Sports

Oct. 12, 2012 www.hendersonvillestandard.com

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Hendersonvilles win comes at a price

By Doug Dyer
For The Standard

INSIDE & ONLINE

n The Lady Commandos post 1-1 record in their last two outings. Page 10 n Beech welcomed Waverly to town on Tuesday night and split with their visitors. Page 10 n JPII was idle on Tuesday but scored a sweep in Nashville last week. Page 10 n For a Phil Stauder photo gallery from Hendersonvilles games against visiting Macon County game and box scores, log on to HendersonvilleStandard.com.

By Joe Biddle
OK, Middle Tennessee. Are you ready to go bowling? Oops, I didnt mean Middle Tennessee, as in MTSU. The Blue Raiders were bowl eligible and are one of the few college football teams in America not invited to a bowl game. There are 35 bowl games involving 70 FBS teams. There are only 112 FBS teams, thus more than half of them get bowl invitations. Not MTSU. MTSU was 8-4, 6-2 in the Sun Belt Conference. Louisiana-Monroe and Louisiana-Lafayette had identical overall and conference records and both are going to bowl games. I think it is clear that the bowl system needs improvement and should be better than this, said MTSU Athletics Director Chris Massaro. This decision wasnt made on the football field. It was made in a board room. While an 8-4 MTSU team sits at home and a 6-7 (not a typo) Georgia Tech team plays a 7-5 Southern Cal team in the Sun Bowl, somethings amiss. Tech is the only team going to a bowl with a losing record and Southern Cal was preseason No. 1 team in the country. Dont you just know those players and fan bases are hyper-excited about going to El Paso? Its evident that if youre a college football team and not bowling, youre not trying. Thirteen bowl teams are 6-6 or worse. The bowl games are great ways to reward mediocrity. But why should college football be any different than any other facet of our society? Is 35 post-season bowl games too many? Absolutely. No one, except the fans of a team in a bowl game, cares about any more than a handful, maybe less, of games. The only bowl game that has lasting meaning is Alabama-Notre Dame for the BCS Championship. I wonder how long in this economy can title sponsors of lower level bowl games keep pumping money out to put their name on a bowl game? The sponsors names have progressively gotten weirder. The TaxSlayer.com Gator Bowl features a Mississippi State team that lost four of its last five games. Mississippi State was picked over Vanderbilt, which had an identical record and a six-game winning streak, because of one thing and one thing only. The Gator Bowl board thought Mississippi States fan base would travel better than Vanderbilts and it was probably right. But should not someone with common sense have stepped in and sent a rising Ole Miss team to the Music City Bowl, Vanderbilt to the Gator Bowl (provided Vanderbilt would guarantee the same amount of tickets as Mississippi State did) and send the Bulldogs to the Liberty Bowl? Its a dumb decision to give a team a bowl invitation to a game played in the city where the team is located. What kind of a reward is that for fans, players and coaches? But I guess as long as sponsors support the bowls, the craziness will continue. Well still be trying to figure out where the New Era Pinstripe Bowl is, who is playing in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl and why the R&L Carriers Bowl in New Orleans isnt the Johnnys Po-Boys and Gumbo Bowl. Now that mention of Johnnys PoBoys makes me want to be sure and watch the Kraft Fight Hunger Bowl. Anyone know what channel its on?
Reach Joe Biddle at joebiddle11@gmail.com

Hendersonville won against visiting Macon County Tuesday night but may have lost one of its offensive weapons to an injury in the 61-45 victory over the Tigers. Senior forward John Davis went down hard in the second quarter Tuesday, hitting his elbow on the hardwood floor. He did not return to the game and the extent of his injury is still unclear until after further testing, Hendersonville coach Kerry West said. Hes pretty ten-

der right now, he said. Well probably get him X-rayed to see how bad it is. Even without Davis presence inside, the Commandos had little trouble shutting

See PRICE l Page 11

Hendersonvilles John Davis works inside against Macon County during their game Tuesday night. Davis left the game in the second quarter with an elbow injury. Photo by Phil Stauder l THE STANDARD

HIGH SCHOOL FOOTBALL

Chance
From off the team to BlueCross Bowl Defensive MVP for Hawkins
By Doug Dyer
For The Standard

Secondary

COOKEVILLE If it werent for a personal choice he made, Kourtney Hawkins would not be a state champion. Less than a year after being thrown off the football team, the junior for Beech High committed himself to doing the right thing and becoming a crucial part of what became a special season for the Buccaneers. This year has been a true blessing for us, Hawkins said. Every week we faced intensity and criticism. But we overcame because we knew what we can do on the inside. The Bucs (15-0) realized their preseason goals of winning a district title and ultimately their second Class 5A state championship in four years by beating Columbia 56-35 in the TSSAA BlueCross Bowl Nov. 30 at Tennessee Tech.

INSIDE
BlueCross Bowl victory. You will find stories, photos and the games box score. n District 9-AAA handed out its football awards on Monday night. For pictures of Beech and Hendersonvilles winner, see page 11.
n In this week's Hendersonville Standard is a special section covering Beechs

We really thought we could do something special if we kept our heads and stayed cool, Hawkins said. With 10 tackles, one interception and two pass break-ups, Hawkins also was named as the games Defensive Most Valuable Player, putting an exclamation point on his season. Its a great reward for him to be part of this 15-0 team, win a state championship and also be the most valuable defensive player of the game, Crabtree said. Its awesome. But Hawkins Beech journey started as a rocky one. In the fall of 2011 he left his comfort zone at Hunters Lane High and transferred to Beech for his sophomore year. A different school with a completely different environment, the adjustment was not exactly smooth, Hawkins said. I didnt take to (the change) too good, he said. But when I came to Beech, (the team) brought me in as a brother and helped me. There was a huge difference with the school he was at and
Photo by Phil Stauder THE STANDARD

See HAWKINS l Page 11

Beech trio back in Cookeville to play in all-star game

By Corby A. Yarbrough
Sports Editor

Beech seniors Caleb McClanahan, Dametris Watson and coach Anthony Crabtree are back at the site of the teams latest success this weekend. The trio are part of Saturdays sixth annual Toyota East/West All-Star game at Tucker Stadium. They were there less than a week ago, winning their second TSSAA Class 5A BlueCross Bowl in four years on the Tennessee Tech campus. Well go up there have a good time and play more football, Watson said. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. and, like the BlueCross Bowls were, will be carried on PBS affiliates across the state. It will also be streamed online

McCLANAHAN

WATSON

CRABTREE

through TSSAANetwork.com and ESPN3.com. The radio broadcast can be heard online at wkcsradio.org. Watson was selected as a tight end for the West roster and will wear No. 7. McClanahan was selected as an offensive lineman and will wear No. 75. Crabtree will assist West coach, Kevin Creasy of Trousdale County, as the offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Its going to be a great feeling because we just won state there, Watson said. Its a great thing being selected and going with my friend, McClanahan. Its another chance to play with my teammate and playing a game that I love to play so it should be fun. The trio were named as part of the game, put on by the Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association, last month. The players left for Cookeville Tuesday night and had two-a-day practices from Wednesday-Friday in advance of the game. Its a great honor to be able to do that, McClanahan said of being selected to play in the game. We worked very hard for it. The long hours in the weight room and to be able to know you have one more game than everyone else is definitely a neat experience and pretty cool.