DII's Top Prospects Meet in Championship Game

On Monday MUS four star quarterback Barry Brunetti won the Tennessee Mr. Football award in the "backs" category. When asked about what the award meant to him, he stated, "I think of it more as a team award than an individual award. It's a blessing to have a team like that." While this may be a response of a lot of players with a modest attitude like Brunetti's, he's not just trying to give his team thanks, he's just being honest.

While Barry has thrown for 21 touchdowns this season, rushed for 13 more, and gone turnover free throughout the regular season, he has had a lot of help on the offensive side of the ball from three star running back Keith McBride and two star athlete Stephond Allmond. Combined, they account for 1,407 yards rushing and 21 rushing touchdowns. Brunetti remains committed to WVU but told TNVarsity that Memphis and Mississippi State are still very interested, though he is still committed to the Mountaineers. McBride has received offers from Army, Navy and Princeton. Allmond has an offer from Army as well but is also interested in Memphis, Michigan State and Middle Tennessee.

While MUS may look like the favorite to win this year championship game on paper, MBA has been equally as impressive in the playoffs.

The Big Red knocked off Battle Ground Academy, a nationally ranked Ensworth team, and rival Brentwood Academy in overtime.
When sophomore linebacker and 2nd leading tackler James Kay was asked about momentum from the Ensworth game carrying over into other games he said, "A lot of momentum carried over from the game; many people told us to forget about the game so we could focus on BA, but Coach McGugin kept telling us to not forget and remember how good it felt. I think the game gave us a major boost of confidence also." Kay has yet to receive any interest from any DI schools but plans to camp this summer to get some exposure.

MBA is lead by seniors Fitz Lassing, Brad Bars and William Tanner.

Lassing is MBA's "do it all" guy. He plays linebacker, leading the team in in tackles with 84, running back, leading the team in rushing yards with 1291 and 15 touchdowns, and he is also the punter. In MBA's 42-41 overtime victory against Brentwood Academy, Lassing was responsible for 5 touchdowns, 2 passing and 3 rushing. So far, Lassing only has 2 offers from Furman and Wofford, but that may change as Vanderbilt is believed to be showing interest in the two star prospect.

Two star LB/DE prospect Brad Bars leads the Big Red with 6 sacks and 2 fumble recoveries. Bars so far has only been offered by Army but has impressed those who attended some of his camps last year. He too may be offered by the Commodores since Vanderbilt is trying to fill a need for a linebacker for their 2010 signing class.

William Tanner is MBA's number one receiver. So far, he has 442 receiving yards and 5 touchdowns. When asked about his offer from Murray State he said, "I am pretty interested in Murray State. I like the coaches up there, and they seem really cool; I just want to get up there for a visit and see what the student life is like and the social setting, but so far I am really interested in them; I just need to get up there for a visit."

When asked about this year's matchup compared to last year's, Tanner told TNVarsity, "This year is different because we are peaking at the right time. Everyone is playing well right now. We struggled a lot earlier this year, and that has helped make us more disciplined and a lot more mature. So overall, I feel like this team is more mature than the team last year, because we realize good things will happen as will bad things throughout the game."

Barry Brunetti was asked the same question about MBA, he said, "They're pretty much the same, they have a good defensive line and are very disciplined."

Important Note

In the MUS vs Father Ryan game Brunetti did sustain multiple injuries; he tore both of his groin muscles and strained his thigh. He told TNVarsity, "I was about 60% during the Father Ryan game but I am 80% now." Brunetti is expected to play on Thursday.

This year's game will be in Cookeville and will be played at Tennessee Tech at 7PM on Thursday Dec. 3.

Prediction

This is a hard one. MBA has caught fire in the playoffs, but it seems that MUS has been red hot for two years. It's really hard to bet against either team but, despite Brunetti's injury, MUS seems like the logical choice based on this year's results and last year's 35-7 stomping by the Owls over the Big Red.

Predicted Final: MUS 24 MBA 17