5 more schools release 2013 football schedules

Arlington, Germantown, Bolton, Central and Covington have released their 2013 football schedules.

Arlington will head to Murfreesboro to take on Oakland in week 3 and get White Station and Millington in back to back weeks toward the end of the season.

Germantown opens up with a tough 5 game stretch to start the season. Millington, CBHS, rivalry game with Collierville, Briarcrest and another rivalry game with Houston.

Bolton hopes to build upon making the playoffs this past year but it won't be easy. 4 of their last 5 are against Arlington, Brighton, Covington and Millington-all playoff teams from a year ago.

Central has their own tough stretch starting with week 2. Mitchell, Melrose, Whitehaven, East, Manassas and Hamilton. 4 of those 6 made the playoffs plus they end the year with White Station.

The 4A state runner up Chargers open up the season with one of their county rivals Munford. Back to back games with Jackson Northside and the other county rival, Brighton loom in weeks 2 and 3 as well as a rematch of the semifinal game from a year ago with Liberty week 6.

Here are the complete schedules:

11 more players commit

Do the work on the field and in the classroom and good things will happen. 11 more players are getting that chance at the next level as they have committed to the following schools:

Trezevant
DE-Joshua Jones-Mississippi Valley St
WR-LeMarcus Stewart-Missouri St

Stewart caught 26 passes for almost 450 yds (17.1/yds/catch) and 11 TD's. He returned 3 punts for TD's while averaging 22 yds/return. He intercepted 4 passes and returned 3 of those for TD's.

Central
DB-Thomas Adams-Gardner Webb
QB-Jeremy Buffington-Concordia JC
DE-Andre Hammon-Alabama St
LB-Lorenzo Herman-Campbell University
LB-Anthony Holmes-Arkansas Monticello
RB-Josh Sandlin-Alabama A & M
DB-Martavious Starks-Bethel
DB-Jason Stewart-Concordia JC
OL-Nick Strickland-Bethel

Buffington threw for 598 yds and 7 TD while Sandlin rushed for 708 yds (6.6/carry) and 7 TD's.



Here is some video and our total list of commitments so far. Congrats to all of these young men that put in the time in the classroom as well as on the field and now they are being rewarded.

More post season honors for Whitehaven

The awards continue to come in for the Tigers. The website nationalunderclassmen.com has named Whitehaven RB Mark Dodson the national player of the year and head coach Rodney Saulsberry the national coach of the year according to the Commercial Appeal. The Tigers completed an undefeated 15-0 season in December with a 36-35 OT victory over Maryville in the 6A state championship. Dodson rushed for almost 3,300 yds on the season which was the second best season in Tennessee history while scoring 37 TD's. He has already graduated and enrolled early at Ole Miss. Saulsberry has been at Whitehaven for 9 years as the head coach and has an overall record of 88-24. Congrats to Coach Saulsberry, Mark Dodson and the entire Whitehaven football team for a remarkable year!

5 more players commit

DB Jerry Thompson from White Station will head to the Naval Academy to play for the Midshipmen. RB Walter Crutchfield from Craigmont will play for the University of Memphis. His teammates, LB Dorian Robinson will play for Bethel while WR Damecio Ewing & DL Devin Williams have committed to Coahoma JC in Mississippi.

Crutchfield rushed for almost 1700 yds for the year with 24 TD's and had 27 TD's overall. Ewing caught 29 passes for over 600 yds (21 yds/catch) with 7 TD's He also returned 2 punts and 1 kickoff for TD's as well.

All of these players had fantastic seasons and all of them showcased their skills in the recent AutoZone Liberty Bowl HS All Star Game in December. Here is the video for the game:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U35wUrud95U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjEXqxZfxjQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqPIqGIJWyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-h6FwhWxE4


Congratulations to all of these young men. That brings our total number of commitments to 41. Here is the total list.

Arlington QB Drew Reed commits to...

Lafayette College in Pennsylvania. Reed only played in 6 games this year before suffering a season ending injury. In those 6 games he completed 63% of his passes for 1,470 yds with 15 TD's and only 1 INT. Reed was able to return to action in the AutoZone Liberty Bowl HS All Star Game and looked very good, even catching a pass near the end of the game.

