Stories from Tuesday, October 4, 2016

The Associated Press' Top 10 teams in each of Tennessee's six Division I non-financial aid classifications and in the combined Division II financial aid classification as selected by Tennessee AP-member sportswriters and broadcasters. With first-place votes in parentheses, records through October 3, total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote through one point for a 10th-place vote: Class 6A School Record Pts Prv 1. Maryville (14) 7-0 158 1 2. Oakland (1) 6-0 142 2 3. Whitehaven (1) 7-0 126 3 4. Bradley Central 6-0 115 4 5. Cordova 7-0 99 5 6. Franklin 5-1 79 7 7. Wilson Central 6-1 57 8 8. Mt. Juliet 5-2 45 9 9. Smyrna 5-2 29 6 10. Blackman 3-3 20 NR Others receiving 12 or more points: None.

Football has long been touted as a team sport, but fans at any level of the game could appreciate the sheer dominance of two individuals on opposite sides of the field Thursday night when Bridgeforth Junior High School traveled to southern Marshall County to take on Cornersville Middle School. Eighth-grader Brady Calahan scored all four Bulldog touchdowns and finished with 260 yards rushing on 13 attempts for three rushing touchdowns on offense and led the defense with four and a half tackles, a sack, a tackle for loss, two interceptions with one returned 50 yards for a touchdown on the opening play of the second half.

The FMS Rockets traveled to Liberty Thursday night to take on the winless Patriots and took care of business, coming away with an easy 38-6 win. "We knew tonight was one of those games, playing a Liberty team that didn't have a win to watch for the trick plays and we got some of that," FMS coach Corey Searcy said. "We just had to stay patient as a coach and as a team and take what they give you. It wasn't pretty, but we got a lot of kids to play tonight and that was our goal."

The Lewisburg Middle School Cross Country team recently competed in the Tennessee Middle School Athletic Association Sectional Meet at Sulphur Springs in Smyrna and the first-year squad came away with some valuable learning experiences. "All four teams finished strong and despite the fact we did not qualify for state, I am quite pleased with how LMS performed," LMS coach Estelle Long said. "We were plagued with a couple of unfortunate issues. In the varsity race, Jessa Lancaster twisted her ankle early on, causing her to finish with a time that was off her average by nearly nine minutes."

The Marshall County Tigers returned home to Preston Hopkins Field for Homecoming Friday night after losing its first game of the season against Stratford the previous week and despite Lawrence County's hopes of a letdown, the Tigers proved to be strong as ever with a 50-0 win over the Wildcats. "This was huge because it's a region win and our whole position at the end of the year is predicated on region games," Marshall County coach Thomas Osteen said. "We had a real bad taste in our mouth last week, we didn't play our best and I still think we have a ton of room for improvement, but I think you can tell we've improved from last week to this week."

The Cornersville Bulldogs are on fire! Four consecutive region wins, including a 40-16 win over Huntland at Frog Bottom Friday night put the Cornersville (4-2, 4-0) squad in uncharted territory, holding down a tie with Columbia Academy (5-0, 5-0) for first place in Region 4A. "It feels so incredible to have our name mentioned as being tied with Columbia Academy for the top spot in the region," Cornersville coach Gerard Randolph said. "This team is hungry and they want to be successful each and every time that they step onto the football field. They enjoy playing the game of football with each other and they believe."

Forrest legendary coach Murrey E. Holton would have been proud of the Rockets Friday night with the manner in which they secured their seventh consecutive win to start the season, outlasting Watertown 35-28 on the field named in his honor. "It feels great, it feels surreal to be honest with you," Forrest coach Brent Johns said. "I think it may take some time for this to sink in."