I had about a two-day break between the end of Babe Ruth season and the beginning of another school year in August of 2007. It had been an awesome year and big things were on the horizon.

Tiger football was back, Seth Lintz fired away on the mound and on the golf course, David Steely’s Tigerettes were on a mission, and Becky Cheatham’s Lady Rockets sent TCA packing.

This week we will talk football.

The first task of the prep sports season was to write my first football previews and I quickly found out that it was not easy and involved a huge amount of man hours, but it was fun and exciting to get a little closer to all the teams and players.

I wrote previews for all three of middle and high schools in the county.

Best I ever saw

The team that intrigued me the most was the MCHS Tigers, who were now under the helm of the no-nonsense Don Thomas and when I went over to see them, they seemed really fired up and ready to go.

They did not disappoint as Dont’a Hightower was about to put on a show in Lewisburg and around the state of Tennessee, showcasing his versatility in a devastating heavy package on offense with some twists and a dominating performance on defense that earned him the Class 3A Mr. Football Lineman of the Year Award.

MCHS lost 14-6 at Centerville in the season opener, but Thomas got his first win as Tigers’ head coach with a 49-14 win over Creek Wood in their home opener for the first of seven wins in a row.

The only close game during that stretch came versus Columbia Central in Week 3 at Preston Hopkins Field in Lewisburg.

It was the first meeting in 19 years between the two old rivals and it was a classic with the Marshall County defense coming up with three huge first half stops.

Defensive linemen Joe Gentry and Michael Murphy combined on a fourth-down goal line stop, a third down incompletion forced a Lions’ punt, and Hightower came up with an interception at the MCHS 7-yard line as the first half ended in a scoreless tie.

Columbia Central had to punt after receiving the second half kickoff and the Tigers got on the scoreboard via a Justin Braden 72-yard touchdown run through the Lions’ defense. Daniel Stoltz kicked the extra point for a 7-0 MCHS lead.

The Lions burned over five minutes off the clock and drove all the way down to the MCHS 10-yard line where Scotty Hargrove and Deshaun Greer met in the backfield for a huge third down sack and Columbia Central settled for a Robert Harris 34-yard field goal to make it 7-3.

Kareem Peterson made a nice return of the kickoff to the 36-yard line for the Tigers.

Jake Morris hit Cavalla O’Neal for five yards, Braden ran for three more to set up a third-and-three, and Marshall County brought in their heavy package.

Hightower took the direct snap and busted a big run up the right sideline for a 30-yard gain and a first down, plus a late hit by Columbia gave the Tigers the ball at the 20-yard line.

Braden, who gained 120 yards on the ground in the contest, rumbled to the one-yard line and Hightower finished off the scoring drive by flying over top for the TD at the 3:22 mark of the third quarter. Stoltz’ PAT made it 14-3.

Columbia came back and converted a third-and-long before Hightower sealed the deal with his second interception of the game and the Tigers grounded out the clock for the win.

It was a huge boost to the program and it propelled the Tigers to five more wins in a row by a combined score of 207-19.

MCHS was 7-1 and undefeated in Region 5/3A play, but had to travel to arch-nemesis David Lipscomb, a team that had beaten the Tigers all six times they had squared off since 2001.

Mustangs a thorn in the side, Tigers win out west

A beat up Marshall County squad went to Nashville and played without without seniors Greer and Race Wilson, both out for the season and O’Neal, who sat out with an injured quad.

Hightower was also visibly hobbled throughout the game with a severely sprained ankle and the Mustangs cruised to a 49-13 win.

The following week, a Bo Wallace led Giles County squad handed the Tigers its second loss in a row and MCHS was off to Jackson Southside for the first round of the playoffs.

This was my first trip that far west for a sporting event.

This was the old day’s folks, there wasn’t any I-840.

I went solo through Centerville and northwest on Route 50 over the shaky, narrow and green Charles Thompson Bridge that spanned the Duck River with a scenic look at the old abandoned Leatherwood Bridge.

Two minutes later I was on I-40 headed west to Jackson South Side where the huge Marshall County travelling fan base had converged for a rematch from a pair of home playoff losses to the Hawks in 2001 (29-21) and 2002 (28-13).

The Hawks were the favorites, entering the contest with a 7-1 record and coming off a big 57-3 pasting over archrival Lexington in the regular season finale.

Thomas’ Tigers were ready, battling toe-to-toe with the Hawks before scoring first when Hightower caused a fumble and Peterson scooped up the loose ball and scored from 30-yards out.

On Jackson South Side’s next possession, O’Neal caused another fumble and Hightower recovered.

