Rematch OK for McMinn

The last time McMinn County's Cherokees faced Maryville, they received a serious wake-up call. The Rebels drilled them 49-6 on Sept. 11 -- the worst beating a McMinn team had absorbed since a 58-13 drubbing by Murfreesboro Riverdale to open the 1998 season.

McMinn's players responded, and the response wasn't just lip service.

"We had a big discussion. We were tired of losing and told each other we needed to get it together," said Cherokees senior center Austin Arnwine, who played against Maryville despite pulling a quad in pregame warmups. "We talked about the things we needed to work on and the fact that we needed to work harder and do it right in practice. We have 20-something seniors and we decided we had to get it together."

There was a significant improvement in practice.

"We had more intensity. Early in the year we had been going through the motions. We took some losses and we were down on ourselves," Arnwine said. "There was more leadership in practice. Everybody began stepping up. If they didn't, they got busted."

The renewed intensity following the Week 3 beating has led the Cherokees to eight straight wins as they enter their rematch Friday against Maryville (10-1) in the Class 6A playoffs.

This is the best stretch at McMinn since John Mullinax's 1999 team won three before losing and rebounded to finish 11-2. The current string of victories includes a win over then top-ranked Ooltewah to clinch the district championship in the final week of the regular season and a first-round playoff defeat of Oak Ridge last week.

"We hadn't been playing real well, and Maryville was the best team we played," Cherokees coach Bo Cagle said. "The outcome opened some eyes about where we were and how we needed to practice."

Three of the Cherokees' starting offensive linemen missed the September meeting, and sophomore J.T. Hughes got his first start at left tackle because of teammates being sick or injured. Linebacker and running back Drew Masingale got hurt on the first series and didn't come back.

"We hadn't figured out our best combinations on defense, and we weren't really comfortable on defense like we are now," Cagle said. "Even after that game, though, nobody panicked. We knew we had a good football team. We just tried to get better."

Cagle and the Cherokees started the 2008 season 1-3 before rallying to knock off top-ranked Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett in the playoffs' first round.

"We definitely have a lot of respect for Maryville. When you see those guys, they don't make mistakes," Cagle said. "They do what they do, but they don't get impatient and they don't step out of character for their team. They wait on you to mess up and then take advantage."

Playing teams with rich traditions hasn't bothered McMinn in the past, and it won't bother the Cherokees on Friday, he added.

"We have played teams with history -- Oak Ridge this year and Dobyns-Bennett last year -- and it's different kids," Cagle said. "Maryville has a good thing going up there, but they're just a football team. They're no different than the team we played seven weeks ago. They may have improved some, but we have too. We know what we did wrong."

And, Arnwine said, playing Maryville is really no added pressure for the Cherokees.

"There is always going to be pressure in the playoffs. We have to play like we have played the last eight weeks," he said. "We're an underdog. Everybody sees them as No. 1, so I would think there's more pressure on them. We always do well as the underdog. We're going to show up and do what we do."