Less than 48 hours before Chattanooga Prep’s football program pulled off an upset of TSSAA Class 2A’s top-ranked Marion County, Sentinels coach Joe Banks posted on his Facebook page the following message: “A focused man is a dangerous man.”
And a focused team is a whole bunch of trouble for anyone in its way, too.
Chatt Prep put together one of the most memorable performances in the program’s five-year history with an 18-6 win Friday night in Jasper, where the Warriors (4-1) were celebrating homecoming. By the end of the night, the Sentinels (2-3) were celebrating something, too.
“As a program, to go into an atmosphere that Marion County provided where they are coming off a state championship, it’s their homecoming, and we have the odds against us, we go down and fight the way we know how to fight,” said Banks, a Howard graduate. “I believe this is our best win as a program.
“I tell them that you win games on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays so you can perform on Friday. This week, we were able to have a very successful practice, and the energy was high. I can’t ask for more. Everyone is bought in.”