Playoff previews for November 23

6A
Mt. Juliet (12-1) at Whitehaven (13-0)

These two teams met in the semifinals last year but it was the Tigers doing the traveling up I-40. The trip back home was a happy one as Whitehaven throughly manhandled the Golden Bears 44-10. Both teams are on a roll with Mt. Juliet winning 24 of their last 26 and Whitehaven winning 27 of their last 28.

The Golden Bears defeated Brentwood last week 31-20 in a game that really wasn't close at all. They led 31-7 with 3:50 left in the game. Senior Contrez McCathern led the way with 239 yds rushing on 35 carries, part of a ground game that amassed almost 400 yds total in the game. Mt. Juliet runs the wing-T so depending on the night, any one of the backs could have huge games and that is what has happened in the playoffs so far.

In their opening round win vs Independence (52-22), RB Caleb Hopkins had only 13 carries but totaled 188 yds and 5 TD's as the Golden Bears had almost 500 yds of total offense. In their second round win over Dickson Co (39-10), they rushed for 415 yds at almost 9 yds/carry with 3 backs going over the 100 yd mark-Austin Chaplin (9-133), McCathern (13-125) and Hopkins (9-100).

Whitehaven has had their eyes focused solely on the prize as they try to return to the state title game for a second consecutive year. Their defense has been outstanding all year long as they have held opponents to 7 points or less in 11 of the 13 games. Their offense is led by Mr. Football finalist, RB Mark Dodson who has taken his game up to another level. Dodson has rushed for 2,673 yds this season and has scored 29 total TD's. He is only 21 yds away from tying the all time single season rushing record for the Shelby Metro area that was set by Gabriel Hunter of Kingsbury back in 2007. Dodson is also within reach of setting the state single season rushing record. He is 395 yds behind the record set by Powell RB Dyshawn Mobley last year.

Whitehaven dominated Germantown last week in the quarterfinals 52-7 as they scored 3 TD's within their first 10 plays from scrimmage. Dodson had 165 yds rushing on the night on only 14 carries while scoring 4 TD's (3 rushing, 1 receiving). QB Patrick Smith had 2 rushing TD's and was 7-12 passing for 113 yds and 2 TD's as well.

In their second round shutout of Southwind (54-0), the defense took front and center stage, holding the Jaguars to 56 yds of total offense for the game. Dodson had 250 yds on just 18 carries and TD's of 85,14 and 38 with another 80 yd TD run called back due to penalty. The Tigers beat Collierville (42-7) in the opening round of the playoffs behind Dodson and the Tiger D. Darius Sims and David Rivers each returned interceptions for TD's and Dodson finished with 245 yds on 21 carries and 3 TD's.

The following is from our friend Donovan Stewart who covers preps across the state. Follow him on Twitter @dstew4vu

Offense-Mt. Juliet- Hybrid Wing T, Whitehaven-Multiple
Defense- Mt. Juliet- 3-4 Whitehaven- 50
Winning Streaks-Mt. Juliet- 8, Whitehaven- 13
Last Semifinal Appearance- Mt. Juliet- 2011, Whitehaven- 2011
Semifinal Records- Mt. Juliet- 0-2, Whitehaven- 1-1
Players To Watch- Mt. Juliet- Contrez McCathern (RB/LB, Sr., 1,586 rushing yards, 20 TDs), Caleb Hopkins (RB, Sr., 1,142 rushing yards, 16 TDs), Cody Carr (SS, Sr., 129 tackles), Jalen Graham (RB, Sr.), Josh Belhu (LB, Sr., 91 tackles), Tre Nealous (DB, Sr.), Ryan Jenkins (K, Sr., 13 of 14 FGs), Nolan Chowbay (QB, Soph.)
Whitehaven- Mark Dodson (RB, Sr., 2,673 rushing yards, 28 TDs), Gerald Perry (WR/DB, Sr.), Adam Collins (LB, Sr.),Vincent Hunter (OL, Sr.), Darrius Sims (DB/ATH, Sr., 4 INTs, 2 for TD), Justin Hunt (WR/DB, Sr., 3 INTs), Patrick Smith (QB, Sr.), Andra Smith (DE, Sr.), Racquan Robinson (LB, Sr.), David Rivers (DB, Sr.), Gerald Bates (DL, Sr.), Roderick Owens (RB/DB, Sr., 5 INTs, one for TD ), Cordarro Chatman (OL/DL, Sr.)



