'Musket Bowl' mess helped Trojans, Blue Raiders

photo Cleveland High School football coach Ron Crawford is looking forward to the Blue Raiders' first home playoff game in years.

The Cleveland High School football Blue Raiders woke up Saturday morning believing they had a 50-50 chance to host a playoff game for the first time in 11 seasons this week. Soddy-Daisy expected to have a quiet Saturday after losing 28-21 to Walker Valley, which the Trojans thought knocked them out of the playoffs.

But due to a situation that happened 175 miles away in Jonesborough, Tenn., both District 5-AAA teams had pleasant surprises.

A fight that broke out moments after David Crockett defeated rival Daniel Boone 23-16 in the annual "Musket Bowl" game led to a three-year postseason ban from the TSSAA. David Crockett's expected playoff spot went to Soddy-Daisy and ensured Cleveland's host status.

"We knew Friday night that we would either be a 5 seed and have to travel to Anderson County or a 4 seed and hosting Clinton," Cleveland coach Ron Crawford said. "We knew there were some reports that we'd travel to Middle Tennessee, but we didn't see that scenario.

"We haven't hosted a game here since 2003, so I know the school community is excited that we're able to host a game because it's been such a long time. We went on road trips four weeks in a row last year, so it's good that the student body and faculty will get to see us play here Friday night."

The Boone-Crockett fight was shown on multiple news outlets, including the Fox News show "Fox and Friends." It led to fines of $4,750 for both schools in addition to the postseason ban.

Soddy-Daisy coach Justin Barnes had heard about the fight but didn't know that his team was one of those directly affected by the fallout.

"It gives our guys a chance to experience the playoffs. Our seniors haven't had the chance, so it'll be a good experience for them," Barnes said. "It's also an opportunity for the younger guys to see what it's like."

The 4-6 Trojans were the last-place team in 5-AAA with a 1-5 record in district play. Their season spiraled down the stretch with losses in their final five games, but they average 401.3 yards and 31.4 points per game. Their issue has been the other side of the ball, where they've given up almost 35 points per game.

The losses have been by an average of 10 points per game, so they've had opportunities late.

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"We've struggled a little defensively, but we've played well on the offensive side of the ball," Barnes said. "We've been in some of these games, and now we just have to take the next step as a program."

As exciting of a morning as Saturday was for some area teams, it will be the last time with extensive uncertainty about playoff scenarios. The TSSAA voted to go back to an old system in which the top four teams in each region qualify for the playoffs. The top two teams will host games, while the third- and fourth-place teams will travel.

"We don't work ahead, and you can't with this system," Crawford said. "We can't go ahead and start preparing for a second-round opponent weeks in advance, like teams like Maryville and Oakland can.

"The thing I liked about the system is that there were so many games that meant something last week. The bad part is that it took so many years to tweak the system, and now that we understand it, we're changing again."

The new playoff format also will help with scheduling. The two 5-AAA teams that didn't advance to the playoffs, East Hamilton and McMinn County, each played nine teams that are advancing, with each other being the opponent left out. Teams that have a history of success have been finding scheduling difficult because of the importance of overall wins.

McMinn's Cherokees finished 3-3 in District 5-AAA, which was good enough for fourth place and would qualify them for the playoffs in 2015. But their nondistrict schedule included 8-2 McMinn Central, 8-2 McCallie, 9-1 Alcoa and 10-0 Oak Ridge. East Hamilton, which was 2-8 and 2-4 in district play, faced Signal Mountain (8-2), Dobyns-Bennett (8-2), Riverdale (8-2) and Rhea County (10-0).

With Bradley Central moving into the Super 32 6A classification, there are thoughts that 5-AAA could turn into a six-team district next season with Cleveland, McMinn County, Ooltewah, Rhea, Soddy-Daisy and Walker Valley. There's another scenario in which Cleveland, McMinn, Ooltewah, Soddy-Daisy and Walker Valley will be grouped with Heritage, Lenoir City and Knoxville West.

"I know for us it's been difficult to find games," Crawford said. "I've heard of both scenarios, and we'd definitely prefer an eight-team league. It'll definitely be easier to schedule some games next year."

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him at at twitter.com/genehenleytfp.

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