One of the best teams ever!

I've been involved with Maryville High School athletics since 1982, when I began assisting Team Physician Dr. Bob Haralson on the MHS football sidelines.  

In the 80's, I also helped with Alcoa, Greenback, Heritage, and William Blount.  My work day usually ended with rounds to those high schools.  I would leave my office, drop by Heritage, Alcoa, Maryville, William Blount (in that order) then home.   When Bill Satterfield called, I would also make a trip down Morganton Road to Greenback.

In those days, I knew pretty much every high school athlete in the area.   When it came to game coverage, I would usually try and cover the games that involved two of our county schools.  If there was more than one of those on a given night, I would cover the "bigger" game.  Maryville College Head Athletic Trainer Sharon Wood was always there to help.

Then in the early 90's we were able to add Athletic Trainers and assign one to each of those same schools (that system is still in place today).  That was when I was able to focus on only one school.

I have great memories of teams and coaches from all those years.   The 1987 Greenback football and girls basketball teams that both won a state championship.  The 1989 Alcoa football state champions. The 1984 MHS and the 1986 HHS football teams that should have.  

Players like Mike Dunn and Lee Headrick.  Loren Riddick.  T.J. Myles and Steve Oliviera.  Kim Berry and Rosie Marsh.  Dawn Marsh.  Jamie Henry and Shannon Mitchell and Billy Williams.  Brian Hanley and Shane Edmonds.

Coaches like Yogi Wilson, Vernon Osborne, Jim Riddick, Earl McMahan, Punky Dalton, Ronnie Phelps, Rainbow Heatherly...that list could go on for days.

My favorite football team has got to be my son's 1998 MHS squad that won the state championship.   It was the team that kicked off Maryville's remarkable streak that has continued to this day.  The offensive line on that team had four seniors that played college football, three at Division 1 schools. 

But this year's MHS squad is really special.   Overall more talent than any team I've seen in red and black (sorry '98).   If you didn't watch the state championship game last weekend, you missed a great game.  Execution, courage, teamwork, discipline, coaching, and effort overcame a really good Whitehaven team.

 The Blue Cross win over Whitehaven was win #700 since MHS began playing football in 1926.  The defense gave up 120 points in 2011 to rank as the 8th best in the modern era, and the offense scored 563 points to rank 5th in all time scoring at MHS.  The 13th state title gives the Rebels the most state championships of all teams in the state.

An interesting statistic is that this team does not own any single-season records.   None.   They were just really good at everything.   They were "team" personified.

As best as I can find out, they are the only team in Tennessee high school football history that invoked the "mercy rule" in every single playoff game.  

Great players, great coaches.  Great student trainers that keep me young(er).  Thanks, guys, for letting me be a part of a very special year.