Prep Football: 2017 season kicks off Friday
Published 10:47 pm Monday, August 14, 2017
Come Friday night, Carter County high school football squads will be taking to the field to open up the 2017 football season.
Elizabethton at Science Hill, 7:30 p.m.
The Cyclones will start things off with a short trip over to Johnson City where they will visit the Science Hill Toppers. Over the years, the Cyclones and Toppers have developed quite the rivalry. Last season, the two teams fought to double overtime before the Hill Toppers escaped Citizens Bank Stadium with a 28-21 win.
Happy Valley at Volunteer, 7:30 p.m.
The Warriors will make the trip over to Volunteer this Friday where they will take on the 5A Falcons. Friday’s contest will give Warriors fans a first look at a Warriors team that graduated a slew of senior starters last year. Happy Valley will be led by senior QB Brayden Sams who started at wide receiver in 2016. The Warriors will be looking to get the 2017 season off to a good start after a highly successful run in 2016 that saw the Warriors go 11-2 while making a deep sprint to the Class 2A State Playoffs where they fell to Austin-East.
Hampton at Trinity Academy, 7:30 p.m.
The Hampton Bulldogs will get their season started with a road game at Trinity Academy.
Hampton will be coming into Friday’s game after a good showing during last week’s jamboree at Cloudland High School. During two-quarters of play against Unaka, the ‘Dogs picked up a 26-0 win. Starting running back Hunter Davenport scored on runs of 65 and 59 yards during the first quarter. In the second quarter, Hampton QB Alex Hardin had a nine-yard touchdown strike to tight end Caleb Oaks. Hampton’s Ramsey Greenwell also had a 69-yard touch run.
The game will be played at the Old Lynn View High School at 257 Walker Street in Kingsport.
Unaka at North Greene, 7:30 p.m.
The Unaka Rangers will be seeking to bottle up all of their preseason enthusiasm and take it with them to Baileyton where they will open things up against the North Greene Huskies.
The Rangers will be under the leadership of first-year head coach O’Brien Bennett who hopes to get Unaka back on track after a 1-win season in 2017.
A good showing against the Huskies will be key in getting the Rangers on the path to greener football pastures.
Gatlinburg-Pittman at Cloudland, 7:30 p.m.
Roan Mountain will be the site of the only home game in the county Friday night as Cloudland hosts Gatlinburg-Pittman for a show down of the Highlanders.
Last Friday, Cloudland took on Johnson County in jamboree action. Despite losing 7-0, the Highlander’s had the be better statistical stat sheet. Cloudland racked up 110 yards of total offense during two-quarters of play. Cloudland running back Jordan Coffey led the attack with 74 yards on 12 carries. Defensively, the ‘Landers held the Longhorns to 58 yards.
