District 5-AA down to four football teams

By Stephen Hargis November 11, 2012 4 min read

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TSSAA’s new proposed district alignmentsDistrict 3-AConcord ChristianGrace Christian (2A)Greenback (1A)Harriman (1A)Meigs County (2A)Midway (1A)Rockwood (2A)District 5-ABoyd Buchanan (2A)Arts & SciencesChattanooga Girls’ Leadership AcademyCopper Basin (1A)Grace Baptist Academy (1A)Silverdale Baptist Academy (2A)Tellico Plains (2A)District 6-AIvy AcademyLookout Valley (1A)Marion County (2A)Richard HardySale Creek (1A)South Pittsburg (1A)Van Buren CountyWhitwell (2A)District 5-AACollegedale AcademyMcMinn Central (3A)Polk County (3A)Sequoyah (4A)Sweetwater (3A)District 6-AABrainerd (3A)Central (4A)East Ridge (4A)Hixson (4A)Howard (3A)Red Bank (3A)Tyner (3A)District 7-AABledsoe County (3A)Chattanooga Christian (3A)Grundy County (3A)Notre Dame (3A)Sequatchie County (3A)Signal Mountain (4A)District 5-AAABradley Central (6A)Cleveland (5A)East Hamilton (5A)McMinn County (6A)Ooltewah (5A)Soddy Daisy (5A)Walker Valley (6A)District 6-AAACookeville (6A)Cumberland County (5A)Rhea County (5A)Stone Memorial (5A)Warren County (6A)White County (5A)St. Andrew’s-Sewanee remains in Division II-ABaylor, McCallie, GPS remain in Division II-AA

The TSSAA has released its proposed new district alignments, and while there were few changes it proved to be yet another reason for area football coaches to vent. Those coaches knew the six-classification system would remain, but that didn’t prevent some from dwelling on the issue and picking apart some of the area’s new districts.

The TSSAA’s board of control will vote on whether to finalize the new districts at its Nov. 15 meeting.

Because Meigs County’s enrollment fell, the Decatur school dropped down one classification and will play in District 3-A against mostly Knoxville-area teams. District 5-AA is losing Meigs but did not pick up any teams, leaving it a four-team football district with McMinn Central, Polk County, Sequoyah and Sweetwater.

“It’s a joke, really. We’re a joke district,” Polk County coach Derrick Davis said. “We could go 3-7 or even 2-8 and be a district champ. That’s just too few teams. Obviously our state just doesn’t have enough teams to have six classes, and that’s obvious by there being four-team districts.

Stephen Hargis

Stephen has covered sports in the tri-state area for the Times Free Press for more than 35 years and was named Sports Editor in February of 2015 after 10 years as assistant sports editor, where he oversaw the prep sports staff. Stephen is among the most decorated writers in the TFP newsroom, having won more than 60 awards at the state, regional and national level ranging from investigative work to feature and news writing. Stephen was named one of the top 10 sports writers in the nation at the Associated Press Sports Editors' conference in Kissimmee Fla., in 2012, and has been recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists with Green Eyeshade southeast regional awards three times. He received an Associated Press national award for a season-long story following the Taft Youth Center football team, was named the state's top overall sports writer by the AP Media Editors as well as Tennessee Sports Writers Association three times and has also been named the state's top prep writer 19 times by the TSWA. Stephen is a lifelong Chattanooga area resident and has two children, Riley and Lauren.

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293.