McMinn Central
The latest McMinn Central coverage from the Chattanooga Times Free Press, part of our Prep section.
More in McMinn Central, page 21
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On hand or on call? Area programs vary in medical resources at games
Earlier this football season a Soddy-Daisy player was injured seriously enough that the school's athletic trainers and the first responders did not want to move him. They instead wanted to transport him to the hospital for immediate evaluation.
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Tonight’s greater Chattanooga area high school football matchups
All kickoffs at 7:30 EDT unless noted
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Billingsley sets Scottsboro record with 333 yards
Scottsboro running back DeKarlos Billingsley set the school single-game rushing record with 333 yards in the team's loss to North Jackson last week.
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Friday night greater Chattanooga high school football free-for-all
In recent years, college football Saturdays across the country have been christened by alliteration to try to magnify the meaning.
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This week’s Chattanooga area high school football games
(All kickoffs 7:30 Eastern unless noted)
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Gossett Blog: Baylor-McCallie, Signal-Notre Dame highlight a Friday of big games
It's big-game week with a number of rivalries sprinkled in for additional flavor, and the average fan, those with loyalty to no particular school, will have his choice of good games to attend.
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Lady Yellow Jackets honoring military
Lookout Valley's Lady Yellow Jackets will have a "Salute the Troops" day when they host Sale Creek and Ringgold in volleyball Thursday afternoon. Action is scheduled to begin at 4:30 with Lookout Valley against fellow District 6-A member Sale Creek in a nondistrict match.
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Gossett blog: Wildcats? Locals weigh in on Tennessee’s first female football coach
Did you see that Tennessee high school football now has what is believed to be its first female head coach?
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This week’s greater Chattanooga area high school football games
Friday, Sept. 26
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Chargers 5-0 after edging nemesis Polk
ENGLEWOOD, Tenn. - Unbeaten McMinn Central came into Friday's District 5-AA high school football game against winless Polk County riding high. But this series has produced some wild games over the years, and this can be considered another one.The Chargers, who have been underdogs more often than not since Derrick Davis took over as Polk County coach in 2000, were clearly the favorites this time. However, they needed an interception by linebacker Hunter Stokes in their own territory that enabled them to run out the final 1:09 of a 20-18 victory.The loss ended a long streak of league domination for the Wildcats, who had won 21 consecutive conference games. Their last league loss was 16-0 to McMinn Central, one year after the Chargers won a 42-41 overtime game at Polk.McMinn Central (5-0, 2-0) was in control in the first quarter, picking up seven first downs on the way to a 7-0 lead. Then things changed in the second quarter with Polk (0-4, 0-1) picking up seven first downs while holding the Chargers to one.McMinn Central still managed to lead 13-12 at halftime, thanks in large part to Jordan Brooks' 78-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Polk missing one extra point and having a mishandled snap on the other.The Chargers then extended their lead to 20-12 on the second-half kickoff when Cutler Lance made a takeaway and returned it for a TD.McMinn Central coach Josh Goodin credited first-year special teams coach Andy Bailey, a former kicker at McMinn County and Georgia, for his attention to details in the kicking game."He came in and has really got us focused on special teams," Goodin said. "The kickoff return was huge. The strip at the first of the second half was big. It was things we work on. We're a little bit more focused this year on special teams and it won us the ballgame tonight."Most of the Wildcats' success came on the ground -- three running backs had at least 50 yards, led by Ben Norwood's 94 -- but it was a 47-yard touchdown on a throwback screen from Isaac Smith to Ryan Rowland at 1:41 of the third quarter that got them within two. The attempt at a tying conversion failed when Smith was tackled short of the end zone on a rollout."Special teams will bite you in a game like this," Davis said. "And it bit us. They had the two returns. We missed an extra point and started chasing points. But the two special-teams returns killed us."Rowland also had a fourth-quarter interception inside Polk's 10 and returned it to inside the Chargers' 10, but there the ball was stripped from him from behind and McMinn Central recovered."I saw a bunch of hurt tonight," said Davis, who did some consoling of Rowland after the game. "Hurt is in direct proportion to what you put into it. Maybe that will translate into something down the road."Jackson Long led McMinn Central with 100 yards on 16 carries. Quarterback Jackson Guy started 4-for-4 and was 7-for-8 for 92 yards before throwing interceptions on his last two passes."You can never underestimate Polk County's kids," Goodin said. "They were tough and physical and gave us everything we wanted."I don't know if there's a direct effect, having played and won some close games, but maybe because we have before, our kids know we have the ability to close it out."L
