The defending 5A Champion South Warren Spartans sure played like it in a complete dismantling of the Highlands Bluebirds in the Rafferty's Bowl by a score of 49-14.  It was the first varsity start for many Spartans, but none more spotlighted than SO QB Bryce Button, who finished with a sparkling 11 for 18 for 190 yards and 2 TDs.  His coach Brandon Smith said "his (Button) demeanor was probably the best part of the night".  Meaning Button was really calm and just made plays.  That's easy to do when your offensive line gives you a ton of time, which the Spartan OLine did a great job of.  The other big story was the domination by the Spartan defense.  Other than the first play from scrimmage, where a Highlands WR was wide open for a TD, but was dropped, the Spartan D was near perfect and accounted for 3 TDs on their own, more than Highlands scored on the South defensive subs.  WOW!  Great performance out of the gate, has to have the Spartan faithful thinking of another deep playoff run.

Now the focus turns to the only team that was able to defeat South last year Hendersonville, TN.  The Commandos (0-1) were blasted by Oakland, one of the 6A big boys in TN football on Friday night 42-0.  So, what's the scoop on Hendersonville this year?  My man @Maroon Beech provides a great write up on the Commandos, as follows:

 

The Hendersonville Commandos (enrollment 1,561) represent Region 7 (District in Kentucky) of Class 6A (Public Division).  The Commandos finished the 2021 campaign with a 10-4 record and advanced to the semi-finals where they lost 7-28 to eventual Class 6A Runners-Up Summit (led by UK signees Destin and Keaton Wade & Brady Pierce).

Hendersonville will have to replace a huge number of Seniors, including eight starters on offense and 10 starters on defense.  Gone are RB/DB Ellis Ellis (Austin Peay), QB Luke Manning (Campbellsville), RB/DB Jameson Wharton, RB/DB Toran Baker, TE/DE Jack Bussey, RB/DB Jack Brown as well as linemen Donnell Brown, Jaden Thorton and Aaron Baker.

Competing to replace Manning at QB will be Jr. Mason Baker.  Other key reserves from 2021 looking to fill key starting spots will be RB/LB Dannen Kondus, RB/DB Stevin Mack, DBs Brice Howden & Blayze Hargrove, as well as linemen Mason Lilly and Alex Jones.

Hendersonville traditionally has run a Wing-T offense while lining up in a base 50 defense.  The past two years QB Luke Manning utilized a more pass-oriented version of their offense.  However, with the graduation of Manning the Commandos may return to a more run-oriented offense in 2022 with Mason Baker at the controls of the Wing-T.

With graduation losses Hendersonville will be hard-pressed to add a 4^th straight Region championship in 2022.  However, the Commandos rarely rebuild.  With an excellent coaching staff led by James Beasley (32-18 in fours years) they will once again battle Beech & Gallatin for the Region 7-6A crown.  HHS will once again face a challenging non-Region schedule including hosting reigning Kentucky Class 5A Champion South Warren at Paul Decker Stadium in Week #2.  They will travel to two-time defending 6A Champion Murfreesboro Oakland (30-0 in last two years) to open their season (lost 7-42 in 2021).  Other non-Region games include a trip to 6A power Ravenwood (lost 28-35 in 2021) and hosting D2 (Private Division) power Chattanooga Baylor (lost 35-41 in 2021).

The Hendersonville v. South Warren should be a classic at Paul Decker Stadium.  I would love to be there in person, but I will be traveling west to Paris, TN that night as my Beech Bucs will be playing a non-Region game against Class 5A power Henry County.  Henry County is truly one of the best environments I have witnessed in high school football, and this annual contest is usually special.

Going to be a good one down in Hendersonville on Friday night!

Hendersonville is ranked #17 in Tennessee by Calpreps. The team they lost to first game is ranked top 100 in the nation at 88. The way South Warren spanked Highlands, I'll take South Warren in a close one.

Any team running the Wing T in 2022 is getting spanked by a solid team, and South Warren is more than solid.

Bump.

Looks like Hendersonville is not ranked or receiving votes in the Tennessean Poll if I’m reading correctly.

Mira hard to judge anything after that last game since Highlands was so bad.  And I don’t know much  about the public divisions in Tennessee.  Hendersonville lost 42-0 to Oakland last week.  They are in Murfreesboro I believe.

Both lost a ton of talent and production. I'll be a homer here and take the Spartans because my faith in Brandon Smith and his staff is complete and total. Regardless of how poorly Highlands looked last week, I never expected a 49-0 margin shortly after halftime. South Warren was well prepared. I expect the same this week.

At end of First South 3 Hendersonville 0

South up10-0 in the second

Late in the second quarter Hendersonville takes lead 14-10

1 minute ago, jcarter said:

Late in the second quarter Hendersonville takes lead 14-10

Wow!

At Half it’s Hendersonville 14 South 10

21-16 Hendersonville leading in the 3rd

1:38 to go in 3rd Hendersonville 28 South 16

With 1:16 south with ball

Hendersonville 28 South 22

3 minutes ago, jcarter said:

With 1:16 south with ball

Hendersonville 28 South 22

Let's go South Warren!