rollredroll

It had nothing to do with being impressed. The point was that state championships, while maybe a goal of all teams, aren't the only measure of the quality of team. But, yes, I see your point. Point taken.

Mercy? Competitive team? Sandbaggin' a little early I see! Looking forward to renewing the series; mutual respect reciprocated.

There was a perceived implication there. I think others sensed it as well.

Good luck to Trinity as well. From what I read, the 2011 team may be better than any of the four we saw 2003-2006, and those were, of course, all good teams. Rutledge left after 2006. He was good friends with Ken Whisenhunt and took the QB coach position with the Arizona Cardinals in 2007. Oddly, he parted ways right after the Super Bowl loss to the Steelers (it may have been an old K. Warner vs. young M. Leinart difference of opinion). He is now with a relatively new Catholic school outside of Nashville, Pope John Paul II. He had a tough year, going 2-9, but playing in the same league as MBA, BA, etc., the going is tough.

Deem a team's relative strength based on a state championship at your own peril. The 2010 Brentwood Academy team that did not win state also put a beating on Olive Branch (MS) to the same tune that mythical national champion (in some polls) South Panola did (SP beat OB by 11 and 35 in two games, BA beat OB by 32). MBA also beat the eventual state champ at their place during the regular season. Let's go to 2008. MBA handed Moeller its worst loss margin-wise for the season (and in Cincinnati, a 4+ hour drive from Nashville). While Moeller was a pedestrian 6-5 that season, they were playing strong Ohio programs the rest of the year. MBA did not win state that year. They lost to MUS by 28 in the semis. Who is MUS? The only blemish on South Panola's schedule the past 30 games and the only program to beat SP in the regular season in almost a decade. Heck, just look at the last two Trinity-MBA scores. 2006: MBA goes 4-6: its first losing season in 24 years. Trinity goes 14-1, wins state. MBA is the lone "L". 2005: MBA goes 8-3, first round playoff loss. Trinity: 13-2, title. One of the two losses: MBA. Say what you want about comparative scores or historical head-to-heads. I can tell you this, though: anyone who thinks BA and MBA are not worthy opponents because they did not win state in Tennessee last year is in for a rude awakening. With that said, Trinity will be a handful for both BA and MBA.

The game looks to be on. The Tennessean said the games will be played in the J.A.C.D. Inc. High School Football Classic on August 27. Goodpasture will play Louisville Central, followed by Riverdale-X. Goodpasture has been a good program in some of the lower classifcations and has won a few titles. They made it to the AA finals in 2005, 2006, and 2007 but were beaten by the buzzsaw called Alcoa all three years. I think St. X will be fine and will match up well with Riverdale, regardless of what each team has in 2011. Riverdale is a large school with plenty of talent, but X isn't exactly hurting for football players either.

To give a little history on the bowl: In the 1950s-1970s, the game was played as a true bowl game at the end of the season featuring two of Middle Tennessee's best teams. Years later, the Clinic Bowl became the name of the state championship games. Then, in 2005, it became a game played to start the season. MBA played in that first game in 2005, and the bowl sponsors asked two prominent programs (nameless to avoid controversy) in the state to play MBA in a pseudo Private/Public heavyweight tilt. Those two schools declined. So, they go to South Carolina and find Byrnes, featuring a stud junior QB (Willy Korn) and a host of talented athletes. It wasn't pretty. Byrnes rolled 62-14. To give you perspective on how good Byrnes was, MBA turned around the next week and beat Trinity, who went on to take AAAA state in Kentucky. Yes, it would be great to have one of Kentucky's finest play in the game. On a related note, I don't know if it got much, if any, pub on these threads, but two Middle Tennessee teams are playing Kentucky schools next year, with the feature game being Riverdale vs. St X. This should be a really great game. Riverdale has been relatively down the past few years (no titles), but from the mid-90s to the mid-00s, they were THE DI (public) program in the state. They are still good, though, and this should be a blockbuster matchup.

Soddy Daisy is 6A. There are three global Division I classifications, with AAA consisting of a 6A and 5A, AA (4A and 3A), and A (2A and 1A).

If I undertand correctly, you are saying that, if you put an equally-sized KY and OH school in a football game, Kentucky will be better? That's a fairly large blanket over that statement. Small schools beat large schools often in all states, in state and out of state. Enough for states, Kentucky or otherwise, to do away with classifications? No. Actually, heck no - they add classifications! Lest we forget, it can work both ways. Three of Trinity's mere 18 losses this decade have come against a Tennessee program with one-third the enrollment of Trinity. All said, size doesn't matter...until you lose. And then, there is a bevy of other cliches that can be pulled out of the bag to explain away the loss. Nevertheless, nice win for Highlands. We'd love to have you set up a home and home with one of our programs down here in Tennessee. MUS, with wins over South Panola and Olive Branch, is the class of the state right now, closely followed by new school Ensworth, which is coached by former MBA coach Ricky Bowers. On the public side, Alcoa and Riverdale would be good targets (I would say Maryville, too, if they showed any inclination to take their exclsuive Tennessee show on the road).

