JASPER, Tenn. – It’s as recognizable as any distinct voice coming over a public-address system or any spirited song by the band at a high school football game in the area.
And the significance of Marion County’s infamous tractor whistle isn’t lost on its fans and opponents. Blaring after every big play by the Warriors, the whistle remained mostly silent last season but has blown loud and long through the first two Friday nights of the 2012 season.
A win over county rival Whitwell tonight could give Marion its first 3-0 start since 1995, which incidentally was the program’s last state championship season.
High school athletics run in cycles, but no other area program fell further than Marion in recent years. The Warriors have one of the proudest traditions in the state, claiming four state championships in a six-year span from 1990 to ’95, including one stretch when they went 56-1 with the loss coming in the state quarterfinals by one point after a late two-point attempt failed.
But after its last state title, Marion went a decade without another playoff win before the bottom truly fell out with consecutive losing records the last two seasons. The community’s pain was punctuated by last year’s program-worst 1-9 finish in which the Warriors allowed an average of 45 points per game and missed the playoffs for only the second time in 29 years.