4A
Liberty (9-4) at Covington  (13-0)

2 is the magic number for these two teams. It's the second time for the Crusaders to make the semifinals in the last 4 yrs. They lost to Giles Co back in 2009, 28-14. The Chargers are in the semifinals for the second straight year, losing to Maplewood last year, 28-7.

Liberty is a very young team starting 8 sophomores but you are 13 games into the season now. Liberty trailed 20-6 in the third quarter in their quarterfinal matchup vs White House last week before coming from behind to win the game 27-23. This Liberty team is a big play team.Despite having over 100 yds of penalties, they had over 400 total yds in the game. WR Tyler Taylor caught a 71 yd TD pass on the opening possession of the game and his 56 yd reception set up the tying score in the second half. He finished with 4 catches for 153 yds. On the other end of those catches was QB Dominique Davis who was 9-18 for 205 yds and 2 TD's. RB Courtney Bush had only 13 carries in the game but had 188 yds including an 80 yd TD run on the opening play of the second half to start the comeback which concluded with a game winning TD with only 50 seconds remaining in the game. Liberty defeated Sycamore (48-13) in the opening round and Lexington (42-18) in the second round.

The Chargers kept on course for an unbeaten season last week with a hard fought win over the Trezevant Bears 23-18. Usually when you talk about the Chargers, it starts with SR RB and Mr. Football finalist Johnston White. Trezevant kept him in check on the offensive side of the ball but it was on defense where White made his biggest impact. White intercepted 1 pass and deflected another that led to an interception in the final seconds of the game and gave Covington the win. White had 71 yds rushing in the game and a TD and became the all time leading rusher in school history with 4,571 yds passing Lareko Boykin.White also has 39 TD's on the year.

In their opening round win vs Hillcrest (55-0), White touched the ball 11 times in the first half and scored 6 TD's (5 rushing, 1 receiving) while finished with 118 yds rushing. The Chargers D held the Vikings to -5 yds of total offense and picked off 3 passes in the win. In their second round win over Sheffield (42-6), the Chargers rushed for almost 500 yds as a team with White picking up 315 yds on 29 carries and 6 TD's.

 The following is from our friend Donovan Stewart who covers preps across the state. Follow him on Twitter @dstew4vu

Offense- Liberty- Spread, Covington- Wing T
Defense- Liberty-4-4, Covington-40
Winning Streaks-Liberty- 8, Covington-13
Last Semifinal Appearance- Liberty-2009, Covington-2011
Semifinal Records- Liberty-0-1, Covington-3-4
Players To Watch- Liberty- Courtney Bush (RB/WR, Sr., 1,643 rushing yards, 17 TDs), Cordarius Owens (RB, Sr., 535 rushing yards, 11 TDs), LaDarius Finley (WR, Sr.), Tyler Taylor (LB, Sr.), Quinn Taylor (WR/RB, Jr.), Dominique Davis (QB, Sr., 1,153 rushing yards, 13 TDs, 1,340 passing yards, 13 TDs), Octavian Cooper (LB, Sr.)
Covington- Carlos Williams (RB/DB Sr., 500 receiving yards, 7 TDs, 7 INTs), Johnston White (RB, Sr., 2,432 rushing yards, 40 TDs), Jadarius Temple (DT, Sr.), Tyrone Tipton (RB/LB, Sr.), Artavious Brown (OL/LB, Sr.), Clayton Click (OL, Sr.), Skylar Ramsey (OL, Sr.), Andrew Miller (OL, Sr.), Dakota Phillips (DL, Sr.), T.A. Watson (QB, Jr., 825 passing yards, 11 TDs)