Stephen Hargis' 2009 prep football tour
Miles traveled: 369
Schools visited: 26
Red Bulls consumed: 2
Counties visited: 5
States included: 3
Fidgety freshmen: Far too many to count, but most of them questioned the decision to play football once tackling drills began.
The first step toward another season of Friday night memories was taken by several hundred high school football programs across Tennessee Monday. And for the 10th straight year I crammed as many stops as I could at area programs on the first day that prep football teams in the state are allowed to practice in pads.
Although teams in Alabama and Georgia can't strap on the pads for another week, I made a stop in each of those states as well.
What I discovered after a 15-hour, 369-mile, 2-time-zone whirlwind tour is something I already had a pretty good idea about: Ooltewah, Red Bank, Boyd-Buchanan, Tyner, Howard and South Pittsburg will be loads of fun to watch once the season kicks off in a month.
As preseason practice began, those programs already looked ready for kickoff, but as usual plenty of other area upsets and upstarts will make the rapidly approaching season memorable.
Stephen has covered high school sports in the tri-state area since the early 1990s, starting at the News-Free Press as a 19-year-old reporter. He has been with the Times Free Press since its inception and has been an assistant sports editor for more than seven years. Stephen is among the most decorated writers in the TFP’s newsroom, winning numerous state and regional awards for his writing on high school athletics. He has two children, Riley ...
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