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Tennessee had 12 private school players on the roster: Division II 7, Tyree Ford, 5-9, 160, CB, Brentwood Acad., UT-Martin 14, Chris Hohl, 5-11, 180, CB, Father Ryan, Tenn. Tech 33, Chris Michalek, 6-2, 225, LB, Evangelical Chr., Undecided 56, Davis Dempsey, 6-0, 240, C, Father Ryan, Rhodes 77, Corderoa Smith, 6-3, 265, OT, Briarcrest, Lambuth Division I 57, Cole Trim, 6-0, 240, DT, Fayette Acad., NW Miss. J.C. 60, Chris Montague, 6-3, 260, C, Fayette Acad., Harding 65, Daniel Winningham, 6-3, 235, OG, DCA, Air Force 70, Quinton Groves, 6-1, 260, DT, Goodpasture, UT-Martin 74, T.J. Franklin, 6-5, 270, OT, Knox. Catholic, Cincinnati 75, Mark Fisher, 6-4, 275, OT, Goodpasture, MTSU 88, Ben Lehning, 6-2, 220, TE, David Lipscomb, Tennessee

Condolences from Nashville. I went back and checked my Inbox, where LSURock and I had exchanges in the past about the MBA-Trinity series and other goings-on in high school football. He was a lively sort on the boards, but the private messages revealed a pretty good side of him as well, and he was a very knowledgeable person with a wealth of information. R.I.P.

No, I didn't mean that, although I can see how it may have read that way. I only brought up the "makeshift" 2006 Tennessee roster to point out that this game, by virtue of the quality of the rosters dwindling, appears to be taking on less importance, at least in the potential players' eyes. The fact that Kentucky seems to be experiencing the same relative apathy among its star players towards participation in this game says that the game "losing its luster" may be a sentiment expressed by coaches from both states, not just Tennessee. I only commented on this thread because it's hard for me to grasp the theory posed by Tigertalker that "...the success [Kentucky has had] in the series...the last 5 years [is a reason for] ending the series from a Tennessee side". Considering the series as a whole, a few recent years of being on the short end of the stick, no matter how meaningful the game is, doesn't diminish Tennessee's whole body of work in the series. Ditto on the respect; Kentucky representation, whether in the all-star game or in head-to-head matchups during the regular season, is top-notch and high class. I couldn't say the same as a whole about our neighbors in some of Tennessee's other border states.

The fact of the matter is, this all-star game is a nice reward for some players from both states, and I'm sure both the players and the coaches that do participate do take some level of pride in representing themselves and their home states. However, I would hardly consider this game as so meaningful that players and fans from each state stick their chests out and strut with Volunteer or Bluegrass pride for any meaningful amount of time that their state holds bragging rights in the series. As has been pointed out by ChiefSmoke, even the Kentucky squad is apparently not getting the best talent for its team on a year-end, year-out basis. If a few "Tennessee Coaches...say the game has lost its luster", perhaps they are actually speaking from the heart. They certainly aren't "sour" about the state they represent and their state's all-time record in this series.

My original post, which I may add has not been edited, never mentioned anything about the quality of the 2005 roster. The word "makeshift" was used only in reference to the 2006 roster.

Despite Kentucky's success in the "all-star" game in the past half-decade, Tennessee still has a commanding lead in the series (15-8?). While I am not aware of the talent level of the 2006 Kentucky all-star roster, I do know that Tennessee's 2006 roster was a makeshift roster at best (and Tennessee still won), and the 2007 orange roster looks to be similar in a relative lack of talent. At least 15 SEC signees (8 at U. of Tennessee alone) and a couple of Notre Dame signees are sitting this game out. Given the series lead, Tennessee is still playing this series with house money, and still would be, regardless of any outcomes, the next five years. Combine that with the fact that more and more top Tennessee players are not risking injury, or are getting a head start on their college careers, by bypassing this all-star game, and one would have to believe that saving face is not a compelling argument for Tennessee to be interested in discontinuing this series.

