Friday Night Recap

Looking back on a Friday night where so many teams observed their bye before looking to close out strong.

All three Putnam County schools took the field though, as well as Clay County and York. It was quite the night under the Friday night lights.

Clay: Coming off their bye week but back in school it was a slow start for the bulldogs in a battle of dogs as they traveled to Red Boiling Springs. Ultimately a 49-16, the team from Celina found their rhythm and head coach Bruce Lamb was proud in the end. He knows though they have to continue to “get eleven men on the same page” and get more consistent. Next week they go back on the road to a Trousdale County team we will discuss more as they visited Monterey last night. Spoiler, they ran away with it.

Cookeville: Another road trip, another statement win for the Cavaliers. Still on fall break but returning from their bye, the Cavs took their longest trip of the regular season to Lincoln County, Fayetteville, and rolled 41-13. A evidenced by the score everything was working and after playing their ‘most complete game’ two weeks ago at Gallatin, they might’ve topped it already. Things definitely ramp up as they close out the season with two region games, at home, against Green Hill (6-2) and Wilson Central (3-5).

Upperman: Trailing 14-7 in the first half, and tied 14-14 at the half, Upperman clearly was a little rusty off the bye week and still on fall break. They stayed undefeated however, as their pedigree took over. Ethan Palk had 17 yards at the half, ended with more than 120. Bronzen Chaffin had three touchdowns, and the Bees defense held White House scoreless to pick up a 28-14 victory. They have to round into shape and at least approach ‘peaking’ quickly as they close out the season with home games against Stone Memorial and DeKalb County.

Monterey: The trend solidified itself last night as Trousdale County came to Monterey and ran away with a 28-0 victory. The wildcats therefore finish the season 1-4 at home but currently sit at 3-0 on the road with two road games left, both in region. Last night the passing game just never got going in anyway and when you keep putting the defense back out there, at some point Cole Gregory and Kobyn Calhoun will see their physical downhill running style take over. The next two games are Jackson County and Smith County, winnable for Monterey, and at 1-2 currently in region play, they’ll more than likely need both to set themselves up for a deep playoff run.

York: If you like defense then you game of the year might have occurred last night in Lebanon. The Dragons on the road at Friendship Christian somehow stayed undefeated in a come from behind 8-7 win. No, that is not a typo. 8-7, as if it were a high scoring baseball game. Certainly the score implies that for a second straight week the York defense showed up and showed out after giving up an early touchdown. The offense has scored 21 total points over the last two weeks after averaging 37 points per game entering last week’s game. Luckily the Dragons final two opponents are a combined 5-11 on the year, so they will have a few games to ramp the offense back up, and maybe give the defense some spot starters and rest.