High School Football thread 2013/2014

[BYU 14]

2 weeks from now our varsity opens up in San Diego and I am very much relishing an August 31st game in 75-80 degree weather, which will never happen here.

We had our program scrimmage yesterday and I have a Fullback on the freshman team this season that will be an absolute stud. Have 73 kids on the freshman team at this point and after we went 2 10 play series against each other with kids who are currently 2-4 on the depth charts, we sent out current #1 Freshman against the JV squad, with each getting a 10 play series on offense against the other.

We have never moved the ball on them like we did yesterday and ended up scoring 3 touchdowns in our 10 plays, while they only got 1 in their 10, which came on a long run where our DE lost contain after we bottled them up for the first 8 plays.

We have our toughest schedule ever this season, but with this group I like our chances every week.

Here are 3 videos from the scrimmage

The first one is our very first play against the JV, with Ryan M hitting Daryl S (a 14 year old Ocho Cinco in more ways than one). The other two are the FB (Tyler V) ripping off two long runs against the JV, helped by great blocking up front.

[JonInMiddleGA]

It's going to be a very different year for me this HS season.

Neither me nor my son will be involved in webcasting this year, internal politics basically, I'll spare you the sordid details except to say that it's been the toughest thing my child has ever gone through & that there are people I will never be able to forgive for the behavior.

Tougher still since he's got so many friends that will have key roles in what could be a tough season. We lost a LOT of key players, a ton of leadership. From the scrimmage against a AAA team (6-4 last year) I thought the lines both looked better than I expected, the skill positions are decent, we may not have a QB at all. 3 candidates, none that I believe are ready to play & succeed consistently at a competitive level tbh (I hate to say that because candidate 1B is my son's best friend). Our depth is non-existent, so staying healthy is critical.

Non-region schedule is mixed bag, we open against a perennial dog but then play a team that's got the state's toughest schedule & managed to squeak into the playoffs last year. The region will be brutal I'm afraid. A finalist for the state title last year got better with a new top notch coach & several "new students". The #2 team has a RB that's already committed to Kentucky, our dirty cheating recruiting rival did make the playoffs last year, and perennial power that's been down for several years looked great in their scrimmage last Friday.

If you made me bet, I'd say we're 7-3 or 6-4, depending upon how the breaks & injuries fall. That's a little borderline to make the post-season under the (now revised) playoff rules for Class A that involves the dreaded "power rating".

[JonInMiddleGA]

BTW, the changes to the playoff rules (which I talked about in some detail last year when they went into effect) concern the SOS modifiers. In short, wins over higher classification opponents (remember, we're the lowest, 1A ... it's a 6A state) are now worth only half as many bonus points as they were last year.

A review of the new system showed that 3/16 private school qualifiers would have stayed home if this had been in place, 1/16 public school playoff teams would have changed. And the brackets would have been shuffled considerably in the private rankings as well, public would have shaken up 3-4 pairings +/- one spot.

[rjolley]

Hey Jon, how did Eric W look in the scrimmage?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Hey Jon, how did Eric W look in the scrimmage?

I watched the first quarter or so (while the starters were all in) the problem is that we may not have anybody who can get him the ball (although I've heard through the grapevine that he may finally see some time at RB this year).

Defensively I didn't notice anything strongly pro or con (opponent ran a spread & flings it around pretty good).

Haven't had a chance to watch the rest of the game yet, we took an early lead before losing by a couple TD's once both sides started subbing. For all I know though EW took three to the house in the 2nd quarter & I just haven't seen it yet

[rjolley]

Thanks Jon. I'll be following the games online and will try to get out to Athens to watch him play, either during football or basketball season.

[VPI97]

McEachern's new HD video board. From what we gather, it's the third largest in the country for a high school. When they installed it a few weeks back, they tested it out by letting some of the seniors (my daughter's boyfriend being one) play XBOX on it. Pretty cool.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by VPI97

they tested it out by letting some of the seniors (my daughter's boyfriend being one) play XBOX on it.

