Region 4-5A football preview: Several talented teams could contend in new-look league

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Ooltewah's Christian Doty (4) tries to turn the corner as Cleveland's Aaron Jones (8) makes a diving tackle. The Cleveland Blue Raiders visited the Ooltewah Owls in TSSAA football action on October 30, 2020.
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Ooltewah's Christian Doty (4) tries to turn the corner as Cleveland's Aaron Jones (8) makes a diving tackle. The Cleveland Blue Raiders visited the Ooltewah Owls in TSSAA football action on October 30, 2020.

Repeating as Region 4-5A champions will be a difficult task for Rhea County, especially with the league's new additions.

A pair of former Class 6A programs- McMinn County and Ooltewah - will join the Golden Eagles while Howard makes the leap up from 4A. And with Walker Valley also making strides as a program the region looks to be extremely tough as the five teams' cumulative record last season was 39-18.

"All four of our region opponents were playoff teams last year," said Ooltewah's first-year head coach James Manning, who has 23 seniors on his roster. "With our schedule this season we will have to be ready to compete every Friday night.

"As coaches, you want to throw your guys in the fire and see what they are made of and how they are going to grow up. Challenges during the regular season help you prepare for the playoffs. Facing adversity also helps these guys later down the road in life too."

Mark Pemberton's Rhea County team returned to its standard of play last season after not winning a region championship the previous three seasons. The Golden Eagles look to be in great position for success again considering how quarterback Kaleb Martin and running back Ethan Davis performed as freshmen during a 10-2 campaign.

Martin accounted for 15 touchdowns and showed impressive poise with a 10-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio. Davis was hard for defenders to get a hand on as the speedy and elusive back ran for 974 yards while also totaling 115 yards on nine receptions. Both should have big seasons again especially with Maurice Shirley providing a star presence on the offensive line.

Senior Jadden Pankey looks to step into an even greater role offensively out of the backfield and as a receiver, while his eight interceptions last season led the area. Rhea County's defense returns senior standouts Drew Fisher, Austin Brackett, Sir Alloway and Gavin Roddy. Fisher was an all-state linebacker last year with 120 tackles (14 for loss) and five sacks while Brackett had 90 tackles (eight for loss).

Walker Valley has come close to beating Rhea County the past two seasons, falling 27-21 and 31-28 in a growing rivalry.

The Mustangs return senior standout Spencer Jackson who accounted for 800 all-purpose yards and six touchdowns to go with 50 tackles and four interceptions last season. Junior linebacker Eli Denton (89 tackles, 13 for loss) was an all-state playmaker last year too for a defense that posted three shutouts and held seven teams to two scores or less.

After just the fourth winning season in school history Walker Valley will look to reverse a trend where the program has gone 1-9 three different times following an above .500 season.

"Our guys buy into the fact that no team in program history has ever had back-to-back winning seasons," said Akins, whose overall record is 13-10 with the program in two seasons. "Being the first ones to ever do that means a lot to them. We want to show kids around our county that we built a program that is sustainable. We talk a lot about legacy and that's the legacy these kids want to leave behind."

While McMinn County lost a program changing group of seniors from last season, including record breaking running back Jalen Hunt who rushed for 2,451 yards and 27 touchdowns, the Cherokees look to stay competitive after winning 19 games over the last two seasons.

Star quarterback Jayden Miller is back after throwing for 819 yards and 12 touchdowns (four interceptions) to go with 756 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground last season. Hard hitting linebacker Landon Feggins looks to be in for a breakout season too.

Howard will have the region's strongest and biggest offensive line guided by Wesley Barnes (6-3, 370), Myles Houston (6-2, 315) and Roy Miles (6-1, 250) who will look to spring two-way playmakers London Cross, Jermichael Young and De'Orian Elder for big gains out of the backfield. Cross is an all-state caliber linebacker who has had back to back 100-plus tackle seasons.

"Our guys are excited and ready to build on to last year's winning season," said first-year head coach Dedric Maffett. "We are in a tough region and we look to make it a challenge for our opponents every Friday night as well."

Ooltewah also believes they could be in the hunt with an experienced senior class which returns all-region standout Jaden Carmichael who has over 20 tackles for loss the past two seasons. The Owls return all of their wide receivers and running backs as well.

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.

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