A Most Unlikely Comeback

The Tullahoma Wildcats staged one of the best comebacks in recent memory Tuesday night, outscoring visiting Marshall Co. 24-16 in the fourth quarter on their way to a 66-59 win at a loud THS gym.

Tullahoma (3-0) remained undefeated behind the spark provided by Allen Starks and Geoffry McGowan off the bench and the lights-out shooting display by Chad Rusk and Matt Passarelo in the final quarter.

The Tigers (1-1), perhaps somewhat fatigued from their one-point win over Columbia 24 hours before, came out hot behind Kedron Johnson and Jamie Perryman to lead 21-8 after one quarter.

Starks and McGowan then lit the fuse. Starks hit four big baskets, McGowan hit a big three, and when Rusk, who finished with 23 points, hit a three pointer with 70 seconds left in the half the Wildcats had pulled to within two at 29-27.

Marshall Co.’s Kevin Peterson hit one of his three three-pointers at the buzzer to send the visitors into the locker room leading 32-27.

The second half started much like the first with Johnson, a highly-recruited 6-4 guard who finished with 15 points; and Perryman, a small guard with a great stroke who finished with 21, leading the Tigers to a 40-29 lead halfway through the third quarter.

That’s when Rusk, who scored 18 after halftime and finished with 23, and Passarelo who hit for 12 after the break on his way to 17 points, took over the game.

Tullahoma took its first lead in the first 10 second of the fourth quarter and would never trail again. Rusk hit a pair of three’s in just over a minute to quickly extend the lead to 50-43 with six minutes left.

To Marshall Co.’s credit they fought back, pulling within four before Passarelo drilled a three with 2:30 left to extend the lead to 58-51, then watched Rusk hit another to make it 62-59 with 42 seconds remaining.

Rusk then did what stars do – stepped to the line and made three out of four free throws to salt the win away.

The season is early and the ‘Cats have certainly not looked dominant at any time. However, Tuesday’s win showed a lot about this THS win. The 2009-2010 Wildcats have no quit in them and when the pressure is on they can hit shots.

Next comes a trip to Forrest High School in Chapel Hill for the Thanksgiving Holiday Classic on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. To be honest I’m not really sure about specifics game times.

The regular season resumes Tuesday, Dec. 1 with a trip to rugged White Co. The brand-new District 8-AAA season opens on Friday, Dec. 4 on the road at Lincoln Co.

The next home game is Tuesday, Dec. 8 when Warren Co. visits. The Wildcats don’t play a conference home game until Friday, Jan. 8, 2010 when Lawrence Co. pays a visit. All games are scheduled to begin at 6:30pm.

First Look at Quartefinals

With the third round of the playoffs approaching its the perfect time to get the blog back in action. Many of the traditional powers are still alive, and the race for eight state titles should be a thrill.

Class 6A match ups were completely predictable but perfect, with the eight teams remaining the best eight teams all season in my opinion. All four games are rematches, and only four districts are represented.

Maryville hosts Farragut in the east in a District 4-AAA rematch, with the Rebels winning the regular season tilt 35-32. I’ll take Maryville at home.

The mid-east bracket finds Oakland crossing town to tangle with Riverdale in a District 7-AAA rematch. This installment in the ‘Battle of the Boro’ will be long-remembered regardless of the outcome. I cannot pick against the defending champs.

District 11-AAA provides Brentwood at Franklin in the mid-west quadrant. Again I like the road team. The Rebels just keep getting better.

Out west White Station and Whitehaven have been on a collision course all season. Whitehaven has had a much-tougher path to the third round, but I think White Station gets it done.

These four districts – 4, 7, 11, and 16 have an opportunity to dominate the state’s largest classification for years to come.

I said multiple times on GuruTV that I thought Class 5A was the most wide-open bracket, and that proved to be true. Columbia is the only #1 seed to survive, and has to be favored against Anderson Co.

Fourth seed Daniel Boone travels to Sullivan South in the Class 5A east. After upsetting Tennessee last week Boone has to be sky high, but South at home is so hard to beat, and for the first time in a long time Maryville is not standing in the Rebels’ way. I give this 1-AAA rematch to SS.