Now THAT is pretty f'n awesome

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Now THAT is pretty f'n awesome

+1

We have rust on our goalposts....

[JonInMiddleGA]

From today's email edition of Georgia HS Football Daily

The use of cell phones & iPads on the sidelines is the highlight of the rule changes approved for this season by the NFSHSA. An obvious trickle down from the pros & college. Other rules changes include

Other new rules for 2013:

*Players may wear solid colored towels if they do not match the color of the football or penalty flag. Teammates must wear the same solid colored towels. The towels may have one small logo or trademark. Only white towels without logos previously were allowed.

*An airborne player making a pass reception whose forward progress has stopped inbounds and is carried out of bounds by an opponent before touching the ground is awarded a catch. Airborne players who land out of bounds without aid of defenders are not awarded a catch.

*Defensive pass interference is no longer an automatic first down. Offensive pass interference is no longer a loss of down. Both penalties remain 15 yards.

*The defensive team may not score points during a try after touchdown.

*A player whose helmet comes off during dead-ball action between downs must leave the game for one down. An official's timeout is called.

*A player whose helmet comes off during a play shall not continue to participate in the play (block, tackle, etc.) beyond the immediate action in which the player was engaged when the helmet came off.

*It is a penalty for a player whose helmet comes off during a play to continue to participate in the play (block, tackle, running after the play, etc.) beyond the immediate action in which the player was engaged. If a ball carrier's helmet comes off, the play is blown dead. When the helmet comes off, the player essentially must "freeze."

*A foul is charged to any player who initiates contact with an opposing player whose helmet has come off.

[MacroGuru]

Originally Posted by BYU 14

+1

We have rust on our goalposts....

How the hell do you have rust in a place with no rain

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by MacroGuru

How the hell do you have rust in a place with no rain

Sandstorms, LOL.

[Dr. Sak]

In High School I always thought OPI use to be the harshest penalty with the 15 yards AND loss of down. I am glad they removed the loss of down stipulation, however, I think they made a mistake removing the Automatic first down with DPI.

Smart coaches on a 4th and goal situation will teach their kids that when in doubt and if you cant get to the ball, just commit DPI. You get half the distance and only get to replay the down.

[JonInMiddleGA]

I'll admit that I'm sometimes left a little flat by some of the "inspirational stories" that pop up on the net.

This one isn't the most dramatically told, it isn't the most overwhelmingly unbelievable even. But somehow, I felt like I might be a little better person after reading it. Or at least better aware of how silly the word "can't" can be sometimes when it comes out of my mouth.

Northside-WR amputee ready to ’show my talents’ in football opener | Prep Zone: High School Sports

[JonInMiddleGA]

Probalby worth a read if you haven't already. Note that the story was published prior to Hoover's 24-10 win over Colquitt this past wknd.
The confessions of Rush Propst - ESPN

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well that was ... not fun.

A 42-9 loss on the road at Pace Academy (who we beat 41-7 last season) and it wasn't even that close since we got a 26 yd TD run on the final play of the game.

Worst loss since 2002, worst loss to a same classification opponent since 1989, worst loss in the career of our current head coach (who took over in 1991).

Completely overmatched in every facet of the game, but that can happen when your opponent dressed 14 players (out of approx 35) who weren't a part of their campus last season.

To make it even more unusual, we opened the game with an steady 8 minute drive that led to a field goal. I think we managed one more first down (2 ?) until they called off the dogs. They could have named the score, to their credit they kept it somewhat reasonable.

[BYU 14]

We went to 2-0 with a 59-6 win over Boulder Creek last night. Here is why I love Wing-T.

In the touchdown run below you can count 4 defenders that have no clue where ball is, beautiful when it works

Jalen Johnson - Highlight Videos, Schedule & Roster - Hudl

[tarcone]

Our team went to Potosi, MO to play last night. We lost 28-26. But there was some ugliness.

We scored a TD. On a run by our QB. He was 5 yards deep in the endzone and a Potosi player came over and hit him in the back sending our QB into a WR and DB laying on the ground. Play was over. QB tore his MCL. Player only received a 15 yard penalty. That was at the end of the 1st half.

