Knowing there’s no place like home when it comes to the playoffs, McMinn County running back Jalen Hunt made sure his team would remain in familiar surroundings for this week’s first round.
With second place in Region 2-6A, and the first-round home game that comes with it, on the line against rival Bradley Central last Friday, the undersized junior came up big.
The 5-foot-8, 165-pound speedster set a single-game school record with 368 yards on 28 carries and scored five touchdowns to help his team rally from a 14-point halftime deficit for a 44-34 win. He also had five solo tackles, four assists and an interception, and that performance has earned Hunt the honor of Times Free Press player of the week.
“He’s a really hard-working kid who’s very strong and runs a lot bigger than he actually is,” Cherokees coach Bo Cagle said. “He sees things on the field that not a lot of guys can. He can just dissect things whether he’s on offense or defense.
“At halftime we felt like we were hurting ourselves more than anything. We still had time so we just needed a couple of stops, and we knew if Jalen got out in the open field he can make people miss and be gone for some big plays to get us right back in it. What a game he had. He sort of carried us.”