REGION 3-3A AT A GLANCE
Last year’s champion: Notre Dame won District 7-AA.Team to beat: Notre Dame had seven players sign college scholarships, but the Irish return a veteran QB in Alex Darras and a host of other quality players, including LB Tyler Enos and OL/DL Robert Murphy.Watch out for: Howard has a chip on its shoulder. If that isn’t enough, the Tigers have 10 returning starters — on each side of the ball — with great size on the lines and plenty of speed.Best game: Notre Dame, which beat Signal Mountain last year for the first time, will visit the Eagles on Oct. 16.Dream schedule: Although they play three straight region games Sept. 18-Oct. 16 (there’s an open date in there as well), Chattanooga Christian’s Chargers have five opponents from Class 1A or 2A.Nightmare schedule: Eight of Howard’s opponents were playoff teams a year ago; outside of region games, the list includes Baylor, Donelson Christian, Lancaster Christian and Loudon.Players to watch: Darras will be a fourth-year starter and the only thing likely to hold him back is getting on the same page with his receivers. Recruiters are lined up to see Red Bank defensive end/fullback Tra Stamper, while Howard has a pair of line prospects in Tadarius Covington and Udarius Strawter.Predicted order of finish: Notre Dame, Signal Mountain, Red Bank, Howard, East Ridge, Chattanooga Christian.
Despite the nose-twitching odor of all football locker rooms especially one belonging to a team coming off skin-blistering days and long nights that accompany a week of camp a heady, new scent wafts through the fans at Notre Dame.
There is a breath of fresh air brimming with optimism. For the first time in Charles Fant's four years as coach, Irish football enters this season as the hunted - a preseason No. 1.
"I've had alumni and all kinds of people calling. I can't remember the last time Notre Dame was picked to win anything," Fant said Sunday, less than 48 hours removed from a long week of preseason camp.
Notre Dame, ranked No. 5 in the state among Class 3A teams in at least one poll, was picked to win the new Region 3-3A ahead of Signal Mountain, Red Bank, East Ridge, Chattanooga Christian and Howard.
"They return key components off a team that made a strong push for a state title," a rival region coach said.
Fant's record at Notre Dame is 30-9, with back-to-back appearances in the playoffs.
"It's cool that feeling of respect," Fant said. "The kids have been fine (with the recognition). We're young, but obviously with last year's juniors, we have a tremendous level of leadership on both sides of the ball."
And unlike last season, the team hasn't had to contend with the hoopla that surrounds a national recruit (wide receiver Kareem Orr, who signed with Arizona State).
"There is a kinship on this team," Fant said. "We don't have flashy guys. It has been a family atmosphere from the start."
There is a touted recruit, though - quarterback Alex Darras, in whom schools from Harvard to Colorado State have expressed interest, and there's a freshman starter (Cameron Wynn) whom Fant compares favorably with Orr.
"He'll play wide receiver, running back and some quarterback, plus cornerback," Fant said of the 5-foot-10, 155-pounder.
Yet even with seniors like running back Ricky Ballard, two-way lineman Robert Murphy and linebacker/tight end/wingback Tyler Enos, Fant knows the Irish will be fending off challenges all season, whether it is from region opponents or non-region foes such as touted Knox Catholic, Central, 2014 playoff opponent McMinn Central or Calhoun City, Miss.
While Catholic might well be the strongest opponent Notre Dame will face, Fant will always keep an eye on Signal Mountain, whom his Irish finally bested last year.
"Until Signal Mountain looks any different than what they have been, they have to be among the favorites," he said.
With 38 players on the roster, the Eagles are down in numbers, but the quartet that showed up for the 3-3A media day at Howard were positive walking testimony to new coach Ty Wise's 20 hours-per-week weight-training and conditioning regimen.
"I'm bigger, but I'm faster too," said Eagles running back Nathan Johnson, who's gone from a shirt size small to a large while packing on 15 to 20 pounds of muscle, he said.
Fant believes others in the region will be competitive, too.
"I've heard that Chattanooga Christian is very, very much improved and East Ridge looks very athletic," he said. "Red Bank is the only team I don't know much about, but I think both of those teams will emerge as being better than last year."
And then there is Howard, voted to finish last in a combined coaches/media poll.
The Hustlin' Tigers were winless under first-year coach Mark Teague last season but return starters in 20 of the 22 offensive and defensive positions.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.