Most teams traveling tonight for the first round of the TSSAA football playoffs will be doing so by charter bus.
“We’re going with one charter bus — a 55-passenger — because it was actually cheaper than two school buses,” Red Bank coach Tim Daniels said. “Hopefully we can make enough from the gate to cover the bus.”
It’s about 85 miles to Madisonville, where the Lions are to play Sequoyah High. The coach said the price was $700.
Bradley Central got a slightly better price, $675, but the Bears might have gotten a discount for chartering two buses. Too, the Bears will eat a pregame meal on the road and coach Damon Floyd does not think Bradley will make enough from the gate to cover the cost of the trip.
Meigs County is one of the few using a school bus, but the Tigers are going just 33 miles to Pikeville to play Bledsoe County. The Tigers are in the playoffs for the first time since 2007, and first-year coach Ricky Holliday is trying to do it right. Meigs is having a pregame meal at a local steakhouse at a cost of $12 per team member.