4 area athletes named Mr. Football finalists

By Stephen Hargis November 15, 2016 3 min read

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Taste of “T” Street Festival @ Miss Selma’s School — 10/19/13

Sloan Marak, Kiki Felton and Hannah Bakalekos

Drew Murray, Jake Wallace, Javin Shirley and Rodney Powell

She Peatross, Megan Jennings and Suzanne Schwander

10/19 — This third annual fundraiser treated families to live music from children’s musician Brian Kinder, food booths, a scavenger hunt, petting zoo and more.

Tennessee Titans Mr. Football finalists

Class 1A Lineman Brant Lawless (Nashville Christian) Josh Silvey (Greenback) Class 1A Back Preston Rice (Wayne County) Kayne Roberts (Greenback) Class 2A Lineman Alex Kirkendoll (Marion County) Hunter McClain (Marion County) Class 2A Back Darius Harper (Austin-East) Cordarrian Richardson (Trezevant) Class 3A Lineman Jacob Phillips (East Nashville) Jacob Rimmer (Milan) Class 3A Back Hunter Davenport (Sequatchie County) Tykee Kellogg (Alcoa) Class 4A Lineman Cade Mays (Knox Catholic) Cain McWilliams (Marshall County) Class 4A Back Chase Kuerschen (Knox Catholic) Amari Rodgers (Knox Catholic) Class 5A Lineman Trevis Hopper (Memphis Central) Eli Katina (Centennial) Class 5A Back Tee Higgins (Oak Ridge) Jordan Mason (Gallatin) Class 6A Lineman T.D. Blackmon (Maryville) Aubrey Miller (Whitehaven) Class 6A Back JaCoby Stevens (Oakland) Kylan Watkins (Whitehaven) Division II-A Lineman Will Lawrence (Hardin Academy) Trey Smith (USJ) Division II-A Back Eric Gray (Lausanne) Chase Hayden (St. George’s) Division II-AA Lineman Griffin Hawkins (Briarcrest) Dorian Hopkins (MUS) Division II-AA Back Ty Chandler (MBA) Robert Riddle (McCallie) Kicker of the Year Jacob Smith (Siegel) Adam Williams (Wilson Central)

Four players from the Chattanooga area have been named finalists for the Tennessee Titans Mr. Football award.

There are two finalists for each award, with that list including McCallie quarterback Robert Riddle (Division II-AA Back of the Year), Sequatchie County’s Hunter Davenport (Class 3A Back of the Year) and Marion County linebackers Alex Kirkendoll and Hunter McClain (Class 2A Lineman of the Year).

Only one other team has both finalists in one category – Knox Catholic’s Chase Kuerschen and Amari Rodgers are up for Class 4A Back of the Year. The Irish also has a finalist (Cade Mays) for that classification’s lineman award as well.

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.