3A Storylines

 Questions/Storylines in Class 3A that interest as we approach the 2023 Season....

Can Gatlinburg-Pittman improve on its 11-2 record this season? GP took a big step forward in 2022, improving on its 7-5 record in 2021 with a 4 win improvement. Both losses came at the hand of juggernaut Alcoa. The schedule is very favorable, but they still have to do with the Alcoa roadblock and its hard to see them being prepared to face them when there isnt really anyone on the schedule that is close to being on their level. Not out of the question for GP to go unbeaten in the regular season

Does ANYONE pose a threat to Alcoa? Since 2004, Alcoa has been the most dominant program in the state and one of the most dominant in the country, winning a state championship in 16 of their last 19 seasons, including 8 consecutive championships. With a strong nucleus coming back as well as some talented, it seems unlikely that trend stops any time soon. Alcoa does face a stiff non-region schedule with games against Ravenwood, Bearden, Tottenville (NY), Greeneville and Maryville.

Can Meigs Co regain the dominance they had from 2016-2020? Alot of questions surrounding Meigs County this preseason, chief among them is how they will do in the aftermath of Jason Fitzgerald's departure to Sale Creek. Under Fitzgerald's guidance, Meigs Co. racked up a 61-7 from 2016-2020, advancing to quarters, the semis once and two trips to the title game in 2019 and 2020, losing both times to Peabody. Meigs win total has gone down each of the last few years so the question has to be asked, is their talent level going down along with it?

Can Tyner make another deep run? Last season Tyner rode a defense that was dominant for most of the season en route to a 14-1 record and a Class 2A title, just the second in school history. This season Tyner is moving up to 3A, which has been dominated by Alcoa since the move to 6 classes in 2009. That said, that would be a problem Tyner wouldnt have to concern themselves with until the semis. The departure of HC Scott Chandler will be interesting, but Tyner promoted from within hiring Christian Mainor. Their match-up with Meigs County could decide who wins Region 3-4A

Can Giles Co continue their resurgence? Prior to the 2021 season,  David O'Connor's 2nd stint seemed to be missing the kind of success Giles experienced his tenure at the helm (2006-2012). That has turned around the last couple of seasons for the Bobcats, winning 22 games and consecutive berths in the semifinals to show for it. Giles should once again be the favorite to win Region 4-4A, but the addition of Watertown adds some intrigue.

Is 2023 a bounce back year for Watertown? Watertown had been a regular in the quarterfinals,  advancing to that round each season from 2018-2021. 2022 saw a step back for the Purple Tigers, missing the playoffs for the first time since 2014. Watertown now joins Class 3A in Region 4, which should be pretty favorable for Watertown getting back to the playoffs

Business as usual for East Nashville following the departure of Jamaal Stewart? East Nashville goes into this pre-season breaking in a new Head Coach with former Pearl Cohn assistant Damien Harris. Harris is familiar with the personnel he inherited and all indications are East Nashville won't change that much in terms of what they'll run under Harris. They should be able to make a deep run once again. 

Improvement for Liberty Creek in Year 2? Liberty Creek's 1st season went about how you would expect it to, going 3-7. LC went out and put together a solid non-region schedule, featuring 5 teams that made the playoffs in 2022. Region 5-3A isn't a very tough region, so there's a chance for the Wolfpack to not only make the playoffs (only 5 teams in Region 5), but to host a playoff game in their first year of eligibility 

Return trip to the semis for Covington? Covington hasn't really missed a beat in it's 4 years under JR Kirby, compiling a 39-11 record. The Chargers are coming off a trip to the semifinals, their 4th such trip in 6 seasons. Not alot stands in their way of a 5th trip in 7 seasons and with East Nashville adjusting to a new HC, Covington might be the favorite from the West to make it to Chattanooga 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

6A Storylines for this season

Today I'm talking about the storyline in 6A that intrigue me the most. This isn't a preview, more like a glance at most of the teams that will contend in 6A this year.... Can Maryville continue its 2-6A dominance? For the last 25 years Maryville has been not only one of the most dominant programs in the state, but the country as well, winning an incredible 14 state championships over the last quarter century, with 6 of those titles occurring after they jumped up to Class 6A. While Maryville hasn't won a state championship since 2019, they've still been nearly automatic in region play, winning 22 league championships in a row, but that could all change in 2023. Bearden, Bradley Central and Cleveland all could challenge the Rebels for the region crown. Bearden boasts a young but talented team that showed improvement over the course of the 2022 season. Bradley Central has added some key players this off-season, most notably UT commit Boo Carter. Cleveland made a splash by
Read more

Top hires from off-season

The 10 Coaching hires that caught my eye this off-season (in no particular order) Jamaal Stewart ( Centennial ): Not sure alot of people expected Centennial to hit a home run in their search for a Head Coach, but that's exactly what they did in hiring Stewart. He comes by way of East Nashville where he took them to heights they've never gone before finishing runner-up each of the last 2 seasons.  He takes over a Centennial team that had a nice bounce back season, going 8-3 and making the playoffs for the first time in 5 seasons. They will move down to 5A , competing in District 6, which features tough programs like Page and Nolensville Matt Kriesky ( Blackman ): it always seemed inevitable that Kriesky would make his way back to Rutherford County, a place that he spent alot of his years as an assistant.  Kriesky had an up and down tenure at Centennial (which has never been an easy job), but he will bring a toughness and stability that Blackman has sorely lacked in recent year
Read more

Top 10 Week 5

Class 6A 1.) Oakland (3-1) 2.) Bradley Central (4-0) 3.) Brentwood (4-0) 4.) Germantown (4-0) 5.) Mt. Juliet (4-0) 6.) Bartlett (3-1) 7.) Collierville (3-1) 8.) Maryville (2-2) 9.) Riverdale (2-2) 10.) Siegel (4-0) Class 5A 1.) Knoxville West (4-0) 2.) Henry County (3-1) 3.) Oak Ridge (3-0) 4.) Centennial (4-0) 5.) Page (3-1) 6.) Beech (2-2) 7.) Nolensville (4-0) 8.) Powell (2-2) 9.) Southwind (3-1) 10. Hendersonville (3-1) Class 4A 1.) Pearl-Cohn (4-0) 2.) Greeneville (2-0) 3.) Elizabethton (4-0) 4.) Upperman (4-0) 5.) Hardin County (4-0) 6.) Red Bank (2-1) 7.) Haywood (3-1) 8.) Marshall County (3-1) 9.) Stone Memorial (4-0) 10. Crockett County (4-0) Class 3A 1 .) Alcoa (3-0) 2.) East Nashville (4-0) 3.) Dyersburg (4-0) 4.) Gatlinburg-Pittman (3-1) 5.) Giles County (2-2) 6.) Covington (2-2) 7.) Sequatchie (3-1) 8.) Meigs County (3-0) 9.) Westview (2-2) 10.) Watertown (2-2) Class 2A 1.) Riverside (4-0) 2.) East Robertson (4-0) 3.) Mt. Pleasant (4-0) 4.) Milan (4-0) 5.) Huntingdon (2-1)
Read more