In the mid-east Columbia hosting Anderson Co. is the only non-rematch in 5A or 6A. AC stunned Clinton and their confidence will be up. The Lions have enjoyed the drop in classification as much as anyone, and I think they advance to the semifinals.

Beech and Gallatin is a 9-AAA rematch, and while I think Beech ends Gallatin’s excellent season I believe this could be an overtime finish.

Mitchell hasn’t been stopped, and I don’t think Melrose has enough to become the first to accomplish that. But at The Mound it is hard to win. Along with the two 6A quarter finalists from 16-AAA, these two may have played in the toughest overall district in AAA. I like Mitchell.

Moving to 4A, Red Bank is the overwhelming favorite to beat Greeneville, and I don’t see them slipping up here although this won’t be a blowout.

Whites Creek at Maplewood is a 10-AA rematch. Maplewood played a very tough early schedule outside the district, and was rewarded with a top seed. The Cobras tossed multiple shutouts this year, but they won’t shut out the Panthers, nor will they beat them.

The mid-west has Giles Co. hosting Lexington, one of the true cinderellas left

Finding My Way Back to the Pressbox

Wow it has been quite awhile since I last blogged. My job as administrator for MurphyFair.com gets more intense every year, and this football season I have put an extraordinary amount of time into the site.

I’m not complaining, just letting you know why the blog has been silent. With the high school regular season winding down I have decided to renew my commitment to blogging my thoughts to the world. Be warned. Be very warned.

I’m still reeling from the Vols’ loss to Alabama today. We were so close. It seems to me that Lane Kiffin needs to reconsider his late-game play calling. He is still making the same mistakes he was making against UCLA.

He seemed to be more than happy to settle for a 44-yard field goal attempt to win the game as opposed to trying to get closer to give his kicker a better chance. Did he not see the earlier miss and block? He ran up the middle with 40 seconds left then let the clock run down to one second to kick it for the win.

Oh well, I guess the Big Orange nation can take it as a step back towards respectability. I hate it though because we had so many chances to take control of the game.

We are less than a week from knowing the playoff brackets for all eight classifications of the TSSAA. Tennessee high school football is about to enter a historical time under a radically different playoff system.

The complaints about the new system are many and loud. Although I am most-vested in one school which may be left out of the postseason as a result of what many view as a flawed system, I actually like the new system and think it is better than the previous playoff methods.

Yes some bad teams are getting in, but they always have. Yes head-to-head results don’t seem to matter, and I think that should be addressed in the off-season by the TSSAA. Yes soft scheduling is being rewarded too much, and hopefully that will be addressed too.

But overall I think it will be really exciting in the first few rounds and crowds will be bigger than ever in most places. Ultimately the teams that should end up in the semifinals will and the first weekend in December promises to be a real treat in Cookeville.

I am extremely thankful for all the opportunities I now have to participate in sports media. Here is a brief rundown of an average week for me. Keep in mind this is all in addition to the 15-20 hours per week I spend on MurphyFair.com.

On Monday night Binns Jordan and I host High School Sports Plus, a one-hour talk show on Fantasy 101.5 FM in southern middle Tennessee and FantasyRadio.com. The show airs at 6pm Central.

Wednesday nights you can watch GuruTV on MurphyFair.com. Each week at 9pm Eastern, 8pm Central you can tune in to hear me and Murphy Fair talk high school football for an hour. The program broadcasts both video and audio and is very high quality.

Friday nights I have me broadcast of Tullahoma football. This week we travel to Lawrence Co. with the winner securing an automatic playoff berth and the loser hoping for a wild-card invitation. The pregame begins at 6:30pm with kickoff at 7 on 101.5 and FantasyRadio.com.

Friday nights after my play-by-play duties I come home and spend at least two hours updating MurphyFair.com. Check it out sometime at midnight after games and you’ll find updated standings, a complete scoreboard, and links to multiple stories from across the state.