Potosi received 6 Unsportsmanlike penalties in the game.

When the announcer came over the intercom to do the standard good sportsmanship speech, the Potosi crowd started chanting "Bull-shit, Bull-shit!". Not once but twice.

Later in the game a Potosi player was near our sideline and told our OC "This is how its done in Potosi. Grow a pair." And the kid said it in front of a ref. No penalty.

We lost 28-26 when we failed on a 2 point conversion late in the 4th.

Classy.

[tarcone]

Wing-T is my favorite HS offense. It can make great teams unstoppable, good teams great and average teams good.

[BYU 14]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Wing-T is my favorite HS offense. It can make great teams unstoppable, good teams great and average teams good.

Agreed and very adaptable. We have a really good QB and we threw for 254 yards in the opener in San Diego last weekend. Rainy weather last night, so back to the usual run first and over 290 on the ground.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by tarcone

Wing-T is my favorite HS offense. It can make great teams unstoppable, good teams great and average teams good.

After last night, I wish we were running it

[MizzouCowboy]

Webb City's (MO) unbeaten streak of 46 games and 91 consecutive regular season games was ended at Springdale (Ark) Har-Ber last night with a score of 42-35. Webb City held leads of 28-7 and 35 -14, but 7A power Har-Ber was too much for 4A Webb City, scoring the last 4 TDs to get the win.

It was Webb City's first regular season loss since Oct. 17, 2003.

Crazy streak that had to end some day, I feel bad for the kids and couldn't imagine the pressure they must've felt.

But then again, I've never liked Webb City.

[tarcone]

Wow. Webb City is just a crazy good program. I can see them going on another streak like that.
And not a fan of Webb City either.

[cougarfreak]

Conner lost to Simon Kenton in NKY action last night 42-35. We are now 1-1. QB stud prospect (Nike Elite 11 or something like that, and UK signee) Drew Barker had another whale of a game. Last night he was 28/44 for over 360 yards an 4 TD's. 55 rushing yards on 20 carries. I didn't get to see the opener. I was on the sidelines last night. He's much bigger, faster, and his arm is very, very strong. Accuracy is much improved over last year. 7 drops last night cost him. I've got a feeling, much like last year, the playoffs are going to end with a score similar to the 63-59 loss we had last year.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Okay, I've seen some RB's over the year but ... wow. 8 TD's and 372 yds in a 62-27 win. Perhaps even crazier than that is the fact that his team TRAILED 27-26 with 15 minutes to play before scoring 36 unanswered points. For the season Bryant has 1,106 yards and 21 TD's in just 4 games.

North Oconee’s Bryant continues to post record numbers | Prep Zone: High School Sports

While the kid from the next county over was showing off & then some, our Athens Academy Spartans had a quiet 35-7 win over a bad Lakeview Acad team. Would have been more but inexplicably (for the 2nd straight week) our guys basically decided to take most of the first half off after building a quick 14-0 lead. B'ball star Eric Williams helped us get a running clock with a spectacular INT late in the 3rd qtr to set up the final TD. Next week life gets tougher, rival Prince Ave comes a'calling. (and I fear a much worse score with us on the wrong end of things)

[BYU 14]

One of our programs biggest wins last night as we beat #3 Basha 38-28 to go to 5-0, so we should be ranked at least 3rd in Division 1 this week with a great chance to run the table. Just like my Freshmen did on Wednesday we ran for over 400 yards, it was glorious!!

[GrantDawg]

I didn't know this thread exists, so I'll update what is going on in my little hs football world...

My daughter is a senior (and drum major, thank you) on the Alcovy High School band. They are a 6-A team, playing in region 2 of Georgia high school. The first 4 years of watching them have been pretty bad. The first couple of years, they where just plain awful. They play a spread offense, out of a shot-gun. It seemed like in those first two years, they were good for about 6 fumbles just off snaps, losing about two a game. There defenses were usually ok, but the offense was just offensive.

Last year was a bit of the turn around. The defense got a little better, and the offense didn't just constantly drop the ball. It was good enough last year for a 500 season, and play-off birth (with a quick exit).

