A couple of weeks ago we launched a new website for Buckeye Rural Electric Cooperative in southeastern Ohio. BuckeyeREC.Com.
VolQuest ($) reports that Mascoutah, Il.’s Matt Milton has committed to Tennessee.
Milton — a 6-6 prospect who runs a 4.5 40 — becomes the second 4-star wide receiver to commit to UT this week. The Vols’ stock for the 2010 recruiting class is certainly on the rise.
Tennessee’s offensive line remains very questionable, but with the runningbacks and receivers that Kiffin is bringing into the fold, perhaps a certain quarterback currently committed to West Virginia can be persuaded to change his mind?
Tennessee was the highest-profile school to offer Milton so far, and the only SEC school. Other offers included Iowa, Stanford and Washington. Rivals.Com ranks him #46 at his position.
Anthony Anderson, #36
Class: Sophomore
Hometown: Knoxville (Austin-East High School)
H/W: 6-1, 179
Position: Defensive back
After redshirting in 2007, Anthony Anderson made two appearances last year as a freshman (UAB and Mississippi State). He also started at defensive back in UT’s junior varsity win over Hargrave Military Academy. As a senior at Austin-East, he caught 48 passes for 1,010 yards and 14 touchdowns, and added 67 tackles, two fumble recoveries and six interceptions on defense.
Today’s recommended VOLS reading:
Atlanta Journal Constitution: Could UT’s Berry exact Peyton’s revenge?
When I was a teenager, the only music I would listen to was country . . . pure country or nothing. As I dove headlong into my 20s, I started becoming more of a fan of classic ’60s and ’70s non-country stuff and of the ’80s hair bands, as well as a hodge podge of bluegrass and southern gospel. But ’80s and ’90s country was still the first thing I listened to.
This summer, I’ve found myself listening to ’70s stuff, the ’80s rock and hardly ever listening to country. Aerosmith, AC/DC, Bob Dylan, The Eagles and Jimmy Buffett are on my iPod way before George Strait or Garth Brooks or Alan Jackson. I’ve been a big fan of Buffett, the Eagles and Aerosmith for a long time. But I never would’ve expected to replace Tim McGraw with AC/DC . . . I’ve even got a Joan Jett song on there somewhere. Who would’ve thunk it?!?
It gets worse. Last week I loaded up my still-kinda-new EnV3 phone with MP3s, and didn’t include a single country song. I’m back-sliding. Now, I still have room for Bill Gaither and the Cathedrals and the Kingdom Heirs and the Isaacs . . . I’m not going to replace those, nor am I going to replace Doyle Lawson or The Grascals.
Is this the result of turning 30? Some might say I’m trying to recapture my youth by going back to when these bands were at their best. But I turned 30, not 40. When the hair bands were parading around in their hair spray and Spandex I was still in diapers.
For what it’s worth, I haven’t completely reformed. I’m still not into the heavy metal of the ’80s, and never will be. (In fact, I’ve been informed that I use the term “’80s hair bands” too loosely, because a lot of people don’t consider AC/DC or Aerosmith “metal enough” to be part of the ’80s hair movement, and Aerosmith was more ’70s than ’80s anyway. So sue me. I’m not a music expert. But then you knew that.) There will always be a place reserved on my iPod for Strait and Ledoux, but Garth and McGraw might have to go.
The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch for all of East Tennessee, in effect through Friday evening. The text of the watch calls for another 1-to-3 inches of rain through tomorrow evening.
This comes as the Hydrometeorological Prediction Center predicts another three inches of rain for us through Saturday evening:
As we continue to countdown to the football season that will close out the first decade of the 21st Century, it will be fun to look back at some of the top games of the decade. With that in mind, these are Oneida’s top 10 games of the ’00s. Not to take any love away from Scott High; they’ll always be “my” team. But I tend to be more familiar with Oneida’s games. So, here’s the list.
Previously — #10: Hound of the Baskervilles weather at Dr. M.E. Thompson Field
#9: Heartbreaker S.O.R.
Sept. 30, 2005: Midway 19, Oneida 18
The 2005 season brought a lot of changes to Oneida football. Gone were co-head coaches Jimmy May and Keith Henry, new on the scene was former head coach Jim Burchfield and former Anderson County defensive coordinator Tony Lambert, and the community was clearly split into two camps over the administration’s decision to make a sweeping change at the helm of the program.
A good season would heal a lot of wounds; mend a lot of fences. The Indians had not won a region championship since 1999, or advanced past the 2nd round of the playoffs since 1997. Perhaps this would be the year.
