Top 10 Following Week 1

BY DANIEL SPARKMAN Several teams start the season in the hole with a loss in Week 1. Out of our Preseason Top 10 we lose The King’s Academy and Seymour and welcome Lakeway Christian and Grainger. Lakeway Christian is looking for a strong start in their 3rd season on the field and trying to improve on a 3-4 record from a year ago. Grainger finished last year even at 5-5 but didn’t manage to win any region games, they hope to improve that percentage this season.  Here is our Week 1 Top 10: Alcoa (1-0) Maryville (1-0) Sevier County (1-0) …

Alcoa, Maryville Football Top Preseason Top 10

BY DANIEL SPARKMAN As we prepare for Week 1 of High School Football in Tennessee, we have placed the 19 football teams in our coverage area into a Top 10 list. These rankings are based on players that are returning to the team from last year, each team’s performance during the jamboree games, and a team’s previous records. With that said our preseason top 10: Alcoa Maryville Jefferson County Carter Sevier County Gatlinburg-Pittman TKA Pigeon Forge Morristown-West Seymour The Alcoa Tornadoes top the list as they are defending their Class 3A State Championship with a 2021 record of 14-1. Maryville …

Alcoa State Champs

Two-A-Days: Alcoa sets sights on 8-peat with Nix at helm

BY BRIAN HAMILTON Alcoa completed its seventh consecutive Class 3A championship run last December, defeating East Nashville 45-14. The Tornadoes now hold the longest streak of TSSAA championships in the common era. Believe it or not, however, Alcoa is only halfway to breaking the nation record of consecutive state titles, as St. Louis from Hawaii won 14 straight from 1986 through 1999. South Dakota’s Sioux Falls Washington has also been credited with 14 straight from 1951 through 1964, but during that day and age, many of those titles were viewed as mythical. Regardless, Alcoa seemingly has a stranglehold on Class …

Alcoa Champs

Alcoa defeats two-time defending champs Forrest 6-1 to win first state title

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MURFREESBORO – Alcoa faced Forrest twice on Saturday, as rainstorms cancelled all games on Thursday, stretching most of the softball series into Saturday. The Lady Tornadoes (29-13) lost to Forrest (30-12) in the 2:30 game 11-5, handing Alcoa its first and only setback of the state tournament, forcing a winner take all game at 6 p.m. The Lady Tornadoes would take an early lead in the championship game and came away with a 6-1 win and the school’s first state softball championship. It was the third consecutive time that Alcoa and Forrest had faced one another, with …

Alcoa Emmert

Alcoa shuts out Community 4-0 to advance to semis

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MURFREESBORO – Alcoa had never won a game in the state championships coming into this year’s tournament, but blink and the Lady Tornadoes have won two. Alcoa fought tooth and nail on Tuesday night to defeat Riverside in nine innings and then blanked Community after a two-hour rain delay for a 4-0 victory. “I’m super proud of our kids,” Alcoa coach Sarah Fekete Bailey said after the game. “We started about an hour-and-a-half late and it was raining a lot and the field was not in the best playing conditions. I told the kids that both teams …