TJCA Football
Thomas Jefferson had another great year on the football field, but they fell 47-20 last Friday to Cherokee (12-1) in the third round of the playoffs.
It was 21-0 to start with two early turnovers and TJCA (11-2) cut it back to 21-6, before going down 28-6 at the half.
Unfortunately, it was too much of a deficit to overcome. The Gryphons did cut it back to 35-20 again, but never got over the two touchdown deficit.
It seemed like none of the penalties went against Cherokee, which has been unusual all season. The Gryphons haven't been penalized much. Anytime there was a big play by TJ, here comes the flag. Still, they couldn't stop the Braves quarterback Tye Mintz (four touchdown runs) which effectively ends the season.
Nomi McMullens had another 170 yards passing and 100 yards rushing as a leader with Max Robbins gaining another 65 yards receiving. Stephen Hargett had the most yards with just over 100. Robbins and Hargett are seniors. Bill Lay (close to 1500 yards rushing), Miller Outten, Josh Mellon, Caleb Camp, John Camp, Jonathan Hargro, Nathaniel Qualls and Zander Bell were all key contributing seniors this season.
Coach Jerry Cash has 55 wins in six seasons with Thomas Jefferson. The Gryphons have never won less than six games during his tenure in a season and have won 10 games or more now four years in a row. The Gryphons have won a playoff game in each of the last four seasons. Congrats on the season Thomas Jefferson!
College Football Playoff picture
Right now, I like Clemson, Auburn, Wisconsin and Oklahoma as the four best teams. Alabama, Ohio St., Georgia, and Miami are on the cusp. This thing has been crazy all year. This week is conference championship week and a lot of questions are about to be answered, or are they? It is all just opinion, but as far as I am concerned, you have to look at the body of work and how they are playing down the stretch. Right now, these four are doing what they need to do.
High School Basketball
Southwestern 2A Women's conference projections:
6. Chase 5. South Point 4. East Gaston 3. R-S Central 2. Shelby 1.East Rutherford.
Southwestern 2A Men's conference projections:
6. Chase 5.East Gaston 4. Shelby 3. R-S Central 2. East Rutherford 1. South Point.
The race to the conference title should be wide open for the guys. This could be one of the most hotly contested leagues in the state. Anybody can beat anybody on any given night and I don't see anybody going undefeated this season.