Football season for area high schools will kick off again with the annual Best of Preps jamboree, presented by Truck ‘n Trailers USA, at Finley Stadium. The 20-team event will be held Aug. 10-11, a Friday and a Saturday, with each team playing two games lasting one quarter each. This year’s lineup features Chattanooga-area schools exclusively, with Friday’s nine-game schedule beginning at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday’s 11-game schedule beginning at 4:30 p.m. On Friday, Chattanooga Christian and Sale Creek kick things off, followed by Hixson vs. CCS (6), Sale Creek vs. East Ridge (6:30), Tyner vs. Hixson (7), East Ridge vs. Tyner (7:30), Walker Valley vs. Notre Dame (8), Notre Dame vs. Bradley Central (8:30), McCallie vs. Walker Valley (9) and Bradley Central vs. McCallie (9:30). On Saturday, Howard and Boyd-Buchanan will play first, followed by Grace Academy vs. Howard (5), Boyd-Buchanan vs. Central (5:30), Central vs. Grace Academy (6), Signal Mountain vs. Soddy-Daisy (6:30), Soddy-Daisy vs. East Hamilton (7), Signal Mountain vs. Ooltewah (7:30), East Hamilton vs. Red Bank (8), Ooltewah vs. Brainerd (8:30), Baylor vs. Brainerd (9) and Baylor vs. Red Bank (9:30).
* Jacksonville State junior Josh Brady from Silverdale Baptist Academy was among the Football Championship Subdivision preseason All-America players listed by Hero Sports. Brady made the second team as a long snapper, where he has started since he was a JSU freshman. The three teams included eight Southern Conference players, with Samford quarterback Devlin Hodges and defensive lineman Ahmad Gooden and Western Carolina defensive back Marvin Tillman on the first team.
Baseball
* Bryan College starting pitcher Stephen Chamblee and right fielder Fernando Garcia followed their selections as pitcher and player of the year in the Appalachian Athletic Conference by being included among the 17 NAIA first-team baseball All-Americans for 2018, and teammate Wade Weinburger earned All-America honorable mention. Weinburger and Garcia led the AAC with 74 and 72 RBIs this past season, beating the Lions’ old record of 68, and they also were one-two with 75 and 70 runs scored. Garcia led the league with 100 hits and a .439 batting average, shattering and tying Bryan records, and had 12 home runs, 27 doubles and 19 stolen bases, while Weinburger set school and AAC records with 22 homers and batted .316 and stole 13 bases. Chamblee had an 11-1 record with a 3.43 earned run average and 131 strikeouts in 102 1/3 innings, 11.52 per game. The previous Bryan record for strikeouts in a season was 102.
* The 17th annual Stump on Sports Tennessee-Georgia All-Star Baseball Classic featuring 2018 graduates from southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia high schools is set for tonight at 6:30 at Lookout Valley. It is scheduled for nine innings, and tickets cost $5. The game will be played in the memory of series founder Stump Martin, who died last month. Among the Georgia players are Dylan Minghini, Caleb Hopkins and Austin Thompson from Gordon Lee; Blake Bryan, Bryce Bird, Justin Morris, Lance Dockery and Cole Wilcox from Heritage; and Nathan Camp and Ty Jones from Ringgold. Southeast Whitfield assistant coach Allen Coley will guide the team. Lookout Valley coach Lance Rorex will direct the Tennessee squad, which will include Soddy-Daisy’s Dylan Perry, Ooltewah’s Andrew Manning and Baylor’s Teddy Lepcio, according to the event release.