Reed led the Shelby Metro area in passing as a junior with almost 2,800 yds, 36 TD's and only 7 INT. One of the highlight performances of his career came in the playoff game against Dickson Co in which he was a perfect 20 for 20 for 286 yds and 6 TD's to lead Arlington to a 56-21 victory.

Here is some video on Reed:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4EC9_yQ1MNo

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXbRARYz0Uk

That brings our total number of commitments in the Shelby Metro Area to 42.

Here is our most updated list:

"Voice of the Dragons" retires

Anyone who has been in Collierville on a Friday night in the fall has no trouble recognizing that familiar voice going out across Herman Osteen Field. As anyone that has spent any time watching Collierville football you know at some point an opposing player will be “Stopped, Popped, and Dropped” by one your favorite Dragon players.

For the past eighteen years that saying and several others have come across the PA system courtesy of the Dragons play by play announcer Ted Reilly. Reilly who moved his family to Collierville in 1985 started working with the football team as the clock operator in 1990. He was then volunteered by his daughter Colleen, a CHS cheerleader, to announce Collierville varsity basketball games in 1993.

Here is the rest of the article:

http://www.chsdragonfootball.com/voice-of-the-dragons-retires/

2 Red Devils commit

Germantown RB Justin Roberson and WR Caylon Weathers have committed. Roberson will attend Austin Peay and Weathers will head north to UT Martin. Both players were very instrumental in the success of the Red Devils to the quarterfinal round this year of the 6A playoffs. Shelby Metro Sports congratulates these 2 young men on getting the opportunity to continue their education and football on the next level.

Roberson rushed for just over 1100 yds in the wishbone attack of Germantown, averaging 9.5 yds per carry with 12 TD's. He had 17 TD's overall. Weathers caught 38 passed for just over 800 yds (21.6/catch) with 7 TD's.

Here is some video:

Justin Roberson

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eh_b96Ehk3I

Caylon Weathers

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdd3GA1qu4M

That brings the total to 36. Here is the full list:

2 more area commitments

St. George's has 2 players headed to Wofford. RB/DE Dylan Young & OL Davis Lenoir will be playing on Saturdays for the Terriers. This brings the total number of area commitments to 34.

Here are some highlights:

More 2013 football schedules

Here are the latest schools that we have obtained schedules for the upcoming 2013 season for: Munford, Houston and St. George's. Here are just a few of the highlights.

The Cougars open the season with county rival and state runner up Covington and have 7 home games on their schedule. Houston will break in their new head coach with a trip to Dickson Co in week 4 before playing rival Germantown in week 5. St. George's will take on both Briarcrest and St. Benedict before playing USJ in the season finale in a game that could be for the district championship.


Here are the schedules:

3 more players commit and one changes his commitment

DL Robby Young from CBHS has committed to Memphis, DL Terrence Partee from Southwind has committed to Central Arkansas and DB Dreyvon Mitchell has committed to Alabama St. Mitchell has a full academic scholarship and will walk on for head coach Reggie Barlow. OL Alexander Karr had originally committed to Arkansas St. and will now attend the University of Memphis along with his high school teammate Young.

Congratulations to all of these fine young men and all of the area players as they get a chance to continue their education and play football at the next level.

Here are some links to some highlights:

Dreyvon Mitchell

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1FpaZvl5SNU

Terrence Partee

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pS2wx780OXY

Here is an updated list of area commitments. We are now up to 32. If you know of someone that has committed that we don't have on the list, please let us know in the comment section.

Congrats are in order for...

Butch Veazey from Lewisburg. He will be honored as DeSoto County football coach of the year at the DeSoto County Touchdown Club meeting today. Veazey led his team to their first ever playoff win in just his third season at the school. The Touchdown Club will also recognize Rodney Saulsberry from Whitehaven. The Tigers capped an undefeated season with a 36-35 win in overtime over Maryville in the 6A state title game.

Millington DB George Odum commits to...

Central Arkansas. Odum committed this past Monday. The 6'2, 185 lb safety has been a starter since midway through his sophomore year. Odum was a linebacker before moving to safety for his senior season. One of the hardest hitters in the Shelby Metro area, Odum was also clocked in a 4.3 40 during a camp down at Mississippi State before the season.

