Tigers Stomp Hillwood 79-46

The Ensworth Tigers went on the road for the second time in three days on Thursday, but they were more successful this time around. In a game dominated by the Tigers' defense, Ensworth took home a 79-46 victory.

The story of this game was turnovers: Hillwood had 32 of them over the course of the game, including 28 in the first three quarters alone. Ensworth ended up with 15 steals in the game, and they capitalized with 32 points off those turnovers. Hillwood also only mustered 44 field goal attempts, converting on 13 of them, which is a 29.5% clip.

In addition to playing tight defense, the Tigers were able to dominate the low post. Daniel McFadden led the Tigers with 18 points, which was the game high. He combined with Keshonn Carter and Conor McDermott for a total of 36 points in the low post. Jacob Carter, in addition to McDermott, was the only other player in double figures for the Tigers, as all 14 players on the roster mostly split the playing time as coach Ricky Bowers subbed in 5 players at a time throughout the game. Corn Elder continued his solid play at the point guard position as a freshman, finishing the game with 5 assists.

Marques Walker led the Hilltoppers with 13 points. Max Ugboaja led Hillwood with 8 rebounds, but got into foul trouble early and only finished with 3 points, fouling out toward the beginning of the 4th quarter.

The Tigers take on Signal Mountain Saturday at home. The girls will start at 5:00 with the boys following at approximately 6:30.

Tigers Score Triple Digits EHS 102 USN 52

On Friday night everybody got a good look at this year's basketball team. Not only did all 14 players on the roster get into the game, they all scored. Leading the way was senior guard Daley Hill, who posted a team high 12 points. All 12 of Hill's points came from 3. Behind Hill was Freshman Corn Elder with 11. There were 4 others with 9.

USN's Meiko Lyles scored a game high 28 points in defeat.

For more stats click here

Tigers To Play On Big Stage

On Saturday after the Predators take on the Red Wings the Tigers will take on Blackman High

School. It will be a 10PM start time but could be later depending on what time the previous game ends.

Blackman is tied with Ensworth for 3rd place in the GNASH Blue standings with a 1-6-2 record. The Tigers will be coming in at 2-7.

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

Big Red Upset: MBA 27 EHS 24

This post will not be like any other game recap I have ever written. It is almost too painful to look back on this game. I will not give any drive summaries or stats of any sort... just my subjective opinion.

If you read my previous post previewing this game you can read my prediction. In that prediction it lists all the things that the two teams had to do in order to keep their season alive. MBA did those things, Ensworth didn't. It's that simple.

Mistakes were made, by players and coaches alike but I'm still proud to be a part of this team. I would like to thank the coaches, specifically Jason Hiett who gave me the opportunity to be with the team. Without his dedication to the technical side of football I would have little to do for the team and could not be a part of the past two undefeated regular seasons. I also thank the rest of the coaches for treating me like they would treat each other, whether it was on the coaches office or at school. It was a very special feeling.

Secondly, I would like to thank the team. I was not treated like the stereotypical "water boy" or the kid that's always at our practices. They treated me like they treated each other (except when it came to mouthpieces). Everybody knew my name, even most of the freshmen that I have never met before, and even the ones who still don't actually know who I am. I feel blessed to have players to cover like Orleans and Antonio, and I feel the same about those who don't get the same kind of recognition. I would not trade this team for any other in the country.

Lastly, I would like to thank everybody associated with RUMBLE, broadcasting and stat gathering. I would like to thank Cindy Rose, Alex Boehm, Nathan Caplan, Alex Dean, Mark Zager, William Joy, Thomas Doochin and the EHS Broadcast Club for all their hard work. Whether it was calling the games, gathering and submitting stats, editing, or putting together a good webcast, I really appreciate the effort given to help promote and expose this team.

Hockey season has already begun and girls and boys basketball is just around the corner. RUMBLE has not ended; it will be very active in the following weeks. I will not be able to be everywhere at once so, please, if you are interested in contributing please email me and we will work something out.

Once again, thanks to all for the memorable season.

EHS VS MBA Preview: DII-AA Playoffs RD2

70 days ago it seemed like Ensworth had come away with MBA's most coveted game as the Tigers blew out the Big Red by the score of 50-21. But now it's time for part 2. However, the storyline has changed since these teams last met. The MBA lineup was shuffled around after numerous injuries were inflicted upon the Big Red. The most meaningful injury was to QB Luke Colbert after he took a hard hit on a goal line play against Ensworth. Colbert broke the C5 vertebra in his neck and was lost for the season. Coach Dan McGugin then pulled the plug on backup QB Van East after constantly struggling even against lesser opponents. After MBA lost to lowly BGA on their own homecoming, McGugin thought it was time for a change at QB and put sophomore Aaron Simonis in at QB. So far Simonis has led MBA over JPII and BGA convincingly.

In the last matchup the player of the game was Ensworth Mr. Football candidate senior RB Orleans Darkwa. Darkwa rushed for 341 yards and 5 TD's against the Big Red. It was apparent that the MBA D-Line was being pushed off the ball from the snap, and it would allow Darkwa to find gaping holes in the Big Red defense.

MBA has made defensive adjustments and will likely stack the box to hold Darkwa in check; however, the only team to successfully do so was Oakland in week 1 when Darkwa was held to 101 yards on the ground in a game that went to overtime. But keep in mind that Darkwa has sat for the last two weeks after sustaining a neck injury and turf toe, though he's been cleared to play and is feeling close to 100%.

If Darkwa is to come out of the game due to injury look for junior Rodney Anderson to take over the ground game for the Tigers. Anderson is the fastest player on the team and started in week 10 against BGA and rushed for 147 yards and 2 TD's.

Prediction

There is no doubt that Ensworth is the more athletic and skilled team. The last meeting between these two teams exposed that in the 1st quarter. However, this is a rivalry game and MBA has potential to really come out and score some points, and their defense has been solid most of the year. But as stated earlier, Ensworth is the better team hands down.

In order for MBA to win they have to cause turnovers and capitalize on all of their red zone opportunities. They really have to be mistake free and find ways to at least contain the Ensworth ground game.

As for Ensworth, the Tigers will have to do what they have been doing all year, and that's run until the scoreboard clock reads all zeroes. They will also have to limit their procedure penalties as they average 74 yards a game in penalties (leads DII).

Predicted Final: EHS 42 MBA 21.

Kuhn Scores 5 as Tigers Roll: EHS 9 Hume Fogg Beech 5

CENTENNIAL SPORTSPLEX- Last night was a night to remember for the Ensworth hockey team as they set a school record for most goals in a game (9), and Senior captain Andrew Kuhn scored 5, yes, 5 goals which is a team record for most goals in a game by a single player. It was also the first hat-trick in team history. Kuhn also had 2 assists.

The most notable play of the game occurred in a 7 goal 2nd period at 5:03 when sophomore Matt Peacock split 2 defenseman, dangled the puck through an opposing player's legs and deked goaltender Max Rollins and scored on the back hand shot.

Also tallying on the scoreboard was Senior Hunt Baker (1 G 2A) and Junior Lee Srebnick (1 G 1A). Baker now leads the GNASH in assists with 9.

Highlights: