TSSAA Division II-AA Brackets Released

The TSSAA announced its playoff brackets over the radio this morning. In years past, the bracket has been finalized by midnight of the last Friday of the regular season, but because of the new playoff system that the TSSAA is employing this year, things are a bit different. Amid all of the strange playoff shenanigans, all Ensworth fans need to know is that they have a first round bye and will face the winner of BGA at MBA. That second round game will be at Ensworth. The full brackets can be found here.

6 in 6 Part 1: Hunt Baker

Hunt Baker is a Senior assistant captain who has played hockey for Ensworth ever since the inception of the team in 2007.

Q: Who is your favorite NHL player of all time?

A: Jordan Staal because he is about the same size as me. He's a big guy and has good physciality, and he's a work horse. He had 7 short handed goals his rookie year. He's not really a superstar, he's not fancy, and he plays a simple game, but he is still effective for his team.

Q: What is the biggest change you see in this year's team compared to Ensworth teams of the past?

A: I would say we're all skating now by virtue of experience, and everybody has a lot of hockey sense. Lee Srebnick is also a big addition to the team.

Q: How does the team replace a player like Evan Chaberski?

Well, you really can't. It's kind of like a double-edged sword. He brought a lot of offensive fire power and intensity but now we have a lot more guys stepping up.

Q: What are your goals for this season?

A:We would like to get several wins, and we would like to improve as a team. We would like to win some games and have some people respect us as an athletic team. Also, we want to have more people outside the hockey team to be more interested and have more people show up at the games.

PERFECTION! EHS 35 BGA 9

AP: www.ensworth.com

Although the Ensworth Tigers were missing their leader in the backfield, another stepped up Friday night as junior Rodney Anderson took over and rushed for 147 yards and 1 TD on senior night at Tiger Stadium to put the exclamation point at the end of Ensworth's second consecutive undefeated regular season.

Both of BGA's first two drives ended in interceptions by Myers Beaird and Rico Watson (3rd INT in 3 career games).

After CJ Beathard's first interception at the BGA 23, Anderson ran the ball 3 times before Cody Tollison scored on a 9 yard TD run of his own. After the 2nd INT at the BGA 28, the Tigers ran 3 plays to the BGA 10 before Myers Beaird would take it to the end zone to put the Tigers up 14-0.

BGA responded with a 64 yard drive of their own; however, they only came away with three points on a 31 yard FG by Ben Butler.

After 3 and outs from both teams, Ensworth got the ball on their own 40 yard line. After two big gainers by Anderson, the Tigers found themselves at the BGA 22. During a 3rd down play that looked like it was going to be a disaster for Ensworth with the defense breathing down Tollison's neck, the senior QB bought just enough time to find Jacob Carter all alone in the end zone to put the Tigers up 21-3 and the score remained the same during halftime. If you have been keeping track, the first three TD's were scored by Seniors.

The next score would come in the 3rd quarter when Anderson burned the Wildcat defense with a 45 yard TD run.

In the fourth quarter Tollison would strike again, this time on 3rd and 21, and would find senior Corey Sacks for the 40 yard score. Tollison would finish the game 7-13 with 83 yards and 2 TD's.

The Tigers will have a bye week next week. They will play the winner of MBA VS BGA the following week.

Passing

Ensworth:
Cody Tollison 7-13 83 yards 2 tds
Wirth Campbell 2-5 20 yards 1 int
BGA:
C.J. Beathard 11-22 58 yards 2 ints

Rushing
Ensworth:
Rodney Anderson 11 carries 147 yards 1 td, 13.4 yards/carry
Cornelius Elder 3 carries 34 yards, 11.3 yards/carry
Myers Beaird 5 carries 30 yards 1 td, 6 yards/carry
Cody Tollison 4 carries 8 yards 1 td, 2 yards/carry
BGA:
Keenan Bass 7 carries 46 yards 1 td, 6.6 yards/carry
Josh Copeland 7 carries 37 yards, 5.3 yards/carry
Michael Moore 12 carries 34 yards, 2.8 yards/carry
C.J. Beathard 6 carries -26 yards, -4.3 yards/carry