Here are his numbers over the past couple of years along with our total list of commitments:

Another coaching vacancy

Just got off the phone with Tim Haney from Houston. He has stepped down to be able to spend more time with his family. Haney will still be teaching at Houston and does not rule out coaching again at some point down the road. Haney was 114-76 in 17 years at Houston. Houston reached the state quarterfinals three times and the semifinals twice under Coach Haney. Going into the 2012 season, Haney was second in the area in wins among active coaches, trailing only Bobby Alston of MUS. 

Update on Munford head coach Matt Saunders

Dee Alsbrook is the interim head coach as they conduct a coaching search which will include coaches on the current staff.

Here is the latest from Donovan Stewart. Follow him on Twitter @Examine_Stew

After four seasons as Munford head football coach, Matt Saunders has resigned to take a job in the private sector.

"I did resign," Saunders said. "I have a unbelievable opportunity to join a company based in Memphis."

Saunders complied a 15-27 record in those years as the Cougars have made the playoffs the last two seasons.

When Saunders took over the Cougars they posted a 3-7 record in 2009 and 2-8 in 2010 but have since turned the program around.

The Cougars lost in the first round both seasons losing to Beech in 2011 and to Jackson Northside last season.

Saunders started his football career at Briarcrest in 2000 and then was a graduate assistant at Ole Miss for the 2006-07 seasons.

He then moved to Jackson Prep (MS) where he was the Offensive Coordinator in the 2007 and 2008 seasons before coming to Munford.

Jordan Wilkins update

Here is the latest on St. Benedict standout RB Jordan Wilkins from John Varlas of the Commercial Appeal. Follow him on Twitter @johnvarlas

Now that he's officially no longer an Auburn commitment, Jordan Wilkins has a decision to make. And he won't be making it until signing day.
Wilkins' father, Billy, confirmed to The Commercial Appeal on Wednesday that the St. Benedict star running back has de-committed from Auburn and will announce his college choice on national signing day, Feb. 6.

Here is a link to the rest of the article

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/23/no-longer-pledged-to-auburn-jordan-wilkins-will/ 

2013 football schedules

Teams are finalizing their schedules for the upcoming season and we will post them here as they become available. First up: Millington, MUS, FACS and Bartlett.

The Trojans open up at home with the team that ended their 2012 season in the second round of the playoffs in Germantown in week 0, travel to D2 power MBA and to Liberty, which reached the 4A semifinals last year. All in all, 7 of the 10 teams on the schedule were in the playoffs in 2012.

MUS plays another brutal schedule again in 2013. They open the year at Brentwood Academy, a team they beat in the semifinals last year following a remarkable comeback. Then a 5 game stretch in which they play teams that reached either the semifinals or finals in their respective state. The Owls also travel to Arkansas to take on Pulaski Academy, to Jackson to take on Liberty before hosting South Panola. MUS will go on the road to Lafayette (MS) before their annual rivalry game with CBHS.

Here are the schedules:

And the new head football coach at CBHS is....

Scott Vogel. Vogel was the team's defensive coordinator this past year. He is a graduate of MUS and played collegiately at the University of Memphis.

Here is a link to the story from the Commercial Appeal:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/23/scott-vogel-named-new-football-coach-cbhs/

2 more young men commit

K Eric Berry II and DL Jordan Barrett from Southwind have both committed to play football at Stillman College, a Division 2 school located in Tuscaloosa, Alabama that plays in the SIAC. This brings the total numbers of Shelby Metro area players committing to 28.

Berry got hurt early in the year but came back healthy at end of the season and he is a national honor society student. Barrett is a smart kid that has speed and a lot of power and the coaching staff at Stillman is looking for him to anchor their defense.

Everyone here at Shelby Metro Sports is committed to getting the word out about ALL of the young men who get an opportunity to continue their education and play football at the next level. Congrats to all of the young men in the Shelby Metro area.

