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Bledsoe, Marion have all the ingredients to contend for 2A title

Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / The offseason progress of quarterback Tilton Pickett, right, who passed for more than 1,200 yards as a junior in 2023, is one reason Marion County has high expectations again after last year's 11-1 season ended in the second round of the playoffs.
Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / The offseason progress of quarterback Tilton Pickett, right, who passed for more than 1,200 yards as a junior in 2023, is one reason Marion County has high expectations again after last year's 11-1 season ended in the second round of the playoffs. Staff file photo by Robin Rudd / The offseason progress of quarterback Tilton Pickett, right, who passed for more than 1,200 yards as a junior in 2023, is one reason Marion County has high expectations again after last year's 11-1 season ended in the second round of the playoffs.

By Stephen Hargis 6 min read

Two prep football programs from the Sequatchie Valley — competing in the same classification but separate regions — share the same goal.

Of the three Chattanooga-area teams in TSSAA Class 2A — Bledsoe County, Marion County and Polk County — the Sequatchie Valley neighbors have all the ingredients needed to be considered legitimate contenders to end their season at Finley Stadium.

The reasons for that belief are the amount of experience and level of talent those two teams will put on the field.

Marion brings back eight starters on each side of the ball from a team that went unbeaten in the regular season before bowing in the second round of the playoffs, while Bledsoe has seven offensive starters and eight defensive starters back from a nine-win team that narrowly missed winning its region and also fell in the second round.

Marion cruised to the 4-2A title in 2023, its first year in a new region against an unfamiliar group of opponents that included Cannon County, Cascade, Fayetteville and Forrest, with the Warriors outscoring league opponents by an average of 21 points.