Player of the Week honorable mention(Coaches are invited to nominate players by emailing Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com by 2 p.m. each Saturday)JoJo Tillery, East Ridge: He completed 14 of 17 passes for 262 yards and two TDs and ran for 49 yards and a 2-point conversion in a win over Polk County.Alex Trotter, McCallie: On the heels of a 374-yard, seven-TD rushing performance against Pope John Paul II, the senior ran the ball 14 times, gained 264 yards and scored three TDs in the Blue Tornado victory over Siegel.Octavius Matthews, North Jackson: He was allowed just 11 carries in the Chiefs' rout of Priceville but made them count - 178 yards and three touchdowns.
Charles Fant and his staff spent most of the Sunday and Monday last week laying out the grand scheme Notre Dame would use to attack Boyd-Buchanan's defense.
A couple of series into the game and possibly sooner, those plans were folded and slipped into back pockets. Auston Banks made sure of that.
The diminutive senior runner was on his game.
"We had all these lofty plans and schemes we wanted to do against Boyd and he kinda' changed our plans real fast," Fant said.
Banks' 20 carries in three quarters of playing time netted 281 yards and four TDs and he upped his total offense numbers to 324 with two receptions and another score.
"It was a lot like last year. We knew after the first couple of carries that he was going to have a big night," Fant said. "You can always tell. There's a different level of speed. We saw that early on."
Perhaps it is, Fant said, the mindset ex-Marine Chris Moore brings to the running backs or the ground-and-pound approach favored by Jason Campbell, whom Fant promoted to offensive coordinator over the summer.
"Jason has done an amazing job of changing our offense around; taken the offense and made it his own. And Chris, well, you can ask our running backs. They're in the military. Every step has a purpose. The thing that Auston needed more than anything was that strict regimen," the coach said.
There is one major rule for the backs: They are to follow plays as they're designed.
"That's the one thing we demand, to follow the scheme through the line," Fant added. "Most quick backs want to get outside and use their speed. We want them to follow the play through that first level and they let their speed and skill take over at the second and third levels.
The offensive line also figures in and they and their coach (Tucker Wilson) have worked overtime in order to spring Banks, Ricky Ballard and William Montgomery and to give quarterbacks Alex Darras and Nicholas Coronis time in the pocket.
"Tucker gives the guys detailed scheme work every week. We only have about seven guys that play up front," Fant said. "The first couple of games we felt they could block better and we spent more rep time on blocking techniques. On a couple of those runs against Boyd, he was never touched."
They help make Banks but then Banks is pretty good on his own.
"That little guy is so powerful when he runs. Everybody looks at his speed but he breaks so many tackles. He perseveres and keeps his legs churning," Fant said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.