Morristown East set for first playoff appearance since 2017 against defending State champions

The Hurricanes will carry a 5-4 worksheet into the battle which is set to kick off at 7 p.m. on Joel Helton Field at Dan Y. Boring Stadium. The Bobcats come in at 8-2, the same record they had in 2018.

Slover knows the playoff history of the two schools is heavily in favor of Central but said, “Our kids are excited to be in the playoffs and are looking forward to taking on the two-time defending state champions.”

East hasn’t won a playoff game since 2013 and has posted just nine victories in 22 previous playoff tilts. Two of those came in its own state championship season of 1969.

The Bobcats have almost doubled that win total in the last four seasons alone, winning 17 times in 19 games. Central made it to the semifinals in 2017 and made it all the way to the Class 4-A title game in 2016. The Bobcats are 42-23 in 26 playoff appearances.

“No doubt, they have a lot of playoff experience on their team and I think we have three players who played as freshmen the last time we made it,” Slover said.

One of those is record-setting quarterback Cole Henson who has smashed just about every passing record in the books at East while linebacker Isaac Long and lineman Daeshawn Harris are the others.

Slover says his team has to be ready to play when it steps on the field Friday night. “We can’t go down there and get behind early and expect to come back and win. We have to get off to a good start.

“There’s no question that Central is a great football team and we can’t make mistakes against them. We can’t turn the ball over and can’t have dumb penalties,” the coach stated. “Pre-snap penalties will kill a football team every time. Against a team this good, those things will really hurt. We have to be focused.”

In talking about the Bobcats, Slover said, “They’re very sound on both sides of the ball. They have athletes all over the field and it starts with the Fortner twins. But they have a lot of help.”

He was referring to linebacker Kalib Fortner (6-1, 190) who also plays tight end and is one of the better receivers on offense. Brother Liam (6-3, 205) is a wide receiver-strong safety. “They are great leaders for them and both are quality football players.

“Offensively, they do a lot of different things that can give your defense fits. They run some option stuff, run some H-back like we do and they have a wildcat package with Liam taking snaps,” the coach said.

Isaiah Huff is the starting running back and also plays inside linebacker. Ryan Bolton is the quarterback and has gotten better as the season progressed. James Horton is another very capable receiver for the Bobcats.

“Defensively, they bring a lot of pressure off the edges,” said Slover. “They have good big kids across the front on both offense and defense. They’ll be one of the best defenses we’ve faced for sure.”

Central opened the season with wins over Cleveland (26-16), Fulton (21-9), Sevier County (45-22) and Hardin Valley (53-21). After a covid win over Seymour, the Bobcats fell to Powell (34-18) and beat Carter (14-6).

Halls posted a 20-16 victory before Central dumped unbeaten South-Doyle 27-19 and then locked up the Region Two championship with a 34-23 victory over Gibbs.

East will need a good outing by its offense unit led by Henson who is 43 yards from the 2,000 mark. He has thrown 27 touchdown passes and just two interceptions.

Micah Simpson has caught 15 of TD passes and has 33 catches for 796 yards. Shaffer Harville has caught 40 passes for 478 and 5 scores while Trevor Malone has grabbed 29 for 453 and 5 TD’s. Ryan Harris is the fourth Hurricane with 20 catches which are good for 178 yards.

Sophomore running back Ethan Ledford last week became the 12th different East player to rush for 1,000 yards in a season. Jesse Smith did it twice. Ledford now has 1,006 on 159 carries for a 6.3 average and has scored seven touchdowns.

The Hurricanes have now broken or tied 22 school records this season.