But it wasn’t to be. Oneida defeated Wartburg and McCreary Central to start the season, then lost a difficult 28-0 decision to Coalfield in a flood of turnovers at Rochelle Field. It was the Indians’ fourth straight loss to the Yellow Jackets — whose staff now included Keith Henry and younger brother Jared Henry, also a former assistant at Oneida — and things would only get worse after that. A loss to Williamsburg the following week dropped Oneida to 2-2. Then the unthinkable happened: The Indians found themselves in a scoreless tie with Oakdale — Oakdale — at the end of regulation. Minutes later, Oakdale led 3-0 in overtime, and the Indians faced a third-and-goal. Oneida would escape, scoring the touchdown and winning 6-3, but being held scoreless by the region’s worst team underscored the difficulties the 2005 season had brought to the table. Good defense refused to begot good offense, and Oneida was in danger of missing the playoffs for the first time since returning to Class A in the ’90s.
Then there was Midway. The locals call it “South of the River.” Or the “Emerald City.” It doesn’t matter what you call it, it’s one of the toughest places to play in all of Class A football, and Oneida hadn’t won there since 1999. The Green Wave were expected to challenge Coalfield and Harriman for the Region 2-A championship. And with Oneida coming off a skin-of-their-teeth overtime win against Oakdale, few people gave the Indians a chance to stay on the field with a speedy, hard-hitting Midway team.
But for two quarters, the Indians looked like world-beaters. The struggling Oneida offense had a break-out first half, amassing 209 yards by the intermission. The defense was even better, holding an outstanding Midway offense to just 10 total yards.
Oneida started well, driving deep into Midway territory before junior quarterback Zach Lambert’s 4th down pass was dropped on the goal line. Brad Christiansen stepped in front of a Jeremy Woody pass two plays later, but had the ball stripped away from him, and two opportunities with the ball in Green Wave territory had gone by the wayside. Nobody needed to tell the Indians: If you’re playing a team like Midway, you’d better take advantage of the breaks.
But Oneida’s defense wasn’t finished. Cameron Spradlin recovered a fumble on the next play, and the offense decided to take advantage. Spradlin picked his way through defenders seven plays later to score on a 30-yard screen pass, and the Indians led 6-0.
After a three-and-out by Midway, Oneida quickly scored again, going 60 yards in eight plays before Lambert scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak to put his team up 12-0.
Yet another Midway three-and-out resulted in yet another Zach Lamber touchdown. Lambert scored on a five-yard run with four minutes remaining in the half, and the Indians led 18-0. The natives were stunned. Even the Green Wave’s notoriously loud P.A. announcer had lost some of his steam.
But whatever Craig Moser said to his team at halftime worked. The second half was a complete turn-of-events.
Another Oneida interception to start the third quarter gave the Indians an opportunity to expand the lead, and it appeared as though the visiting team had simply picked up where it left off in the first half. But after Lambert directed the Indians inside the 10-yard-line, the driver faltered. Oneida was called for a questionable offensive pass interference on third down, and a fourth down pass fell incomplete, and the tide shifted in a hurry.
Moments later, heralded Midway freshman Ray Ray Robinson was racing 80 yards for a score . . . only to see a flag thrown in the secondary. Block in the back; bring it back. But when the signal was made, Oneida’s coaching staff was surprised, then angry, to learn that it was a defensive holding call . . . unheard of on a running play. But the touchdown stood, and the momentum had dramatically shifted. By the end of the third quarter, Midway had added a field goal to trim the deficit to 18-10.
The Green Wave scored again with 8:25 remaining in the game. But the two-point conversion attempt failed, and the Indians clung to an 18-16 lead.
But the breaks kept going against Oneida. The Indians were flagged for an unusual illegal fair catch on the ensuing kickoff, and penalized five yards. Just before the first down snap, the referee conferred with Midway’s Coach Moser, then stepped off eight more yards against the Indians. Three plays later, Oneida was forced to punt it back to Midway, and the Green Wave marched to victory.
Midway itself fell victim to an unusual penalty when an apparent winning touchdown was called back due to an illegal aiding the runner call. But the Green Wave were close enough, and Tanner Roberson banged home a 21-yard field goal with five seconds remaining, lifting his team to victory and sending the Indians back to Oneida with a heartbreaking defeat.
It was a tough loss for Oneida, but nonetheless an exceptional game in what turned into an exceptional series as the ’00s progressed. And even though the Indians would go on to miss the playoffs in 2005, the first half was a sign of better days ahead. It wouldn’t be long until the Indians were back to their winning ways.
We’re inside of eight weeks and counting until the start of Tennessee’s deer hunting seasons.
