Boyd-Buchanan has appeared in 17 consecutive Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association state football playoffs and brought home a Class 1A championship trophy in 2003.
Marion County has won almost as many playoffs games (48) as playoff games (53) the Bucs have played. In their heyday, the Warriors captured state titles in 1990, 1992, 1994 and 1995 and they have earned playoff berths in 29 of the last 31 years.
Meigs County’s football program has been rejuvenated under coach Jason Fitzgerald and the Tigers reached the 2014 playoffs, their first postseason appearance since 2011.
The Tyner Rams are trying to rebound from a 2-8 record in 2014 that snapped a string of 20 straight years in the playoffs.
The Bucs, Warriors, Tigers and Rams are now part of the new Region 3-2A, along with Bledsoe County, Brainerd, Silverdale Baptist and Polk County.
“It’s probably the toughest 2A region in the state,” Bucs coach Grant Reynolds said. “There are no pushovers. Every week you have to play to win because anybody can beat anybody else.”
So, Jack Keebler, the Bucs’ talented tight end/defensive end, is gearing up for the tough grind that will challenge Boyd-Buchanan throughout the 2015 season.
Keebler played both ways in all 11 games in 2014 when the Bucs went 5-6 and admitted to late-season fatigue.
His goal this fall is simple.
“I want to play every single play at 100 percent,” The 6-foot-3-inch, 225-pound senior said. “Last year I got tired toward the end of some games. I thought I was in good shape, but cramped up once in a while.
“I’ve gone harder in sprints during the summer and done stuff outside of practice on my own. I definitely feel like I’m in better shape now than I was last preseason.”
However, Reynolds is likely to make a concerted effort to rest Keebler when the Bucs are playing defense. Reynolds said Keebler will be pulled off the field in passing situations and a smaller, faster, fresher player will take his place.
“Jack’s going to play about 80 snaps a game,” the coach said, “and any time we can rest him we’re going to do that. We’ll give him some breaks on defense this year.”
Keebler believes he’s up to the two-way task, in large part due to a conversation he had in his freshman year with his father.
“My dad started talking to me about playing college football and asked if I was interested,” Keebler said. “He told me if I wanted to play at the next level I needed to get serious about it and do stuff to prepare myself.”
So, Keebler wants to make the most of his senior year, including improved offensive numbers.
Keebler, timed at 4.77 seconds in the 40-yard dash, put up 668 receiving yards with four touchdowns, helping the Bucs overcome an 0-5 start to keep their string of playoff appearances alive. Boyd-Buchanan reeled off five straight wins – the Bucs outscored those opponents 194-13 – to close the regular season but lost to Rockwood, 24-21, in the opening round of the playoffs.
“I definitely want to make more catches this year,” Keebler said.
Keebler, who was credited with 40 tackles and two sacks in his junior season, says he prefers to offense to defense and fully expects to play tight end in college.
It’s clear Keebler’s major impact on the Bucs’ upcoming season will be as a versatile tight end that can line up as an H back to further use his blocking prowess.
“We’re going to use him pretty much the same was as last year,” Reynolds said. “We flexed him out last year trying to get him in some single coverages and we’ll continue to do that. We’ll again use him as the H back in the backfield. That’s in a one-back, two tight end set with him sometimes going back there because he’s such a good blocker.
“But Jack is equally good on both sides of the ball. He works his tail off every day and plays hard wherever you put him, whether it’s offense, defense or special teams.”
There will be times when Keebler is lined up outside and in the past when the Bucs use that alignment numerous teams have double-teamed him, thus taking one player out of the box and enabling the team to run the football more effectively.”
In the spread offense era, where passing is king and points come in a hurry, Reynolds sees a weapon like Keebler playing a pivotal role for the Bucs for a second straight year.
“A lot of people tend to forget about the tight end sometimes when he’s in there,” Reynolds said. “We try to move him around and hide him as much as possible. Hopefully, defenses will have to know where he’s at and we can create some mismatch problems.”
Reynolds said Keebler has shown significant progress over the years in terms of physicality and maturation.
“He’s learned the game,” Reynolds said. “He’s always known the game because he’s a smart student and knows where to line up. He’s really learned game situations.”
Keebler, who has committed to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, sports a 3.8 grade-point average and made a 29 on the ACT, which Reynolds said has been a “slam dunk” for college recruiters.
With his decision about college football has been made, Keebler wants to make the most of his final prep season and said the Bucs to make a deeper run in the playoffs.
It all begins on Aug. 21 at home against first-year program Tennessee Christian.
“We’re playing better as a team and played with a lot more intensity in our scrimmage,” he said. “We were running to the ball, excited about everything and having fun out there.”
(Wednesday: Cole Copeland, Bradley Central)
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow her on Twitter @larryfleming44)