Cortney Braswell is a first-year head coach at Central High. Six area football teams scrimmaged at Bradley Central High School in Cleveland, Tennessee on Saturday, July30, 2016.Today’s TSSAA first-round playoff pairings
All kickoffs at 7 p.m. local timeClass 6A› Cookeville (6-4) at Bradley Central (8-2)Class 5A› Lenoir City (3-7) at Rhea County (8-2)› McMinn County (7-3) at Farragut (9-1)› Walker Valley (6-4) at Oak Ridge (8-2)› Campbell County (8-2) at Ooltewah (8-2)Class 4A› Central (3-7) at Page (6-3)› Giles County (7-3) at Hixson (6-4)› East Hamilton (5-5) at Marshall County (9-1)Class 3A› McMinn Central (4-6) at Elizabethton (9-1)› Upperman (4-6) at Red Bank (7-3)› East Ridge (5-5) at DeKalb County (7-3)› Smith County (5-5) at Notre Dame (6-4)› Howard (3-7) at Sequatchie County (10-0)Class 2A› Westmoreland (4-6) at Marion County (9-1)› Boyd-Buchanan (7-3) at Watertown (9-1)› Jackson County (8-2) at Meigs County (9-1)› Tyner (4-6) at Forrest (9-1)Class 1A› Cornersville (5-5) at South Pittsburg (9-1)› Summertown (8-2) at Whitwell (5-5)› Copper Basin (5-5) at Fayetteville (8-2)› Grace Academy (4-6) at Columbia Academy (9-0)Division II-AA› Father Ryan (4-6) at McCallie (6-4)› Baylor (6-4) at Pope John Paul (6-4)
Marion County’s Joey Mathis and Central’s Cortney Braswell got unique head starts on their initial seasons as head football coaches.
They are two of four area first-year head coaches in the TSSAA playoffs, joining Boyd-Buchanan’s Carter Cardwell and Howard’s John Starr. Starr had been a head coach in Georgia, but the other three had not been past the coordinator level.
Braswell and Mathis turned to Charles Weems for a daylong confab on the ins and outs of head coaching. Currently Red Bank’s defensive coordinator, Weems has coached at the college level and also is a former head coach in Florida.
“When we met it was daylight. When we left it was dark,” Mathis recalled.