Patriots rise to No. 3 in Class 5A poll

Fresh off a 44-16 triumph Friday night over Liberty Tech in Jackson, the Henry County High School football team was greeted on Monday with an improved No. 3 ranking in the Associated Press Class 5A poll.

The Patriots entered last week ranked No. 6. Henry County is 4-0 to open the season for the first time since the 2013 season when the Patriots went 15-0 and won the Class 5A state championship.

Knoxville Fulton (3-0) remains No. 1 in the poll and Knoxville Catholic (2-1), the defending Class 5A champion, is No. 2.

At No. 4 is Oak Ridge which slipped from No. 2 in last week’s poll after falling 20-14 to Class 6A No. 7 Farragut. Oak Ridge is coached by former Henry County head coach Joe Gaddis.

Two of Henry County’s Region 7-5A rivals are next in the poll. Clarksville Northeast (4-0) is No. 5 with Clarksville High School (4-0) sitting at No. 6. Henry County will play host to Clarksville at 7 p.m. Friday at Patriot Stadium.

With both teams sharing 1-0 region records, Patriot head coach James Counce Jr. says this week’s game is as important as it gets for teams in the hunt for the region championship.

“I’m not sure there is a bigger game being played anywhere in the state this weekend than the one that is going to be right here. Clarksville has a very good football team. They have size and they have a lot of good athletes and they are playing some really good football,” said Counce. 

Counce was very happy to come out of the battle at Liberty Tech without any new injuries. He said the Patriots will need to be at full strength to take on the Wildcats.

“I like playing strong opponents like this because the coaching staff doesn’t have to do anything special to try to fire the players up. Our kids will come here this week ready to get to work and get ready to find a way to beat Clarksville. They know a lot of those guys on the Clarksville team. Some played with each other in baseball this summer and they have already been sending messages to each other. I’m willing to bet our guys will be extremely ready to play by Friday night. The coaches’ job isn’t to have them ready on Wednesday or Thursday but to be absolutely for sure, they are ready on Friday. I bet they will be,” said Counce.

He said the Wildcats are tough on defense with a very active secondary and big defensive line. Some of those linemen also form the core of the offensive line but Clarksville doesn’t play many players both ways.

The Wildcats are throwing the ball more this season and doing it effectively. They run from veer sets and option plays and throw in some run or pass options at times. Counce said it is a lot for an opposing defense to digest.

Senior Ford Cooper is the Wildcats quarterback. Cooper is a good athlete who runs and throws well. Counce says Cooper has two tall receiving targets and is protected by a big line that includes Brandon Armstrong, Blake Hundley and Jason Eaton, the biggest Wildcat at 6-foot-7, 320 pounds.

Senior runner Josh Watch has missed time this season with injuries but is expected back anytime and the matchup with Henry County could be the right time.

“All the Clarksville schools make their biggest objective to be to find a way to beat Henry County. We tell our kids all the time that our tradition and success has put that bullseye on our backs. Our kids understand that it would truly make one of those team’s season to knock us off the throne. Clarksville is going to come here intending to do that and really believing they are good enough to get the job done. They will be ready to do whatever it takes. We have to work hard to prepare and make sure they come up short,” Counce said.

He said this is the kind of game he enjoys coaching in.

“I’m excited every week but a big game like this just gets everyone’s competitive juices flowing a little more. The kids will have a little more energy in practice and the coaches will tend to watch film a little more and meet a little longer all week. We hope all the fans understand what a big week this is for us. Nothing will help the team more than to come out in warmups with that stadium filled with red and making a lot of noise. We are seriously going to need that home field, twelfth-man advantage this week. Clarksville is that good. I’m sure everyone is looking forward to this game,” Counce said.