Honorable Mention
Luke Shiflett, Northwest Whitfield: In a key neighborhood game, Shiflett was a two-pronged offender. He passed for 266 yards and two scores and ran 17 times for 106 yards and another touchdown in a win against Ringgold.Kolten Gibson, Walker Valley: The Mustangs lost to county rival Bradley Central, but the junior completed 28 of 40 passes for 371 yards and two touchdowns.Logan Griswold, Polk County: He ran 14 times for 200 yards, scoring four touchdowns, as the Wildcats ended a 21-game losing streak with a 35-28 victory against East Ridge.
Gordon Lee's Drew Cobb was within 50 yards of Nootie Abbott's single-game rushing record for the program in Thursday night's season opener.
Cobb could have easily set the mark.
The mindset, though, is on the season and the team rather than personal accolades, and Trojans coach Greg Ellis pulled the plug one offensive play into the second half against visiting Dade County.
"He never said a word about not getting a chance at the record," Ellis said. "He's a team player. He's very humble - a quiet guy that goes about his business. The only person I can think of that might be mad at me for pulling him is Drew's dad. But he's a team guy, and it's too long of a season to take a chance (of injury)."
With nine regular-season games to go, Cobb is more than a fifth of the way to 1,000 yards.
The senior scored five touchdowns while rushing for 271 yards on 13 carries (20.8-yard average) against the Wolverines. For his performance, Cobb has been selected by the Times Free Press as the Waffle House All-Star player of the week.
He had scoring runs of 64, 2, 62, 39 and 51 yards.
"And he had another one called back - a 60-yarder - on a holding penalty," Ellis said.
The 5-foot-10, 175-pounder is a college prospect, Ellis said, somewhere at some position. He also plays in the secondary.
"He hasn't been a starter at running back for four years, but on defense he is a four-year starter, and he was a vital part of our offense last year," Ellis said. "We moved him around - flanker, in the backfield. We tried to get him chances to go catch a ball.
"He's got the speed, the moves and the power. He has great feet and vision. He's just a player. You get a kid just every once in a while like that."
With fellow running back Braden Jarvis (also a defensive back), Cobb provides a one-two offensive punch.
"We don't even need to throw the ball," Ellis said. "Give those guys a little crease and they're gone."
Cobb also had a good night on defense, coming up with an interception, a sack and two tackles for loss.
"He's a great secondary guy and has the knowledge and instincts to go with the talent - and those are the special ones," Ellis said. "He's as good as any I've had, and he's probably the fastest I've coached."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.