Jaron Jones came in at quarterback for the Tigers and gained 36 yards on a pair of direct snaps before Morris came back in and found Jones free in the secondary for another 13 yards down to the 24-yard line.

Two plays later, Hightower took it to the house, knocking Hawk tacklers aside along the way and the Tigers had a 14-0 lead on the road.

The Hawks owned the third quarter, scoring twice to tie the game and the period ended with the Tigers in punt formation.

The Tiger defense made their biggest stand of the season, forcing a three-and-out and got the ball back on a punt at their own 15-yard line.

Morris scampered for a 10-yard first down run and Braden ran for eight more on the next play to set up a second-and-two when Morris found freshman Broderick Tears on a 16-yard strike for another first down.

Dominique Matthews ran for 5 yards and Morris found Johnson for a short gain to make it third-and-one.

The “heavies” came in and Hightower easily made the first down, gaining four yards.

Morris hooked up with Tears again on second down for 18 yards and then made a clutch throw to Johnson on a third-and-eight play with just over four minutes to go in the game.

Hightower and the offensive line did the rest as the senior standout bashed in to the end zone from two yards out for the biggest score of his four-year career and the Tigers led 21-14 with 3:55 left in the game.

Southside drove to the midfield stripe, but on a fourth-and-10 play, Gentry came up huge when he dropped back in coverage to break up a pass and from there, MCHS ran out the clock for the win.

I smiled all the way home, except going back over the bridge in Hickman County at midnight, in the pitch black dark!

Five days later, Hightower made it official, signing his Letter of Intent to attend the University of Alabama and two days after that, the Tigers made a return trip to Nashville for a second-round matchup with David Lipscomb.

The Mustangs won 32-14 and went on to win their third state title. They were runner-ups in in 2006, 2005, 2003, and 1998. They have not won a title since. The Tigers never beat them.

Thomas had brought the Tigers back and would stay at Marshall County until 2010 while Hightower went on to glory in college and professional football.

Rockets fall short of third straight playoff appearance

The Forrest Rockets, coming off back-to-back playoff appearances, entered the 2007 season with high hopes of another postseason berth and they started the campaign with four consecutive wins.

Forrest had a talented squad with quarterback Kristian Albarran, plus a nice stable of running backs in Alex Fredrick, Dominique Johnson, and sophomore speedster Levell Quezaire.

Alex Ontiveros and Justin Russell were the fullbacks and both had good seasons.

Kendell Knight, Devin O’Brien, Hudson Bell, and freshman Colin Henson made up the corps of pass catchers for the Rockets and Micah Phifer, Matt Akin, and Kyle Griffey played the tight-end position.

Head coach Kyle Stacey had some horses up front as well in Travis McClaren, Adam Ashworth, Jordan Branham, Ben Gallahaire, and Kody Klaren.

The Forrest Rockets opened up in week zero of the 2007 TSSAA football season versus first-year varsity squad Riverside Christian Academy from Fayetteville and Quezaire quickly showed his promise, racing for a 48-yard touchdown run early in the first quarter to open the scoring for the season.

Albarran added a quarterback keeper for a touchdown shortly after and the Rockets made it a 21-0 contest when Parker Holton made a big hit to cause a fumble and Phifer scooped it up and scored.

Forrest went up 36-0 before Mother Nature spared the young Riverside Christian squad from Fayetteville an even larger margin of defeat as the game was stopped after a large lightning storm packed with high winds and heavy rains descended upon Chapel Hill. After waiting nearly two hours, officials from the two schools agreed to halt play to avoid injury to the players and the fans.

After an early bye week, the Rockets travelled to White House Heritage and came up with a close 12-7 win with Quezaire scoring the game winner via a 44-yard touchdown run.

Forrest went on the road again to Eagleville and the Rocket defense came up big, shutting out the archrival Eagles 14-0.

Frederick finished with 100 yards on the ground and the only Forrest touchdowns came on a Russell 3-yard run and a Quezaire 2-yard burst.

The 3-0 Rockets played their first game at “The Rock” on Friday, September 21 and it was a thriller with Forrest winning 31-24 over Nashville Christian School.

The Homecoming contest was tied at 24 at the half and Holton blocked a field goal attempt on Nashville Christian’s first possession of the second half.

The game was still tied after three quarters, but the Rockets drove 83 yards on their next possession, capped off by Henson one-yard plunge.

With the game on the line, the Eagles drove all the way down the field, but a Kendall Knight break-up of a fourth down pass sealed the win for the undefeated Rockets.