Here are a couple of links to some video:

Jordan Barrett
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFWfQQLWzHE

Eric Berry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEjzT4MZRPQ

Jordan	Barrett	DL	Southwind	Stillman College
Eric	Berry II	K	Southwind	Stillman College
Jason	Carr	DE	White Station	Tennessee
Zach	Collins	OL	Harding Academy	Memphis
Sam	Craft	ATH	Olive Branch	Memphis
Mark	Dodson	RB	Whitehaven	Mississippi
Thomas	Farst	K	Briarcrest	Memphis
Donald	Gray	WR	White Station	Mississippi St
Lenard	Harden	LB	Ridgeway	Memphis
Frank	Herron	DE	Central	LSU
Ford	Howell	LB	MUS	Wake Forest
Justin	Hunt	WR	Whitehaven	Marshall
Christian	Johnson	TE/DE	Southwind	Memphis
Cedric	Jones	DB	East	Toledo
Walker	Jones	LB	ECS	Alabama
Alexander	Karr	OL	CBHS	Arkansas St
Marquez	Lanton	WR	MAHS	Arkansas St
Marcus	Miller	DB	Fayette Academy	Southern Illinois
Herbert	Moore	DL	East	Mississippi
Christian	Morris	OL	East	UCLA
Dontrell	Nelson	DB	Olive Branch	Memphis
Demaris	Peppers	DL	Fairley	Minnesota
Gerald	Perry	WR	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Latevius	Rayford	WR	Central	Vanderbilt
Marcus	Robinson	LB	East	Arkansas
Darius	Sims	DB	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Mack	Weaver	DE	Harding Academy	Vanderbilt
Anthony	Young	CB	White Station	Memphis

Coaching vacancies in the Shelby Metro area

There are openings at Cordova, CBHS, SBEC and now Munford. Matt Saunders is stepping down as the head football coach of the Cougars. No word on a timetable for naming a replacement. We will keep everyone posted whenever new information is available.

Christian Johnson of Southwind commits

According to head coach Cedric Miller, Johnson has committed to Memphis. The 6'5, 230 lb TE/DE led the Shelby Metro area in sacks this year. Here is a link to a highlight video along with an updated list of the area commitments:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41k0wIDJarw&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Here is also a link to the article from Phil Stukenborg from the Commercial Appeal:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/21/university-of-memphis-football-adds-to-haul/?partner=RSS&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

Player		POS	HS	College
Jason	Carr	DE	White Station	Tennessee
Zach	Collins	OL	Harding Academy	Memphis
Sam	Craft	ATH	Olive Branch	Memphis
Mark	Dodson	RB	Whitehaven	Mississippi
Thomas	Farst	K	Briarcrest	Memphis
Donald	Gray	WR	White Station	Mississippi St
Lenard	Harden	LB	Ridgeway	Memphis
Frank	Herron	DE	Central	LSU
Ford	Howell	LB	MUS	Wake Forest
Justin	Hunt	WR	Whitehaven	Marshall
Christian	Johnson	TE/DE	Southwind	Memphis
Cedric	Jones	DB	East	Toledo
Walker	Jones	LB	ECS	Alabama
Alexander	Karr	OL	CBHS	Arkansas St
Marquez	Lanton	WR	MAHS	Arkansas St
Marcus	Miller	DB	Fayette Academy	Southern Illinois
Herbert	Moore	DL	East	Mississippi
Christian	Morris	OL	East	UCLA
Dontrell	Nelson	DB	Olive Branch	Memphis
Demaris	Peppers	DL	Fairley	Minnesota
Gerald	Perry	WR	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Latevius	Rayford	WR	Central	Vanderbilt
Marcus	Robinson	LB	East	Arkansas
Darius	Sims	DB	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Mack	Weaver	DE	Harding Academy	Vanderbilt
Anthony	Young	CB	White Station	Memphis

Jordan Wilkins news

Donovan Stewart has the latest on St. Benedict's Jordan Wilkins. Follow him on Twitter at Examine_Stew

Jordan Wilkins wants to find the right place to play college football, turns out it won't be at Auburn.

Wilkins has decommitted from Auburn according to a tweet on his twitter account.

"Decommitted from AU.... Thanks for all the love from the fans but I have to do what's best for me," Wilkins tweeted on Sunday night.

