BigWinners

I was gonna nominate Jenkins, but Allen for Burton does deserve some love. Derrick Allen, WR, Burton 11 catches, 158 yards

No, Union is not having issues at FS. Falin has played well so far. The issues were having OLBs checking slot receivers. Union had to replace 3/4 LBs going into the season, it's gonna take some time for new starters to get used to the speed. Union will likely only pass enough to keep the defense honest or try and convert on long yardage distances. The run game has been very good, hell Jenkins had 220 yards on 11 touches, Polier added another 65 and Stidham was effective as well. The OL is a big strength for this team in the run game, so I expect Union to really grind the game out.

My biggest worry is that Jimbo saw and designed routes to take advantage of the Union defense and it's unwillingness to change, hell we saw it on their first pass when they came out with the WRs stacked. The OLB isn't over far enough to play man and it seems like Union never goes full zone. If Burton, who only has like 30 kids, can pinpoint that weakness and attack, I guarantee Mance and Richlands are gonna let Moir attack those areas early and often. Burton was also smart enough to keep enough in to block most of the time. Rarely did they send the RB out on a route unless it's a screen, using him as an extra blocker, because they knew that if given the time, an OLB doesn't have the speed to track a WR all the way across the field. And on the outside, not getting physical with the WRs at the line just seems silly. When you have speed like Jenkins on the outside that can make up yardage in a blink, why in the world is he not jamming a WR to throw off timing and foul up his route? Giving that much cushion makes sense if you're afraid of getting beat deep, but with elite speed you can take more chances. I was impressed when Union made some changes, most notably having Guerrant move into more of a strong safety position as opposed to an OLB. Just moving him around allows him to get a cleaner look at the formation. Not often will a good team change their formation in a game, but the best teams always make changes based on personnel. A 4-4 with 8 in the box makes sense if you're facing a run heavy team, but against a team that is spreading the field with four and five receivers, a 4-4 is too slim on athleticism and speed to try and play man coverage. Run a Cover II and make them beat you down the seam or over the top, don't let a team just keep making easy yards underneath. If you're not gonna sub or move guys around to match a formation, then you gotta call plays that keep you from being exposed. Maybe some of that was simply first game jitters and the defense will be much sharper next week. I hope so. If not, Union is gonna struggle stopping a good QB from picking them apart.

Thacker is an experienced QB that doesn't get rattled but Union was not great defending the pass. Too many times a WR was wide open bc Union relies on that 4-4 with only two corners and one safety with Union never getting physical trying to jam WRs at line. Jenkins plays at one CB, he is not likely to get outran by ANYONE, why not have him jam the receiver? If they get by, his speed allows him to close quickly. Made no sense to me. If Union doesn't get pressure (which at times last night we couldnt), Richlands could score pretty easily.

Great joke there Carlin. I totally didn't get the fact he made a typo and called Lee High, Lee County and have zero idea there is more than one high school in Lee county. 😕

He means Lee High, he says it in OP

If Tazwell is close, they are much further along than I had thought. They're getting better each year, but VHS is pretty dang good. I'd say VHS wins by 14.

Since when are Botetourt and Magna Vista in our coverage area? And Abingdon is better than Ridgeview, Graham, Richlands and Union? Maybe, but I'd be shocked if the case.

Are you serious? Lee High can't go .500 in the M7, THS can do whatever they want. They could literally spot Lee 50 points and still win

I think BDs saying and correct me if I'm wrong, that the big schools in NE TN are much better, not Happy Valley or North. Those aren't the names being mentioned. We were discussing Science Hill and teams of that ilk, and they are much bigger and 99% of the time are better than teams from schools of 500-600 kids or smaller. there are outliers in almost any situation, but because of the population density and the sheer number of available good athletes, big NE TN football is better man. Could 2016 Appo beat 2016 DB? Absolutely. But that's an outlier, a very down program against a program in the midst of its best run ever. Put DBs best team ever against Appos, who's is better? More high level D1 talent comes from NE TN than SWVA, shouldn't that end the argument?

The schools in NE TN are so much bigger, they are almost always better than most 2A teams around here. Sure there are outliers (and yes Union did really dominate MW everywhere but the scoreboard, but they were down to their QB in a much more QB dependent offense) but most years, schools like SH, DB, etc... rout the best over here. Pure numbers. DB wouldn't play GC for years bc there was no upside. Win? You're supposed to win and do it big. Stumble and lose? You get raked over coals. DB is extremely down now and I do think a good 2A SWVA team could beat them, but there's little doubt the talent gap is pretty wide because of population numbers. PV has had some success against the Sullivan North's of the world, but North is nothing compared to Science Hill

In the inset in the KTN, I counted ten sophs in that roster.

Something's not adding up, my math isn't right. Now I'm thinking it was 28 straight home wins between GC loss and Appo loss. Went 6-0 in 14, 8-0 in 15, 6-0 in 16 and had won 8 in 17 before Appo, so that's 28.

From my count, it was 28 straight home wins between GC loss and Appo loss. Won one home playoff game in 2014, three in 2015, one in 2016 and three last year. Since inception, Union is 40-8 at home by my count, including playoffs. Six of those were in the first two years. After 2012, Union has went 34-2 at home (GC playoffs in 2013, Appo last year). Should have NEVER lost the 2013 playoff game to GC. We romped them by 30 in regular season yet choked and lost by ten in the playoff game.

Well since last home regular season loss was 2012, it's been at least 25 straight regular season wins. I knew there was a home playoff loss more recently at home before Appo, couldn't remember if it was 2013 or not. Union_Fan noted it was a 2013 playoff game against GC. Its a 27-game home regular season win streak.

Mother still works too, in Norton IIRC

Regular season. it was overall like four years until the playoff game. But haven't lost a reg season home game in at least three years maybe more

Believe Union has 60 kids

I counted at least ten soph on official roster

You're a terrible person, and most likely a racist troll who is purely jealous.

Ha the same. I guess which do you value more, beating a bad team or losing to a good team. I'm a fan of the latter, but I can see taking the W for morale

Let's say six.

Maybe Union isn't as far off as we believe? Depth counts tho, choosing from 2500 is a helluva lot easier than 600. Union has good turnout for a smaller HS, but you would think eventually just being bigger overwhelms. Union barely beat Morristown West last season at Union with MW on their third QB during the game. Union was on their second QB too, but not quite a similar situation. Union hasn't lost at home in three plus years, and MW gave them all they could handle. I'm trying to be realistic, maybe Union can compete for 2-3 quarters? Union wasn't far behind Elizabethton seemed like, but that's a scrimmage. Who knows?

But for the record, I'd rather go to Johnson City of somewhere and take my lumps than go to a place like Letcher, deal with the insanity of small eastern KY football and get no rider points since they have been terrible last two seasons. Can someone help me out, is losing to a successful big TN team (let's say 3A VA equivalent, but Science Hill would be bigger than that) better than beating a 0-10 smaller KY team?

Just what I've heard thru the grapevine. Can't say it's 100% a for sure game, you know how these things are. But I am pretty sure both Letcher County and Morristown West are finished up contractually after this year. Union and Richlands seem to have a standing agreement, so that's two open games. If Graham is one, Union still lacks another and I'd be surprised if it didn't come out of NE TN. Maybe Science Hill, maybe not.