Also on Friday nights I write my game column for The Saturday Independent and the Wildcat Web. The first story available about Tullahoma football each week comes from me through those two publications.

Oh yeah, there is also District8aaa.com, dedicated to our new district.

As you can see I have a full plate during the high school system. I’m really thankful for all the chances to talk about and work for high school football. I love everything about the sport and am dedicated to promoting it whenever and where ever I can.

I Finally Get The Guru

Really looking forward to another season of High School Sports Plus, my weekly talk radio show. Binns Jordan and I begin our second season this Monday at 6pm. Murphy Fair, the Guru of high school football in the state of Tennessee and my cohort in producing MurphyFair.com, will be our in-studio guest the entire hour.

You can hear Murphy, Binns, and myself at 6pm on Monday, August 10. If you live in the southern middle Tennessee area you can listen on the radio on Fantasy 101.5 FM. Around the world you can hear the broadcast by following the link from FantasyRadio.com or MurphyFair.com.

As you might expect, this week’s show is our preseason preview. Who better to have on than Murphy Fair? The man has written some 200 stories over the past four months about individual teams, new districts, etc., and he will bring a wealth of knowledge to the show.

The show will be on every Monday at 6pm during the football season. Future shows will include regular visits from high school coaches from around the area as well as updates on other fall sports each week. We hope you will take a few minutes Monday night and enjoy some live high school football talk.

The New View

Welcome back friends to my blog. I’ve missed our talks about high school football, Murphy Fair’s Tennessee High School Football Website, the new TSSAA classifications, and our other assorted topics. It’s great to be back and I’m glad to have you aboard.

If you are not yet following me in the social networking arena then I welcome you to go to both Twitter and Facebook and type in my name and follow my tweets or add me as a friend.

As the high school football season gets closer to opening you will find I use these social networking sites more and more to communicate with you. I’m looking forward to exploring new ways to promote high school football in the state of Tennessee.

My schedule is beginning to line up nicely for the coming season. High School Sports Plus, the weekly, one-hour radio show I co-host with Binns Jordan will begin on Monday, Aug. 10 at 6pm on Fantasy 101.5 FM in southern-middle Tennessee and at FantasyRadio.com around the world.

I will begin my 26th season of covering Tullahoma Wildcat football on Friday, Aug. 21 when Tullahoma hosts Blackman in the 2009 season opener at the brand-new Wilkins Stadium.

Pregame will begin at 6pm with kickoff scheduled for 7pm on both Fantasy 101.5 FM and FantasyRadio.com . With the new district alignment I am really excited about this season.

If you haven’t visited MurphyFair.com recently then you may not have seen our new design. Once again this season we are awarding $500 to the Booster Club that has the most new and renewed subscriptions between now and Oct. 1. If your booster club is not yet working to win this contest then you need to get them onboard.

Also, the new District 8-AAA website is up and running, although I haven’t had a lot of time to create a visual appeal that I’m satisfied with. Hopefully that will come in the next couple of weeks.

Again I thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you will come back often. We will post consistently throughout the regular season and the playoffs, so from now through Christmas check out The View From the Pressbox whenever you can.

Hot Fun in the SummerTime

Well its been a few weeks since we finished our early examination of the new TSSAA football classifications. I’ve gotten some great feedback from you the reader and those are much-appreciated.

We are just three months away from opening day of the 2009 high school football season and the excitement is already building for the first season under the new classifications.

If you have followed the Coaching Changes list on MurphyFair.com then you know it has been a very active off-season for coaches.

Scott Blade moved from state champion Hillsboro to perennial powerhouse Oak Ridge, while former Hunters Lane assistant Dennis Moreno takes over the reigns at Hillsboro.

Defending champion Knoxville Catholic lost Mark Pemberton to the state of Georgia, then hired Scott Meadows away from William Blount. Assistant Caine Ballard was promoted to head coach at always-competitive Greeneville.

In addition, teams such as Cleveland, Dyersburg, and Oneida, which always seem to make nice playoff runs, will operate under new coaching staffs this season.

