Hargis: Sequatchie Valley's finest night for prep football

The Sequatchie County football team huddles before taking the field for their TSSAA first-round playoff football game against Howard at Sequatchie County High School in Dunlap, Tenn.

The Pirate ship blazes fire as South Pittsburg gets ready to take the field. The Boyd-Buchanan Buccaneers visited the South Pittsburg Pirates in TSSAA football action on October 21, 2016.

Stephen has covered sports in the tri-state area for the Times Free Press for more than 25 years and was named Sports Editor in February of 2015 after 10 years as assistant sports editor.

You'd be hard-pressed to find an area that identifies itself more with, or clings more tightly to, high school football tradition than the folks in the Sequatchie Valley.

It's where fathers and sons spend lazy afternoons throwing wobbly spirals in the back yard, where besides politics and religion few subjects unite or separate the residents faster than the passion for school loyalty and where the pulses of the towns beat from the bleachers of the stadiums on game nights.

And in a place with more pride than prosperity, the highs and lows experienced on dusty football fields are lessons that set an early standard for the hard work and toughness expected of players when they become adults.

Seven high schools make up the Sequatchie Valley, stretching from atop Monteagle Mountain, where Grundy County sits, then snaking down through the fertile farmland of Pikeville, Dunlap, Whitwell, Jasper, South Pittsburg and ending at the northeastern tip of Jackson County, Alabama.

Regardless of the season on the calendar these mapdot towns, nestled between mountains and the Tennessee River, provide one of the most picturesque scenes anywhere. And while the region's average family income is nearly $6,000 less than the state averages, it is an area rich in football success and tradition. Teams from the Sequatchie Valley have combined to win 214 playoff games, appear in 22 state championship games and claim 10 state titles.

But there has never been a night like tonight with three of its teams - Sequatchie County in Class 3A, Marion County in 2A and South Pittsburg in 1A - all hosting state semifinals.

"You don't really have much to brag about in those small towns, so it doesn't get any bigger than these games," said Ken Colquette, a former head coach of four Sequatchie Valley programs. "The kids from over here love to think they're tougher than anybody they play, and they take a lot of pride in the fact that nobody else around the area is still practicing on Thanksgiving.

"I know from experience it's a great feeling for the coaches and players to have everybody in town there to yell and support them, and that makes you want to go out and win for your community. They all want to be a part of continuing the tradition they grew up hearing about and watching."

There is perhaps no better judge of Valley football than Colquette, a TSSAA Hall of Fame member who played at Grundy County and later claimed most of his 254 career wins as a head coach at Valley programs, from his start at Bridgeport, Ala., to winning four state titles at Marion and his later stints at Grundy and Sequatchie.

With Marion on the road last week, Colquette was at Sequatchie to watch a group of seniors he coached as freshmen helping the Indians reach the semifinals for the first time in more than 40 years. When asked where he would be tonight, Colquette answered quickly, "I'll be at Marion. I want to see us play Austin-East. I didn't have much success against them, but hopefully they will this time.

"Every game I go to, I still get all keyed up, just like when I was coaching. I try not to show it, but it's the same feeling as always and I love it. There's nowhere else you'd rather be on a Friday night."

The Warriors are on the most successful run since Colquette was leading them to four titles in a six-year span in the early-to-mid 1990s, having reached the title game each of the last two seasons.

Either Marion or South Pittsburg has played for a state title seven of the past nine seasons, but this is the first time both have reached the semifinals in the same season since 1995. The only time both programs won championships in the same season was 1994.

Meanwhile, Sequatchie County is in the semis for the first time since finishing state runner-up in 1973.

"It's almost unheard of that three schools within about 25 miles and in three separate classes all have a the chance to maybe play for a state championship," said Pirates coach Vic Grider, who's trying to reach his seventh title game as a coach. "It says a lot about how special and unique football is around here, and it's a tribute to the three communities who support their programs.

"I think there's a ton of mutual respect. I know I respect both those coaching staffs and teams. How could you not have a huge sense of pride when your neighbors are all doing something really special?"

Going into tonight's games the three teams have a combined 35-2 overall record, with the only losses coming to each other - Sequatchie County beat South Pittsburg by seven in the season opener, and the Pirates defeated Marion also by seven two weeks later.

"The only thing that could make it better would be if they could spread the games out over different nights so everybody from the Valley could go watch all three," Colquette said. "But if they all win, those people will burn up the roads on (Highway) 111 driving to Cookeville (for the state finals). If that happens, there won't be many people left in the Valley."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis