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) …

Frias

Morristown West uses early lead to take down East 24-7

CHRISTOPHER MALONEY Correspondent In the annual area high school “kickoff” game of the season, the 2022 version of the Kickoff Classic saw Morristown West come storming out of the gate and then cause problems with interceptions and stifling defense to beat Morristown East 24-7. Morristown East coach Caleb Slover also brought up their Achilles heel in 2021 continued, which was the inability to finish drives including in the final quarter when turnovers killed the Hurricanes’ chances to score. Morristown West coach Alvin Sanders, on the other hand, was very pleased with how his team played. It wasn’t perfect and there …

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 …

Morristown West

Two-A-Days: Morristown West looks to build on momentum from 2021

BY CHRISTOPHER MALONEY Correspondent Last year, Morristown West finished 5-6 overall (5-5 regular season, 0-1 postseason). The Trojans went 4-0 at home but due to some mental mistakes, according to head coach Alvin Sanders, they weren’t able to close out wins on the road. This year, getting the players ready, not just on the field, but mentally, has been the focus. Sanders said the goal is for this year’s team to be better mentally prepared to handle the twists of turns in a game than last year’s squad was. When asked if he feels this team is better than last …

McMahan

Lady Patriots’ comeback falls short at Morristown-West

BY BRIAN HAMILTON MORRISTOWN – Nina Lovelace set the tone early for Morristown-West, as the senior finished with 23 points in a narrow 54-53 win over Jefferson County. The Lady Trojans held a sizeable lead in the second half, but the Lady Patriots were able to tie the game late in the fourth quarter. Morristown-West was able to escape narrowly with a 55-54 win. “I thought we controlled it, I really did,” Morristown-West head coach Johnny Gaylon said after the game. “It seemed like in the fourth quarter, we tried to run the clock out and that probably messed us …