This year so far has been a revelation. The team is 4-1, with the first loss coming from an away game at Perry (a 2-hour trip) coming in overtime in very controversial style. The 4 games after have been pretty fun to watch, though. The Alcovy defense is fun to watch, and about as impressive as any high school defense I have seen play. No team has had any real success rushing, and they have been getting interceptions regularly at about 2.5 a game clip. Their offense is run on the back of a 5'11 qb (that also plays strong safety), who is a tough little runner, and has a good deep throw ability. It has been fun to watch so far.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Interesting week in Georgia where several high profile players all left their respective teams one way or another. Not unheard of by any means but I can't recall ever seeing so many in just a couple of days time.

This would be Nick Glass - decommitted from UGA, sought by Miami & Ole Miss - along with the lesser recruited leading tackler on the 5-0 team. Former UGA recruit no longer at Peachtree Ridge | Prep Zone: High School Sports

Suddenly struggling (3-2) powerhouse Lowndes County reportedly lost their leading rusher and a key OL, among reportedly 5 players who abruptly quit the team this week. Report: Several Lowndes players quit team | Prep Zone: High School Sports

And Mississippi State QB commitment dismissed from the Wheeler team outright after arguing with coach over playcalling (after three straight losses, the QB seems IMO to have a decent point over his desire to be allowed to check off at the line) Georgia QB dismissed from high school team | College Recruiting Blog | www.ajc.com

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well that was as much fun as a root canal. A 41-7 loss at home to our biggest (but not most hated) rival. We took an early 7-0 lead on a pretty 40 yd pass to our only offensive threat ... and then turned the ball over on 3 of the next 4 possession to give away 21 easy points to a team that made it to the state title game a year ago AND added four transfers from a larger nearby top 10 program.

And just to add to the fun we lost our starting QB/SS/P/K before halftime (shoulder), our starting RB/CB before halftime (possible broken arm, late word is fluid on the elbow?), a starting DB/WR on the first play of the game (concussion, dude didn't know what planet he was on), backup QB/FS left with badly bruised ribs early in Q3, 2 little used senior reserves hurt within 2-3 plays of entering the game in garbage time.

By the time the night ended we actually had keep two starting DLinemen on the field for the 4th quarter because we didn't have anybody else healthy enough to put out there.

Damn, that was just such fun to watch.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Oh, I'm now told that maybe the QB "shoulder" might have been more like "head", which would be his second exit of the year from getting knocked a bit goofy.

Keep in mind, that QB is committed to Va Tech as a kicker.

edit to add: And yes, him playing any position other than kicker is indeed controversial stuff even at our little school. Thing is, the kid pretty much insists on playing the spot as long as he's earned the job (and at worst, arguably, he has) and his parents are apparently okay with the risk. (no dummies involved, college prof parent(s) I gather). At this point however pretty much the rest of the fan base cringes every time he gets hammered, which happens a lot with our OL.

We're on the fast track to nowhere, looking more & more like we could miss the playoffs entirely (after being the #1 overall seed last season), hopefully after another loss the long view will prevail & we'll see an end to him pulling triple duty .

[BYU 14]

Westview is now 6=0 and we are ranked #4 in Division 1 in Arizona. Hoping for a 2 seed if we win out, which we are through the toughest part of our schedule, so it is almost a certainty.

Some Wing-T magic from our homecoming game last week, which was also our recognition of Breast Cancer awareness month. Yes, that is us in the sweet pink jerseys!

http://www.hudl.com/team/14623/highlights/40753821

[tarcone]

Pacific goes to Festus this week. Festus beat Sullivan, 42-7. Sullivan beat us (Pacific) 49-9. Its going to be ugly.

[BYU 14]

My Frosh team moved to 6-0 tonight with a 57-14 win over Valley Vista on the road.

