Bledsoe gears up to take on Sequatchie in Class 3A

As far as Bledsoe County coach Jason Reel is concerned, the record is 0-1, and he isn't talking Sequatchie's record against his Warriors this year.

While Bledsoe, playing at home, outlasted Sequatchie 34-28 on Oct. 1, Reel was talking about 1994, the last time the two teams locked up in the playoffs.

"I was a sophomore and they sent me home, and it wasn't a fun thing for them to be the ones to do it. That game has sort of stuck with me," he said.

The Bledsoe coach is reminded of it more often than he'd like because next-county neighbor Chad Barger, now Sequatchie's coach, was a junior on the Indians' team that sent the '94 Warriors packing.

Friday night's meeting in the first round of the Class 3A playoffs will be Round 2 of 2010 and this game should be no different than the one earlier this year.

"There'll be a lot of people there; a great atmosphere. It will be a battle and it could be a high-scoring battle," said Grundy County coach Nick Bryant, whose team lost to Sequatchie County 14-6 early and then rebounded later in the year to beat Bledsoe County 34-13 on the way to its own playoff spot.

The Warriors and Indians combined for 681 yards of offense on Oct. 1 and Bledsoe had to bat away a desperation pass with 11 seconds left to preserve the win.

"It was an extremely hard-hitting game. Very physical and back-and-forth, but that's what we expect from this rivalry. You throw out all the numbers and go to war," Barger said.

Much has changed since that first war. Bledsoe, which extended its victory streak to six with the win over Sequatchie, lost three of its last four.

"We were used to winning, went to Harriman and a good football team beat us. Our focus and attitude weren't what they had been," Reel said. "We had three games where we didn't play very well."

Sequatchie made a few adjustments, found its offensive stride, and finished the regular season with three thousand-yard rushers (Hunter Lewis, Jerry Fain, Justin Stewart).

"I thought we'd have one and maybe two. But three? The offensive line doesn't get enough credit," said Barger, who also mentioned fullbacks Shane Yother and Josh Potts, saying the pair was relishing lead-blocker roles.

"I guess they're averaging what, a pass a game?" Reel said.

To which Barger retorted, "We average more than you think -- five or six. It depends on what defenses are giving us. We haven't had to throw the football and we're not going to starting chunking the football just to work on the passing game when we're up three or four scores."

Of course, a quarterback change may have been the key Barger had sought. He moved Lewis, the team's leading rusher with 1,396 yards, to running back and inserted Shawn Cooley, "and since we made that change the offense has really clicked.

"Sean has taken command and has become the leader of the offense although he understands he doesn't have to be the [main] man."

The "man" on Oct. 1 was Bledsoe running back Brandon Smith, who rushed for 211 yards and four TDs and also caught a 14-yard TD pass.

"We moved some kids around [during the losing streak] because we had some injuries, and it seemed to help but we're still doing the same things and we're all healthy," Reel advised.

Barger said he expects to see Bledsoe hitting on all cylinders, meaning Warriors quarterback Cody Holloway, who's topped 1,600 passing yards; Smith, who averages 100 rushing yards and three catches per game; and receivers Michael Gibbons and Holden Boynton.

"This is a big game for our program, but I told the kids to let the fans and student body have a great time with the rivalry part of the game. This is a playoff game and it's about winning five in a row," Reel said.