Grundy County wide receiver Logan Meeks (3) charges down the field as Marion County players Blake Zeman (1), right and Jacob Saylors (8) try to make the tackle.Many folks atop Monteagle Mountain and around Grundy County High School had prepared themselves for the worst. Some even went so far as to tell coach Nick Bryant they knew his football team was young, he had lost a number of quality players to graduation and they realized the size of his squad was down.
"We were picked fifth in a six-team district in one poll and sixth in another back in the preseason, and yet here we are in the first round of the playoffs," Bryant said this week.
The Yellow Jackets, squeezing out a 5-5 record and making their fifth consecutive postseason, will be playing Friday at McMinn Central.
Some would say it was divine intervention or even that Grundy County players had planted and picked a field of four-leaf clovers.
No way, Bryant would declare.
"This has been the best year we've had from parents to players to coaches. It has been an amazing experience," he said. "I told the team this is the most fun group we've been around. The kids get along. They enjoy each other and the game and all that goes along with it."
It wouldn't be unlikely to drive to Big Creek and find most of the team there fishing or cooking out or simply hanging out.
"I don't think you could find a team that's closer," running back Logan Meeks said of the 33-man squad.
Meeks himself has filled holes at both running back and wide receiver.
"He's a quiet player, a kid that leads by example," Bryant said. "We talk all the time, and I told him we were building the offense around him. I said, 'Hey, it's your time to make the plays.' He hit the weight room hard, and he has become what we needed him to be."
Meeks has rushed for 525 yards on an average of fewer than eight attempts per game. Too, his 59 receptions are among the top season performances in the Chattanooga area. He returns kicks and punts in addition to serving on the punt- and kickoff-coverage teams and the field-goal unit. He has shown up defensively at both safety and linebacker.
"Without out him we'd be searching -- searching for a playmaker," Bryant said.
"I have been trying to help the team any way I can," Meeks said. "I feel good about it. I like being the guy they want to go to if they need a score or a big play late in the game."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.