Tigertown*Rick
08-11-03, 05:06 PM
Well, the preseason is underway, and the SMC has fared pretty well thus far.
The matchup between preseason favorites from the 3A Mountain Athletic Conference(MAC) and the 1A Smoky Mountain Conference(SMC) met saturday morning in Asheville with Asheville winning the scrimmage by a 3-0 score. Asheville may be one of the fastest 3A teams in the state this year with Soph RB Bulter and QB Byrd returning this year. Murphy was reportedly stopped twice inside the 5 yard on two separate occasions, so the Bulldogs apparently had a pretty good account of themselves in the scrimmage against the cougars.
The biggest early surprise came over at 3A Franklin where the Maroon Devils of Swain County apparently signaled their return to the top echelon of the 1A ranks with a convincing scrimmage against the Panthers. The Maroon Devils are a junior dominated team with many players off last year's state championship track team.
The two teams traded scores early until the Maroon Devils finally finished the scrimmage with a one score edge over their former 2A SMC foe.
Hayesville participated in a 4-team scrimmage at Owen with Owen,Enka, and Hendersonville. Apparently, the yellowjackets are without the services of QB Taylor, and they've moved FB Jarrod Penland to TB, so the young OL may have to really step-it up early if the yellowjackets are to survive early season matchups with 3A Franklin and 3A Smoky Mountain before the SMC begins with a home game against Cherokee. Owen apparently dominated the scrimmage from a defensive standpoint with Enka scoring once against the Warhorses. Hendersonville as expected was tough on defensive with the offense not quite as good yet, but with the offensive tools that Hendersonville has this year, that will only be a matter of time before the bearcats start putting up some points.
Rosman participated in a 3-way scrimmage with 2A Pisgah and 3A East Henderson. Pisgah won the scrimmage but narrowly by beating the Tigers 2 scores to 1 and besting the eagles of East Henderson by the same margin. East scored once on Rosman while the Tiger offense did not score against East. All-in-All, it was a good sign for Tiger fans as the Tigers were not only able to score, but the defense created 3 turnovers in the scrimmage (2-East & 1 for Pisgah) while turning-it over only once themselves. The Tigers face another 3A opponent this friday in "Tigertown" as the Enka Jets come to town for a scrimmage game.
Cherokee was to have a jamboree this past saturday, but the football field was flooded by the nearby Oconulufftee River, so the scrimmage was moved to nearby Smoky Mountain high school in Sylva. I haven't heard of any reports from the scrimmage, but the Braves will entertain SMC foe Andrews this friday in Cherokee in a non-conference endowment game.
Andrews apparently had a successfull scrimmage at Copper Basin Tenn with the defense showing great improvement over last season. Off-Season conditioning has apparently been well attended this past summer, so the Wildcats are eager to move out of the basement of the SMC. This friday's game at Cherokee may be a good indicator of the upcoming season for the wildcats.
All quite thus far in Robbinsville as the Black Knights with the high-powered offense get ready to open the season. The Black Knights with Elite 101 player QB Dusty Anderson(54) and All SMC WRs Gibbs and Garland could be the team this year that could unseat defending 2-time SMC Murphy, but they will have to prove themselves early as they will entertain a very much improved Swain County Maroon Devil team in the SMC opener for both teams Sept 19th.
I'll have more updates this coming week as the SMC teams finish up their scrimmages, and particpate in endowment games.
Endowment games this week:
Andrews @ Cherokee
Franklin @ Hayesville
I'm uncertain about Robbinsville and Murphy's schedule this week, but Swain County scrimmages @ Owen while Rosman entertains Enka in a scrimmage!;)
The matchup between preseason favorites from the 3A Mountain Athletic Conference(MAC) and the 1A Smoky Mountain Conference(SMC) met saturday morning in Asheville with Asheville winning the scrimmage by a 3-0 score. Asheville may be one of the fastest 3A teams in the state this year with Soph RB Bulter and QB Byrd returning this year. Murphy was reportedly stopped twice inside the 5 yard on two separate occasions, so the Bulldogs apparently had a pretty good account of themselves in the scrimmage against the cougars.
The biggest early surprise came over at 3A Franklin where the Maroon Devils of Swain County apparently signaled their return to the top echelon of the 1A ranks with a convincing scrimmage against the Panthers. The Maroon Devils are a junior dominated team with many players off last year's state championship track team.
The two teams traded scores early until the Maroon Devils finally finished the scrimmage with a one score edge over their former 2A SMC foe.
Hayesville participated in a 4-team scrimmage at Owen with Owen,Enka, and Hendersonville. Apparently, the yellowjackets are without the services of QB Taylor, and they've moved FB Jarrod Penland to TB, so the young OL may have to really step-it up early if the yellowjackets are to survive early season matchups with 3A Franklin and 3A Smoky Mountain before the SMC begins with a home game against Cherokee. Owen apparently dominated the scrimmage from a defensive standpoint with Enka scoring once against the Warhorses. Hendersonville as expected was tough on defensive with the offense not quite as good yet, but with the offensive tools that Hendersonville has this year, that will only be a matter of time before the bearcats start putting up some points.
Rosman participated in a 3-way scrimmage with 2A Pisgah and 3A East Henderson. Pisgah won the scrimmage but narrowly by beating the Tigers 2 scores to 1 and besting the eagles of East Henderson by the same margin. East scored once on Rosman while the Tiger offense did not score against East. All-in-All, it was a good sign for Tiger fans as the Tigers were not only able to score, but the defense created 3 turnovers in the scrimmage (2-East & 1 for Pisgah) while turning-it over only once themselves. The Tigers face another 3A opponent this friday in "Tigertown" as the Enka Jets come to town for a scrimmage game.
Cherokee was to have a jamboree this past saturday, but the football field was flooded by the nearby Oconulufftee River, so the scrimmage was moved to nearby Smoky Mountain high school in Sylva. I haven't heard of any reports from the scrimmage, but the Braves will entertain SMC foe Andrews this friday in Cherokee in a non-conference endowment game.
Andrews apparently had a successfull scrimmage at Copper Basin Tenn with the defense showing great improvement over last season. Off-Season conditioning has apparently been well attended this past summer, so the Wildcats are eager to move out of the basement of the SMC. This friday's game at Cherokee may be a good indicator of the upcoming season for the wildcats.
All quite thus far in Robbinsville as the Black Knights with the high-powered offense get ready to open the season. The Black Knights with Elite 101 player QB Dusty Anderson(54) and All SMC WRs Gibbs and Garland could be the team this year that could unseat defending 2-time SMC Murphy, but they will have to prove themselves early as they will entertain a very much improved Swain County Maroon Devil team in the SMC opener for both teams Sept 19th.
I'll have more updates this coming week as the SMC teams finish up their scrimmages, and particpate in endowment games.
Endowment games this week:
Andrews @ Cherokee
Franklin @ Hayesville
I'm uncertain about Robbinsville and Murphy's schedule this week, but Swain County scrimmages @ Owen while Rosman entertains Enka in a scrimmage!;)