He had been committed to the Tigers since July.

Wilkins' final three schools vying for his services are Vanderbilt (who he picked Auburn over initially), Ole Miss and Arkansas.

Wilkins (6-1, 210) is coming off a serious knee injury in the eighth game that ended his season but he still rushed for 935 yards and scored 14 touchdowns for St. Benedict in 2012.

The four star recruit Is the No. 4 player in the state of Tennessee according to 247 sports.com and the No. 1 running back.

He visited Ole Miss last weekend and will visit Vanderbilt this weekend.

Updated list of area commitments as of 1-20-13

With the latest commitment from Fayette Academy's Marcus Miller to Southern Illinois and decommitment of Jordan Wilkins of St. Benedict to Auburn, here is the updated list of area commitments:

Player		POS	HS	College
Jason	Carr	DE	White Station	Tennessee
Zach	Collins	OL	Harding Academy	Memphis
Sam	Craft	ATH	Olive Branch	Memphis
Mark	Dodson	RB	Whitehaven	Mississippi
Thomas	Farst	K	Briarcrest	Memphis
Donald	Gray	WR	White Station	Mississippi St
Lenard	Harden	LB	Ridgeway	Memphis
Frank	Herron	DE	Central	LSU
Ford	Howell	LB	MUS	Wake Forest
Justin	Hunt	WR	Whitehaven	Marshall
Cedric	Jones	DB	East	Toledo
Walker	Jones	LB	ECS	Alabama
Alexander	Karr	OL	CBHS	Arkansas St
Marquez	Lanton	WR	MAHS	Arkansas St
Marcus	Miller	DB	Fayette Academy	Southern Illinois
Herbert	Moore	DL	East	Mississippi
Christian	Morris	OL	East	UCLA
Dontrell	Nelson	DB	Olive Branch	Memphis
Demaris	Peppers	DL	Fairley	Minnesota
Gerald	Perry	WR	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Latevius	Rayford	WR	Central	Vanderbilt
Marcus	Robinson	LB	East	Arkansas
Darius	Sims	DB	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Mack	Weaver	DE	Harding Academy	Vanderbilt
Anthony	Young	CB	White Station	Memphis

Another local standout commits and one decommits

Fayette Academy's all around athlete, Marcus Miller, has committed to Southern Illinois. Here is the story from our good friend John Varlas at the Commercial Appeal. You can follow him on Twitter @johnvarlas
 

Marcus Miller made plays all over the field during his Fayette Academy football career. Now that it's over, he's making a little history at the school too.

Miller, a 6-0, 171-pounder who excelled at running back, defensive back and on kick returns for the Vikings, has verbally committed to Southern Illinois. When he makes it official on national signing day Feb. 6, he'll become the first Fayette Academy player to sign with a Division 1 school, FBS or FCS.

"That's the camp (last summer) where I ran my 4.37 (40-yard dash)," said Miller. "I visited there Jan. 11, 12 and 13 and they offered me the full ride I wanted so I decided to go ahead and commit."

The Salukis were the biggest program recruiting Miller, who also received strong interest from Delta State, Bethel, Carson-Newman and Springfield College in Massachusetts. Miller says Southern Illinois is expecting him to hit the ground running.

"They want me to get up to 185 by the time I start school on June 10," he said. "I'm up every morning at 6 working out with (assistant) coach (Nick) Markle. They want me to strive to be a safety and I've got a spot on special teams."

Miller, an all-metro selection, ran for 1,426 yards last season, averaging 9.0 yards per carry, and scored 19 touchdowns. He also had 61 tackles and averaged 32.5 yards on eight kickoff returns.

Those numbers helped the Vikings finish 9-3 under first-year coach Vic Shivers after going 3-7 in 2011.

"I think bringing in coach Shivers was one of the best decisions in Fayette Academy history," Miller said. "You can't do anything but achieve when you play for him and I hope they do well next year."

John Martin of the Commercial Appeal is reporting that St. Benedict standout RB Jordan Wilkins has decommitted from Auburn. Follow John on Twitter @JohnMartinCA

Another area coach steps down

This is from our good friend Donovan Stewart. You can follow him on Twitter @Examine_Stew

Brad Kimberlin finally got his dream of being a head football coach two years ago when he took over the Southern Baptist Educational Center program.

