The 2013 prep football season ran the gamut. It began with a shining example of what makes the game so special – the way Hixson embraced Austin Clark, a player with Down syndrome who scored a touchdown in the jamboree and encouraged his teammates to win the program’s first district title. Unfortunately even that story was overshadowed late in the season when a rogue coaching staff tarnished a proud area program.
Between those memorable stories were the usual plot lines of dramatic wins and losses and playoff runs, all decided by kids barely old enough to drive.
Whether teams filled the Friday night air with passes from spread offenses or punched opponents in the nose with old-school wing-T approaches, 11 area programs – Baylor, McCallie, Cleveland, East Hamilton, Hixson, Notre Dame, Silverdale Baptist, Marion County, South Pittsburg, Calhoun and Ringgold – reached at least the quarterfinals of their state’s playoffs.
Led by 14 seniors, Silverdale Baptist Academy announced its arrival as a new local contender. Following up a 10-win season in 2012, the Seahawks narrowly missed knocking off perennial district power Boyd-Buchanan for the league title last year, then set off on a playoff run that didn’t end until they had reached the quarterfinals and notched 11 wins.
But it wasn’t just fledgling programs taking off last season. A few of the usual suspects continued to feed their football-starved fan bases as Calhoun extended its region win streak to 87 and made another deep playoff run and South Pittsburg again reached the Class 1A state championship game, its fifth in six years, despite having a coaching change. And ho-hum, Derrick Davis again led Polk County to 9 wins and the district title.