Murphy has received over 150 surveys for his preseason magazine, which should hit newstands and booster clubs in late July. However, with 326 high school football teams in the state it is evident that many programs have not returned their surveys to The Guru. Please encourage your head coach to return his survey.

The Top Prospects list on MurphyFair.com has grown to almost 700 players so far and is expected to exceed over 1,000 players when it is complete. These prospects are sent in by their coaches when they return their survey to Murphy, so if you don’t see your school represented on the prospects list then that is a good indication that your school hasn’t returned its survey.

As we roll through the summer months we will continue to highlight teams, coaches, and players that are expected to be in the headlines throughout the regular season.

As teams begin releasing their schedules we will spotlight some of the top games each week.

Finally, the Booster Club contest is in full swing on MurphyFair.com. One high school booster club will win a $500 prize from The Guru. The school with the most new and renewed subscriptions will take the prize, so encourage your school’s booster club to get moving on working towards that prize.

Class 6A: Making History

The final entry in our series of spring analysis of the new TSSAA football classifications focuses on the state of Tennessee’s largest class – 6A. The 2009 season will be the first in state history that features a Class 6A.

Needless to say this class is loaded with the largest schools in the state, and although it is much like the former Class 5A as far as teams go, there are some additions to the class that make it even more competitive than in the past.

The most significant addition is Maryville. All the Rebels did over the last decade was win seven state titles, including four in a row, and have their all-time state record 74-game winning streak snapped in last year’s Class 4A title game.

But this is a new year and this is not Class 4A, and although we expect George Quarles to have his Rebels in the thick of the title chase there is no longer the safe option of simply picking Maryville to win the title every year knowing the chances are pretty good.

To be fair and consistent, we begin our discussion of Class 6A with last year’s 5A title winner – Oakland. The Patriots shocked a lot of people under first-year head coach Thomas McDaniel, and the element of surprise, along with a number of talented players, will be absent from the Oakland arsenal this season.

Unlike most of the other state’s classifications, which have the bulk of their powerhouse teams in one area of the state, Class 6A has serious title contenders in almost every District.

District 1 features Dobyns-Bennett, ranked number one in the state last year until their early-round upset in the playoffs. You can expect D-B to always be in the hunt.

Class 6A teams are scarce in the far eastern part of the state, and District 2 & 3 are evidence of that with only five 6A team between them. None of those five appear to be title contenders, although Oak Ridge and new head coach Scott Blade will surely be a program on the rise.

District 4 is an absolute powerhouse, one of the three ’super districts’ in Class 6A. With the addition of Maryville, along with Farragut and a rejuvinated William Blount, this district should feature a very exciting race to the playoffs and a number of playoff participants.

District 5 & 6 are not especially strong, although Ooltewah has become a consistent powerhouse in 5. It seems until the Owls expand their offensive package they are destined to fade in the playoffs, with the same holding true for Cookeville in District 6.

District 7 has to be considered the premier Class 6A district heading into the 2009 season since it features the last three state champions in Oakland and Smyrna. With traditional power Riverdale and an up-and-coming Blackman, District 7 should be a real battleground all season long.

Districts 8, 9, & 10 have some good teams but don’t appear to possess serious title contenders. Mt. Juliet, which moves up from Class 4A, and stalwart Lincoln Co. may be the best of the Class 6A teams from all three districts.

District 11 is a different story. With Franklin, which played for last year’s 5A title, and recent title winners Brentwood and Ravenwood, this district is another that will be hard-fought on the field every weekend. Almost every team in this district could be a playoff participant with the new wild-card system.

Districts 12, 13, 14 & 15 are much like the mid-state districts in that they don’t appear to have any ’super’ teams. That is not to downplay the significant seasons that both Hunters Lane in District 12 and Millington in 14 have put together in recent seasons. Expect both to continue to play past the first round of the playoffs. Germantown and Houston always have the potential to catch fire and roll to a great season.

District 16 features two teams that have shown real potential in recent seasons in Whitehaven and White Station. Their district is much stronger on the 5A level, but by playing those strong 5A teams during the season both Whitehaven and White Station should be playoff-ready by the postseason.

