Although the prep football season hasn't gone as hoped to this point for Howard's Mark Teague, things are much brighter off the field for the second-year head coach.
After the Hustlin' Tigers suffered their third loss of the season last Friday, Teague drove to New Orleans for Labor Day weekend to spend time with his girlfriend, Latasha Walker, and the two became engaged.
They were high school sweethearts in Alabama in the late 1980s before Walker moved to New York their senior year. After losing contact, they were reunited through a mutual friend two years ago and maintained a long-distance relationship, with Teague coaching in Chattanooga and Walker working as a nurse practitioner in New Orleans.
"Life had caused us to go our separate ways for a while, but I always thought about her," Teague said. "She always had my heart, so while we were on Bourbon Street, I asked the band to play a song that we had our first dance to, and then I got down on one knee and asked her. I'm ecstatic.
"As a coach, you have to have that balance between the game and family. I've got that now. She's a football girl, too. She knows the game. The only problem is she's an Auburn fan and I'm a huge Alabama fan, so we'll have a mixed marriage."
Beware of the bug
Justin Brown awoke Wednesday morning to what has to be one of a football coach's worst fears - the sick call.
And not just one, but eight of them.
Stomach flu caused several Trion players to miss practice, including star seniors Gabe Howell and Malik Martin. Brown believed it to be a 24-hour bug and expected his players will be ready tonight against LaFayette.
"We started getting calls at 6 a.m. with news that kids were throwing up," Brown said. "It seems once the nausea wears off, it's pretty much gone."
The Ramblers know too well about the bug.
"We had it last week, and we didn't have our starting units together any day last week," LaFayette coach Chad Fisher said. "We've had strep throat and the stomach virus It's tough, because when kids miss practice, it affects the cohesiveness of the units."
NFL success for Walker
Former Rhea County standout lineman Josh Walker, who later played at MTSU, has made the Green Bay Packers' 53-man roster.
Walker (6-5, 238), who was on the team's practice squad last season, stopped by Rhea County during the summer and spoke to the Eagles.
"He's a great guy and was always a hard worker," Rhea County athletic director Micah Ruehling said. "It's neat having a guy from here that gets the opportunity to protect (quarterback) Aaron Rodgers and create holes for (running back) Eddie Lacy."
Craig on the move
In McCallie's win at Father Ryan last week, JaVaughn Craig started at quarterback for the first series of the first half and the first series of the second half. Because of a need at free safety on defense, he started and played there the entire game, picking off two passes.
Junior Robert Riddle played all but two series at quarterback for the Blue Tornado, running for two touchdowns and passing for two more.
Book celebration
A gathering is scheduled tonight to announce and celebrate the book "First and 30," written by former City High School Dynamo Carlton "Buck" Buchanan.
The book covers some of the social upheaval of the 1970s, along with a fantastic football season that included ending a decades-long losing streak to longtime rival Central. Festivities are from 6 to 10 at Sugar's Ribs at 2450 15th Avenue.
Special socks
Tonight, Silverdale Baptist and Grace Academy will sport patriotc socks purchased from Sports Spectrum, with all profits going to victims of the July 16 shootings at military sites in Chattanooga.
"We want to recognize there are things way more important than football," Grace coach Bob Ateca said. "My son, Isaac, is a Marine. He was in the reserve office two weeks before the shooting and had to leave for California for more schooling."