BY SPENCER CAMPBELL
BRISTOL HERALD COURIER
KINGSPORT, Tenn. – Tennessee High unofficially kicked off its season on Thursday.
Officially, Vikings coach Greg Stubbs said, the Vikings have a lot of work to do.
Tennessee High lost 21-0 to Sullivan South in the Big Eight Jamboree at Sullivan South High School in the schools’ first live action against an opposing team.
Along with the Big Eight’s other six teams, the Vikings and Rebels simulated a quarter of live action, though the scrimmage included no punts and no kickoffs.
It did, however, feature a pair of Vikings turnovers in only 12 minutes.
“Well, we didn’t do very well,” Stubbs said. “We gave up a touchdown on offense, which is not good, we gave up some big plays on defense, and that wasn’t good. Put those two [things] together, and it’s 21-0.”
Tennessee High played without star senior running back Keenan Shepard, who sat out with a case of bronchitis. Shepard was a key componet of the Vikings’ offense last season, when he ran for 1,313 yards.
Still, the Vikings got off to a hot start on Thursday night, showcasing their new pass-friendly offense with quarterback Taylor Harmon at the helm. The senior signal-caller completed his first two passes of the day before Carlos Howard took a handoff up the middle for 18 yards.
But, with Tennessee High on a roll, disaster struck. Forced to scramble by a hard-charging pass rush, Harmon lofted an interception to South’s Clint Phillips, who returned the ball 65 yards for a touchdown.
Things quickly traveled from bad to worse for the Vikings. South struck again when quarterback Aaron St. Clair completed a 25-yard touchdown pass, before a Vikings’ fumble led to five-yard Bobby Taylor touchdown run.
Many have picked the Rebels to finish second in the newly formed Big Eight.
“South’s a good football team. This is probably South’s best senior class from A-to-Z,” Stubbs said. “They’re a good football team, and we knew that.”
Regardless of the competition, Thursday’s scrimmage showed that the Vikings have much to improve before their Aug. 28 opener at Sullivan East.
“We, as a football team, we’re struggling,” Stubbs said. “We’ve got some things we’ve got to do. We’ve got to do some soul searching with this bunch. We are lacking in a lot of areas from past groups that I’ve coached.
“We’ve got to try and find those things. One of them is character.”
Not all is lost for the Vikings.
Harmon finished the scrimmage 5-11 for 69 yards in just 12 minutes and three possessions. Shepard’s back-up, Howard, has a burst of speed that will keep any defense on its toes.
There is potential, according to Stubbs.
“If we can stay healthy and if we can go to work and block everything out,’ he said, “we could become a good football team by the end of the season.”
scampbell@bristolnews.com|(276) 645-2543
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