CPA quarterback (2) Zack Weatherly in action earlier this season and has committed to attend UTC next fall
photo by CPA
Zack Weatherly's dad is former All-SEC quarterback Jim Weatherly of Ole Miss in the early 1960s
photo by Ole Miss Sports Information
Former Ole Miss quarterback Jim Weatherly runs the ball for the Rebels in the early 1960s
photo by Ole Miss Sports Information
It’s touted as “The Big Game” in the Nashville area this season.
Undefeated CPA (4-0) at Ensworth (2-3), tonight at 8 EDT with a crowd of 10,000 plus expected to be in attendance.
This one has all the great story lines.
Coach (Ricky Bowers, Ensworth) and former player (Ingle Martin, CPA) walk opposing sidelines.
Three miles apart by car and one mile as the crow flies, the two teams have not met since 2008 and Ensworth holds 2-0 series lead.
A pair of talented senior quarterbacks - Zack Weatherly (CPA) and Coleman Goodwin (Ensworth) - square off to see who is the best.
Stanford-Cal (West Coast version of The Big Game) has nothing on this Friday night extravaganza.
It’s the prep version of Auburn-Alabama, USC-Notre Dame, Ohio State-Michigan and Auburn-Georgia.
The Coaches: CPA coach Ingle Martin led MBA to three straight state titles (1998-99-2000) as a player under then Big Red coach Ricky Bowers, who tonight wears the black and orange of Ensworth.
The Teams: Defending 3A state champ CPA is 4-0 and currently ranked No.1 in 3A with a 19-game win streak on the line tonight, while Ensworth (2-3) has the advantage of playing at home and owns wins over CPA in 2007 and 2008.
CPA has state titles in 2001-02-14, while the Tigers has a four-peat on their resume, 2010-2013.
Now enter CPA senior quarterback Weatherly who has led the Lions to the state title a year ago and holds a three year 33-1 record as a starter.
Headed to UTC: Earlier this week, Weatherly verbally committed to play for the Chattanooga Mocs for the next four years, noting “the coaches treated me like family and made me feel that they really wanted me to play college football for the Mocs.”
Actually, Weatherly is 4-1 against Ensworth, leading the Lions to wins in the fifth, sixth, seventh and ninth grades (2008-09-10-12), while Ensworth middle school won the battle when Weatherly was an eighth grader in 2011.
The son of former Ole Miss All-SEC quarterback and nationally-acclaimed song writer Jim Weatherly, Zack, a 2013 state high jump champion, has thrown for just under 4,500 career yards and 56 touchdowns and rushed for another 10 scores.
Asked what he likes best about playing quarterback, Weatherly stated, “You get the ball on every play, how you go the team goes, you are the captain of the ship and have to be ready to deal with criticism and the praise.”
Coach Martin said, "Zack is a fantastic young man who will make the people of Chattanooga as proud as he has made everyone here at CPA.
“He is one of the most accurate quarterbacks that I have been around, couple that with the athleticism of a state championship high jumper and guy who runs 4.5 in the 40. I think he will do very well and I know he will work hard to maximize his potential while at UTC."
Being No.1: While CPA is defending state champs and ranked No.1, being on top is nothing new in the Weatherly household.
“My dad never forced me to play football when I was younger, but it was the natural father-son throwing the ball around in the back yard and learning from him because I enjoyed the game growing up,” stated the 6-2, 180 pound CPA senior.
Ole Miss Rebel: Jim Weatherly was an all-state quarterback for Ponotoc (Miss.) High School (30 miles east of Ole Miss) in the early 1960s and played three years for the Rebs, 1962-64,and a member of the the school’s only undefeated team in 1962 (10-0) and crowned national champs by the Litkenhous rating service.
“We had great senior leadership in 1962 and, of course, great coaches under head coach Johnny Vaught, “said Weatherly, who earned second team All-SEC honors as a senior in 1964.
“Growing up I enjoyed watching great Ole Miss quarterbacks such as Eagle Day (All-SEC) and Jake Gibbs (All-American), but I never really thought I would one day play for Ole Miss,” said Weatherly.
“But Ole Miss and Mississippi State did offer me a scholarship my senior year and I chose Ole Miss.”
While, Weatherly has the national championship, a Sugar Bowl victory and a pair of SEC titles on his football resume, his musical talents have also taken him to the top of the charts.
The most famous song he wrote is the 1973 No.1 pop hit “Midnight Train to Georgia” sung by Gladys Knight and the Pips.
Overall, Weatherly had had eight songs he wrote climb to No.1 on the charts; pop (2) R&B (3), country (3).
While the senior Weatherly noted the importance of senior leadership in 1962, the CPA Lions look to the younger Weatherly (who also plays defensive back) for leadership tonight to extend the undefeated season and gain a win against its cross-town rival in The Big Game.
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net