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McCallie clips Irish on long fumble return in jamboreeOoltewah, Rhea County impressive in prep jamboree
The first two nights of high school football fun are in the books for area teams, so here we'll offer impressions and notes from the Chick-fil-A jamboree on Friday and Saturday at Finley Stadium.
* The best-looking teams to be seen were Tyner on Friday and Ooltewah on Saturday. The Rams, moving from Class 3A, will be a force in Region 3-2A, and that's a region with the likes of Boyd-Buchanan, Marion County and Meigs County.
Tyner coach Wayne Turner is excited, even if he isn't yet saying it. It shows in his sideline demeanor, both in his dismay or even pure disgust at each mistake - wrapped around a few choice words - as well as his delight when a play worked as designed.
* Rick Rogers, an assistant at Central for years and the architect of the Pounders' championship-style boys' basketball program, is now one of the assistants for Turner.
Speaking of coaches on the move, Troy Boeck, most recently at Signal Mountain, is now at Soddy-Daisy. He also took his son, tight end/linebacker Ty, with him.
Bryan Bray, a former Hixson baseball coach and athletic director, has returned to the football field as one of Dan Duff's assistants. Bray, who also coached football at Notre Dame, originally went to Hixson for baseball and football.
* Best comment to come from a coach over the weekend: "A lot of parents got to see their kids play, and a lot of them saw why their kids aren't starting."
* There were several players who stood out - and please remember these 20-minute quarters were little more than a controlled scrimmage - with Red Bank kicker Sandi Begonivic among them.
He just missed a 59-yard field goal. It was going to split the uprights but fell just a yard or so shy.
"He makes 60-yarders in practice," Lions coach Chad Grabowski said. "He could be a good weapon this year."
Put it this way: Grabowski won't hesitate to try a fourth-down field goal if his team is somewhere between the opponents' 35- and 40-yard lines.
Also liked the look of Brainerd's Malik Beavers, a senior wide receiver and defensive back. He isn't shy about run support on the corner and he went from one side of the field to the other to make what likely was a touchdown-saving tackle. He also had an interception and a nice catch.
Hixson's Myles Ratliff looks like a load in the offensive backfield.
Don't believe it? He also spends time as a defensive tackle.
McCallie quarterback JaVaughn Craig has grown a couple of inches and added a few pounds. The senior now stands 6-foot-2 and, though still lean-looking, is tipping the scales somewhere about 195 pounds. He was reportedly clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash earlier this summer.
* Cole Johnson, who was penciled in to be Signal Mountain's fullback, has enrolled at Baylor, taking his younger brother with him. The son of former University of Tennessee at Chattanooga player Brent Johnson, Cole is a solid 255-pounder who started for the Eagles last year at offensive guard.
With numbers dwindling badly - the Eagles dressed 27 for their quarter against Soddy-Daisy - they appear to have lost yet another player. Junior running back Garrett Hensley sustained what at first glance appeared to be a season-ending knee injury.
For those who were unaware, former Chattanooga Christian coach Barry Loyal, on Signal's staff last year, has been named defensive coordinator by new coach Ty Wise.
* Although Howard lost to Brainerd, vast improvement was readily visible from the Tigers' offense, and they have some size - 6-3, 310-pound guard Tadarius Covington and 6-5, 315-pound tackle Udarius Strawster.
* Even as late in preseason practice as it is, Baylor used two quarterbacks - senior transfer Will Austin and junior Bryce Verble.
Although he's just a freshman, one of the most impressive physical specimens on the field was Sam Reynolds, a 6-5, 329-pounder.
* He's just a sophomore, but Walker Valley's Kolten Gibson appears to possess that field presence that most quarterbacks don't develop until sometime in their junior season.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.