Hixson High School’s Allante Novene, 33, makes a tackle during practice Wednesday.Two weeks ago Marion County’s football team was riding high when it traveled to Hixson. The next week Hixson visited neighboring District 6-AA rival Red Bank to take on a program it hadn’t beaten since 2004.
Two come-from-behind victories later, the Wildcats are 3-1 under first-year coach, promoter and preacher Jason Fitzgerald.
“We’ve played hard and not given up the last two weeks,” Fitzgerald said. “With our backs to the wall, our kids have just kept playing. The big thing I’m trying to preach is to go play every play, no matter what the situation or the score is. Play 48 minutes, and we’ve done that for the last two games.”
The last five seasons Hixson has a combined record of 15-35. Marion County has had recent struggles, too, but getting off to a 3-0 start seemed to have given the Warriors some early confidence. The Wildcats fought back from 13 points behind early in the fourth quarter to win that one 36-27.
Fitzgerald referred to his team as “little brother” opposite Red Bank, which not only had beaten the Wildcats seven consecutive years but the first six of those by at least 20 points. Hixson trailed the Lions by 20 this time heading into the fourth quarter and pulled it out 36-35.