JDHoss

Daytona Beach Mainland 35 Orlando Dr. Phillips 14 3:35 3rd qtr. Lotta athletes on the field in this one.

Not the same school that The Cove played. The school The Cove played is a small private school located in Gray. http://www.trinityacademyknights.org/schedule.html

I saw the Union - Burton game. I'll go with Richlands by a lot.....with a slight chance that it winds up being a close game and Union blocking a potential game winning chip shot FG by Richlands, then executing several laterals as they return it 85 yards for the game winner as time expires....

I was thinking more in terms of cost effectiveness/savings, not athletics. Even if you added Burton though, they would still be under 1000 each. Abingdon is at 900.Without JIB, they are under 900. Either way, it's unlikely they would ever get bigger, and if anything lose some enrollment given the economic plight of the area. Add them to the SWD, then let them fill out the remaining schedule against some of the Kingsport, area schools who would dearly love to see their visitors stands full at least once a year, and maybe Letcher Central which is just across the mountain.

Good article. Thanks for posting! http://valdostafootball.teamsitesnow.com/45430/valdosta-high-school/boys-football

I thought that Wise Co. should have went to a maximum of two schools, if not one. I believe that going to two was discussed, but the setup was going to be a little odd, with the two schools virtually next door to each other.

Been to games at Camden Co. and at Valdosta. Both were real eye openers in terms of the amount of talent on the field and the facilities.

Yes, they cannot recruit........***wink-wink-nudge-nudge***......or offer anything other than a "small" discount. Just like a couple of D-B staff members can't approach the son of one of my coworkers who was a pretty decent football player at Volunteer about coming to school at D-B.

Riverdale is actually public (Rutherford Co. schools), but otherwise, yes. I have trouble understanding the difference in TN between the private schools. Memfuss University School, Christian Brothers, MBA, BGA, Brentwood, Baylor, Ensworth, Webb, etc. all play in their own divisions in the TSSAA with other private schools (can play the public opponents as well in the regular season) and have their own playoffs, but schools like Goodpasture Christian, CPA, CAK, Knox Catholic, Grace Christian, Nashville Christian and several others participate with the public schools and are eligible for the TSSAA public school playoffs. To me, it would indeed be like allowing Oak Hill, Blue Ridge, Colligiate and others to participate in the VHSL playoffs.

The local A & AA teams in NET are few and far between now. Unaka, Cloudland & Hancock (Class A) and North, Happy Valley, North Greene, South Greene and Hampton in Class AA for NET. As for North Greene & South Greene (and Chucky-Doak and west Greene in AAA), if a kid is a really good football player, they are going to "pay" to go to Greeneville to play for Cain Ballard in a program with superior facilities. Same for North with D-B or maybe even Gate City, and Happy Valley with Elizabethton. Hampton and Cloudland do a good job, as they are close knit communities and isolated enough that transfers are unlikely. When it comes to the playoffs, you're probably going to run into a private school (Nasville Christian Class A champ last year) who while small in enrollment, may have several athletes that will play at the next level, or a team like Memfuss Trezevant who is also way more athletic.

Someone mentioned more talented teams in the Nashville and Memfuss areas, but truthfully, the NE Tennessee teams have struggled to make it past the Knoxville area. Aside from THS ages ago and Greeneville in a couple of seasons, they have been dominated in the playoffs by the Knoxville area schools, and just getting overwhelmed in most of those games. Why? Probably a combination of talent, coaching and organization along with a general lack of population in that in Knox/Blount Co you are looking at around 625K people vs about 125K in Sullivan and about 125K in Washington. The Blount Co powerhouses (Murville & Alcoa) have an open enrollment, and I'm assuming the Knox Co schools do as well, and that's a huge population to draw from. While someone like Dobyns-Bennett may have a few kids that probably should be enrolled at Central, South, Volunteer or North, they aren't the type of athletes that schools like Murville, Alcoa, Fulton, West, Catholic and CAK are reeling in. Organization - I've lived in Kingsport for over 20 years now. I've worked with several guys who have coached their sons in the youth leagues. Nothing wrong with that I suppose, but those guys coach a couple or three years and and move on, many times trying to do their own thing with little emphasis on the fundamentals. You watch the good Knox/Blount teams play, and you see kids who don't miss tackles or blocks. They didn't just pick that up at the high school level. I'd guess those youth leagues there have guys who have been coaching for years and aren't interested in who a kid's dad is. Competition - Simply, the schools in that area week in and week out play against better competition. The two NE giants are D-B & Science Hill. Science Hill fared a little better than D-B, but I told a couple of my D-B fan coworkers that they would be lucky to win 5 games with the new Super 32 setup. They essentially traded in 4 extra open dates (actually better than open dates, as your starters get in a couple of quarters of work and your reserves get a ton of action) with Crockett, Boone, Volunteer and Central for 4 games with teams that you will need to at least play well to beat. As for the schools like Elizabethton, THS, and others, it's as much of a struggle for them as it is D-B & SHHS. With Betsy, you're staring down the road at Alcoa or CAK. THS is looking at potential matchups with Knox West, Oak Ridge, ect. It's just a really tough road for these school up here.

