At least two area high school programs are no longer feeling the heat of a losing streak.
"Man, it feels good to get the monkey off my back," first-year Central coach Cortney Braswell said after his Purple Pounders beat Livingston and gave him his first head-coaching victory.
"I really wanted that one bad," he said. "The last time we saw those guys, we took a pretty good football team up that way and they beat us pretty handily."
Braswell was an assistant at Central in 2014 but coached for Damon Floyd at Bradley Central in 2015.
Friday's win over Livingston was Central's first football victory since Oct. 7, 2014.
"I know the kids feel unbelievable. Me celebrate? I didn't have time," he said. "We had talked more with the kids about finishing, and this was the first time we've finished in two years. Central has been known for losing close games that could have gone either way."
Braswell actually spent part of Friday evening after the win and most of Saturday breaking down video on East Ridge, tonight's opponent.
Howard has been a similar program, last producing a winning season under Alvin Tarver in 2010 (8-3). The Hustlin' Tigers won a pair in 2015 under Mark Teague but got their first 2016 win last Friday under John Starr, a veteran head coach from Georgia who is in his first season at Howard.
"It was a big deal," he said of the Tigers' first victory over Red Bank since 2010. "Number one, it was a region game and the win was most important to remain in the region race. Number two, it was a home win - good for the fans - and the kids told me it's the first home win here since 2013."
For the players, the coach said the win represented a little bit of a reward for all the work they had put in, but he said they had responded well.
"We really didn't have to reel the guys back in. Although we won, there's a lot of work to do still to get where we want to be," Starr said. "I didn't preach to them. I just put their noses back to the grindstone. We're coming off one of our toughest weeks of practice. We keep telling the guys all we want is best effort and that we can live with that. We're still not getting everybody's best effort."
Gibson slinging well
Although his Walker Valley team failed last week in its attempt for a first win over McMinn County, Mustangs quarterback Kolten Gibson is just 168 yards from his third 1,000-yard season - and the team has played just three games.
Through a 1-2 start, the junior has completed 53 of 82 passes (65 percent) for 832 yards. Next closest are Northwest Whitfield's Luke Shiflett (666) and Bradley Central's Cole Copeland (639). Another quarterback from Bradley County, Cleveland's Dallas McCrary, is in the top five with 590 yards.
Adams unsung star
It's easy for folks to overlook the contributions of fullbacks in this day of fast-paced offenses and spread schemes. Don't, however, count Dalton coach Matt Land among them.
The Catamounts have impressive wins over Calhoun and Northwest Whitfield to start the season, and athletes such as wide receiver Zeke Cobb, running back Ahmaad Tanner and two-way star Kyric McGowan have gotten most of the accolades. But following last week's win over Northwest, Land was quick to praise 5-foot-6, 220-pound fullback Keith Adams.
"We always talk about the pretty guys, but it's those linemen and it's No. 4 (Adams) that make our offense go," Land said. "We hang our hat on No. 4, and when we have to win a game it's somehow going to go through No. 4. That tells you about the young man's character. He may not be pretty, but to me, he's a supermodel."
Adams has recorded several pancake blocks, and each of his four runs last week resulted in a first down.