From the
Upper Deck
Lots To Deal
With This Week
By Jim Steele
steele@mckenziebanner.com |
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There is lots to cover this week, in this corner.
Shall we begin?
* Huntingdon has a pretty good football team. It has
speed. It has strength. It definitely has McKenzie's
number.
The Rebels started out pretty strong, venturing deep
into Huntingdon territory twice in the first quarter.
But McKenzie struggled to convert once it trod upon that
sacred ground.
Five big plays netted the 'Stangs 300 yards, and
that's not counting the interception. When you have
weapons, they must fire accurately. Huntingdon was on
the mark, McKenzie was off target.
And the Mustangs wear the regional crown for the
second straight year, thanks to a 42-7 victory over the
Rebels.
* This is not to suggest that the Rebels are destined
for the scrap heap. The potential for big things was
there from the beginning. The Mustangs had problems
moving the ball at first and the Rebels had chances to
make at least three big plays when it held the ball.
Even Huntingdon coach Mike Mansfield recognized that
the Rebels stayed in the fight: "This game was a lot
closer than the score."
Armchair quarterbacks can play the "if" game until
the cows come home. What if McKenzie had scored when it
was knocking on the door early in the game? What if
Huntingdon hadn't had that big interception return.
Mansfield breathed a sigh of relief: "We might have
had to chase them and who knows how it might have turned
out."
* Rebel fans who might be a bit dismayed, fear not.
When it became apparent that the Rebels were in for a
long night, I found myself thinking of games from long
ago and scenarios that were steeped in uncertainty, but
turned out well.
Friday night's game had some of the same earmarks of
an earlier season-finale game I once covered.
The year was 1989. I was covering Martin-Westview at
the time for its local paper. The Chargers had worked
themselves into a position to win District 13AA and
secure a home playoff game. All they had to do was beat
Milan in Week 10.
Milan turned on the jets and beat Martin 42-3. Sound
familiar? It was a disappointing loss, certainly, but
the Chargers, who dropped to 8-2, recovered. They beat
host McNairy Central in the first round of the 2A
playoffs, then knocked off Memphis-Trezevant in the
second round. Springfield visited UTM in the state
quarterfinals and the Chargers upended the Yellow
Jackets 10-6. That set up a state semifinal visit to
Brentwood Academy. The Eagles won the game 23-0, but the
score doesn't indicate the closeness of the game.
There are lots of parallels between that Charger
squad and this McKenzie team. This is post-season and
anything can happen, just ask Milan and McKenzie last
year. Don't be surprised if McKenzie and Huntingdon see
each other again this season.
* Bethel football is playing up to its talent. The
Wildcats, who struggled through the first seven games of
the season, have been in every game but one, and that
was against a Division 1-AA nationally-ranked team.
The 'Cats have won two straight games. They beat
Virginia-Wise last week and knocked off Cumberland
(Tenn.) Saturday and had to rally to win the game.
Cumberland led 28-19 at the half when the Wildcats
surged back. Big plays, special teams and defense all
played a role. This is a young, talent-laden team that
has a bright future. If BC can retain all its players,
and if those players will believe in themselves, their
teammates and buy into the system, this team could
contend as early as next year. The Wildcats have a
chance to finish strong. I believe they'll win out. This
could be a championship-caliber team with a little
seasoning. And these guys are fun to watch. They
certainly know how the keep things exciting.
* When Bethel played Cumberland, two CU Bulldogs had
a bittersweet homecoming. McKenzie's Derrick Palmer, a
6-0, 200 lb. linebacker, and Justin Truett, a 6-0, 175
lb. quarterback from Huntingdon, were back in town to
face Bethel.
* There is unpleasantness to deal with. Tennessee's
performance against Duke, one of the worst teams in the
NCAA, was abysmal. My dad is a Duke grad and he even
concedes that the Blue Devils field a lousy team.
Football at Duke is on the ninth rung of an eight-rung
ladder.
For three quarters, in front of the alumni donors at
Knoxville, three points separated the Vols and Duke.
While most teams would relish a chance to have a crowd
of 104,000, the no-shows tell an alarming story. This
was perhaps the most poorly attended homecoming game
since the stadium's last expansion. Ho hum, UT beat Duke
23-6.
The Vols are dismal. Miami will show us how dismal
they are indeed next Saturday.
*Last week, I was 16-4 which made me 178 for 225 on
the season. That's 79.1 percent. Here's a chance to get
back on track.
McKenzie over Cheatham Co.: This one won't be easy
for the Rebels.
Huntingdon over Harpeth: Focus, focus, focus. The
Mustangs must avoid a letdown.
West Carroll over Trinity: The War Eagles are better
than what they showed in the first meeting with Trinity.
Bethel over Cumberland, Ky.: The Wildcats keep it
going.
Miami (Fla.) over Tennessee (Doa.): This will be a
bloodbath, especially after what Virginia Tech did to
the Hurricanes.
In other action, I see:
USJ over Halls, South Fulton over Fayette Academy,
JCS over Greenfield, Carver over Trenton, Dresden over
Treadwell, Mitchell over Humboldt, Milan over Westwood,
Chester Co. over Fairview, Lewis Co. over Camden,
Greenbrier over McNairy, South Side over Sycamore, Page
over Lexington, Crockett Co. over Marshall Co., Ripley
over Sheffield, Covington over Raliegh-Egypt, Obion over
Kingsbury, Hillcrest over Brighton, Melrose over
Haywood, Hardin Co. over Ridgeway, Memphis-East over
Dyersburg and JCM over Craigmont.
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