East Ridge's Demarcus Scruggs defends against a Lookout Valley pass.
photo by M.A. Locke
The day that we’ve all been anxiously awaiting finally got here.
In the words of the late and great John Ward from his skybox in Neyland Stadium, “IT’S FOOTBALL TIME IN TENNESSEE.”
Seven local high school teams got to do something other than beat on each other as the first night of the Best of Preps Jamboree was held at Finley Stadium/Davenport Field Thursday night.
It rained for the first hour or so, but cleared up later and turned out to be quite a nice evening for football, considering how hot and humid it's been in recent weeks.
It wasn’t a real game by any stretch, but a chance for young men to play under the lights in a big-game setting with wins, losses and ties counting for nothing other than valuable experience.
Hixson and East Ridge both won twice while Signal Mountain won one and lost one. South Pittsburg won one and tied one while Silverdale lost one and tied one. Lookout Valley and Sale Creek were both 0-2.
Action continues on Friday with eight 20-minute quarters. The schedule will be posted at the bottom of this article.
SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 14, LOOKOUT VALLEY 0: Lookout Valley battled for all they were worth, but the Yellow Jackets simply don’t have the numbers to compete with larger schools like Signal Mountain.
The Eagles prevailed when sophomore quarterback Cash Keene hooked up with senior wide receiver Collins Payne for a couple of TD passes, the first one covering 17 yards and the second one 23.
Lookout Valley only had the ball for one possession, but the Yellow Jackets gained 42 yards on the ground and even picked up three first downs before coming up short on fourth down.
Blake Ferguson was a bright spot for Lookout Valley with 21 yards on two carries, including a 19 yarder on an inside reverse.
EAST RIDGE 19, LOOKOUT VALLEY 0: Numbers weren’t as big a factor in this second contest, but team speed for the Pioneers was as East Ridge collected 131 rushing yards and scored all three of their TDs on running plays.
Jalen Ellis put the Pioneers ahead with a 66-yard run on the fourth play and East Ridge was never threatened.
Marquell Sails and Jermaine Blackstock added scoring runs of three and four yards.
SOUTH PITTSBURG 7, SIGNAL MOUNTAIN 0: Kamden Wellington hooked up with Jace Stone on a 10-yard scoring pass midway through the quarter and that was the only score of the game.
Jayden Mount had an interception for the Pirates to stop Signal’s only drive.
Wellington had a nice 35-yard scamper on a keeper that moved the ball from the 42 down to the 7, but the clock expired before the Pirates could score again.
EAST RIDGE 13, SALE CREEK 0: Sails zipped 70 yards on the second play as he broke past the line of scrimmage and was never touched as he completely outran everyone on the Panther defensive unit.
An interception by Jamarion Farrior put the Pioneers back in business near midfield. Five plays later, Ellis got the call and raced 26 yards for the final score by East Ridge.
Sale Creek coach Ron Cox knows that Friday’s action doesn’t mean anything as far as the record is concerned, but he’s feeling good and looking forward to an outstanding season for the Panthers.
“We’re in great shape as far as where we stand the week before the opening game, but we’re not quite ready yet,” he expressed after the second quarter.
“South Pittsburg has speed that we won’t see from anyone else. There are still some things we need to fix, but we’re still trying to figure things out. We’re looking to have our best season ever as we have some experienced kids playing for us this year,” he added.
SILVERDALE 7, SOUTH PITTSBURG 7: Silverdale coach Mike Connor is another coach who is excited about the upcoming season and the potential his team has shown so far.
The Seahawks scored first as their hurry-up offense caused a few problems for the defending state champion Pirates.
Senior quarterback Brett Rogers, surely one of the best athletes on the team and in Chattanooga as well, completed his first five passes and six of seven as he connected with Cameron Bowen on a 13-yard TD pass with just over five minutes elapsed.
Wellington was equally as effective for the Pirates as he completed his first three passes for 51 yards before scoring on a keeper from the 1 with 6:41 to play.
Neither team threatened again.
“That’s a good football team right there and we’re just thankful that we can compete with them,” said Connor shortly after it ended.
“We did a nice job of moving the ball down the field on our first drive, but we shot ourselves in the foot on the second. But we also got a chance to see some new guys contribute and that was nice,” he added.
HIXSON 13, SALE CREEK 0: The Wildcats were one of the bright spots on Thursday night as they showed they have some quality athletes who can do some exciting things with the football in their hands.
Michael “KoKo” Kendricks is one such individual as he gained 63 yards on six carries and had a 67-yard TD run called back.
Quarterback Chase Barnard connected with Brandon Burke from the six to put the Wildcats ahead 7-0 with about four minutes to play while Burke returned an interception about 60 yards on the final play for the last TD by Hixson.
HIXSON 7, SILVERDALE 0: Kendricks scored the only touchdown on a run from the 6 midway through and he added a 30-yard run later to put Hixson in position to attempt a 42-yard field goal as time ran down, but the boot by Isaac Smith was short.
Kendricks again created some highlight material as he picked up 75 yards on six attempts and even hurdled a Seahawk defender to create oohs and aahs from the crowd.
Unfortunately, that’s against the rules so he was only credited with a run of 10 yards as the penalty was marked off from the spot of the infraction.
It was a fun evening for all the Wildcats, but especially for head coach Josh Ownsby.
“I guess we won both of our quarters, but we’re just excited to be here. I thought we showed a lot of energy and we’re a much-improved football team from last year,” he began, noting that his team was 3-6 last fall.
“These kids haven’t had much success in recent years, so we’re still trying to learn how to win.
“We still have a lot of things to clean up, but we had fun tonight. Now we have to get ready for a tough season-opener on Thursday against Signal Mountain as that will be a big test for us,” the Hixson coach concluded.
FRIDAY’S SCHEDULE
Boyd Buchanan vs. Ooltewah, 6:00
Cleveland vs. Ooltewah, 6:30
Boyd Buchanan vs. McCallie, 7:00
Cleveland vs. McCallie, 7:30
Soddy Daisy vs. Brainerd, 8:00
Soddy Daisy vs. Marion Co., 8:30
Chattanooga Christian vs. Brainerd, 9:00
Chattanooga Christian vs. Marion Co., 9:30.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)