I could easily throw out ten different teams as potential final four or title winners and have just as good a shot as any to be right or wrong, but since we are doing this with the knowledge that its a shot in the dark I’ll give it my best effort.

My final four in the state’s largest class are Maryville, Brentwood, White Station, and Oakland. I know the Patriots lost some fine players, but Coach McDaniel has created something special in Murfreesboro and I really respect and admire his philosophy on both sides of the ball. I’ll pick Oakland to win the first-ever Class 6A championship.

The Heavyweight Division

Six down and two to go in our spring examination of the new TSSAA high school football classifications for the state of Tennessee. We’ve looked at Division I public schools Class 1A through 5A and Division II private schools Class A.

That leaves what is generally considered the state’s best teams to consider – Division II Class AA and Division I Class 6A. We’ll begin in DII-AA, which features some of the most-storied programs in Tennessee high school football history.

One of the most interesting things about the Division II Class AA group is how most have successfully marketed their programs with letters as opposed to names. For some reason this has worked for this classification for a long time and I’ve always found that fascinating.

Memphis University School (MUS) was the title winner in 2008, and again without consideration of who graduated and who returns, you can bet they will be in contention in 2009. They are always good.

The Western Division of this class only has four teams in it and the competition for the top spot is usually between MUS and Christian Brothers (CBHS). St. Benedict moves up from Division II Class A, while Briarcrest (BCS) might struggle to compete for a title.

The East side of DII is full of legendary programs like Brentwood Academy, Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA), and Father Ryan. Both BA and MBA have won titles in recent years, while Father Ryan has fought its way back to respectability after a few down seasons.

The new kid on the block is Ensworth, which fell in the semifinals in 2008 after rolling through the regular season as a title favorite. They return what may be the state’s best running back and they have to be considered a favorite to make a deep playoff run.

BGA and Knoxville Webb are newcomers to the class and might find the going pretty tough the first couple of seasons. Baylor and McCallie are usually solid, respectable teams, but they seldom seem to be able to compete at the highest level.

It is a huge challenge to try and predict who will eventually make it to the title game in this classification. One thing we know is that the title game will be played the same weekend as all the other classifications in the state. That has not been the case in the past and it will be interesting to see how that affects publicity, etc. for this class.

I’ll just jump out there and pick MUS and Ensworth to play for the 2009 Division II Class AA championship. Look for MBA to be a strong challenger, and Brentwood Academy is always going to have the athletes to be in contention.

Next: Our final spring examination focuses in Division I Class 6A

Division II-A Welcomes Newcomers

This edition continues our examination of the new football classifications created by the TSSAA for the 2009-2012 seasons. As we glance at Division II-A the obvious place to begin is to notice that a number of teams have made the move from the public side to the private side.

The place to start is with defending champion Davidson Academy. The program has become the dominant one in this classification, winning three of the last four state titles.

All rising junior Justin Williams did as a sophomore was rush for 2,800 yards, win Mr. Football, and lead his team to the title. There is little reason to expect anything less from Williams in 2009, which clearly places Davidson Academy in the drivers’ seat in Class DII-A.

Harding Academy fought DA to the end in the title game, dropping a 36-34 decision. Although Harding lost the state’s top player in Marlon Brown, you might still expect Harding to be a title contender.

Both SBEC and FACS made it to the semifinals last year, but with the influx of new, talented programs it will be difficult for those schools to compete for a championship this year.

In the East/Middle side of Class DII-A, newcomers include Donelson Christian, Franklin Road Academy, Ezell-Harding, Mt. Juliet Christian, Riverside Christian, Zion Christian, and St. Andrews.

There is not a lot of strength in that group, although DCA should be very competitive. Still it appears that Davidson Academy is head and shoulders above the competition on the East/Middle side.

In the West however there is a significant number of teams that could play for a title. Bishop-Byrne always seems to be strong, and FACS and SBEC, as mentioned, made playoff runs last year.

