District 7-AA at a Glance• Team on the rise: Chattanooga Christian is mentioned by coaches at several other 7-AA schools as a potential, if not probable, playoff team. The Chargers came close last year, losing a close game at Bledsoe County in the season finale to finish 4-6. “They have a lot of athletes and they can score on anybody. They just need to shore up their defense,” Sequatchie County coach Chad Barger said.• Nightmare schedule: Signal Mountain is moving up in classification and will play district road games at Bledsoe County and Sequatchie, the district’s first and second finishers last season and each with a large number of returnees. The Eagles open with Class 4A East Hamilton and then catch District 6-AA favorite Tyner. Their nondistrict opponents also include Blackman, which is listed among the Class 6A favorites, defending Class 1A state champion South Pittsburg and reigning District 5-AA champion Polk County. Blackman and Polk are on the road. Seven of Signal’s games are against 2010 playoff teams.• Dream schedule: In what figures to be an even more competitive season, Sequatchie County gets Bledsoe, Grundy and Signal Mountain at home. The Indians’ nonleague schedule includes South Pittsburg but also Meigs County, which has totaled seven wins the past three seasons, and Class 1A teams Marion County and Whitwell.• Best game: Bledsoe-Sequatchie (Sept. 30) always draws a crowd and Bledsoe coach Jason Reel is anticipating a huge crowd for his Warriors’ game with Signal Mountain (Sept. 2), but the district championship may come down to the final week of the regular season when Signal visits Sequatchie (Oct. 28).• Biggest shoes to fill: Either Hunter Lewis or Hogan Whitmire. Lewis rushed for 1,471 yards as Sequatchie averaged better than 300 rushing yards per game in 2010. Whitmire passed for 2,490 yards and 30 TDs with just four interceptions in Signal Mountain’s 14-game march to the Class 2A state title.• Playoff bound: Signal Mountain, Bledsoe County, Sequatchie County.
Will this be the year that somebody hauls Signal Mountain back down to earth after the Eagles’ meteoric climb?
They ran the table last season — in their second year of varsity competition — to win the Class 2A state football championship. That followed a 10-2 first season and an unbeaten rookie year as a junior varsity.
But the Eagles have moved up from District 6-A to District 7-AA and will jump two classifications from Class 2A to 4A for the postseason.
“Our goal is still ultimately the same: win a district championship and a state championship,” Eagles coach Bill Price said.