They are very aggressive pursuing the ball and misdirection was a big part of my game plan because of that. This is counter off of weakside belly action and you can see how easy they make it to seal the point of attack by selling out to stop the belly. The TB was completely untouched.

http://www.hudl.com/team/42420/highlights/42226818

[JonInMiddleGA]

Final body count from last week appears to be 4 players missing tonight due to concussions.

In my entire 40ish years of following HS football closely, that's more players out due to head injuries than I've even been aware of COMBINED.

And that was against neither the biggest nor strongest team we'll see this season (they're still to come).

[JonInMiddleGA]

Well hot damn, that was a fun 24-17 win over a bad team, under the circumstances I'll take it.

Playing mostly sophomores and untested juniors (once we lost our starting RB to go with the rest of the injured) we blow a 16-0 lead in the 3rd and trail 17-16 with 6 to play. So, what does our backup QB (and my son's best friend) do?

Leads an 80 yard drive including a clutch 4th & 9 conversion at midfield to keep us alive, we score the game-winner with 2 mins to play on an even wilder sequence: QB lost his helmet (opponent was yanking 'em off after play all night to force the substitution), THIRD string QB freshman comes in for a 3rd down at the two ... toss sweep to our star WIDEOUT who'd shifted to RB for only the third play all year. Fights through 2-3 tackles & scores.

Up 7 with two minutes left, that WR turns CB ... and elevates to pick it off & seal the deal.

On the night we survived a bad snap on a punt on the opening series, stuffed 'em from the 2 yard line,survived another turnover in our own end, lost the RB again, blew the big lead ... and fought through it. Our miniature backup PK hits a 23 yd FG (his first career FG) and a PAT, our OTHER backup kicker (distance) was recruited from soccer mid-week and played his first game ever ... made a TD saving tackle near midfield on a KOR, read the angle, made the pursuit and took a fast KR out of bounds for the first tackle of his LIFE.

We may get lit up both of the next two weeks by ranked teams, but by God tonight I saw kids -- in a program that is NOT known for dealing with adversity well at all -- answer the bell time & again. You can't tell me there isn't value in that, the kind that'll last 'em the rest of their lives.

[rjolley]

Jon, was that star WR/CB/RB our friend Eric W?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Jon, was that star WR/CB/RB our friend Eric W?

Oh yes it was, oh baby yes it was

He was stinkin' awesome last night. That 4th down conversion to save our butts was at top-of-the-backboard level to make an inside out grab on the sideline. The game-winning TD was him getting hit behind the line, breaking a tackle & then taking 2-3 people with into the end zone several yards later. The (effectively) game ending pick, that was him making a play that at least most DB's at this level can't make.

And the best part of it all perhaps, I watched him talking to that backup QB most of the night, telling him what to look for, reassuring him they had this covered.

Leadership ... when virtually your entire offense is standing on the sidelines without pads ... hard to beat that stuff.

[rjolley]

Very nice to hear. Maybe football is his sport. That's the kind of impact I expect from him on the court. You just don't see it translate like that there often enough.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by rjolley

Very nice to hear. Maybe football is his sport.

Orrrrr maybe not

As great as he was last week, he was downright terrible tonight. As was most of the rest of the team in a 28-7 loss that should have been a TD worse (they took two knees to avoid scoring from the five).

Quite possibly the poorest game plan I've seen at this level in decades, I'm virtually livid at an offensive staff that somehow managed to give our kids pretty much zero chance to win at all. Great start after we force a three & out, run/pass mix and an easy 7-0 lead ... and then we used an RB maybe 5 times the rest of the night. Suddenly, inexplicably, we turned into some bizarro west coast offense that we've NEVER used ... and got our asses handed to us for the next 43 minutes.

Our star WR runs the wrong route at least a half dozen times, leaving balls to bounce harmlessly to the turf, worse yet he created one of our 2-3 int's by never bothering to turn his head.

Outmanned, outplayed, outcoached horribly ... and a D1 RB behind a 300+ pound OL looms next week. Barring a ton of upsets, we'll need nothing short of at least a small miracle to reach the post-season.

Also, btw, the Va Tech signee K/QB reportedly shut down for the rest of the season.

