While 20 other prep football teams from the Chattanooga area - 10 each in Georgia and Tennessee - are just getting started on their path toward a possible state championship, one has already secured a title.
Fresh off last weekend's Tennessee State Independent Athletic Association eight-man championship, Grace Academy now has a shot at adding a national title as well.
In its inaugural season competing in the eight-man football league, the Golden Eagles raced past Lancaster Christian 40-22 last Saturday to finish an 11-0 season and win the school's first state championship in a boys' sport.
That win, coupled with being the nation's No. 1-ranked eight-man team, also earned Grace the right to travel to Panama City Beach, Florida, to compete in the NHSA national tournament this weekend. That four-team event begins Saturday, when Grace will take on last year's national champion, Evangel Christian of Alabaster, Alabama. If the Eagles advance, they would play for the national title on Monday.
"We're treating this trip like a bowl game," Grace coach Bob Ateca said. "It'll be a tough turnaround to potentially play two games in three days, especially since we're already pretty banged up, so we're just going down there with the mindset to compete and look at this as a celebration for a great season."
Grace made the move to eight-man football in the spring due to a smaller number of players on its roster, with the school's enrollment suffering after an April 2020 tornado leveled its campus. Despite having only 17 players, the Eagles were rarely challenged throughout the season, outscoring opponents by an average of 52-14.
Staff file photo by Matt Hamilton / Grace Academy coach Bob Ateca's eight-man football team will make the trip from Chattanooga to Panama City Beach, Florida, to compete in a four-team national championship tournament that starts Saturday.Senior quarterback Cooper Knecht earned all-state honors, having thrown and run for a combined 46 touchdowns while compiling nearly 3,000 total yards. In the state title game, Knecht ran for 176 yards, threw for 120 and had five total touchdowns, while Tyler Parrott added 91 yards and a score on the ground as Grace outrushed Lancaster 274-41. Mason Long, another all-state honoree, led the defense with 11 tackles.
In their third game of the season, the Eagles rallied from a halftime deficit to beat Evangel Christian on the road.
"That win should give us confidence that we can compete with any of the teams in the tournament, but it's also reason for concern since you know those guys will play with a chip on their shoulder after losing to us earlier," said Ateca, who added that the state championship trophy is on display in the entrance of Morris Hill Baptist Church, the school's temporary home until the new campus is completed.
"When we made the decision to move to the eight-man game, we felt like the experience of playing in a physical 11-man division for so long would help us. I think it did," Ateca said. "I was glad our kids got to stay on the field for a while last week to take lots of pictures and just soak up everything, because they have really come together and fought through some tough obstacles to accomplish something that is really special."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.