Christopher James

Alcoa boys soccer coach Tom Gorman still doesn’t have that win over Eric Turner, but he’s getting closer.
It wasn’t that long ago that Gorman, the 2009 Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association boys soccer coach of the year, was begging the Bearden coach for games.
Turner, whose led the Bulldogs to three Class AAA state titles, did some skills work with Gorman when he was a youth goalkeeper in Oak Ridge. Gorman got the Alcoa job a couple years ago and gave Turner a ring.

“I don’t think you remember me, and he’s like ‘I do.’ I’m like, ‘Please play me. We’ll come on senior night and get spanked,’ and we did,” Gorman said. “Since then, he’s wanted to play. The last two have been 1-0 to them so I hope we give them at least a reason to play us.”
Monday’s narrow loss is just another measure of the Tornadoes’ improvement under Gorman. Bearden beat Alcoa 8-0 two years ago. Last year, Alcoa lost 1-0 in Knoxville on the last day of the regular season before going on a run to the Class A/AA state title match. This year’s rematch came on the first day of the season and, while the result is no different, Gorman hopes this is a springboard for another run to Murfreesboro.
“If we came out and won 3-0, it’d be really hard to coach this team,” Gorman said. “Right now they’re frustrated and they’re upset, which is good. Hopefully they’ll forget about it tonight and we can start training again later this week.

It appears Alcoa High School could host the Tennessee Diamonds in the professional softball team’s first year in Blount County.
I talked to Lady Tornadoes softball coach Paul Talley last week and he said he’d heard from Diamonds general manager Sarah Fekete about using the field, generally considered one of the county’s best, this summer. An item has also appeared on the Alcoa City Board of Education’s Tuesday agenda (below) asking the board to “approve usage of softball field.”

Talley said he thought Fekete had several other sites in mind but neither Maryville College nor Blount County Schools, which would include William Blount and Heritage, said they had been contacted about using their fields. Maryville, Alcoa and Blount County Parks and Rec director Joe Huff said the Diamonds only asked him about playing several games at Sandy Springs Park the week of the Smoky Mountain Classic, a nationally recognized men’s slowpitch softball tournament in July.
No matter where they play, the Diamonds will need to bring their own bleachers. Alcoa’s field seats just 150, well below the required league minimum of 1,000.
“Our need really is for the seating,” Fekete said last week. “If you got a couple extra million dollars you want to throw in for the bleachers, I’ll take it.”
Things should become clearer Tuesday night.

A new district, but still the same old obstacles for the Alcoa boys basketball team.
While football has gotten all the attention when it comes to reclassification, the shuffling has, at least in a small way, an effect on virtually every sport. Basketball is no exception, where Alcoa leaves a loaded league with Fulton, Carter and Austin-East for the friendlier District 4-AA, where it seems the stiffest competition will come from Stone Memorial, who ended Alcoa’s season in the region tournament last year.

“This district is not as athletic as the one we’re coming from,” Tornadoes coach Micah Marsh said. “But you still got to play that other district to get anywhere you want.”
And that’s the problem for Marsh. The new district features just one team who had a better record than Alcoa last year (the Panthers, at 24-7), but all those powerhouses from the Tornadoes former district still lurk on the opposite side of the region.
“People can say what they want, ‘Well, you’ll have a few more wins,” Marsh said. “Well, our schedule probably is a little easier without Fulton and A-E and Carter on it of course, but it ain’t going to get easier when the time comes.”
Alcoa will still get to meet up with the Roadrunners thanks to a first-round pairing in a holiday tournament at Gibbs. The Tornadoes surely will have to face one of those three schools come March. A sectional berth requires Alcoa to finish at least second at the region tourney. That means likely knocking off at least two of the four 20-win monsters that call District 3-AA home. As Marsh put it, the region still runs through the two-time defending AA state champion Falcons.
“The district is the district,” Marsh said. “The region is where it matters. … You can take what you want. You want to play them twice during the season and then be ready for them in the tournament or not play them and try to pick up a game here or there.”

Alcoa moves from a district with four 20-win teams, to one with just a single 20-game winner. (source: coacht.com)

This should give Alcoa a boost.
Logan Sharp, a backup quarterback for the Tornadoes football team last year, started focusing solely on basketball last spring. That means boys basketball coach Micah Marsh will have his senior point guard on the floor right away and not have to wait for the football team’s annual run to the state title to end in December.