[JonInMiddleGA]

So help me, the more I think about this game the angrier I get. Just a complete fucking abomination.

I don't mind losing to a strong team. I don't mind getting outplayed. I take serious exception to putting together a game plan that might not have worked if we'd run it with a D1 roster. The fastest man on the field/best athlete on the field gets 1-on-1 man coverage on 90% of plays WITHOUT A SAFETY ON THE FIELD They played man (whether we had 1 wide or 4 wide) & put everbody else in the box ... and we respond by attempting ZERO deep balls with him on the field all night. We actually threw one in garbage time ... to a much slower RB-playing-WR who was about 20 yards short of getting to it.

It was a phoned-in outing by a staff that is better than this. The game was lost Sunday-Thursday, not Friday. And to see kids get beaten up and beaten down under those circumstances is disheartening at the very best.

[JonInMiddleGA]

What a win for Athens Academy -- with their backs to the wall & their playoff lives probably at stake -- on the road at George Walton & their D1 running back. And down 7-0 with less than a minute off the clock.

To turn THAT into a 35-21 win with a backup QB, backup RB's, a makeshift defense, a pair of backup kickers, a backup punter ... well, anybody who knows those kids but DIDN'T get a little misty at the effort might oughta see a heart doctor 'cause yours might have frozen over. By crunch time, it didn't even seem all that cold.
------------
Above is the politically correct comments I had on my Facebook. Here's what I'll tell ya'll: it was a delight to beat those storebought redneck cheapshot artists & pretty much whip their asses all night. The stud RB broke a 50 yard TD run just :59 seconds into the game.

We answered with a nearly 9 minute 80 yard drive.

We then strip 'em on the enusing KOR and drive 40 yards for the lead.

They answer with all their other backs (Williams only touched it twice on the drive ... WTF?). 14-14.

Another long drive, we punt with 1:10 left in the half ... and Williams throws a 50 yd halfback pass for a 21-14 lead

At halftime our starting HB is ruled out for the night with concussion symptoms We're down to a sophomore RB that I play XBox with occasionally.

We can't score to start the half, they can't move it either & our QB pounded Williams into the turf. Once again, their star gets thumped (same as happened last season) & finds himself limping off. He did not return until the 4th quarter.

We drive & tie it, converting on 4th & goal from the 11 ... rolling catch by our TE (split wide), his first catch of the year & first career TD.

We get a stop, they go helmet to helmet on our star WR who was already on his knees to make a fair catch. No call (2nd time they went headhunting on him tonight, no call either time).

We drive, converting 3rd & 2 at the 20 with a hard count to avoid a long FG decision (with a tiny backup K that weighs maybe 130 pounds) and take a 28-21 lead on a 3 yd dive, first career TD for our 3rd string RB.

Ensuing KO, that same sophomore RB lights the returner up, ball flies loose and the TE from the tying TD earlier basically flings everything in his path out of the way & covers 7 yards to recover it.

A couple of first downs & we're down to the five after we finally get a personal foul when they knock our QB's helmet off with a guy flying into a scrum at the whistle. They appeared to let us score on a run & it's 35-21 with 4:10 left.

They quickly drive (with their star back in the game) to our 19 and then it gets weird. We get pressure, their QB (the chippiest little bitch in the game at DB, kept engaging guys several seconds after the whistle) gets called for intentional grounding ... get flagged for unsportsman like conduct for what looked like one or more of the magic words ... and the sideline gets another flag for objecting to that. End result? 2nd down and 55 from their own 36.

They actually drive back a bit before we intercept a 4th & 36 pass. Two kneel downs (and one silly timeout by the sore losers) and we've shocked most of the area if not the world.

God that was fun

[Wolfpack]

My reactions to your post: wow, that's pretty soft and sentimental coming from the likes of you, Jon. (reads below the dashed line) Oh, wait. Never mind.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Wolfpack

My reactions to your post: wow, that's pretty soft and sentimental coming from the likes of you, Jon. (reads below the dashed line) Oh, wait. Never mind.

LOL, well done sir.

But I do get pretty sentimental on some stuff though.

