COALMONT, Tenn. - Knowing their season opener is coming up in just five days - and a second game three days after that - Whitwell's coaches opted to sit all of their projected starters for Friday's annual Sequatchie Valley Jamboree at Grundy County High School.
The 2018 Class 1A state champions have a grueling season-opening week that begins at East Ridge on Wednesday and continues at Bledsoe County next Saturday. With that in mind, first-year Tigers head coach Travis Olinger managed to block out pleas for playing time from the starters and keep them resting on the sideline.
"I think I had just about every starter coming up behind me on the sideline begging to get to go in for just one play," said Olinger, whose team fell to Silverdale Baptist Academy 13-0 and finished in a scoreless tie with Lookout Valley. "I told them they would get plenty of playing time on Wednesday.
"We're really young at just about every position behind those starters, so I thought it was a really good experience to let those young kids get out there in front of a big crowd and get the butterflies out and get some experience."
The eight-quarter event included Sequatchie County and South Pittsburg - which play each other in a season opener next Saturday - picking up two wins apiece, while Marion County and Silverdale each won its first quarter and finished in a scoreless tie when they faced off.
"This was a good game-like engagement for our guys," Silverdale coach Al Rogers said. "I love coming over here and playing against teams from the Sequatchie Valley. It's a great atmosphere and teams that play the type of football we want to see."
' Marion County 7, Lookout Valley 0: Junior quarterback Anthony Guevara converted a third down when he connected with tight end Kris Layfield on a 51-yard touchdown pass, and the Warriors' defense had three tackles for loss.
Marion had three more tackles for loss in its quarter against Silverdale.
» Silverdale 13, Whitwell 0: Evan Padgett got the Seahawks on the board first with a 15-yard scoring run, and Noah Bowen followed with a late 20-yard touchdown on their second possession.
» South Pittsburg 7, Bledsoe County 0: Fullback Cameron Trussell broke through the line and raced 57 yards for the longest scoring play of the night. The Pirates' defense did not allow a first down.
» Sequatchie County 7, Grundy County 0: Fullback Harley Meeks had two punishing runs to set up his 2-yard score, and the Indians defense forced and recovered a fumble.
» Sequatchie County 6, Bledsoe County 0: Tyler Harvey caught a 15-yard touchdown pass on the final play of the period to avoid what would have been the third straight scoreless quarter.
» South Pittsburg 7, Grundy County 0: Junior speedster Hunter Frame had 30 yards on two carries, including a 16-yard scoring run.
"We got to see a lot of different people in a game situation, and for some of them it was their first varsity action," Pirates coach Vic Grider said. "That's what we wanted to get out of tonight. We have a lot of guys behind our starters that we need to know what they can do, so the more snaps they get the better.
"The scary thing is it all starts for real a week from now, so we've got to get ready in a hurry."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.