JASPER, Tenn. — In typical teenage fashion, the gravity of what they had just accomplished was mostly lost on the kids in the sweat-soaked purple-and-black Marion County football jerseys.
But judging by the wide smiles among the graybeards — the former players standing along the fence behind the home sideline and packed into the bleachers — they understood the significance.
Led by a defense that has been rock solid all season and an offense capable of breaking hearts and big plays on any snap, state-ranked No. 2 Marion County capped the program’s first 10-0 regular season in nearly 30 years with a resounding 42-9 Region 4-2A victory over visiting Cascade on Friday night.
Not only is it the first unbeaten regular season since 1995 (which was also the last of the Warriors’ four state championship seasons) and their first region title since 2016 (which was the last time they appeared in a state title game), it also culminated one of the Chattanooga area’s biggest turnarounds from last season.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football games)