Standing among his players, Boyd-Buchanan football coach Grant Reynolds took a deep breath and flashed a proud smile.
Sure, the Buccaneers’ flowing tears quickly relayed the 51-12 Signal Mountain victory. Granted, the high-flying Eagles’ scream from midfield signified Signal’s trip to the Class 2A state title game next week. Yes, Signal’s rampage toward history left the Bucs as the most recent victim, left in the wake with other state-ranked foes such as Friendship Christian and Trousdale County.
Still, the high school football season – the four-month journey that makes memories, milestones and men – was complete for Boyd-Buchanan, and Reynolds was as proud as he was passionate.
“Success can be measured in different ways,” said Reynolds, who led Boyd-Buchanan into the state-title game a year ago. “There are always little battles in life, and this is one of them. No one expected us to be here or win nine games, but we did.”
Reynolds is right, of course. Success is measured in scales as much as it is scores. These Bucs overachieved and made the most of every chance they had.
These Eagles, though, their business remains unfinished, their mission still incomplete.
“This is all we’ve dreamed of since we started playing JV,” Signal Mountain senior safety Seth Wier said of the school’s first team two seasons ago. “We definitely feel like this is where we are supposed to be, and if we play hard and smart we’ll be fine. I’m not saying we’re bullet proof, but this is where we expected to be.”
Those expectations are flowering on Signal Mountain. Sure, there are state-title dreams planted in the minds of almost every high school football player everywhere come every August. It is the bond that carries them through the two-a-days and the drills and the camps.
And as seniors, it’s never supposed to end, at least not until they are ready. Now, for these Eagles and 15 other teams in Tennessee, the end is next weekend – win or lose. There is a state title within reach, but there are no more games after next week’s trip to Cookeville.
“We haven’t really talked about Cookeville; we just talk about the next game and the next opponent,” Signal senior Gervell Morgan said. “Now that it’s here, it’s unbelievable.”
It’s here in large part because Morgan was everywhere Friday night. He recovered two fumbles, intercepted a pass and scored two touchdowns. Morgan will find out next week if he is the Class 2A Mr. Football lineman of the year, and in truth he could not care less. He has business to finish. He has a goal to achieve. He, like the rest of the Eagles who have bled and worked and sweated with him since August, have one more game to play.
“We’ve talked about it some, and it’s a dream to get to play for a state championship, especially as a senior,” Signal offensive lineman Shea Baker said. “But we have not accomplished anything yet. We have to keep working because we have talked about winning state – not just getting to state.”
Getting there may have been the biggest obstacle – Signal survived knockdown, drag-out fights the last two weeks before bull-rushing the Bucs.
Now the Eagles will take their show on the road for one last game.
“That is a great football team that has players that can make plays at every position,” Reynolds said, offering plain kudos that prefaced even more high praise. “They have as good a team as I’ve seen, and they have everything it takes.”
As Reynolds said, the Eagles have the speed, the talent and the power. They have invested the effort and have discussed the path from the very beginning. Now they have the one thing that was beyond their control until today.
Now, the Signal Mountain Eagles have the chance to win a state football championship.