Games to Watch: Week 2

 Diving into a Pre-Season look at games of note for Week 2.....

Oakland @ Center Grove (Ind.): There are a few similarities you can draw for these programs. Both are at a similar ranking in the national polls ( Oakland at #31, Center Grove at #33), and both have dominated the 6A Class in their respective states by winning 3 titles in a row, each can also hurt you on the ground or through the air. One of the key differences is at Quarterback, where Oakland will be breaking in a new starter and Center Grove will be relying on 4 Star QB Tyler Cherry, a Duke commit. The long trip for the Patriots could play a factor as well, but all signs point to this being a great game and could be a big boost to high school football in TN as a whole.

Lipscomb Academy @ Saraland (AL.): A week after having to face one of the best programs in the country (IMG), LA has to travel to one of the best programs in Alabama, Saraland. The Spartans feature a bunch of players that are getting alot of attention from Power 5 programs, but the best of them is WR Ryan Williams, the top recruit for the state of Alabama in the class of 2025 and one of the best in the country. who committed to play football for the University of Alabama last fall. Saraland also features a 4 Star QB who has committed to Texas (KJ Lacey) as well as 3 Star WR (Dillon Alfred) who has offers from half of the school in the SEC. All of these players are Juniors so LA can look forward to seeing them again in 2024 as well.

No doubt that LA's secondary will be challenged, but this might be where playing IMG early has a benefit. Saraland wont have any more talent than what they have themselves or what they seen in IMG. This is a good chance for Tennessee to pick up a win over one of the border states

Bearden @ Alcoa: A week after playing 6A Ravenwood, Alcoa gets ready for another solid 6A program in Bearden. Bearden will be a significant underdog, but the Bulldogs have the talent to pull this off if they can get off to a good start

Riverdale @ Henry County: A first ever meeting bewteen two programs with tons of history awaits as Riverdale travels to Henry County in Week 2. This could be a meeting of two top 10 teams in the respective classes. This game is also significant in that Henry County is the Alma Mater of Riverdale Coach Will Kriesky. Riverdale should be the favorite, but Henry County is always a tough out at home.

CPA @ Pearl Cohn: The favorite to win II-AA faces off against won of the favorites to win Class 4A when CPA travels to Pearl-Cohn to take on the Firebirds. CPA will be the end of a brutal 5 week stretch for PC with scrimmages against Lipscomb Academy, Brentwood Academy and games against MBA & CPA. The Lions have look impressive so far this pre-season while PC has taken thier lumps. Despite that, I view this game as a toss-up

Tullahoma @ Coffee County: Neither team is likely to make a big run in the playoffs, should they even get there, but this game has been played every year since 1948. Im a sucker for any Rivalry game with a nickname ( The Coffee Pot). Tullahoma currently leads the series 49-24-1

Brentwood Academy @ Brentwood: Despite these schools being less than 2 miles from each other, the 2 programs have only played twice since the opening of Brentwood in 1982. Brentwood is well positioned to make a deep run in the 6A playoffs, but BA is one of the best teams in the state. The result of this game will come down to execution at the quarterback position, for both teams.

Cane Ridge @ Ravenwood: This game could very well be a playoff preview. Both CR and Ravenwood will field teams this year capable of making deep runs in the playoffs. This match-up will feature a contrast in styles. Cane Ridge plays with more of an edge, totally fine with being physical shoild the game call for it. Ravenwood is a typical Williamson Co. team that will execuite in space and with precision on offense.

Greeneville @ Dobyns-Bennett: 4A Powehouse Greeneville will travel to Kingsport to take on DB. The Indians have a large lead in the overall series, but Greeneville has ton the last 5 contests. This will be a good barometer on where The Greene Devils are early in the season. If DB can win this game, it might bode well for the Indians postseason expectations.

Science Hill @ Anderson Co. : Another 4A v. 6A East TN match-up as Science Hill travels to take on the Mavericks. Anderson County will be reloading in hopes of a successful defense of their 4A title while the Hilltoppers will try to get revenge from the 48-6 thumping they took at the hands of AC last season.

Tyner Academy @ Bradley Central: After facing Red Bank in Week 1, Tyner's schedule doesnt get any easier with a trip to Bradley Central in Week 2. This has the potential to be a trap game for the Bears, with a date against powerhouse Maryville looming large the following week.

Dresden @ McKenzie: This match-up will answer some questions in regards to who will win the 1A title. McKenzis the defending champion, but is replacing a large amount of production. This could be Dresden's year to exact revenge on McKenzie and make their case for being a frontrunner for a trip to Chattanooga.

Fayetteville @ Moore Co.: Moore Co. is no stranger to success under Coach White, going 25-11 in his 3 seasons there. However, Fayetteville has been a thorn in their side for rose seasons, accounting for 4 of their losses. With plenty of starters returning for the Raiders, the opportunity is there to finally to emerge victorious against the Tigers.

 MBA @ Ensworth: This game won't have the best teams in II-AAA, but it will still feature alot of talent that you will see playing on Saturdays soon

Lebanon @ Upperman: Lebanon enters this season as a unknown, losing a large senior class that was critical to their 20-5 record over the last 2 seasons. Upperman has been one of the better 3A/4A programs over the last 5 seasons and this game represents a real chance for them to score a win over a quality 6A program

Other games considered: Page @ Independence,  Knox. West @ Clinton, Lenoir City @ Loudon, Powell @ Farragut


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