Dead-o-Winter 2004 Region 4-5A Picks

[Guest region4fan]

Thanks for the great info Olineathlete!! You always are in the know . I also heard today that Coach Moose was definitely the DC now at Oakland. I also share your confidence in him at the helm. He had an outstanding record at Lebanon as DC. I was told that he had over 30 shut-outs in about 60-70 games. That was playing the likes of Riverdale with Rankin , and My Oakland with Alsup. ( Back in the District 7AAA Days.) Now if only we could get some more kids out. From what I hear, seems like the school is overun with non-English speaking kids.

 

Oline...how's school going??

[82cat]

OAKLAND 2001 you posted earlier that oakland is "loaded with talent"

 

who are those players?

[Guest region4fan]

Hey Cat...........I would like to hear that answer too. It sounds to me that the squad is loaded with soon to be sophs. We will be VERY young, Very green, but VERY disciplined!

[TDCman]

Is there any solid news about mid-term transfers? Everyone should be back at school. What about spring practice dates?

 

A couple of inetresteing notes:

 

Spike Mcdaniel from Riverdale was named to the Tennessee-Kentucky all-star squad. Per the article on the RHS web site, Spike played in 60 high school football games. That means he participated in every game, including the state championship game, beginning in his freshmen year. That has to be a pretty rare.

 

http://www.rhs.rcs.k12.tn.us/sports/football/home.htm

 

The Riverdale powerlifting meet is set for March 13th. It is always interesting to see the results from this meet.

 

http://www.rhs.rcs.k12.tn.us/sports/footba...ifting_meet.htm

 

Bring on some news....

[82cat]

I only remeber the QB I am sure there are others but I don't know any of them. I do know whoever they are they must be young!

 

As I said earlier games are being won right now in the weight room will those players that dominated as middle school and freshman do the work to get bigger and stronger?

 

I know at Smyrna the key players are getting bigger and stronger the ones I have seen over the winter are really bulking up. Then the second phase starts over the summer with conditioning and working that winter size gains into football shape.

 

Spike Mcdaniel playing in 60 games is a great accomplisment it is a shame a player like that really has no college chances. But being a great high school player is something that in itself is a great reward.

 

Smyrna this year reminds me of Tennessee after Peyton Manning. They had lost there star QB and nobody expected them to do anything but as we all know the defense stepped up and the team chemistry improved and a new QB that could run as well as pass stepped in and changed the offense. I am not saying we will win the state championship but I think you will see a lot of guys out to prove they can win without Wolke.

[TDCman]

Back at the top of this thread I said that Smyrna might well be better than last year. The thing that imnpresses me about the bulldogs is that they have at least one big-time player back on every unit. That means they will have someone there to assume that leadership role in the backfield, on the lines, etc... Smyrna looks like they will be a big, physical team with plenty of skill players.

 

We may have quite a game on September 3d.

[82cat]

Riverdale is so loaded with returning talent that I can't imagine them thinking about antything but the state championship game. Until Smyna beats them I don't even think we can call it a rivalry I'm sure Riverdale players have very little thought about when they play Smyrna.

 

Smyrma will be better on defense next year and with a running QB with the veer offense we should be more ball control.

[Guest Oakland]

to say oakland is green at this point is a HUGE understatement. oakland should be ok on offense with daryl smith now running it at the qb position. kentrell roper will get the nod in the backfield for oakland as he will be able to take some of the sting away from carlos crawford graduating. luter will prolly get the nod at fb, originally it was to be goin to marcus malone as it was common knowledge that he was goin to transfer to oakland, but has now backed out of it. o-line is prolly oakland's weak spot this year, although they always seem to have a good unit every year under coach ferguson. lucas adams and bj oliver will be the bright spots for the patriot o-line with the other spots up in the air and the contenders for those spots are: alex jennings,adam peay, michael murphy, patrick platts, with freshmen terrence mcfadden figuring to see some playing time as well. receiving corps: oakland should be solid here, not great but solid nonetheless. juniors josh fleming and cord cowan being the play makers and wide receiver. tight end deadrick morris should give oakland a good option as well, a very physical tight end with division 1 size.

 

 

defense is a whole new story for the pats though as they replace 8 starters on defense. defensive line:re places 3 starters, with deadrick morris being the lone returnee. players to watch out for are freshmen terrence mcfadden, junior bj oliver, freshmen dejuan osborne, adam peay and lucas adams.

