When I think of Brainerd High School football this year, I think of a childhood book favorite: "The Little Engine That Could."
You know: "I think I can, I think I can. I know I can" -- insurmountable odds and the belief that one can overcome.
Never mind that the Panthers are playing with outdated equipment, that their weight-room facilities are antiquated and in need of repair, that they get along somehow without an athletic trainer or training equipment, that their locker rooms haven't been updated since the school was built or that their coach gets by in a windowless cubbyhole with no air conditioning.
Pretty much stiffed by most of the male students at the school, coach Stanley Jackson and his staff are playing with slightly more than two dozen youngsters. To get to the postseason was a moral victory, and then for the Panthers to win their first playoff game gives credence to Jackson's belief that he is doing the right things in the right way.
Yet Brainerd is, in certain aspects, a poor program, so much so that a gift of three new game balls two years ago was hoarded until this season.
This school has a rich football tradition. Whether today's students know it, Brainerd was once more of a football than a basketball school, and the students and the community took pride in the program's accomplishments.
The school likely was grateful to play its road game in town last week, thus avoiding costly travel expenses. Brainerd isn't alone in facing such challenges, but it is a shame that schools even have to think about coming up with the cash for what should be a reward.
The scenes have changed over the years, but Brainerd remains a thriving community, and a drive down Brainerd Road will quickly tell you that there are numerous restaurants (most part of thriving chains) that should be able to find some corporate dollars to give the program a shot in the arm. And it isn't just the diners, drive-ins and dives, but also the pawn shops, well-known breakfast chains, a handful of night clubs, car dealers, recreational venues and merchants who sell everything from shoes and clothes to jewelry and office supplies.
Surely these folks from the tunnels to East Brainerd Road or even to Highway 153 ought to be able to get the Panthers what they need, whether it's cash for a bus and pre- and postgame meals to go this week to Giles County, equipment repair in the weight room, new lockers, renovated shower and toilet facilities, a whirlpool or new shoulder pads and helmets or even enough cash to get what they have now reconditioned.
The coach has a dream, too, of getting lights for the practice field and upgrading the track so the school could one day host track meets again. He has even thought of moving the football game field to the practice field and having stands built into the natural hillside so they could be used for both football games and track meets.
Those, though, are thoughts for the future.
I'm sure calls from those interested in helping the program via long- and short-term approaches would be accepted gratefully by school principal Dr. Charles (Bubba) Joynes or by Jackson himself. The primary number at the school is 423-855-2615, and Jackson's email address is Jackson_Stanley@HCDE.org. One could even send a check to Brainerd High football program, care of Jackson or Joynes, at 1020 North Moore Road, Chattanooga, TN 37411.
• There were 39 teams in the Division I playoffs with records of 5-5 or worse, including a couple of 3-7 teams.
Here's the breakdown by classification:
6A -- three teams with 5-5 records or worse, and all lost in the first round.
5A -- 10 teams with 5-5 records or worse; six of the 10 lost, but that's a little stilted because two played each other. One (Lenoir City) beat No. 2 seed Columbia and another (Station Camp) beat a No. 1 seed (Antioch).
4A -- nine teams with 5-5 records or worse; six lost. Brainerd beat No. 1 seed East Hamilton, Page beat No. 1 seed and previously unbeaten Lexington, and Sequoyah beat Red Bank.
3A -- six teams with .500 records or worse; five lost. The one surprise was 5-5 Pearl-Cohn knocking off previously unbeaten Smith County.
2A -- six teams with .500 records or worse; five got beat and one, 4-6 Riverside, actually had a bye.
1A -- five teams with .500 records or worse; three got beat but two 4-6 teams, Nashville Christian and Union City, won. Union City was playing MAHS, another 4-6 team.
So how many top seeds, four in each classification, got beat? Four. None in 6A, one in 5A, 2 in 4A and 1 in 3A. Keep in mind, though, that No. 1 seeds had byes in Classes 2A and 1A.
My points?
Most coaches are skeptical of 5-5 teams making the postseason, but there is some argument for it as long as the state continues to mix 5A and 6A teams in one set of districts, 3A and 4A in another and 1A and 2A in another. That's another mistake they need to fix.
There are still glitches in the playoff system, and the playoffs are watered down way too much. This state can handle six classifications, especially if you keep two in Division II (private schools that offer financial aid). But six Division I (public school) classifications? Too many by two.
• It's a shame for McMinn County, seeing its playoff hopes end and in lopsided fashion to Oak Ridge.
The Cherokees are a better football team than a 35-6 loss, but they sorely missed Nathan Simbeck, the quarterback who was ejected from the Bradley Central game the week before.
Whatever Simbeck did, or what he was subjected to that caused him to retaliate and get ejected, there's no excuse. One can only hope that his teammates and other players will learn from his devastating and humiliating punishment.
• Don't think anyone expected Bradley Central to exit the playoffs in the first round, either, but defense is a must when teams get into the postseason and the Bears gave up their share of points. Their loss and that of McMinn leaves District 5-AAA's deep-run playoff hopes pinned on Class 5A Ooltewah, which lost to both of those teams. The Owls take their second-round show on the road toward Knoxville to meet unbeaten Powell.
• The results were little better for District 6-AA, which had three of its teams, including winner East Hamilton, exit in the first week. Tyner lost to Alcoa in 3A and Red Bank, surprisingly, to Sequoyah in 4A.
So the Chattanooga area is down to nine teams after the first week of the Tennessee playoffs: Ooltewah in 5A, Brainerd in 4A, Bledsoe County and Polk County in 3A, Boyd-Buchanan in 2A, South Pittsburg and Lookout Valley in 1A and Baylor and McCallie in Division II-AA.
Eliminated in the first round in addition to East Hamilton, Bradley, McMinn County, Red Bank and Tyner were Meigs County, Grundy County, Sequatchie County and Grace Academy.