I had forgotten about seeing Moses Malone in the VHSL state tournament. Truly a man among boys,although West Springfield and Dave Koesters game them a run for their money.

Seen: Thomas Jones - PV Julius Jones - PV Heath Miller - Honaker Justin Hamilton - Clintwood Ahmad Bradshaw - Graham Mike Compton - Richlands Terry Kirby - Tabb Leonard Williams - Daytona Beach Mainland Ricardo Allen - Daytona Beach Mainland Jason Witten - Betsy Randall Cobb - Alcoa Pop Saunders - Deland, FL Eric Weems - Daytona Beach Seabreeze Andrew Kilgore - Kingsport D-B Gerald Sensabaugh -Kingsport D-B Coty Sensabaugh -Kingsport D-B Aubrayo Franklin - Science Hill James "Little Man" Stewart - Mo-town West

Been there as well as the old place, which could be a real mud hole if it rained. My buddy played there back in the late 80's early 90's. His nephew played there a few years ago as a WR/DB.

Yeah, my buddy just sent me a text about it. If there not a game you want to go to in SWVA on any given Friday, it's worth the drive over to watch the Pirates play if they are at home.

Buddy of mine used to play at Belfry. To say he thinks the world of Phillip Haywood is an understatement.

I thought the call by Turner on 3rd & 5 took major cajones. Conventional wisdom says to run a safe play, punt and make them drive a long way if you don't make it. I'd guess 99% of coaches wouldn't have risked putting the football in the air. Hats off to Spears and (was it Noaks?) to the WR for executing it.

I'd guess that the fan ratio will be about like it was at Nandua in 1996. They let PV have the home side stands, while Northampton probably had around 300 or so on the visitors side. In the past, I have watched PV, Appy, JJK, Clintwood and Gate City win state titles away from home, and in every case, had more fans than the opposition. There's no other area in the state who follows their teams like the SWVA folks.

Interesting game for sure. It's not every day you see the single wing, but in CC's case, it's not every day that you face a team with 3 large, athletic WR, a couple of good RB, and a QB who can not only get the football to those WR, but can make plays with his feet as well. That's a long haul for Union to make, and I suppose they will go up the day before. No idea how many fans Union will bring, but from looking at a Google Earth shot of their stadium (extremely small on both sides), I'd say the Bears will have as many or more fans than CC. My wife has to work, but I may make the drive up from Kingsport myself. Their Hudl page doesn't really have team highlights, but a few individual clips are there. http://www.hudl.com/team/29282 Here's the Google Earth pic of the stadium. I think I will throw a lawn chair in the truck. https://www.google.com/maps/@39.160662,-78.0005824,99m/data=!3m1!1e3

Looking on Google Earth at Clarke Co's visitors stands, the Union folks might want to bring some lawn chairs, https://www.google.com/maps/@39.1606418,-78.0007127,99m/data=!3m1!1e3

I told my wife that he was probably around 5'5 or so. I love watching kids like that. He's a good one.

Your son was the running back? He's a tough one. Mind if I ask how tall he is? He gives new meaning to running with your pads low.

Helluva game. Great crowd, we got there at 1:20 and wound up standing in the 2nd row at the fence. * Thought Union should have been a little more aggressive at the end of the half. They had plenty of time, but showed no urgency. A score there might have put the game on ice. * Hope the Barker kid is ok. That was a nasty chop block. Sickening that a kid would do that to anther player. * Travis Turner showed major cojones on the play call on 3rd & 5 to seal the game. The % says run something safe, punt, and make them drive a long way in a short period of time. Glenvar's kicking game looked shaky at best, so they probably needed a TD. Still, great call and execution by the Bears.

Good game. Had supper at the Bearded Moose. We both got the smoked Gouda burger. The Mrs. got the Moose Track fries while I got the chili cheese tots. I liked MT fries more, as the tots were a little soggy. Would definitely eat there again. As for the game, yeah, the goal line stand at the end of the half changed the game. Ragland looked like he hesitated on that run and it cost him. Great adjustments by the Richlands staff at the half. They completely shut down CBC in the 2nd half and took advantage of some great early 2nd half field position. When they score that last TD to go up 35-20 late in the 3rd, I told my wife that it was over. I'll give BC credit though, they were a scrappy bunch. They didn't bring many fans, but the ones that came were loud.