State championship previews

Blue Cross Bowl 
Tennessee Tech University
Cookeville
All games can be seen locally on WKNO Channel 10

D2-A
Thursday, November 29
3 PM
ECS (6-6) vs Knoxville Webb (11-1)

The all-time series between the two schools is in favor of Webb 4-3. ECS won the first 3 meetings, including a double-double in 2005, beating the Spartans in the regular season and again in the state title game. Webb pulled off the double-double of their own in 2006, winning the state championship on a 44 yd FG with 4 seconds left. ECS has seen their season end at the hands of the Spartans 2 of the last 3 years back in 2009 & 10. Webb went on to win state titles in each of those years.

Webb is going to be hard to stop. They run the wing-T attack to perfection and come into the game averaging almost 39 pts/gm. (1 game was a forfeit). They have been held to under 35 points just twice in 11 games. They beat Knoxville Catholic 13-0 and lost to perennial power Alcoa 14-7 in the season opener. The Spartans are led by Mr. Football winner Todd Kelly, Jr. He has 1,003 yds rushing on the year on just 86 carries (11.7/carry). Kelly has 29 TD's on the year (21-rushing, 5-receiving, 2-punt return, 1-interception return). If you key on Kelly then Aaron Blance will beat you. Blance is averaging 10 yds/carry with 784 yds on the year on 78 carries. The Spartans get it done on defense as well as they have held 8 of their 11 opponents to 7 points or less.

Don't let the 6-6 record deceive you: This ECS team is pretty good. They had to forfeit a win due to using an ineligible player. 4 of the losses came by a total of 13 points combined. In this year of redemption via the rematch, they have done pretty well. The Eagles have avenged losses to both Fayette Academy and St. George's in the regular season by defeating them in the playoffs. ECS is led by Mr. Football finalists QB Brent Rooker and FB/LB Walker Jones. They are averaging almost 27 pts/gm and only allowing just under 13 pts/gm. ECS runs the spread and runs it very well behind Rooker. The senior is completing 66% of his passes for over 2300 yds with 20 TD's and only 5 INT. He has also rushed for 11 TD's as well.






D2-AA
Thursday, November 29
7 PM
MUS (10-2) vs Ensworth (12-0)

4 times in 25 games. That's how many times these teams have met. They have opened the season each of the last 2 years and Ensworth came down to Memphis last year and ended the Owls season in the semifinals. Now matchup #4 is for all the marbles with the state championship on the line. Ensworth is a great team and has been nationally ranked in the top 25 most of the year. They are led by Mr. Football winner Corn Elder who has almost 2,400 yds (9.6/carry) and 38 TD's. The Owls have not found a way to stop him yet and must do so if they want to bring home the gold ball. Elder doesn't do it all by himself. SR QB Andrew Bowers has had a solid year leading the Ensworth attack. Bowers has thrown for almost 1,500 yds with 16 TD's and only 3 INT.

The Owls had one of their all time best and worst performances in their semifinal vs Brentwood Academy. Down 23-0 at one point in the first half, MUS fought their way back but still trailed 45-30 starting the 4th quarter. The Owls got a 38 yd FG from Gary Wunderlich with 26 seconds left to complete the comeback 46-45. MUS can match the offensive firepower of the Tigers however with Mr. Football finalist Jordan Rodgers. Rodgers is completing 65% of his passes for almost 2,700 yds with an outstanding 34 TD's and only 4 INT with school records for completions, attempts, yards and touchdowns. The Owls are far from a one man team. Shane Tucker has been a dual threat out of the backfield and MUS has a stable of outstanding receivers led by Devin Perry. Ensworth has won the last 2 state titles and is looking for a "3-peat" while the Owls have a bit of history of their own when it comes to state title games lately. They are 4-0 since 2004 when playing for the championship.

Here are the thoughts on the game from MUS:

http://mussports.typepad.com/

4A
Saturday, December 1
3 PM
Covington (14-0) vs Knoxville Fulton (12-2)

