East Ridge soccer player Tad Whitaker plays on March 4 at Camp Jordan.Tad Whitaker has had a busy week, the future University of Tennessee at Chattanooga kicker from East Ridge practicing both football and soccer in preparation for Tennessee-Georgia all-star contests today and Saturday.
The soccer match is this afternoon, starting at 4:30 at Finley Stadium. The football game kicks off Saturday at 7 p.m. at Boyd-Buchanan.
Whitaker practiced football Sunday, Monday and Wednesday and is scheduled for one today, and he had two-a-day soccer practices Tuesday and Thursday.
“Practicing for both is a little tiring, but it’s fun at the same time to play two sports at once. I did it with soccer and baseball in high school,” said Whitaker, who’ll be a preferred walk-on for the Mocs when they start workouts.
“He’s the best kicker I’ve coached, and that covers 16 years,” East Ridge football coach Tracy Malone said. “He’s a better kicker, but with some technique work he can be a really good punter, too.”