The strength in the West though will likely come from newcomers Jackson Christian, University School of Jackson, and ECS. Although ECS played in Division II recently in the AA class, their drop to A should help them be much more competitive.

Jackson Christian made a strong playoff run last year in Class 2A after just an average regular season. Although USJ struggled last year you can expect their level of play to rise in the new classification.

This may be the toughest of all the new classes to try and get a feel for who has a chance to win a title this early. It appears Davision Academy is the pick, and I’ll take Jackson Christian as the team that will join them in the BlueCross Bowl.

Next: The new Class Division II-AA.

5A Looks Fabulous

Our series of glances into the new TSSAA Tennessee high school football classifications continues with a look at the new broad AAA classification, which is our state’s largest public school class.

AAA is split into 5A and 6A, and we will begin with Class 5A, the only new classification which features two defending state champions.

The headliner is undoubtedly defending state champion Hillsboro, which won the title in the former Class 4A last year and ended Maryville’s 74-game winning streak in the process, the longest such streak in state history.

The Burros, who will play in District 11, have a lot of talent returning but they must replace former head coach Scott Blade, who agreed to be the new head coach at Oak Ridge. With Greg Young and Aaron Bryant returning, the new coach will certainly be blessed with talent.

Knoxville Catholic is also a defending state champion, having captured its first title last year in the former Class 3A. It is a big step that Catholic is taking in classification, but there is no reason not to expect them to be in the hunt when the postseason rolls around.

The Eastern part of the state is heavily populated by 5A teams. Sullivan South in District 1 has been eliminated in recent years by Maryville, which has now moved up to 6A. Expect the Rebels from Sullivan South to be major contenders come playoff time.

Both Morristown East and West will compete in District 2, and both have been major forces in recent seasons. District 3 features Knoxville Central and Clinton, both of which will be improved this season.

Class 5A teams become a little more scarce when we begin to examine the middle part of the state. District 5 has only Cleveland, which faded last year after starting the season unbeaten. District 7 has no 5A teams, and although District 8 has four, not one has made any serious noise in the playoffs in a long, long time.

That trend changes when we get to District 9 though. Former big-time heavyweight Gallatin joins the new 5A this year, and the Green Wave are coming off a season that saw them re-enter the world of playoff contenders.

Hendersonville is also in District 9, and the Commandoes made a serious playoff push last season. Beech, which advanced to the third round last year before falling to Hillsboro, is also in District 9, making it one of the strongest groups of 5A teams in the state.

District 10 finds Henry Co., which successfully petitioned the TSSAA to remain in Class 5A. Although suffering heavy graduation losses, you can expect the boys from Paris to be playing in November. In all District 10 has seven 5A teams, including brand-new West Creek. This Clarksville-dominated district should feature a lot of great games.

It is hard to find a strong title contender in any District between Hillsboro in 11 and District 16 in Memphis. Once you hit 16 though you find Melrose and Mitchell, two teams that are definitely contenders.

So let’s begin to whittle these down a bit. Mitchell and Knoxville Catholic played for the 3A title last year, and although they have been bumped up you can expect at least one of them to have another really strong season. I like Mitchell in that spot.

Melrose is another team that will be a serious challenger. The difference here is speed. The new Class 5A is not loaded with speed, and I think both Melrose and Mitchell have it in abundance.

Sulivan South, Morristown West, Knoxville Central, and Knoxville Catholic will battle each other in the postseason. Again, without really knowing who lost what talent and who has the best players returning, I see Morristown West and Catholic slugging it out, with Catholic prevailing from the East.

Henry Co., Gallatin, Hendersonville, and Beech, along with Hillsboro, should all be second and/or third round playoff participants depending on how the brackets stack up. This is the hardest classification so far to try and nail down a final four at this point in the year.

But since that’s what I’m here for, here goes. I’ll take Sullivan South, Hillsboro, Mitchell, and Hendersonville. Wow, as soon as I type that I want to change it. This new Class 5A is going to be a real dogfight and should be a lot of fun to watch.

Next: The new Class 6A