 

linebackers:may prove to be the strength of this unit with all-region player stephen luter leading the unit at middle linebacker. early indication looks like kentrell roper and zach wolaver will occupy the other 2 positions, but other playes to watch out for are freshmen sam youree(6'1 165), dejuan osborne(6'0,169), deadrick morris

 

secondary:by the end of the year, this could prove to be an outstanding unit as there is great talent at these positions. cord cowan looks to be the starter at strong safety with free safety being a toss up bewteen daryl smith, josh fleming and pj polk. both corners spot will be up in the air by those mentioned previously along with terrence wills.

 

now i am gonna give my frehsmen that i havent mentioned already players to watch over the course of these next few years: jerome and justin burris, brother duo who could see regular playing time at rb. andrew mcgowan, very talented backup to daryl smith, good arm decent speed. richard hawks- could give oakland another good size option at tight end.

 

hopefully that has helped u out as far as oakland goes, my very early prediction is 6-4, 7-3 at best, but euverard coaches his best when nobody expects him to do well so it should be an interesting season nonetheless. GO PATS!

[TDCman]

Oakland,

Thanks for the info. That is a great breakdown. Of course, these is a lot to be done between now and September plus there are always some kids that surprise every year.

 

82cat,

It would be a huge mistake for Riverdale to look too far ahead. They probably shouldn't have gotten past LC last year. They have some huge losses (Gadie, Mcdaniel), and some areas that have to be fixed. They were a very mistake-prone team and they have to correct that. Still, they do have the talent. Like most teams, these guys will need to work hard and stay focused to be successful.

 

The more I look at Siegel the more I think they will be a factor this fall. It will be very interesting to see how they perform in the spring. I'm not ready to predict them as a playoff team but the more I dig the better they look. Malone staying is a big plus for them.

[Guest region4fan]

Oakland , thanks for the info. Obviously you always know more than I do. I am still thinking that many of these kids are untested. There is quite a difference going from hitting kids your age as freshmen and being head up on 18 and 19 year olds who are battle-tested. Usually I am the one with all the optimism for my favorite team.............but I am remembering that we have Brentwood Academy, Lincoln County, and Franklin as non-region games. Then we still have to contend with Riverdale, Smyrna, Blackman, and Lebanon. I just think that 6-4 is totally unrealistic at this point. We are Rebuilding, not reloading. We don't have the numbers and we don't have the dedication. YET....still hoping though.

 

Many kids quit between their freshmen and soph years.....some not dedicated enough, some have to work, GIRLFRIENDS are discovered, parents in the way, EGOS, no heart, and some simply are gutless. I wonder how many of these kids we have on board will remain. Also I am questioniong some of our upper classmen. They have HUGE leadership shoes to fill from a gritty Senior class. Can they get the job done? Will they invest the time?? There are some kids that I see HUGE question marks on. Really the only kid that I see as SOLID in the SADDLE is Luter. I hope that you are right and that I am totally mistaken, make that PRAY that I am absolutely WRONG!

 

I also think that if Smyrna's new QB is as good as Cat says that this may be their year to give Rankin a run for their money. It si funny that you compare Smyrna to TN w/o Peyton. Maybe they will do what TN did w/o Manning in 98. Maybe Riverdale will be their Florida.

Edited February 6, 2004 by region4fan

[Guest Oakland]

region, having a good source from within the program doesnt hurt . ur prolly right that this will be a rebuilding year, but then again that what they said in 2000 and oakland went 10-3 with 2 of their losses to riverdale. but thing that impresses me about these kids is a lot of have a lot of moxy and this aura about them that u can sense somethin is special about them. this is a state championship contender in the 05 season. region, playing franklin and lincoln wont be as bad as u think, lincoln will be down big time next year, from what i am hearing. one player that i guarantee u will fall love with region is dejuan osborne and another in safety pj polk, isnt big on size but he was the lil safety that put that big hit on wolke last year

 

also i forgot to originally mention 2 incoming transfers, one who is already enrolled in school, rb sam garnes from texas isnt the biggest guy on the field, but is a stout downhill runner. also there is a qb/wr from alabama, but i am still waiting on confirmation from wingman10 about him, but from what i am hearing, the kid is very legit

Edited February 6, 2004 by oakland2001

[Guest Oakland]

btw, do u guys think euverard will open up the playbook this year with daryl? i think for the 1st time in 4 years he has a qb he is confident in. in euverard's early years at oakland, he threw the ball 15-20 times a game, and no slight to ebalaroza, but he just wasnt very good at all. i think what people saw at the lincoln co game last year(2nd time) is what we will be seeing next year with a lot of 3 and 4 wide receiver sets while still running the football out of the power I. what are you guys thoughts?