The Rockets had a trip to Jo Byrns for the second season in a row and it turned out bad as the Red Devils won 28-7 with the only Forrest touchdown coming on an Ontiveros 7-yard run that was set up on a halfback option pass by Henson to Knight that covered 31-yards.

Forrest’s losing skid continued with a 28-7 loss at home versus Cascade and they had another long trip in store the following week as they travelled to McEwen where they had won 21-20 in overtime the season before.

The two squads played to scoreless tie in regulation before McEwen scored first in overtime, but Forrest came right back as Albarran took a swing pass from quarterback Hudson Bell and broke tacklers before diving into the end zone. Devin O’Brien’s PAT kick was true and the game was tied 7-7.

Forrest got the ball to start the second overtime and fumbled the ball away on second down the Warriors took only one play to seal the Rockets’ fate as Michael Neblett caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jordan Stokes as time expired to give McEwen the 13-7 victory that severely diminished Chapel Hill’s playoff hopes.

The Rockets won 28-7 the following week at Clarksville Academy and took down the Community Vikings 35-22 in the next to the last week of the season.

The Rockets entertained MTCS in the final week of the season and had something to prove on Senior Night in Chapel Hill as they pounded out 336 yards on the ground in a 47-13 rout over the Cougars to finish the season at 7-3.

Forrest was the only school in Division I and one of only two schools in the entire state with a 7-3 record that did not make the playoffs.

Albarran rushed for 137 yards and a TD, Frederick ran for 42 yards and three touchdowns, and Ontiveros pounded out some tough yards.

Bell threw for 46 yards and a score and ran for another 42 yards and a touchdown.

O’Brien was a perfect 4-for-4 in extra points and senior offensive and defensive lineman Adam Ashworth got his moment in the sun, electrifying the crowd and the sidelines with an 11-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the only points of his four-year career at Forrest.

Captain Ben Gallahaire, injured and out for the season, was cheering the entire night from the sidelines for his band of brothers out on the field.

Bulldogs start strong, fade late

The 2007-2008 Cornersville Bulldogs were coming off a 2-8 season, but the Ray Stocstill coached squad had a much-improved team and when I went down to Frog Bottom for the home opener, the Bulldogs smashed Community 37-6.

The Vikings scored first before Cornersville put up 37 unanswered points, beginning with a Josh Polly touchdown pass to Dylan Jones.

Kyle Hammock made it a 12-6 contest with a 13-yard TD scamper and the Bulldogs went up 18-0 on a scoop and score fumble recovery by A.J. Smith.

The Bulldogs came up with a pair of second half big plays as freshman Taylor Rodgers scored on a 50-yard punt return and senior Chuck Bassham ended the scoring with an 82-yard pick-six.

Cornersville moved to 2-0 with a home win over Columbia Academy.

A 42-20 loss at Mt. Pleasant gave the Bulldogs their first loss of the season, but they bounced back with a big 46-13 Homecoming win over Zion Christian Academy on September 21.

Rodgers rushed for 133 yards and two scores, Jones added a 60-yard punt return for a touchdown and a 29-yard TD run, while Keith Pearson had one touchdown run, and Bassham tossed a 60-yard touchdown pass to Hammock.

The Bulldogs travelled to Perry County the following week and shutout the winless Vikings 33-0 behind a stout defense that gave up less than 100 yards of offense in the contest.

Smith had a pair of touchdown runs, Hammock scored on a 29-yard scamper, Jones added a scoop and score from 68 yards out, and Bassham hit Shelby Lowe for a touchdown.

Unfortunately, the Bulldogs lost their final four regular season game to Wayne County (26-14), Collinwood (21-12), Moore County (34-14), and a close 20-18 loss at Huntland.

Although they did not make the playoffs, the Bulldogs were invited to play in the Logan's Bowl at MTCS where they lost 33-6 to Monterey with the only score coming on a Bassham 29-yard touchdown to Rodgers.

Next week we will talk about some really good golf, girls soccer, the Middle Tennessee Small Band Championships at Forrest, and the beginning of a magical run for the Marshall County Tigerettes.

Help me out

If you have any questions, comments, or old photos you would like to share please contact me at apuca@marshalltribune.com and I will be happy to share with everyone else.

I want to thank Scotty Brock and George “Pap” Warren for their generosity in teaching me a lot about photography and sharing their photos over that first season and up to this day.

Bill Beasley in Chapel Hill has done the same, as has Danny Parker and Jimmy Jones from the Shelbyville Times Gazette, and a special thank you to Jim Bryan for his expertise and teaching that was essential.

I want to thank all the fans, parents, athletes, coaches, school administrators, and work colleagues for helping me live this wonderful dream.