JASPER, Tenn. – It’s a quiet morning in this quaint southern town that sits just west of Nickajack Lake.
Traffic is all but non-existent and there’s nobody in sight at Marion County High School.
Bill Baxter Stadium, one of the most exciting places to be on a football Friday night in the fall, is deathly quiet.
It's early August and another hot day is on the way. Fall football practice started a few days earlier, but the Warriors don’t meet until later in the day and so the Marion County field house is also pretty quiet.
There’s one man there who has been there for some time. He goes about his work without fanfare, but his day is scheduled from dawn to dusk as he works to get the Warriors ready for another football season.
Meet Joey Mathis, who is now the head coach of the Warriors after serving as their offensive coordinator for the past two seasons.
He’s a soft-spoken gentleman who proudly calls Ginger his wife and they’re the parents of an energetic son named Brady, who is now 10.
Mathis is not a Marion County native, but he moved to Jasper two years ago to work for Ricky Ross, who at the time had been hired to help restore the glory that has been Marion County football for several decades.
He graduated from Calhoun High School in 1995 and later played football at Cumberland University before starting his coaching career as an assistant at Adairsville for nine years and then five more at Temple High School in Pepperell.
Ross is now gone from here as he’s the new defensive coordinator at McCallie, but the 39-year-old bearded Mathis is more than ready for the challenge that he faces as a first-time head coach.
The Warriors have had ultra-success on the football field in recent years. They won four state titles back in the 90s under the leadership of the great Ken Colquitt and they’ve been on the doorstep of another state crown for the past two seasons, finishing second both times.
As is always the case with high school football, there were some really good players who have graduated, but there are still some talented young men who are back to make another run, trying to improve on last year’s 13-2 record.
Mathis knows his players as well as anyone and they know him pretty well. The same can be said for the coaching staff, which is basically the same as a year ago.
“There hasn’t been a lot of transition as the staff is the same and we just wanted to prevent a lot of turnover,” Mathis said while taking a break from his busy schedule.
“We averaged about 40 points a game last year, but it wasn’t enough as we came up five points short, but we have a really good group of kids coming back. We’re no different from anyone else as we have to stay healthy, but we’ve been getting after it pretty good,” he said as a slight grin crept across his face.
Hunter Zeman is one of seven seniors who returns for his final fall as a Warrior. He gained more than 1,100 yards last year as a running back, but will be counted on as the quarterback this time around.
Sophomore Isaiah Sampson is plenty talented as well and will be on the field somewhere to help his team win.
Alex Kirkendoll, an All-State linebacker who was the Defensive Player of the Game in the state championship game, is back for another big season. He’s just one of many defensive standouts waiting for another shot.
“We have nine of 11 starters back on defense and seven of 11 back on offense, but right now, we’re just concerning with finding the kids who can make the biggest impact on the game. We rotate a lot of kids as we have a lot who play on Friday nights,” Mathis explained.
“The offensive and defensive lines are the strength of this team as we have a lot of experience there, but the biggest lesson we’re trying to teach is controlling the controllables. We hope that carries over as winning is a by-product of the program we’ve built.
“We have a great group of young men and they’re a true reflection of our community. There’s no easy way to success in football or life, so we have to be sure to take care of the smallest details. We’re only as good as the people you surround yourself with, but we have a bunch of young men who have worked really hard in the off-season.
“We’re yet to line up and play a game and every team is different with different personality, but things have been good around here so far.
Is there pressure for the newest head coach to keep winning and maybe to win a state title after coming so close the last two years?
“I wouldn’t want to be anywhere there is no pressure, but nobody puts any more pressure on me than I put on myself. It’s more than just coaching football. These young men are called student-athletes for a reason,” Mathis said.
“We know we have some big games coming up, but we just have to focus on ourselves and to make sure we do our job to the best of our ability. We can’t look backward with regrets, but we’ve tried to develop great practice habits with the idea they carry over to games on Friday night,” he concluded.
The Warriors will take part in the Sequatchie Valley Jamboree on Friday night at South Pittsburg before opening the 2016 season at Hixson on Aug. 19.
The biggest road game will be at South Pittsburg on Sept. 9 while one of the biggest games at home will be against Boyd-Buchanan on Sept. 23. The Buccaneers were the only team to beat Marion County during the regular season in 2015.
Marion County has been picked by the Region coaches as the team to beat. Those pre-season predictions don’t always come true, but the Warriors are ready to see what happens.
And coach Joey Mathis is ready to lead the way.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)