The only time that these two teams have ever met was back in 2003 and it was for the state title. Fulton won that matchup 36-9 behind game MVP and current Fulton assistant coach Justin Long. On paper this game looks to be a shootout. Fulton's average margin of victory is 39.8. Their only 2 losses were to Knoxville West (27-26) and Alcoa (30-7). In their 12 wins, the fewest amount of points scored were 33. Run to pass ratio is about 2:1. The Falcons have almost 3,500 yds rushing (7.6/carry) and 54 TD's and have thrown for almost 1,600 yds and 24 TD's. Keep your eyes open for JR RB Daryl Rollins (5'9, 168, 4.4-40). He has 2,258 yds rushing on the year (12.1/carry) and 30 TD's. No one else on the team has more than 60 carries on the year. Rollins also averages 39 yds on kickoff returns. JR QB Penny Smith (6'1, 181) has had a pretty good year throwing for almost 1500 yds with 22 TD's and only 6 INT. Smith has only completed 79 passes on the year and 1/4 of them have gone for touchdowns. His favorite receiver is JR Xavier Hawkins (5'11, 178). Hawkins has 31 catches on the year for 793 yds. That's almost 26 yds a catch and he has 12 TD's to go along with that. Defensively Fulton has held their opponent to 14 points or less in 11 of the 14 games and they are led by SR LB Shane Sullivan (5'10, 176) with 111 tackles, 6 sacks, 1 INT, 2 FF, 1 FR and 2 blocked FG's.

The Chargers are no slouch when it comes to scoring points themselves. Covington has not scored fewer than 20 points in any one game all year and are averaging 40 points/gm for the season. Mr. Football finalist Johnston White leads the way for the Chargers. White has been simply fantastic for the second year in a row. The senior RB has just over 2,600 yds rushing on the year to go with 41 TD's The state record for a single season is 46.White just broke the all time Covington rushing record of Lareko Boykin 2 weeks ago and he has 4,755 and counting along with 60 TD's in his career. The Chargers do rely heavily on the wing-T offense but they are far from one dimensional. JR QB T.A. Watson has thrown for 1,000 yds and 13 TD's on the year. Carlos Williams has been the go-to-receiver with over 500 yds and 8 TD's and he also has 7 INT on the year as well. The Covington defense has been most impressive. The most points allowed in a single game by the Chargers all year was 20 and in 8 of the 14 games, their opponent has been held to 8 points or fewer.

6A
Saturday, December 1
7 PM
Whitehaven (14-0) vs Maryville (14-0)

The rematch. Something that this Whitehaven football team and their fans have wanted ever since leaving Cookeville last year with a bad taste in their mouth after the 23-7 Maryville victory. Now it's reality and once again the Tigers will have to bring their "A" game if they want to stop this dynasty from East Tennessee. Maryville has won 43 consecutive games which is the 4th longest current streak in the nation. Their last loss came in the first game of the 2010 season to their county rival Alcoa. That was actually the second consecutive loss for the Rebels who lost in the state championship the year before to White Station in 2009. 2 straight losses followed by 43 straight wins. Since 1999 under head coach George Quarles, the Rebels success is mind boggling. They are 193-13 in the regular season, 62-4 in the playoffs and 9-2 in title games. They are a team that does not beat themselves and have been known to use every bit of the playbook at any time. Maryville runs it just a little more than they throw it: 5,935 yds and 78 TD's on the year, 3342 rushing, 2573 passing. The Rebels trio of JR RB Shawn Prevo, SR Trenton Shuler and QB Nick Myers has combined for 2,851 yds rushing and 35 TD's on the year. Myers is in his first year as a starter and he plays like a veteran. He is completing 74% of his passes and finished the regular season with 26 TD's and only 4 INT and has really stepped up his game in the playoffs. Maryville averaged over 42 pts/gm on the season and is giving up about 18/gm. The big question on defense is how will two injuries to their linebackers impact this game.  Sophomore Dylan Shinsky (dislocated ankle, broken fibula) and senior Haden Townsend (knee) are both out.

Whitehaven allowed their most points of the season in last week's 41-35 win over Mt. Juliet. Before that, the Tigers defense has been outstanding. 11 of the 14 opponents have been held to 7 points or less. LB Adam Collins, whose 74 yd fumble return for a TD was the only score the Tigers had in last year's game anchors the defense. DB's Darius Sims, Justin Hunt, Roderick Owens & David Rivers have been stellar all year long and Whitehaven has the size up front to give any team trouble. Mr. Football finalist Mark Dodson leads the way on defense with 2,977 yds and 32 TD's. He is 92 yds away from breaking the state single season rushing record that was set by Powell's Dyshawn Mobley last year. But if you key on Dodson, you are asking for trouble. SR QB Patrick Smith had a fantastic game last week vs MJ with over 200 yds of total offense and a couple of TD's. Smith has great quickness and mobility out of the pocket and he can put the ball anywhere on the field that you ask him too. His 50 yd TD strike to Gerald Perry was a thing of beauty starting with the throw and finishing with a spectacular catch.