I’m a day late (typically, I’d like to get these done on Monday), but from now until the end of the prep football regular season, I want to wrap up how The CA’s Dandy Dozen teams fared over the weekend. (I also need to earn some blogging brownie points with my boss.)

So away we go:
No. 1 White Station 28, No. 11 Fairley 19: Credit Class 4A Fairley with putting up a good fight and actually leading, 7-0, at one point, but Spartan senior RB Derrion Sanders was apparently just too much for the Bulldogs Friday night. Sanders rushed for 200 yards and three touchdowns against a Fairley defense that had allowed only 84.8 rushing yards per game this season.

No. 2 ECS 42, St. Benedict 7:We had a feeling this one would get ugly, and it was by the end of the second quarter (ECS led, 42-0, at the half). Congratulations are in order for longtime ECS coach Jim Heinz, who won his 200th career game Friday night.

No. 3 Olive Branch 31, Southaven 14: The Chargers actually led, 14-7, at the half on a pair of long TD passes by QB Joel Rich, but Conquistador junior QB Clint Wilson stepped in to save the day for OB in the second half, leading his team to touchdowns on three consecutive drives. Next up for OB, a date with nationally ranked South Panola in Batesville.

No. 4 Millington 26, No. 10 Collierville 14: Despite a late rally attempt by Collierville, the Trojans continued to roll, getting 113 rushing yards and a touchdown from senior RB Travis Simpson. Mark it down now: Millington will finish the regular-season 10-0.

No. 5 Whitehaven did not play

No. 6 Houston did not play

No. 7 West Memphis 59, Marion 0: This one was over as soon as the Blue Devils came out of the visitors’ locker room. West Memphis outgained host Marion, 436-65, and pulled its starters out by the start of the third quarter. Overpowering Blue Devil defense worth the price of admission.

No. 8 CBHS 62, Carver 14: My only question here is why was CBHS sophomore RB Eric Watson still running in touchdowns with 1:39 left to play in the third quarter and CBHS leading, 55-14? No question, though, CBHS is good, especially with senior QB Michael Blanchard back under center.

No. 9 St. George’s did not play

Dropped out: No. 12 Southaven

Our friend Gary Parrish is releasing his annual college basketball position rankings this week, and in Monday’s installment, he pegged Tigers freshman Derrick Rose as the No. 1 point/combo guard in the nation. This did not surprise me. Gary loves his freshmen unconditionally. My natural instinct is to be more cautious projecting somebody who has never played a college game.

It’s a debate we’ve gone back-and-forth on a little bit in the past, and I accept his logic as completely sound. Just look at last year. By the end of the NCAA Tournament, is there anybody in the country who wouldn’t have taken Ohio State’s Mike Conley as their point guard? But my logic is sound too. If we were playing Elite Eight games tomorrow, who would you pick as your point guard? Derrick Rose or Michigan State senior Drew Neitzel? I don’t think it’s that tough of a call. I’d take Neitzel in a heartbeat. Of course, we’re not playing Elite Eight games tomorrow, and I commend Gary for basing his rankings on end-of-year projections rather than what we know right now.

But no matter how you evaluate Rose, Parrish’s ranking is a heavy heap of expectation. Is it fair, given that Rose still doesn’t know much of the Tigers’ offense and doesn’t make very many shots? Hard to say. But let’s be clear: Rose is a special, special athlete. I talked a lot about it in my story Sunday . As fast and athletic as Memphis is top to bottom, Rose is just faster and more athletic than everybody else. He can make plays no one else can make. And because of that, most people I talk to assume that Rose will be Memphis’ best player this season. He might be. But when my ballot comes for Conference USA player of the year, Rose won’t get my vote. Not because he’s a freshman, but because until proven otherwise, Chris Douglas-Roberts is the guy who makes the Tigers what they are.

I am sure most Grizzlies fans held their breath when they heard Kyle Lowry, last season’s surprise standout PG until he broke his wrist, had hurt his ankle in practice. Well today you can let that breath out. Ron Tillery reported on his morning radio program, the Morning Rush with Peter Edmiston, that Kyle not only won’t need surgery but the preliminary forecast was upgraded. While the exact amount of time Kyle will need to recover is still uncertain it sounds like it will be less than the expected week that was originally reported.
Read the rest of this entry »

THE BIG STORY

The Gainesville Sun reported on its website that star senior defensive back Tony Joiner was arrested at 4:59 a.m. this morning outside the fenced impound lot of Watson’s Towing in Gainesville.

Joiner was accused of pushing a heavy electric gate open to enter the lot in an attempt to retrieve his girlfriend’s car which was being held in lieu of a $76 towing bill, according to police reports.

According to Gainesville police, witnesses said a man pushed open the gate at 4:30 a.m., got into a car, drove the car out of the lot and was trying to close the gate when he was confronted by one of two witnesses.

The witness said the man drove the car back into the lot and waited for officers to arrive.

The officer who arrested Joiner, Robert Concannon, noted in the arrest report that Joiner was on a phone talking to someone when Concannon walked up to Joiner. Concannon said he heard Joiner talking into the phone and saying, “I am probably about to go to jail ‘cuz I did push the gate open.”

A look at the league: Read the rest of this entry »

The University of Memphis football program may never find itself in a more difficult situation, emotionally, than it will experience Tuesday against Marshall.

How does a team focus and maintain its collective composure after the loss of a teammate?

Defensive lineman Taylor Bradford, a reserve noseguard, was killed during a Sunday night on-campus shooting. He will be remembered before Tuesday night’s kickoff with a moment of silence.

Then, his teammates will attempt to collect themselves and play football less than 48 hours after Bradford’s death.

As for the one liners . . .

** Marshall opens its Conference USA season after having dropped its first four games of 2007, including losses to Miami, West Virginia and Cincinnati, all ranked in the top 30 nationally.

** Marshall quarterback Bernard Morris has passed for 1,087 yards and seven touchdowns in four games and is the team’s second-leading rusher with 74 yards.

** Marshall set a record by selling 19,800 season tickets AFTER going 5-7 a year ago and AFTER losing running back Ahmad Bradshaw after his junior season to the NFL.

** Memphis has converted 37 percent of its 59 third-down attempts; Tiger opponents have converted 53 percent of the same number of attemps.

** Tiger backup QB Matt Malouf has accounted for a touchdown in each of the team’s four games, rushing to scores in three games and tossing a touchdown in the other.

** Memphis has given up 990 yards in back-to-back losses at UCF and Arkansas State.