PREP FOOTBALL: Tennessee High opens postseason with win

BY JOSH FLOYD
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
BRISTOL, Tenn. – It took a bit longer than planned to shake some return-yardage cobwebs away from free safety John Ellis Davis after his second-quarter interception, but the senior defender soon cracked a wide smile following Tennessee High’s 37-7 first-round 5A playoff victory over Seymour on Friday at the Stone Castle.

“As a defense, any time that we can help out our offense by going out there and setting up some good field position for them … that’s just a good thing to do,” said Davis, who secured two of the Vikings’
five picks before leaving due to injury during his TD return. “It feels great.”

Breaking records left and right it seems this campaign, the Vikings shattered two more defensive jewels against the Eagles (4-7). Not only did Davis set the school’s single-season interception mark in
the win, but the Vikings also moved past the 2004 squad’s single-season team interception total as well.

“We’re setting a lot of records this year,” said THS coach Greg Stubbs, who received a game-high 90 rushing yards from Keenan Shepard.

With the Tennessee High offense offering rare, but visible, sputtering at times, the defensive unit put the clamps on any form of a Seymour upset with furious pressure aimed at quarterback Dustin Fain.
Fain, who completed just 6-of-20 with three interceptions, had to throw off his back foot on two separate THS stunts up the middle, resulting in marked returns from both Davis and Carlos Howard.

“When our defensive line puts so much pressure on their quarterback, it gives us so much time to read the routes,” Howard said. “And when they throw it up in the air, we’re going to undercut it and catch the ball.”

That left the THS offense a short field on numerous occasions, as the hosts turned four Eagle miscues into 21 first-half points. Seymour – which held THS (11-0) to a three-and-out on its initial series – muffed a punt that eventually turned into a score, while later sending a high snap into the end zone for an uncontested safety.

“We just shot ourselves in the foot too many times,” admitted Seymour coach Jim Moore, who got a late 48-yard TD run from running back Blake Overton (eight carries, 70 yards) to end the shutout. “You
can’t do that against a good team – especially as good as they are. They didn’t do anything we weren’t expecting, but we didn’t expect to have six turnovers.”

Adding to that fray was an interception return and score from T.J. Simmons late in the third, whose 21-yard pick and scoot down the right hash against Fain’s intended out pattern gave the Vikings a commanding 30-0 advantage.

“Our defense really picked us up and made some plays, plus they kept us in good field position,” Stubbs added. “We didn’t create any field position from our offense, so we’ve got to do a better job offensively in the next ballgame.”

That next contest is a familiar foe to the Vikings. Fellow Big 8 representative Daniel Boone, which recorded a 38-28 win over visiting Morristown East in other first-round action, invades the Castle for an enticing second-round showdown next Friday.

Game time is set for 7 p.m.