A Maryville-Hoover matchup isn't making the rumor rounds on the Tennessee boards as best as I can tell. I find it highly unlikely that Maryville would play Hoover, primarily because MHS's usual three non-region games are with Alcoa, William Blount, and Heritage - all four are schools located in Blount County and are large gate games for the schools. Combine that with the fact that Maryville hasn't played out of state in 30 years, and I find the chances as remote. Gosh, where do I start on Maryville. Let's get numbers out of the way first: 45 in a row, 87 of 89, 123-9 since 1998, 7 DI-4A titles since 1998. No matter what level of football one plays at, those are impressive numbers. While I will not go as far to say they are a paper tiger, because they do play good football with good discipline, they have not played any of the DII private powers in that period, and the DI-5A teams they have played are chops. I have watched Maryville play a few times over the years, and while MHS is solid, I'm not totally wowed, primarily because I have seen MBA, Brentwood Academy, MUS, McCallie, and the like play over the years (the point being, Tennessee's Division II-AAA has at least 2-3 Maryville type programs each year; DI-4A has only one Maryville). Basically, Maryville, while a public school (and an open-zoned public school at that, which is the source of some debate in Tennessee as far as enrollment advantages are concerned), has very similar football characteristics of some of the Tennessee privates (and the Kentucky ones too - T, X, et al.). Long story short, I think Maryville would have represented Tennessee well in out-of-state matchups versus regional/national powers during the past few years, but all other things being equal, I'd probably put one our DII private school powers on the field first in such a matchup due to the strength of schedule in Tennessee's DII. If Maryville is indeed playing Hoover, more power to them; maybe they're getting tired of beating up on Tennessee's DI-4A and are looking for a new challenge.

As a Tennessean, I should probably add a few asterisks to the KY-TN results. > Fulton City has three TN games counted as wins that are technically losses due to forfeit (although I will concede them as KY wins since they were won on the field, and won decisively at that). > The five KY wins against Pioneer Christian, Lighthouse Christian, Pleasant View Christian, and South Haven Christian are not recognized by the TSSAA as varsity games (these schools are not members of the TSSAA). Once again, technicality may prevail in a state vs. state comparison, since these schools are in the state of Tennessee, but the Tennessee state association does not recognize these schools as playing varsity games. > Hancock County is a TSSAA member but is not affiliated with any classification and did not play any games versus Tennessee schools (just the four versus KY schools). But, it is a Tennessee school, so I guess it counts. Of course, I'm splitting hairs (gotta protect Tennessee's honor here ), but I think 18-14 is worthy of an asterisk or two. I can concede the Fulton City forfeits as wins, but the 5 wins over PC/LC/PVC/SHC (to a greater extent) and 4 over Hancock Co. (to a lesser extent) are nebulous IMHO.

MBA's website is not showing a Trinity-MBA game. Anybody have the story to clarify? http://www.montgomerybell.edu/podium/default.aspx?t=41617

The MBA team that beat Trinity early in '06 suffered injuries like no other MBA team has ever seen soon thereafter. MBA lost its #1 QB in the Trinity game to a torn ACL, and his backup that engineered the Trinity win was lost two weeks later for the season. MBA was relegated to a sophomore QB with no experience for the last six games, and therefore a single-wing offense that was virtually a complete 180 from the offense MBA typically employs. In addition, nine other starters were lost at some point during the season. While MBA is private, for a school with about 30-40% the number of male students as Trinity, those were huge losses. Combine decimating injuries with what was once again a tough league, and you have a 4-6 record that is somewhat misleading. Was MBA a below average team at season's end? Absolutely. But MBA's program remains second in Tennessee in all-time wins, and there's no shame in the Trinity loss to that program (nor that team at full manpower in Week 1) early in the year. Good luck to both squads this weekend.

Ridgeway was picked 8th in the preseason DI-5A rankings in Tennessee. They have now outscored their opponents 121-24 in the first four games. Ridgeway should be a legitimate contender is Tennessee's highest DI classification, but West Tennessee generally doesn't do well in this class by the time the semifinals roll around in Novermber.

