This is the time of year when a large number of high school football teams have shopped and bid for charter buses in addition to setting up and partaking of on-the-road pregame meals.
Tyner will make a stop on its way to Watertown today, and coach Wayne Turner has guaranteed the pregame meal will be good. He and the Rams will eat in Monteagle at Poppa Ron's, one of two restaurants his brother owns.
"We'll probably have spaghetti with meat sauce, a salad and some bread," Turner said, "and then hop back on the bus."
The trip is 133 miles, and Turner said the team would try to pick up fast food and eat on the bus on the ride home. He figured it would be 1 a.m. or later before the Rams are back on campus.
If he was headed toward Chattanooga, Bledsoe County coach Josh Owensby would likely have made arrangements with Bea's Restaurant. The Warriors ate there two weeks ago - "Best pregame meal I ever had," Owensby said. "The catfish was unreal." - then rode on over to Brainerd, where they earned a 14-12 win, a victory that propelled them into the state playoffs.
As it turns out, they're headed the other direction in the first round, toward Forrest in the midstate area, but Owensby was well set with another favorite, setting up his pregame meal at Demos' in Murfreesboro. The fare there will be hamburger steaks, baked potatoes, salad and rolls.
While his team will do a pregame meal at home in Dunlap, Sequatchie County coach Adam Caine chartered two buses for the Indians' trip to Finley Stadium and tonight's date with Notre Dame. The price of the buses, he said, was $800 each.
Sholl elected
Kenny Sholl, assistant headmaster at McCallie, was elected earlier this week to the TSSAA Legislative Council as the independent school representative from the East Region.
This was the first-ever election for seats for those representing independent schools on the Board of Control and the Legislative Council.
David Meske, athletic director and football coach at Webb School of Knoxville, was voted to represent the East Region on the Board of Control.
Malone honored
The newly formed East Ridge Alumni and Supporters Association recently presented Pioneers football coach Tracy Malone with a framed print of last Friday's celebration following the team's win over Chattanooga Christian to wrap up the Region 3-3A champion's first 10-0 regular season.
The association was founded to raise awareness and funds to help the school with matters such as the condemnation of the home stands at Raymond James Stadium earlier this season. For more information, see the organization's Facebook page.
Rare milestone
In today's pass-happy era, having a 1,000-yard passer is hardly big news.
In Trion, it's stop-the-presses material.
Sophomore quarterback Jarrett Gill passed that mark last week and became only the second Bulldog to eclipse 1,000 yards in the program's long history. The first was Jeff Ware in 1974, a state championship year for Trion.
"We're still a running team, but to have a 1,000-yard passer is great, and it's really big news around here," Trion coach Justin Brown said. "He's been able to keep defenses honest, and it's really a nice option to have for us."
Gill passed current assistant coach Roone Gable for second place on the Trion record list, though Gable still owns the mark for most passing yards in a game (224).
"Jarrett has been needling him all year that he's going to break that record, but he hasn't yet," Brown said with a laugh. "Jarrett's high is 186 this year, but he's still got time."