This time last year, Signal Mountain quarterback Cash Keene was miserable. His collarbone was broken, and his football team was on a runaway track to frustration.
Everything that could go wrong did go wrong for the Eagles in 2023.
Turnovers. Injuries to Keene and other key starters. Bad breaks that turned a promising season into a lost one.
So when veteran head coach Mark Mariakis arrived as the program’s next leader ahead of this season, hopes were high but realism was everywhere.
“They have done amazing things,” Keene said of the new staff, which has helped Signal Mountain start 4-0 overall and 2-0 in TSSAA Region 3-4A heading into Friday’s game at Red Bank (2-1, 1-0), which could a long way toward determining the region champion. “It’s really hard to describe how much they have changed the culture and everything we do.”