Not sure, but MBA needs him.

Great game. Yes, we're happy on the MBA side, but I also know it took a lot of guts late in the game to come back against a solid Trinity squad. Hats off to the Trinity program for a great contest, and to Glen Owens for providing live game stats via the Trinity website for those of us listening/viewing from home. First class all around. It sounded like the opponent's D-line gave MBA fits again, much like last week versus PLD, but MBA sounded (from a radio broadcast perspective) like it also gave QB Howe time more to throw on many occasions. It was great to see our backup QB, with no QB experience (he was a DE last year with little playing time) and coming off preseason injuries that kept him out of all scrimmages and last week's game in Lexington, engineer a game winning drive. I'll let you guys hash it out from here. Thanks for the hospitality.

Please don't tell me you're going to try to prove your point by carving out one season (2002). If we're going to play that game, and use recent history, let's use 2003, too (MBA wins state, but loses to Brentwood Academy; Trinity loses to MBA but beats St. X twice, St. X beats Male twice, and Trinity goes on to win state). Heck, if we're going to talk about Louisville privates versus Nashville privates in general, let's talk about 2005. Kentucky's big school state champ losing to a Nashville private that didn't even sniff a state title in Tennessee isn't bolstering an argument for Louisville private school football. Playing that one-season-in-a-vacuum game isn't so fun now, is it? I have no clue what the status of Catholic schools in Tennessee has to do with this argument. Help me out there. I'm not going to use all-star contests, head-to-head matchups between the states, College/NFL representation, etc. (yet I think we all know which state those stats would favor over time), nor even proclaim to be some guru who watches game film all over the country of various programs. I'm just going to tell you that Brentwood Academy, in my opinion, would have done just fine against your Big 3 over time. Take it or leave it. westsider, I'm glad to hear your perspective. I would agree, but we know that by now. Oh yeah, LSURock, they weren't passing out any crowns for any Louisville privates in Tennessee last year, either. :thumb:

And you really think MBA sabotaged the lights in that game, as it gives neither team an advantage? Please. The lights were dim. They went out a couple of times. It happens. MBA had the disadvantage of not knowing where the plays were going at the end of the game, as T was on O, and was calling the plays, and MBA was on D. Let's start a new thread if necessary; the Dunbar fans probably don't want to hear our catfights on their game thread.

I guess it stays dark on one side of the field like it stays hot on one side of the field.

I think the Brentwood Academy fans would tell you that the "real" Catholic schools would have to earn their way into Tennessee's Super 7 as well. Brentwood Academy has been title-less since taking titles in 1995 and 1996 against large public schools, and in large part due to your friends at MBA, but BA is one of the South's top programs the past 25 years. I don't think you'll find many, if any, neutral observers in the region who would question BA's ability to have been successful in Kentucky over the years. I'm a rival of BA, but they deserve a "heckuva" lot more respect than that.

