biggreen

Yet another example of Jeff Hawkins not making good decisions.  Briscoe quit the previous Abingdon football staff as well in the middle of the season if I remember correctly?  So, he quits Battle and now you let him back on the staff?  Who is holding the Principal accountable?  Sorry, I just think when you are in leadership, you lead.  Poor example of leadership.

I am really disappointed in this whole situation.  I think the Principal is the first to blame due to his lack of discernment in hiring an unproven coach.  It was easy to hire Steve Wright in the beginning because he was a honorable candidate.  Nevertheless, when the time came to replace Coach Wright with quality coach, Principal Hawkins failed both the kids and fans of John Battle High School.  Second, I blame Coach Lee.  How can you leave those boys?  No matter the situation, you finish what you start.  My prayers are with those kids and Coach Wright for saving this season.  Steve Wright is a great man.  

I think in some part this is true. I think that there were some parents that wanted the new coach's head. But, trust me, the same was true with Coach Wright. If your were at the play-off game against Gate City last year, you would know. It was ridiculous how some parents acted.  I think Coach Lee's reasons for leaving is alot more dimensional than just a couple of parents wanting his head.

No. We do lose I think around 12 seniors this year, many of which are very good players, but we have a good foundation, a very good coaching staff to guide them, higher expectations to go by, and some younger players that look very promising. People can't expect us to become a powerhouse program in just  a few short years. It takes time and dedication and we are just beginning. I look for very good things in the future for Battle's football program. As long as we can get the kids out to give the team good depth and as long as they are all dedicated, then I'm not going to worry too much. You should still keep an eye on this program in the coming years.
Losing Justus did really hurt because IMO he's the most aggressive defensive player we have and is a very good athlete. However, we've had trouble stopping the run all season (we're up against very good run teams at the end of the season to make things worse). It all starts with the line of scrimmage. Our defensive line is a bit smaller than some of the offensive lines they've been up against (look at Honaker and GC) and some of them are young. A few on here and the MD forum, including myself, were more worried about the line than anything when the season started. We do lose some good linemen this year, but we should have some good ones coming up. Our team will be on the younger side next year compared to this year, but they will grow, starting with offseason workouts, camps, etc.

Hat's off to GC's offense. Our defense just couldn't do anything about that offensive line and 20 and 41 are very tough runners. The QB was really good too. Battle just couldn't stop the run (we seem to be struggling with that this year) and couldn't catch much. I don't know if it was because of the cold or what, but I haven't seen our passing game that bad before. GC had at least one interception and could have had a couple more. A couple things that impressed me was the number of penalties (I think there was only 3 or 4 total) and how much GC has improved condition-wise from last season (last year they had to call a time out just to give the players a rest). We're gonna have to get ready for a tough road ahead with Lee and Union away (it was really cold tonight, but I can only imagine what it might be like the next couple of games).

I don't really think it was on purpose. I believe it was just really poor timing. The girl that does the prayer doesn't speak very loudly (sometimes I even have some trouble understanding what she's saying and I'm up on the press box) and Honaker, down in the corner of the endzone, was getting ready to run out as our team had just done. Imagine you're in that huddle, getting pumped and ready to run out and the fans and band are eagerly waiting on your cue, you probably wouldn't be paying attention to what was being said on the PA.
 
Anyway, it really was a great game. Battle had a 10 point lead in the first quarter and that was by far the biggest lead of the night (every other lead was by 3 or 4 until Honaker got the final lead by 2). Especially in the second half, it was like these two teams were going tit for tat, one would make some plays and score, then the other would respond. Honaker just came out as the stronger team last night. Also, it was a pretty good crowd too. Took me over half an hour to get off Battle Hill, lol.