Heath Grider diary

assistant coach

August 29

The Jasper game is always a lot of fun. It will be interesting to see if we can continue with the same attitude we finished with last year.

September 4

Our jayvee plays its first game at Signal Mountain after the varsity practice. This makes for a long day but the J.V. guys deserve it. These are the days that help develop and maintain successful programs.

September 5 — Copper Basin

This is the beginning of region play. I am sure the rest of the region will have a bullseye on us for what we accomplished last year.

September 22 — Tyner

I had to take my son to T.C. Thompson hospital for a staff infection. Sometimes football takes a backseat.

September 28

After an exciting win at Tyner, I got brought back down to earth when my daughter had a severe asthma attack.

October 10

We will get an excellent challenge tonight against Boyd-Buchanan. It’s another chance to determine our strengths and weaknesses.

October 11

The Boyd game may have been the best defensive game I have ever witnessed. This game gives us much to improve upon.

October 17 — Silverdale Baptist

I hope we can continue our streak tonight. It is hard to believe we have won 22 games in a row. It makes you wonder how Maryville does it.

October 18

Bye week. It sure is nice to have a week with no game. It will give us a chance to get healthy and work on the little things. I think my family and I will travel to Gatlinburg for the weekend.

October 30

We are on our way to Celina to watch our first-round opponent - Clay County. I haven’t been to Celina since we played there in the semifinals in 1985. When we pass the old school and football field, I remember they lined the field with flower.

October 31 — Grace Academy

This is a scary game for us. I expect it to be much tougher than people realize. Grace’s quarterback is as good as we will see all year.

November 7 — Clay County

We won by 35 points, yet you would have thought we lost based on our performance. I believe, at times, we are spoiled by our own success. Maybe we expect too much. But then again maybe that also keeps us hungry.

November 14 — Friendship Christian

This is the best team we have faced since Boyd-Buchanan. Their quarterback is tremendous. If we can keep him contained, I believe we have a good chance to advance.

(Post game)

It will take a while to dry out after this rainy game. A good win for us. Now we get an enormous test. We have bad memories from our last trip to Trousdale County. If you want to win a championship, you have to prove yourself in tough situations. We will be ready.