Part of that’s on the school for letting the program slowly fall off a cliff for over a decade, leading to kids understandably going elsewhere, but also the current culture of work ethic & commitment that all programs struggle with. They still have a lot of work to do, but the transformation in the whole program over the last 2 yrs has been incredible, given the previous shape it was in. More kids are coming out to play each yr, staying at HHS, and putting in the work.  Gonna take more than a couple of seasons tho to see big results, 

 

 

I blame round bales. 

[mountaineer]

Ones on ones vs G-P was 14-10 G-P. The ones played the whole first half for both teams.

[BigTime1950]

11 hours ago, Red Rebels said:

I blame round bales. 

I agree with you and farm team. Most young men don't know what hard physical labor is and this mechanized world has taken a lot of opportunities away from young men to experience hard physical labor that they need to experience in order to grow up. There are other things that they might also need to know like hunt, fish, build a fire,change a tire, cut/chop wood, or use hand tools that would come in handy if Sh#t hit the fan.

[swift13]

orrrrr the boys that aren't playing ball are holding one or two after school jobs to help their families keep food on the table or make sure their little brother/sister is taken care of, or are babysitting, or are trying to mentally make it through life. Just a different perspective as I know a lot of boys out that way are in weight training class, have abilities and major skill set, but, family life comes before sports. 

[BarneySox2007]

I'm just curious about the concrete they poured on the visitor side of the field if that is for stands or just a place to bring your own seats and watch from that side. Also regarding the game last week for some reason I thought that was Seymour instead of G-P. At least I feel some better for Heritage after I found that out. Two things that have to be corrected ASAP is all of the dropped passes and the punting game. They would be better off with Gus the Kicking Mule than what is going on right now.

[FarmTeam]

49 minutes ago, swift13 said:

orrrrr the boys that aren't playing ball are holding one or two after school jobs to help their families keep food on the table or make sure their little brother/sister is taken care of, or are babysitting, or are trying to mentally make it through life. Just a different perspective as I know a lot of boys out that way are in weight training class, have abilities and major skill set, but, family life comes before sports. 

Thats true Swift, and in this particular demographic, it’s probably a bigger factor than in the two city programs. Howevs, I also know several HHS players (mostly starters) who left summer practice the past 2 yrs at noon & then most days went to work for sev more hrs in the hot sun shoveling rock, weed eating, landscaping, mowing,  and doing farm work. And they work weekends. Or have other part time jobs. Now that the season has started, many are still working on weekends. And these are kids who also keep their grades up. So it can be done, with commitment, grit, & the right work ethic. But it also takes a supportive home life, which unfortunately not all have. That’s where a lot of other team parents have stepped in and have tried to fill some gaps too, to make sure kids are fed well on Friday nights, have the gear they need, etc, and coaches have often made sure they have food to go home w/ them on the weekends. If a player has a basic need that goes unanswered at home it’s bc no one in the program support system knows abt it. But you are right, many of these kids have socio-economic challenges that are more prevalent than in other districts. 

[FarmTeam]

4 hours ago, BarneySox2007 said:

I'm just curious about the concrete they poured on the visitor side of the field if that is for stands or just a place to bring your own seats and watch from that side. Also regarding the game last week for some reason I thought that was Seymour instead of G-P. At least I feel some better for Heritage after I found that out. Two things that have to be corrected ASAP is all of the dropped passes and the punting game. They would be better off with Gus the Kicking Mule than what is going on right now.

Barn, the concrete poured is for visitor bleachers. When UTK softball team upgraded their stadium last yr, they donated their old bleachers to HHS (or sthing to that effect), which are still in good condition. Should be installed soon. 

And yes scrimmage game last week was GP. First half was 1s on 1s, and HHS led whole game, until last play. HHS was up 10-7. Expected GP to go deep, but GP pulled a nice little screen play and scored right before the buzzer. JV played second half. 

Scrimmaged Seymour last night. 1s on 1s went abt a quarter & some change. Score was roughly even I think, maybe one TD each. Then the 2s & 3s  got lots of reps.  