Pearl-Cohn's band does rock. And, despite being located in what is not the best part of Nashville, their kids are generally sportsmanlike and clean players. Fort Campbell has rocked its first three Tennessee opponents, but I caution against reading too much into those wins, although the margins were impressive enough to maintain some level of confidence. CPA (0-3) lost tonight to East Literature, which is playing its first varsity season in the TSSAA. Classy bunch for sure - and I was equally touched with the Kentucky fans' acknowledgement of the CPA gesture before the FC game - but CPA may finish at the bottom of its seven-team region. And if it's not CPA in the cellar, it's possibly Pearl-Cohn (1-2). Pearl-Cohn does have a win among these three Tennessee schools, albeit against a weak Clarksville Northeast squad. P-C has always had good athletes (John Henderson of the Jax Jaguars went to P-C and led the Firebirds to titles in 1996 and 1997) but have lost some discipline since their great coach Maurice Fitzgerald left a few years ago. More on P-C in a minute. And then there's Kenwood, which, fittingly, was beaten the worst of the three. Kenwood suffered a 40-point loss tonight to drop to 0-2. Back to P-C. P-C lost its opener 14-42 to a team some of you Kentuckians (Trinity in particular) know about: MBA. MBA tonight was beaten by Ensworth - a school in its third full year coached by a former MBA player/head coach - 50 to 21. And, as good as Ensworth appears to be (and they are very good), many people still think the best team in MBA and Ensworth's league is the defending champs, MUS, which went 13-0 last year, waxed a couple of Memphis teams to start this season, and then tonight beat a little ol' school out of Mississippi named South Panola 21-19. South Panola had a one-game losing streak going into 2009, but it was preceded by an 89-game winning streak. I like posting on these boards since I joined in 2003 prior to MBA-Trinity I, and I will not try to stir up any trouble. But, I do want to encourage FC fans to keep perspective. Heck, any win in a border war is good for the winning state, but just as much we can encourage the Bell County fans not to be too demoralized by the Alcoa game (Alcoa does that to most everyone, and even Maryville this year), we can equally encourage FC to celebrate 3-0 but also realize a few of the top teams they will be competing with for a KY state title would likely have had similar success against this Tennessee trio. Best wishes to FC. As a parent, fan, and human being, that news hit hard to many of us who are more remotely removed from that program. Condolences to the family, and hopefully his teammates can give the parents gifts of remembrance and wins throughout the season

Yes, although at 35-point margins in the second half.

So, Alcoa "isn't a physical football team". Alcoa didn't have "overwhelming speed or athleticism". And if Bell County "had more depth" or didn't have "constant cramps", then the game is much closer. So, are some of the Bell County fans saying Alcoa's commitment to its program is greater through its kids' participation, and its coaches have a better understanding of the game and issues like hydration, conditioning, etc.? The more and more Alcoa is discredited, the more it makes the BCHS program and coaches look worse, not to mention the teams BCHS pounds on each year. But, maybe that is the goal. I didn't see the game (I listened to some of it), and while audio doesn't tell the whole story, I'll say this: when a team's players can run away from its opponent on offense, or swarm on defense in droves to a ball carrier, it doesn't have to be physical. And when an opponent is falling down left and right, there is no need for a team to place a premium on athleticism - or even put whatever athleticism it has in play. My guess is that Alcoa played to its competition last night, particularly with a game looming next week with a deep, well-conditioned, and well-coached rival.

Same area as Knox County (Knoxville), but it's actually Blount County. Alcoa, Maryville, Heritage, and William Blount are the schools in the county.

42-14 Final

Agreed on the "undisciplined" front. Fort Campbell's other two Tennessee opponents will be more undisciplined - relatively that is - than CPA. Pearl-Cohn (third FCHS opponent this year) always has great athletes but has been very penalty-prone over the years. Pearl-Cohn's last title was in 1997, when they went 14-1, beating Maryville in the title game. There were many future SEC stars on that very fast, large team, notably Santonio Beard (Alabama) and John Henderson (UT, and now with Jacksonville in the NFL), but their one blemish came to a very disciplined team - MBA. MBA was good that year but lost in its title game and was 9-3 overall. I am not sure how good the younger Fisher is, but his older brother was a good DB at CPA and played at Montana. He bulked up there (elk meat, I guess) and became a good linebacker for the Griz, who lost in the I-AA title game to Richmond this past season. My guess is the younger Fisher has at least some talent.