I have no problem at all admitting I really did shed a few tears after one particular game for last year's team. Odd time too, driving away from the stadium after they gutted out a win on the road over a team that was clearly better than them, looked back across and saw the scoreboard still lit with a 14-7 shocker ... don't know if I'd ever been happier for a group of kids in my life.

All I got last night was kinda misted up

[Matthean]

Nephew's team won to make it to the playoffs. They kind of brain farted the game before so they will be ranked for the playoffs lower than they should be so they'll end up with somebody tougher than they likely should but still fun to see them move on.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by Matthean

Nephew's team won to make it to the playoffs. They kind of brain farted the game before so they will be ranked for the playoffs lower than they should be so they'll end up with somebody tougher than they likely should but still fun to see them move on.

Survive and advance, that's what it's all about this time of year.

[Wolfpack]

I wish my alma mater could even sniff the playoffs and they are quite generous in North Carolina about who makes it. Unfortunately, I'm having trouble remembering when they've won more than a couple of games in a season. They haven't won a game in at least three years now and this year was a year where they dropped in attendance classification, which would theoretically have made it easier to compete. Nope.

[Matthean]

My hometown is small enough to where they are in a 8-on-8 league. I'm not even sure what their record is, but when they had a regular team, they were flat out awful. There's was probably one stretch is rough 25 years where the team was respectable and then the coach left. They even made improvements to the stadium and yet the team is reduced down to what it is.

[JonInMiddleGA]

After a sloooooow start, we get a 28-7 win over a bad team. Backup QB remains at the helm (despite the unexpected return of the VaTech signee as a K/WR/limited DB) and throws for a career high of about 160 yards & 3 TD's, all the scores going to our star WR (and b'ball player). Nice to win even though our OL played like crap for nearly a half ... but if we do that next week in the regular season finale against crosstown rival Athens Christian we'll not only get our asses handed to us but we'll also be out of the playoff picture.

At least three big upsets in Class A (private) tonight, teams that entered the week ranked 15th & 16th knocked off the current/soon-to-be-former #2 and #3. They should both jump us, along with another team leaving us 15th (16 teams make the playoffs). We'll play the new #20(estimated for now), who knocked off George Walton that we beat last week 44-42 with a 2 yd TD pass on the final play of regulation.

We're facing what is very likely to be an elimination game next week, while GWA likely has to upset region champion (and last year's finalist) Prince Avenue just to make the playoffs at all. What a difference a couple of weeks can make.

Elsewhere my HS alma mater struggled for three quarters against a 1-8 team before pulling away. The win earns them a play-in game next week against a team that beat them back in week 3. Junior RB Shannon Brooks (with interest from Ga Tech among others) set the school's single-season rushing record, breaking a mark that I believe was set back in 1973. He's up around 1,200 yards through nine games.

State rushing leader Nick Chubb of Cedartown got just shy of 200 yards but his team lost a sub-region title game to Gilmer 35-33 and will now face either #1 ranked Sandy Creek or (this week's) #2 ranked Carrollton in the first round of the playoffs. It's quite possible that Chubb, despite his lofty stats and his major signee status, will end his HS career without ever winning a playoff game & with only 2 playoff appearances/zero region titles.

[chadritt]

These posts lead me to check out how my Alma Mater in Georgia is doing. How the hell did a small private school that was always better at baseball get a Muschamp and become good?

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by chadritt

These posts lead me to check out how my Alma Mater in Georgia is doing. How the hell did a small private school that was always better at baseball get a Muschamp and become good?

Mike Muschamp (yes folks, brother of Will) had a nice run at Savannah Country Day before being hired to replace Coach Railey when he retired after 23 seasons. (here's the archived copy of that story from the Savannah paper from 2004). He seems pretty content with his career, as detailed in this AJC article from 2009

Since arriving, he's 85-30 at Lovett, including 3 final fours plus a trip to the championship game. Of course it isn't quite as surprising as you make it sound, Railey had double digit wins in 13 of his 23 seasons too but things were pretty down for most of his final decade at the helm (well, from '97 - '04)