Sequatchie County coach Chad Barger spent some time with Hunter Lewis. Once he stopped wasting time, the Indians got on a roll.
“He had been taking snaps under center but then we moved Shawn Cooley to quarterback,” Barger said.
Lewis, running a wing in the Indians’ Wing-T offense, scored just one TD but rushed for 327 yards on 24 carries (13.6 yards per carry) as Sequatchie County defeated Chattanooga Christian 40-26. The win dropped CCS out of a share of the District 7-AA lead and left Sequatchie (2-2, 2-0) a half-game ahead of Bledsoe County (5-0, 1-0). Lewis’ effort earned him Times Free Press Player of the Week honors.
“I said at the beginning of last season that he was one of the best running backs in the area,” Barger said. “Once we moved him to wingback our offense is a ton better. We struggled early. We had some fumbles on center exchanges but the offensive line has worked hard and we have improved.”
Although the Indians got blown out by Signal Mountain two weeks ago, they rushed for 299 yards and Barger pointed out that two touchdowns were called back.
Stepping up Friday against Chattanooga Christian was crucial if the Indians wanted to remain serious postseason contenders and Barger said Lewis played a big part in securing that must win.
“We were down 26-24 in the fourth quarter and I told him it was time we sent a message. You might call his next run a season-defining effort,” Barger said. “It was 46 yards, and I don’t know how many tackles he broke but he ran through a half-dozen CCS defenders. And then he scored the two-point conversion. It seemed to wake up our kids. You could see a change in body language on both teams.”
The Indians threw just two passes, but they didn’t have to throw. In addition to Lewis’ effort, Jerry Fain ran for 142 yards and Justis Stewart 131 to give Sequatchie County 596 yards for the game. In their first four games, the three have combined for 1,202 yards.
Lewis has been the leader with 508 and he’ll probably need bigger numbers to attract a lot of attention from college recruiters.
“He’s only 5-foot-9 and maybe 170 pounds but he’s a 4.5-40 kid,” Barger said. “He’s a track guy. He finished fifth in the state in the triple jump and he can dunk a basketball.”
Several small schools have inquired about Lewis but the biggest Division I school to show much interest is Middle Tennessee State where he has made an unofficial visit.
Lewis came up 52 yards short of tying the area single-game rushing record – 379 yards by Charleston’s Nick Ownby in 1997.