NASHVILLE – When Hunter Frame began playing football – eight years old with a mop of floppy brown hair – he would stand along the edge of the South Pittsburg High School sideline to high-five varsity players as they made their way to the field.
Like so many young boys in his hometown, Frame dreamed of playing for the Pirates on Friday nights and by his senior season things had come full circle as he took his turn as a player the youth league Pirates idolized.
On Tuesday he capped his prep career by putting his name among the program’s most accomplished athletes when he became the Pirates sixth Tennessee Titans Class 1A Mr. Football award winner during a ceremony at Nissan Stadium.
“This has been a dream of mine since I was little,” Frame said. “When our season ended last year I wrote down some goals for my senior season. I wanted to help us get to the state championship game and win it, I wanted to earn all-state and be a Mr. Football candidate. We didn’t get the championship, but it was an honor just to get there, and I will always remember what we accomplished.”
Frame was one of five Chattanooga-area finalists for the Mr. Football award in their respective classification, but was the only one to win it. He was joined as a finalist in 1A by South Pittsburg teammate Jared Stone, a senior all-state offensive lineman and linebacker, while the running back trio of Meigs County’s Will Meadows (2A), McMinn County’s Jalen Hunt (6A) and McCallie’s B.J. Harris (Division II-AAA) were also finalists.