Sale Creek got another boost of confidence for its young high school football program last Friday with an impressive 13-0 Region 3-1A win at Whitwell. Less than two weeks after the Hamilton County Board of Education approved a budget amendment to allocate $2.5 million to build a home stadium for the school, the Panthers recorded their second straight on-field victory.
The Panthers pulled off the upset despite the absence of head coach Ron Cox, who has guided the program all seven years of its existence but was unable to attend after having heart surgery the day before the game. Cox had undergone a cardiac ablation – a procedure to regulate his heart rate – the day before, and although he had been at practice every day leading up to surgery, his doctors advised him not to attend the game.
“Ever so often my heart rate would go up really high, and I found out recently that it was something I had been born with that they needed to correct,” Cox said. “It was really hard not being there with the team for that game, and it kept me on the edge of my seat on the couch at home. I had parents texting me and FaceTiming me to keep me updated.”
Sale Creek quarterback Braden Penny scored on the game’s opening possession and sophomore running back Drew Hillian added a touchdown later in the first quarter, and the defense held the Tigers to fewer than 100 total yards to record the first shutout win in program history. It was also the first time Whitwell had been held scoreless in 53 games, dating back to 2015.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Ron Cox is in his seventh season as football coach at Sale Creek.“To go beat the defending state champions for the first time in our history and also get our first ever shutout, that gives us something we really haven’t ever had here – confidence,” Cox said. “Really, the whole attitude around the program changed once we found out we’re getting a home stadium. That let us know that the community believes in us, too, and it’s a big deal knowing we won’t have to load up on a bus and travel even for home games anymore.”
Since its first season, Sale Creek has played home games 30 minutes away at Finley Stadium.
The win improved the Panthers to 2-4 overall and 1-1 in the region, with league games against Lookout Valley and South Pittsburg remaining. Two of Sale Creek’s losses have come by a total of three points – 20-18 to 2A Jackson County and 29-28 to Zion Christian.
“We could easily be 4-2 right now and probably should be,” said offensive coordinator Roy Shipley, who along with first-year defensive coordinator Kevin Rodriguez guided the team Friday.
“It was really hard getting the kids off the field so we could get back to the locker room and change clothes and get on the bus to head home,” Shipley said. “I believe they were playing inspired for Coach Cox and really wanted to win for him. It was a really loud bus ride home.”
Staff photo by C.B. Schmelter / Red Bank football coach Chris Brown must serve a one-game suspension due to his ejection.Lions’ coach sits out
Red Bank will be without head coach Chris Brown when it hosts Rhea County on Friday night as he serves a one-game suspension for an ejection during last week’s Region 3-3A win at Sweetwater.
Brown was ejected for coming onto the field to argue with referees for not throwing flags on several plays in which Lions players received what he considered deliberate hits to their knees. Brown had asked officials before the game to watch for Sweetwater players diving into knees after noticing it on video from other games.
As the Lions began to take control, Brown became irritated by his players receiving what he considered cheap shots, including one fourth-quarter extra-point play when a Sweetwater player lowered his shoulder and dove into Lions senior Daveon Autry’s right knee. Video footage showed Autry’s right knee being lifted into the air on impact.
“One of their players made a rogue decision to dive at one of our kids’ kneecap,” Brown said. “I pleaded with officials to protect our players after that play. Later in the quarter it happened again, and I made the decision that I had to make sure that if the officials were not going to protect our kids, I will.
“I just wanted it known that somebody needed to do something to prevent it from happening again before one of our kids got hurt badly.”
A coach ejection comes with an automatic one-game suspension for the next game, according to TSSAA rules. Red Bank administrators appealed the suspension on Monday but were informed on Thursday that the suspension would be upheld.
One of several plays where a Sweetwater player dove into the knees of a Red Bank player last night during the Lions 49-10 region win. Lions coach @cbrownrun11 was ejected for arguing with refs over not calling it. RB senior Daveon Autry will have his knee evaluated Monday pic.twitter.com/OQKyZteQwz
— Stephen Hargis (@StephenHargis) October 5, 2019
Basin nears air records
Off to its best start to a football season in seven years, Copper Basin continues to inch closer to several school records as well.
Junior quarterback Bryson Grabowski leads the area with 1,547 passing yards, just 234 from the program’s season record. That passing total also ranks fourth in the state currently. Chase Mickens is also among the state’s leaders in receptions, with 36 for 888 yards, and is on pace to become the Cougars’ first 1,000-yard receiver.
In last week’s 52-3 Region 3-1A win over Lookout Valley, Grabowski threw for 260 yards and a pair of touchdowns and Mickens caught seven passes for 124 yards.
Prior to Chad Grabowski – Bryson’s dad – taking over last season, Copper Basin had only two winning seasons in the past decade. The Cougars (6-1, 3-0) host 3A McMinn Central on Friday, then will have an open date before closing out the regular season with a road trip to Andrews (North Carolina) and a visit from top-ranked South Pittsburg for the region title.
The Cougars have beaten region opponents by an average score of 46-12, and their only loss so far came in week two, by one point at Hayesville (North Carolina).
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.