Receiving
Ensworth:
Jacob Carter 4 catches 40 yards 1 td
Corey Sacks 2 catches 47 yards 1 td
Daniel McFadden 1 catch 16 yards
David Dingess 1 catch 4 yards
Rodney Anderson 1 catch -4 yards
BGA:
Jordan Smith 4 catches 45 yards
Josh Smith 2 catches 12 yards
Michael Moore 2 catches 7 yards
Owen Meadows 1 catch 4 yards
Michael Smith 1 catch 4 yards
Josh Copeland 1 catch -14 yards

Team
Ensworth:
219 yards rushing
103 yards passing
322 yards total offense
21:17 time of possession
BGA:
91 yards rushing
58 yards passing
149 yards total offense
26:43 time of possession

Ensworth VS BGA Preview

Once again the Ensworth Tigers (8-0) have another chance for the second straight year to finish the regular season undefeated. However, they will have to do it without their offensive workhorse.

The Tigers will have to face the Wildcats of Battle Ground Academy (5-4) to finish with a 9-0 mark. Without Orleans Darkwa it could end up being a tougher test for the No. 64 team in the country than some may think. The Wildcats feature leading rusher #30 Michael Moore with over 1,400 rushing on the season along with leading receiver #2 Kenny Bass.

How To Win

The Tigers have to establish the passing game with Cody Tollison under center to replace the lost yardage that comes with the injury of your best offensive threat. Players like Rodney Anderson, Quinn Hamilton and Corn Elder have to step up in the backfield in order to stay undefeated.

The Wildcats will have to control TOP with their running game if they hope to stay in it. On defense they will have to defend the pass and not give up big plays; without Orleans, this team has yet to prove that they can consistently start and finish drives.

Prediction

The Tigers in my mind are definitely the better team. They will find ways to run the hall behind Antonio Richarson and Keenan Crenshaw. So far Cody Tollison and Jacob Carter have been able to step up in the passing game. Tigers finish the regular season with perfection. EHS 28 BGA 14.

Coming Soon: Ensworth Live

Ensworth Live will be a series of web shows broadcast by the EHS Broadcast Club. The first episode premieres this Wednesday at 8 PM at www.ensworthlive.com.

The first episode is actually a political talk show. The political talk show will include Aubrey Moore, Nathan Caplan, Sam Devane and Edward Gore.

The sports show will premiere on Monday at 8 PM featuring myself, Aaron Crowe, William Joy and Nick Smith.

Keep up with Ensworth Live on Facebook and follow on Twitter.

Tigers Remain Unbeaten: Ensworth 29 Baylor 15

AP: www.ensworth.com

In an Ensworth offense that is ruled by the run, the pass took command for the first time this season.

The Tigers took an early lead when Senior RB Orleans Darkwa found a new gear and took the ball 79 yards to the end zone during the Tigers' second offensive play from scrimmage. From then on, Coach Bowers decided to open the playbook a bit with the pass. After 4 completions by Ensworth QB Cody Tollison, the Tigers found themselves 7 yards away from the Red Raider end zone. However, the Baylor defense stood strong on 3rd down, and the Tigers settled for 3 with Clayton McGlasson's 24 yard field goal.

Baylor then went on an 8:26 drive to the Ensworth 8 yard line before Junior LB Nantambu Fentress returned the favor. Fentress intercepted Jacob Huesman's pass in the end zone. Unable to put together a last minute drive with 1:24 left in the half, the Tigers took a 10-0 lead to halftime.

To the start the 2nd half the Tigers went to the air. On the second play of the half, Tollison hooked up with Senior WR Jacob Carter, who had been out for the past several weeks nursing a leg injury, on a 38 yard pass. The very next play Darkwa extended the lead by 6 on a 20 yard run.