First off, I heard good things about the Dunbar facilities and surrounding area from those at the game and the MBA radio crew. Furthermore, I must say that it’s been an enjoyable three years on BGP – this is an informative, and relatively civil high school website – and seeing that MBA Coach Rutledge was quoted in the Nashville paper as saying he would like to renew with Trinity after this year, theguru may be able to squeeze a couple more years of membership out of me. With that said, let me offer a few comments – from the other side of the ledger, and yet with all due respect to our hosts last night. First, regarding cramps, let me offer the following from the internet: Heat cramps are painful, brief muscle cramps. Muscles may spasm or jerk involuntarily. Heat cramps can occur during exercise or work in a hot environment or begin a few hours later. Heat cramps usually involve muscles that are fatigued by heavy work such as calves, thighs, and shoulders. You are most at risk if you are doing work or activities in a hot environment—usually during the first few days of an activity you're not used to. You are also at risk if you sweat a great deal during exercise and drink large amounts of water or other fluids that lack salt. MBA was subject to the same oppressive heat conditions last night as Dunbar. Perhaps a little credit could be given to the Nashvillians for their conditioning. I don't think availability of fluids was an issue for either side. Secondly, regarding the game itself, here’s a quick summary of the statistics: MBA had a 260-160 total yards advantage. MBA had almost a 3-to-1 passing yards advantage. MBA had more rushing yards on less rushes than PLD (and I would assume Dunbar had quite a few more TFL and sacks, lowering MBA’s rushing yards). Dunbar had a 3-to-1 turnover disadvantage, a 9-7 penalty disadvantage, and almost a 2-to-1 penalty yards disadvantage. I understand a WCS mentality (“woulda, coulda, shoulda”), but WCS can be applied to both sides in a given contest. Lastly, regarding injuries, MBA’s heir apparent at tailback is out for the season (link). MBA’s runningback-by-committee last night racked up 137 yards and 2 TDs – that’s 40 more yards and 12 points more than that committee did the entire last season. The “skill” WRs for MBA? The boys that caught balls last night for 140 receiving yards and no TDs only contributed 356 yards and 1 TD all of last year. It’s a young, green team, and there are no legitimate DI A prospects in this MBA senior class, and likely few, if any, in the underclassman ranks. Trust me when I say this is not a very athletic team (as a previous poster mentioned). Based on the MBA radio broadcast, I don’t think this was by any means a “wow” performance by the Big Red, but if the shoe fits… MBA will have to play better next week, particularly on the offensive line, which, to PLD’s credit, was exploited severely. If MBA doesn’t improve drastically, it could be a 35-7 repeat (or worse) from the 2004 game with Trinity. Best wishes to Dunbar the remainder of the way.

I'll answer through this link as it also addresses where Manual's first opponent is ranked (in a nutshell, MBA is 5th, Brentwood Academy is 1st). Let me know if you need any more preseason Tennessee rankings.

Milan was picked second in Region 7-2A by the coaches and fourth overall in Tennessee's Division I-2A. Milan is returning 5 defensive starters and four offensive starters from 2005.

MBA is picked (by league coaches) fifth out of 8 teams in Tennessee's largest private class, Division II-AAA. This is the first time in probably the past decade they haven't been picked one or two. Number five may be low, but one or two would be too high this year, IMO. The Big Red returns five offensive and four defensive starters. Manual's first opponent, Brentwood Academy, was picked first in the league.

Alcoa probably is getting a coaching upgrade, despite losing a coach which led it to two straight 2A titles in Tennessee. The new coach is Gary Rankin, which led Murfreesboro Riverdale to four 5A state titles, two final USA Today Super 25 rankings, and a 194-25 record in 16 seasons.

That is correct. In MBA's league, five of the eight schools played out-of-state competition in 2005 (KY, MS, GA, and SC).

As it relates to this year, MBA was very limited in who it could play, and was basically relegated to out-of-state competition. Tennessee is in the second of a two-year scheduling period (i.e., 2005 schedules are the same in 2006), so there were virtually no Tennessee schools to play since almost all of those schools' schedules are locked in for 2006. In general, MBA has a difficult time finding in-state opponents. Since Tennessee split into two divisions in 1997, MBA, in Division II, has played 18 Division I (public schools and non-aid privates) opponents and has a record of 17-1. That winning percentage, combined with Public/Private issues, are probably the main contributing factors to in-state scheduling difficulties. As such, MBA has had to play schools from Kentucky, Florida, Mississippi, and South Carolina to round out its schedules.

While the Trinity series is fresh on the mind, MBA has a long history with Kentucky schools. MBA had a two-game series with Central Hardin in 1993-1994 and a four-game series with Warren Central from 1989-1992. MBA also locked horns with St. X in 1958-1959 and had some tilts with Paducah Tilghman (2 games), Manual (3 games), and Hopkinsville (4 games) periodically throughout 1914-1949. I hadn't heard about this matchup with Dunbar yet. Thanks for the update.