Now after two seasons, Kimberlin who served as both football coach and Athletic Director has resigned to seek other employment opportunities.

“I’m Looking at other opportunities and excited to see what God has in store for me and my family,” Kimberlin said.

Kimberlin posted a 13-9 record and the Trojans made the Division II-A playoffs both seasons under his guidance.

The Trojans are coming off a 4-6 season in 2012, after having a 9-3 season in 2011 a year that saw SBEC make the Quarterfinals.

Although Kimberlin is leaving SBEC, but he will still be around the Southaven, Mississippi campus as his wife Paige teaches Physical Education and their two younger children attend SBEC.

Kimberlin replaced David Carter who went 6-6 in his only season in 2010, Carter is now the defensive coordinator at St. George’s.

For Kimberlin, this is his second time exiting SBEC as he was an assistant football coach from 1990 to 1993 before heading into the private securities business until 2003.

Kimberlin returned to SBEC in 2003 when the Trojans won their only state title under longtime coach Butch Veazey in Division II-A and he became Athletic Director for the Trojans in 2005.

He also served as both Offensive and Defensive Coordinator for the Trojans under Veazey and Carter as well.

Kimberlin is all about family as well as he was able to coach both his sons Josh and Grant.

Josh was named a Division II-A Mr. Football Back Finalist as a senior in 2011 and had 2,467 offensive yards and 27 touchdowns for Trojans, he now plays safety at Samford University.

Grant was a junior WR in 2012 and caught 54 passes for 852 yards and also added 280 yards on the ground with nine total touchdowns.

2012 AutoZone Liberty Bowl HS All Star Game

This game was a shootout last month that was won by the Blue squad 58-49. It was the most points ever scored in the eleven years that this game has been played.  Here are the stats to the game and links to the video on Youtube. Special thanks to MUS coach Bobby Alston for making this possible.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U35wUrud95U

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjEXqxZfxjQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqPIqGIJWyU

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-h6FwhWxE4

BREAKING NEWS!

Kevin Locastro is stepping down as head football coach at CBHS but will continue to teach at the school.

From the Commercial Appeal...

“Coach Locastro has worked very hard with the young men entrusted to his care. He has an outstanding record and accomplished a great deal in his tenure as our head coach. We wish him and his family the very best as they begin a new chapter in their life and we are pleased that he will remain a member of our faculty,” said Principal Chris Fay.

Locastro is stepping down in order to spend more time with his family next fall as his oldest child goes off to college.

“I feel at this time it would be best for me to step aside as the head football coach. My daughter will be playing collegiate soccer in the fall and we want to have the opportunity to get away and go watch her compete. She’s a tremendous soccer player and we look forward to watching her next fall as a family.”

Here is a link to the entire article:

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/16/kevin-locastro-steps-down-football-coach-cbhs/

Reaction to the recent TSSAA Board of Control decision

Just a couple of days ago, we posted an article about a recent decision that the TSSAA Board of Control had made. That decision had to do with the error in the brackets that the TSSAA had made and how they were going to deal with any mistakes in the future.

Here is the first reaction to that decision from Douglas Fritz of JohnsonCityPress.com and he makes a lot of sense:

Sometimes it’s hard not to laugh at the TSSAA.

Here is the organization’s solution to an embarrassment a couple of months ago, where it left a qualifying Sullivan South team out of the football playoffs: Let’s anticipate messing up the football playoff bracket, and make a rule that gives schools only five hours to catch any errors. If they don’t spot the mistake — and make an appeal within the five-hour window — they are out of luck. Furthermore, we will announce the brackets but not make them official — until the five-hour “oops! window” has passed. Then, and only then, will the brackets be official.

At last week’s Board of Control meeting, the TSSAA announced it will release the football playoff brackets at 11 a.m. (EST) on the Saturday preceding the first round of the playoffs. Schools have until 4 p.m. to appeal if an error is suspected. The appeal, says the new TSSAA rule, must include the nature of the suspected error. (Does that mean a school cannot appeal an error without telling the TSSAA what the error is? So for all the silly little schools across the state that were planning to make an anonymous appeal, the TSSAA is having none of that business).

