Any time Hixson senior Ryan Burney takes the football field, opponents better account for where No. 10 is for the Wildcats.
The 6-foot-2, 190-pound Burney has been a turnover maven at free safety, where he has 10 interceptions, seven fumble recoveries and five forced fumbles since his sophomore season. And some of those have been more costly to the opposition than a simple loss of possession.
On the first play of a home game against Soddy Daisy last fall, he ripped the ball away from the opposing kick returner, and in the blink of an eye, returned the ball the other way for one of his four nonoffensive scores during a junior season in which he had a hand in forcing 10 turnovers.
“When I see somebody with the ball, I go directly to them,” Burney said. “My mentality is we need scorers on defense, too. So I try to get the ball and take it the other way whenever I can. I always want to leave everything I have out there for my team on the field and give us the best chance to win.”
As a senior, Burney has been a two-way force for Hixson (5-5), which will host White County (7-3) in the first round of the TSSAA Class 4A playoffs at 7 p.m. Thursday.