Nigel Mitchell-Thornton, #37
Class: Freshman
Hometown: Stone Mountain, Ga. (Stephenson High School)
H/W: 6-0, 229
Position: Linebacker
As a senior at Stephenson High School last fall, Nigel Mitchell-Thornton posted 119 tackles, including 10 for loss and two sacks. He also intercepted three passes, two of which he returned for touchdowns, and was named to the Atlanta Journal Constitution as one of Georgia’s top 150 players. He was named to his school’s academic honor roll all four years. He enrolled at Tennessee in January.
Today’s recommended VOLS reading:
As we continue to countdown to the football season that will close out the first decade of the 21st Century, it will be fun to look back at some of the top games of the decade. With that in mind, these are Oneida’s top 10 games of the ’00s. Not to take any love away from Scott High; they’ll always be “my” team. But I tend to be more familiar with Oneida’s games. So, here’s the list.
Before we get to #10, let’s go ahead and get some honorable mentions out of the way. Despite a decade that has been down somewhat, by Oneida standards, there have been a number of exceptionally good games over the past nine years, and it is hard to whittle the list down to just 10. So, here are the ones that were close but didn’t make the list. They include the first game played in the decade, a 21-20 win over Bledsoe County that came after Jacob Billingsley intercepted a Bledsoe pass with just seconds remaining to preserve the win and an Oneida comeback; a 14-7 win over Greenback on Oct. 6,2000, when the Indians scored a touchdown and 2-point conversion in the 4th quarter to score a win over the Cherokees; a Nov. 5, 2004, playoff win at Cloudland, 23-0, when the 4th-seeded Indians dominated the heavily-favored Region 1 champion at Roan Mountain; and a Sept. 1, 2006, loss to Coalfield, 7-0, when the Yellow Jackets scored in the mud in the waning seconds to hand Oneida a disheartening loss.
So, with the formalities out of the way, let’s get down to it: The 10th-best game of the ’00s — a defensive struggle at Dr. M.E. Thompson Field in October 2002.
Oct. 11, 2002: Oneida 7, Midway 6
“These boys just don’t realize it yet, but they have a chance to win this game.”
Those were the words of the line judge walking up the Oneida sideline after the Indians stopped Midway short on a two-point conversion attempt late in the first half to preserve a 7-6 lead. For two quarters, the Indians had stood toe-to-toe with the favored Green Wave and a talented backfield that included Brock King and quarterback Jude O’Toole. They would go on to stand strong for two more, not allowing Midway another taste of the end zone in the second half. They may not have realized it then, but as the two teams mired in a defensive showdown for the ages on a damp night in the second half, they soon figured it out.
In a game featuring a combined total of fewer than 260 yards of total offense, Midway’s defense was especially strong, limiting Oneida to just 98 yards on the evening. But two plays on special teams would prove crucial to the Indians’ success on this night.
The first, a blocked punt by Chris Blevins, gave the Indians all the points they would need for victory on this night. Just a minute into the game, Midway’s offense had already been forced into its first punting situation — a sign of things to come on this night. But Blevins made an exceptional play, blocking the punt and pouncing on the loose ball in the end zone for a touchdown. Zach Smith added the extra point, and Oneida led 7-0.
Midway was able to put together the game’s only sustained drive late in the first half, moving 48 yards before O’Toole scored on a one-yard quarterback sneak as the seconds waned in the first half. With placekicker Joe Harman out due to an injury, Midway elected to try for two rather than attempt the extra point. And Oneida’s defense stood strong on the goal line, stopping King short in the mud to hang on to the lead.
The second half was more of the same — defense. As a dense fog rolled across Dr. M.E. Thompson Field, the game became about field position, and it was a battle that Midway was slowly winning. At the start of the final period, Midway drove to midfield before punting the ball 31 yards to Oneida’s 25.
That set the stage for the second big special teams play for Oneida. Quarterback Zach Smith wasn’t particularly effective through the air against a strong Midway secondary, but he was more than capable at punting the ball. And with 3:57 remaining, Smith nailed a 47-yard punt that rolled dead at Midway’s two-yard-line. And on a night featuring two defenses of this caliber, that was all the assurance the Indians needed for victory.
Oneida’s defense was at its best when it mattered most, forcing 12 of O’Toole’s 14 consecutive passes in the fourth quarter to fall incomplete, breaking several of them up. For the night, O’Toole finished just 2 for 20 through the air for 29 yards. And when he was tackled four yards short of a first down on a fourth down play with seconds remaining, reality sunk in: Oneida had sprung the upset, their first major upset of the ’00s.