“I played AAU in the summer and that helped a lot,” Sharp said Monday. “I gained 10 pounds from offseason conditioning and workouts. I think I made the right decision.”
Marsh said he thought this year was the first time Sharp was able to play AAU in the summer. It’s paid off, drawing the guard some small college interest. It’s also going to help an Alcoa squad that comes in with just two seniors and a bevy of sophomores.
“He’s been to several programs, gotten stronger, gotten quicker,” Marsh said. “I think he’s feeling really good about his game right now. It’ll help a lot with senior leadership. He knows what’s going on.”
Having Sharp around should help the Tornadoes get out of the gate, something they’ve struggled with in the past while waiting for football season to end. Alcoa is just 5-8 in November since 2001, and last year went 1-4 playing its first November games since 2004.
“Usually you get back from football in December,” Sharp said. “You play state on Friday and your first (basketball) game is Monday, so it takes a while to get into condition. Now, you’ve been (in) basketball condition since April.”
Sharp’s young teammates are thankful for that. They won’t be out there alone, trying to feel their way through the first few weeks of the season.
“He’s a big part of this team and with him being here for the Hall of Fame games, that’ll help us a lot,” sophomore Hunter Ramsey said. “He’s a great player. He helps us with the plays and he helps everybody get involved. He’s just a good teammate.”
Stay tuned to see how much of an impact Sharp’s presence will have when the Tornadoes play games later this month against Wartburg Central (Nov. 17), McMinn County (Nov. 19) and Gibbs (Nov. 23).
“Our young guys are talented, you know,” Sharp said. “I feel like an older brother sometimes. … We’re all good friends. We go out to eat a lot. They kind turn to me for advice and stuff. I’m cool with it. I like feeling like an older brother.”

COOKEVILLE —

Brandon Cole returns fumble 55 yards for SM score.. Dalton Wheeler returns ensuing kickoff 85 yards for touchdown of his own.
Halftime comes early thanks to the TSSAA mercy rule.

Tallant’s 28-yard scramble sets up a 12-yard touchdown run for Toney. For those of you scoring at home, that’s five on the day.

Toney punches in from 8 yards out.

Fumbled pitch by SM recovered by Brooks Cunningham at the 16. Tallant hits Chaz Barnes for a touchdown on the next play

Stone Memorial fumbles and Darrell Warren recovers the ball at the 10. Toney jogs in on the next play.

Taharin Tyson’s turn to shake through the D. His 40-yard run sets up a two-yard touchdown rush for Toney.

Toney bounces in and out and is gone, 67-yard touchdown run.

Stone fumbles on the first play, Tallent is intercepted on Alcoa’s second play, and now the Tornadoes have the ball back after a 3 and out

Stone wins the toss and will receive the kick.

Live here at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, where both Alcoa and Stone Memorial have taken the field. The press box is clearly in the midst of renovations for the state championships in December, but its still a pretty nice box with wireless and everything.
I had my doubts about coming here in December, but so far color me impressed with the folks at Tennessee Tech. This stadium and campus are pretty nice, and there does seem to be plenty of parking adjacent to the stadium. So far, the only issue was with the referees, who couldn’t find a dressing room that wasn’t locked. That was quickly remedied and in the words of one official, “They aren’t going to start without me.”
As for the game, the Panthers enter last in District 4-AA, a pedestrian 2-6 overall. Alcoa is unbeaten and well, Alcoa. Jaron Toney on artificial turf should be fun. The Tornadoes (7-0, 3-0) can clinch a playoff berth with a win.

Alcoa even brought its inflatable helmet.

Lady Rebels win their second straight county title, unbeaten in this event for the second straight year.

Maryville now the only unbeaten. A win over Heritage clinches another BC title.

The second round matchup with Maryville and Alcoa could decide things.

Alcoa pulls out another come from behind win. Grace Stubblefield provides the power with a sky spike and some slick serves.

Maryville dominating Game 2.

M breaks open a 15-all first game to take it. Alcoa rebounds from 20-17 down behind strong spikes and serves by Abigail Walker.

