Honorable Mention
D.J. Kimpson, McMinn County: The senior had the first week’s top rushing performance, gaining 168 yards (28 carries) with two touchdowns in the Cherokees’ season-opening win over McMinn Central.Justin Cooke, Soddy-Daisy: The junior made his first start and was a testament to Justin Barnes’ offensive system. He threw just eight passes, completing each for 224 yards and five scores in the Trojans’ lopsided win over Red Bank.Jeremy Borders, Boyd-Buchanan: In just 2 1/2 quarters, the junior recorded 6.5 tackles (including one for lost yardage), two interceptions, a 78-yard kickoff return and 48 rushing yards (four carries) with a touchdown as the Buccaneers posted a shutout win.Coaches are invited to nominate players by emailing Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com by 2 p.m. each Saturday.
For the better part of a year, East Hamilton quarterback Nick Woods spent much of his time preparing for and then undergoing knee surgery before a lengthy amount of time sweating and straining under the watchful gaze of a physical therapist.
It's slightly more than a year since Woods was bent and then broken by a physical pair of Signal Mountain defenders.
He struggled at times during baseball season this past spring but pitched a gem to get the Hurricanes into the AA state tournament, and it appeared as if he was closing in on 100 percent recovery. He was close enough to impress University of Tennessee baseball coaches, who offered a scholarship that Woods promptly accepted.
Sports-wise, though, his mind is focused on football for now, and he got a measure of revenge Friday as he began extracting retribution against the team that ended his 2014 season, proving his mettle in Friday's season opener at Signal Mountain.
"He had played a quarter and a half of varsity football prior to Friday night," Hurricanes coach Ted Gatewood said. "He's still green, but he has a great personality (to play quarterback). He's an even-keel kid, never too high or too low. He has a calming effect on his teammates, but he is also very competitive."
The junior struck for three touchdown passes - and had another nullified by a penalty - as East Hamilton rolled past the host Eagles 34-18. He completed 12 of 19 passes for 288 yards with one interception in just his second varsity start. The nullified play would have put him well beyond the 300-yard mark for the night.
Woods has been chosen by the Times Free Press sports staff as the Waffle House All-Star Player of the Week.
He did have help on Friday, to be certain. David Whiteside was on the receiving end of two of those scores. Burton Bell caught the other touchdown pass.
"We have a running back and a receiving corps that played a lot last year," Gatewood said. "Those kids with those hours of experience are a big plus."
What they were missing was someone to lead, direct and pass.
Woods also takes some pressure off a young offensive line that had but one starter returning from 2014, a group that was off, Gatewood indicated, by a half-step here, a wrong step there.
"With what we do, the quarterback position is such an integral part," the coach added. "He's throwing well, the kids are catching well. I was pleased with the progress we made with the (pass) protection. That helps keep us from being one-dimensional."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.