This is it...Week 10. Four on four. Every DeKalb County team plays a DeKalb County team. Crank up the volume at the co-ops because 75% of the games on this slate may come down to the wire.
#5 Valley Head Tigers (5-3) vs #7 Collinsville Panthers (3-6)
Hype turned to hmmm this season for the Panthers as their speed all over the field wasn't enough to cover up their weaknesses in the trenches.
Jalyn Martin and Jordan Leath could be playmakers in any classification, but the physicality of their 2A region turned chinks in the armor into a massive hole in the dam. It seemed like a snowball effect started in Week 4 and the momentum was too much to overcome.
I'm excited to see what the results will be when the Panthers drop back down to 1A to close the season against the team that beat them for the region championship (1A) last season.
The Tigers have put together solid stretches this season and have been very consistent. There are no tricks to this team and it all starts with feeding the big man, "Stump" Gregory, and allowing Senior QB Ben Kirby to manage the game. They've handled the region schedule well and are 5-1 vs 1A opponents.
They'll try to keep the same formula as they welcome their old region foes back to town.
Valley Head PK
#4 Ider Hornets (6-3) vs #6 Sylvania Rams (4-5)
This game is as important for the Sylvania program under Coach Roger Haynes as any game that's been played the last two seasons.
A win here puts the Rams at .500 to finish the season and to close with back to back wins against two formidable opponents. This Senior class will be missed next season and they'll get one more chance to show what could've been if a healthy 2014 would've been in the cards.
The Rams don't matchup well with the Hornets smash mouth style, but I'm not so sure the Hornets matchup very well with the air-first approach of Cambron & Co.
On the other side, the Hornets have been the surprise in the punchbowl for this analyst. I had the Hornets ranked last in the preseason Power Rankings, but a win here would make me look like even more of a fool and Ider would go from a 1-9 2013 to a 7-3 2014.
Before the season, Dillon Read told us that whether they went 0-10 or 10-0, a successful season would be getting Ider's identity back.
Win or lose in this one, Coach Brent Tinker deserves some real praise for this successful season.
Ider +3
#8 Crossville Lions (0-9) vs #3 Geraldine Bulldogs (7-2)
The "Battle for Skirum Creek" shouldn't be much of a battle.
This has been a lost season for the Crossville Lions, starting with a season ending injury to Sean Lowery before the Week 1 even kicked off. There isn't much to say here except these Lions have ran the 4A gauntlet and continued to battle no matter how many times they've been outmanned.
A loss puts this team at 0-10 for the first since 1952.
The Geraldine Bulldogs can finish with an 8-2 record if they follow the script on Thursday night. And while Senior QB Jake Maddox said that anything other than a 10-0 season would be a failure, I have to believe that 8-2 and hosting a 1st round playoff game is a pretty solid year.
Geraldine wastes no time putting last weeks loss behind them and takes it out on their old rivals.
Crossville +25
