Signal Mountain’s football team entered this fourth week of the TSSAA regular season unbeaten, and like a boxer with a heavy right hand and a first-round killer instinct, it has been a series of fast starts that have paced the high-flying Eagles.
Thursday night, in a game moved up a day to get ahead of expected inclement weather, the Eagles stumbled and staggered through the first half but withstood visiting Hixson’s early barrage.
A second half jumpstarted by an animated coach Mark Mariakis during intermission carried Signal Mountain to a 16-6 win, along with a 4-0 perch that includes a 2-0 record in Region 3-4A.
“There was a lot of come-to-Jesus talks,” Mariakis said of the halftime pep chats after the Eagles headed to the locker room down 6-0 and with Hixson looking firmly in command.
Senior quarterback Cash Keene, who delivered a back-breaking 18-yard touchdown pass to junior J.B. Zimmerman with a little more than three minutes left, said Mariakis “gave a great halftime speech, and he got after us pretty good.”