Baylor's next drive ended with another interception; this time sophomore CB Rico Watson came up with the pick. The interception is his second in his last two games.

Unfortunately, on the Tigers' next offensive drive, Orleans Darkwa went down with a neck injury and did not return. Early indications are not serious, but he will get his neck X-rayed to take necessary precautions. Darkwa walked off the field under his own power. Darkwa finished with 133 yards on 11 carries and 2 TD's.

Baylor's next drive ended up being worth 8 points after driving the ball 51 yards. The touchdown and the two point conversion were both scored by Huesman out of the Emory and Henry formation.

The Tigers then added two more TD's with a 4 yard run by Tollison set up by his 18 yard pass to Jacob Carter and a 9 yard TD run by freshman RB Cornelius "Corn" Elder. Elder's TD is his first of what looks to be many at EHS.

Baylor scored once more on Huesman's 5 yard pass to RB Nelson Pinkstaff.

The Tigers finished with a season high 132 passing yards.

The Tigers will take on BGA next Friday. The Wildcats are coming off a 23-20 win over JPII.

More stats courtesy of Alex Boehm:

Passing:
Ensworth:
Cody Tollison 8-12 128 yds
Wirth Campbell 1-2 4 yds
Baylor:
Jacob Huesman 20-36 214 yds, 1 td, 2 ints

Rushing:
Ensworth:
Orleans Darkwa 11 carries 133 yds, 2 tds, 12.1 yds/carry
Cornelius Elder 2 carries 27 yds, 1 td, 13.5 yds/carry
Cody Tollison 7 carries 2 yds, 1 td, 0.3 yds/carry
Rodney Anderson 6 carries 0 yds
Baylor:
Sam Williams 11 carries 23 yds, 2.1 yds/carry
Jacob Huesman 13 carries 16 yds, 1.2 yds/carry
Nelson Pinkstaff 4 carries 7 yds, 1.8 yds/carry

Receiving:
Ensworth:
Jacob Carter 4 catches 85 yds
Sam Cooper 1 catch 27 yds
Corey Sacks 1 catch 9 yds
Myers Beaird 1 catch 5 yds
David Dingess 1 catch 4 yds
Rodney Anderson 1 catch 2 yds
Baylor:
Deosha McColley 7 catches 69 yds
Charbo Clark 5 catches 62 yds
Sam Williams 3 catches 42 yds
Michael Trundle 2 catches 15 yds
Josh Ernest 1 catch 17 yds
Nelson Pinkstaff 1 catch 5 yds
David Helton 1 catch 4 yds

Team:
Baylor:
46 yds rushing
214 yds passing
260 yds total offense
26:41 TOP
Ensworth:
162 yds rushing
132 yds passing
294 yds total offense
21:19 TOP

Ensworth VS Baylor Preview

AP www.ensworth.com

Last Friday the Ensworth Tigers were again pushed to their limit against a quality opponent in Father Ryan, but will the same fate lie ahead when the Tigers face Baylor? The Baylor Red Raiders will come into Nashville with an impressive 6-2 record including wins against arch rival McCallie and most recently a 51-7 win over JPII. Their only two losses came against MBA and Brentwood Academy.

Players To Watch

#14 QB Jacob Huesman- Great dual threat QB. He has passed for 1067 yards and rushed for 685 through 8 games.

#22 RB Nelson Pinkstaff- Leading Rusher at RB

#13 LB David Helton- Leading Tackler

#19 DB Channing Gordan- Leads the team with 3 INT's

Prediction

Baylor has played pretty good defense up to this point only giving up 15.5 points a game. The question is, can they stop Darkwa? The only team to come close was Oakland. I say that Ensworth will not commit as many errors as they have in their last few games against good teams, but they will not run away. EHS 35 Baylor 21