If no appeal is turned in by 4 p.m., the bracket becomes final. No word on what happens if someone does make an appeal. There is apparently no deadline on the TSSAA to rectify the situation.

Also, the TSSAA changed the wording of what games count toward opponents’ records for tiebreaker purposes. Previously the handbook stated: “In the event of a tie for a championship, second place, or qualifier, should one of the team’s opponents play 11 games, only the first 10 games played shall be counted.”

Now it reads, “In the event of a tie for a championship, second place, or qualifier, all opponents’ varsity games played through TSSAA Week 10 will be counted.”

The new language would have doomed Sullivan South this year, which made the Class 5A playoffs because the 11th game for Enka, N.C., didn’t count. Enka remained a .500 team — in the TSSAA eyes — with an overall record of 5-6.

So you really have to understand the playoff process now or have someone close to your program that does or you're screwed if there is a mistake that you don't catch.

Also, the TSSAA voted to increase the crews for football playoff games from five to seven. This begins with the quarterfinal round, and the cost will be paid from the percentage of gate receipts received by the association.

The move adds two more officials on the field. They will be in the position of side judges, approximately 15 yards from the line of scrimmage on the defensive side.

As always, we welcome your comments but please post your name along with your comments.

Mississippi State snags another area star

Dan Mullen and the Mississippi State Bulldogs are making a living lately out of getting players out of the Shelby Metro area. Yesterday they received an early commitment from standout all around athlete Nikia Cathey from Westwood. It keeps getting better as the Bulldogs received a commitment from one of the most electrifying players in this area, Donald Gray from White Station. The 5'9, 180 lb senior was a threat to score every time he touched the ball this season. In 8 games, Gray caught 48 passes for 1,023 yds (21.3 per catch) and 15 TD's. Basically 1 out of 3 catches that he had on the year went for a touchdown. Gray averaged almost 170 all purpose yards a game this year and he finished with 20 total touchdowns for the Spartans and head coach Devin Rutherford. Gray had just received an offer from Nebraska earlier in the day.

Westwood standout commits to Mississippi State

Rising Westwood junior Nikia Cathey has committed to Mississippi State. Cathey did a little bit of everything for the Longhorns this past year averaging almost 20 yds per reception, 40 yds on kick returns, 43 yds on punt returns and intercepted 4 passes.

Here is the article from our good friend John Varlas from the Commercial Appeal. You can follow him on Twitter @johnvarlas

http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2013/jan/10/westwood-standout-nikia-cathey-makes-decision/

Updated list of 2013 area commitments

CB Anthony Young of White Station is the latest to commit bringing the total to 25. Here is an updated list:

Player		POS	HS	College
Jason	Carr	DE	White Station	Tennessee
Zach	Collins	OL	Harding Academy	Memphis
Sam	Craft	ATH	Olive Branch	Memphis
Mark	Dodson	RB	Whitehaven	Mississippi
Thomas	Farst	K	Briarcrest	Memphis
Donald	Gray	WR	White Station	Mississippi St
Lenard	Harden	LB	Ridgeway	Memphis
Frank	Herron	DE	Central	LSU
Ford	Howell	LB	MUS	Wake Forest
Justin	Hunt	WR	Whitehaven	Marshall
Cedric	Jones	DB	East	Toledo
Walker	Jones	LB	ECS	Alabama
Alexander	Karr	OL	CBHS	Arkansas St
Marquez	Lanton	WR	MAHS	Arkansas St
Herbert	Moore	DL	East	Mississippi
Christian	Morris	OL	East	UCLA
Dontrell	Nelson	DB	Olive Branch	Memphis
Demaris	Peppers	DL	Fairley	Minnesota
Gerald	Perry	WR	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Latevius	Rayford	WR	Central	Vanderbilt
Marcus	Robinson	LB	East	Arkansas
Darius	Sims	DB	Whitehaven	Vanderbilt
Mack	Weaver	DE	Harding Academy	Vanderbilt
Jordan	Wilkins	RB	St. Benedict	Auburn
Anthony	Young	CB	White Station	Memphis