And yes, we gotta find a kid w/ a leg that can boot the ball. My mamaw could kick a punkin better.  I’d be lining every one of them kids up to see who can catch a snap and put it down the field and/ or troll the halls for a soccer player & put a helmet on them. Or a jersey on Gus. Gotta fix that. 

Several of the WRs need some glue on their gloves. Lots of catchable passes dropped. Got two tho who are new to the game this yr that were getting some reps in, but no excuse for the veterans. Gotta fix that too. Hopefully just working out the jitters. Also got a transfer receiver that just came in & got eligibility secured & could/should be a big contributor. We’ll see. 

Lost a great O-line coach in May to a day job transfer & relocation to Nashville that he understandably couldn’t pass up. So I suspect that’s been a big adjustment for the line & the staff. Also got a fairly young line, only 2 Srs I think. 

The rising Soph RB and his half brother that went back to SDoyle didn’t quit, as was implied by someone in an earlier post. It was due to their domestic/home situation. Got 2 formidable Jrs, another Soph, and a rising stud freshman tho who can do the job even better, IF the dang line can figure out how to block a lick. 
 

Got 2 LBs, an Edge & a DE who go all out to war. But the DBs gotta finish better on the tackles & wrap the heck up.  I reckon it’s a thing nowadays (?) for practices not to be all out full contact, for injury risk etc, but I think that shows up big time in games on the tackle finish, esp the DBs. Just my opinion. 

Overall, HHS looks pretty solid on skill positions. (Even beat Bearden one game on day 2 of bracket play at the Powell 7/7, but that went uncovered by 5 star preps and was denied here on the T, then admitted, but said it was Bearden’s 2s & 3s. It wasn’t, as I was there & watched it. And like Bearden would let that happen, to have to  climb their way out of the loser’s bracket to play 3 more unnecessary games in 98 degree heat to climb back in the winner’s bracket, due to getting beat by the poor old terrible Mountaineers. NOT.) 

But we all know games are won & lost at the LOS in real games, so that, coupled w/ lack of depth (several players going both ways, which will show in the 4th qtr), will be HHS’s  Achilles heel this yr, IMO. Otherwise, they can/should compete. 
 

Compared to 2 yrs ago, the program looks completely different. Went from a skeleton coaching staff (several stipends weren’t even being used), no headsets, no sled, helmets that hadn’t been reconditioned in years, home & away jerseys that didn’t even match numbers, pads that were disintegrating, and even had to raise money to buy stinkin’ footballs! No booster club in over 10 yrs, and a mediocre at best feeder program to 100% better on all fronts. The infrastructure is now there for success, just gotta keep and develop kids from feeders on up. Ppl have NO IDEA how bad it was, or the massive challenges that’s been overcome in 2 seasons. 
 

And Barn already knows, but no I’m not on staff there, married to anyone who is, etc nor am I throwing shade back at the former staff or admin. Nor am I saying that Oz is some kind of savior or saint. All coaching staffs have their issues, parent complainers, etc. and all players hate their coaches sometimes, just like they do their parents & their teachers. So you’re gonna hear that stuff. But as someone who has  direct connections to parents, players, staff, program and community at large, it’s improved 100% from what it was before.

I for one would just like to see ALL our programs & KIDS succeed in our area again and it be an all out hometown war on Friday nights.  Those were fun times, and  all the communities had good natured competitive dislike for, but mutual respect for one another’s teams.
 

But instead what I see & hear mostly now is often complete disrespect toward  the county teams (and therefore the players), who’ve had zero ownership in the stupid, horrible admin decisions that put their programs in the gutter before they were even old enough to put pads on, and back when MHS was still taking tuition kids. (Any parent in their right mind took their kid to MHS or AHS or elsewhere to play.) I know of at least 6-8 current HHS players that could have still gone to MHS or AHS, due to where they live or otherwise (and PLAYED) but chose to stay & try to contribute to a rebuild in their community. But what do these kids constantly hear from all fronts? “Y’all suck. Fing Haritage will always be terrible.”  But they have a tight brotherhood going on, and if asked (and I have), they’d still make the same decision. So kudos to some young men who chose to stay and be a part of sthing bigger than themselves instead of chasing a ring, and to their parents who supported their decision. 

Edited August 10, 2024 by FarmTeam