Heading over to Heritage here in a minute for the Blount County volleyball tourney. Tonight’s matches, scheduled for 5, 6 and 7 p.m., have been moved from Alcoa after a fire in the gym last night.
Here’s how this shindig works: It’s a round robin format, so each of the four teams plays everyone else once. Best record wins. Games count in a team’s overall record, but not as district matches.
Maryville won this event last year, going unbeaten in three matches to edge past the Lady Tornadoes, who finished 2-1.
You can follow along here with standings on the Big Board. I’ll also try to keep you posted on matches in progress. It all starts up at 5 p.m.

Completed Matches: Maryville def. WB, 25-16, 25-8. Alcoa def. Heritage 25-21, 25-22. Maryville def. Alcoa 25-16, 25-17. Heritage def. WB 25-18, 25-23.

Just off the phone with Alcoa athletic director Josh Stephens and he told me tonight’s suspended game between the Tornadoes and Fulton will resume Friday at 5 p.m. at Alcoa’s Goddard Field. Admission will be free.

The game was stopped with the Tornadoes leading 20-7 with 6:33 to go in the fourth quarter when a sinkhole opened up near the sideline at Bob Black Field.

It may be near impossible for a Blount County golfer to find a way into this year’s class AAA state tournament.
All three county teams struggled Tuesday at the District 4 tournament, played on Heritage’s home course at Lambert Acres Golf Club. Consider for a moment that the six individual qualifiers for the region tournament Sept. 22 at Tennessee National in Loudon is less than half the 14 Blount County sent to the same round a year ago. Last year’s haul included three teams and a district championship for the William Blount girls.
The WB boys dropped from third in the District, and a spot in the regionals, last year to eighth this season. The top County boys squad was Maryville, who finished sixth and failed to qualify an individual golfer.
“I can’t tell you (what happened),” Govs first-year coach Jason Rowe said. “We’ve played this course and our scores were higher than usual. Maybe it was, some of our younger players aren’t used to walking 18 holes. They’re used to walking nine at a time.”
Whatever the reason, Rowe saw just two WB golfers make the next round, senior Alaura Brogdon and freshman Kinsley Vincent. They’ll be joined by the Lady Rebels’ Cassie McCracken and Angela Long. Only two male golfers made it from the County: Heritage’s Logan Vaughn and Travis Nichols.

Inconsistent greens were the biggest complaint Tuesday, but what McCracken described as “links-style” bunkers will make the Region tournament a real challenge.
Just ask Maryville coaches Tom Stinnett and Mike Driver.

I caught the CBS Evening News tonight and got to see this interesting story about football teams practicing in the heat. It references Max Gilpin, the Kentucky high school player who died last year, in part sparking the TSSAA’s new heat policy.

The policy’s been much talked about in the preseason and I’ve spent plenty of time talking to Alcoa trainer Peggy Bratt, both at practice and at Bell County (Ky.) in Week 0. Those heat sensors are pretty cool but Bratt, the Tornadoes trainer since 2000, seems to have heat management down to a science. In Week 0, several Bobcats went down in the second half to cramps, while Alcoa never had a problem.
Coach Gary Rankin told me in the preseason he lets Bratt handle all the heat-related stuff, giving his kids water whenever they ask for it.
Bratt swears by Gatorade and other sports drinks to keep her players hydrated, using a giant wooden oar to mix up coolers of the stuff. She talks to the team about staying hydrated during the week and before a game. For some, that means going four years without ever drinking a soda.
Sensors and expensive equipment are a neat tool, but its clear having a good, vigilant trainer can be just as effective.

I don’t cover Maryville football much, just because of the way our resources work out, so it was fun to find myself at Rebels’ practice a couple times this week. Aside from the Jamboree, I hadn’t even spoken to coach George Quarles in a football capacity since the BlueCross Bowl, a 10-7 loss to Hillsboro. I wondered how that loss weighed compared to Maryville’s 20-13 win over Alcoa.

There seemed to be some debate over which mattered more.
Quarles said the annual rivalry matchup actually means more now that the postseason tiebreaker is overall record. Although that seems unlikely to be a problem if you win the other nine games. The Tornadoes have made a habit of doing just that.
Quarterback Philip Juhlin was less concerned. He said district games, such as the Rebels Sept. 4 tango with West, with their direct playoff implications mean more in a big-picture sense. Oh, but those bragging rights are still nice.
“There’s none on the schedule quite like it,” Quarles said of the Alcoa game. “It’s not a state championship, but it’s close.”
So, Philip, which would you rather win?