[grimsrud]

Did not say Highlands would beat them, said they were on about the same playing field. The team that I saw play Lex Cath last year is not on the same field as T. T would have destroyed them last year and Highlands I feel could have beat them in a close game. T is not down much this year and I think they take it to Ensworth this year too.

The Trinity team I saw in 2012 had to make a late rally from two scores down to beat MBA 27-23. MBA actually had a Hail Mary shot at the end zone from around midfield on the last play of the game that would have given MBA the upset. Trinity destroyed MBA in 2011 and had the ability and talent to do similar damage in 2012 to an MBA team that was better than 2011 but still not on Trinity's level. A similar under-performance against Ensworth in 2013 will not bode well for the Rocks.

Ensworth beat MBA twice last year, both times by 35-7 margins. With no disrespect meant to LexCath, Ensworth toyed with them last year. Ensworth had many tougher games on the horizon and frankly looked disinterested during the LexCath game, particularly the first quarter, and yet still won by nearly 50.

It's futile to do a comparable score contest, but I can opine with relative certainty that multiple stars would have had to align for Trinity to have destroyed Ensworth had they matched up, much less win. MBA's backs gashed Trinity on some long runs, and none of those backs were on the same par as Ensworth's Corn Elder. Ensworth had a much more effective QB (coach's son) than MBA as well and better WRs. Nevertheless, an EHS-THS matchup would have been a good contest last year - two different styles (Trinity's strong passing game, Ensworth's strong running game) but both effective.

As for 2013, it still should be a good matchup. I'd say both teams will not be as good as they were last year but still have reloaded nicely. Both teams lost too many stars to be as good, but both programs have the pieces in place to reload to a level that's still highly competitive, and likely still the most competitive in each school's respective state.

Ensworth had a highly publicized scrimmage with Maryville a couple of weeks ago. Maryville has been the gold standard of Tennessee's Division I (public school and non-aid private division), going to 12 of 13 title games since 2000 and winning 9 of them. Ensworth demolished Maryville, mainly with a physical, swarming defense, but while it was only a scrimmage, it does speak to the fact that Ensworth is and always has been battle-tested. Maryville gets a challenge from Alcoa and occasionally its state title opponent in a given year, whereas Ensworth has multiple opponents of high quality each year - MUS, Brentwood Academy, and MBA all have found its way into national rankings over the past couple of decades, and their second tier opponents (Baylor, McCallie, and an occasional Division I powerhouse willing to go to war with a heavily-advantaged private school) are solid programs. Of course, Trinity is battle-tested too, but outside of X, they have to find their other battles out of state in most years.

All told, I give Trinity a slight edge due to home field advantage, depth, a better QB, and the fact that Ensworth, as good as they have been, has less than 10 years of varsity experience (I think tradition, and longstanding ones at that, is an important intangible). EHS is small in numbers, but those numbers are very well-conditioned and very well-coached. This is their first real true test on the road while out of state. I don't know what the crystal ball says; conventional wisdom says it will be a close game. Should be a great game regardless and make for some nice bragging rights. MBA took care of business with 3 of 4 close wins over Trinity from 2003-2006; Trinity has had the dominant 4-0 upper hand with MBA and BA in 2011-2012. My guess is the 2013-2014 matchups will be tossups - tight games like the MBA-Trinity games in the mid-2000s - and serve as great exposure for both states.