Derrick Davis

The champion has gone undefeated in Region 3-3A games the last three years, but Notre Dame in 2005, Meigs County in 2006 and McMinn Central in 2007 had to be spotless to win the title outright.

It has been that tight, and 2008 promises more of the same.

“I think you’d have to go with McMinn Central No. 1 and Howard No. 2 until somebody knocks them off, but it has been tight the last few years,” said Polk County coach Derrick Davis.

His Wildcats lost by two points to Howard and in overtime to McMinn Central last year. The Howard-McMinn Central game was decided by two points.

“We may be sitting at home for the first time in eight years, but I think you’d have to consider McMinn Central the favorite, and Howard will be right there with them,” Davis said.

Every coach who responded to the poll seemed to think it was unlikely that Polk would miss the playoffs.

“Polk has always been good, although they may not have the depth this year,” McMinn Central coach Brandon Derrick said.

“You definitely can’t forget about Polk,” Howard’s Alvin Tarver said. “I really admire the guy. He does a fantastic job, and he is one of the most classy guys I’ve met. He has those guys prepared every time out.”

Notre Dame coach Charlie Wiggins added, “Polk has been consistent over the years, and he has good kids returning.”

The Wildcats will go with a sophomore quarterback for the first time in Davis’ tenure: Jared Allen or Logan Swafford, who have been sharing time there in the preseason.

A team no one mentioned first but all mentioned somewhere in contention is East Ridge. Mike Martin moved from Meigs County to coach the Pioneers.

“He did a great job with the talent he had at Meigs, and East Ridge had some good players returning,” Tarver said.

The Pioneers are anchored by running back and middle linebacker Gunner Miller.

“We may use him a lot like Notre Dame used Sam Eberle last year. We’ll move him around on offense,” Martin said. “And we’re probably going to move him around some on defense, too.”

Meigs County lost not only its coach but also its returning starting quarterback when Zach Rayl transferred to McMinn Central. That move did not go unnoticed within the region, whose coaches had already accorded the Chargers the No. 1 spot. They lost only five seniors, and Rayl’s transfer allows Derrick to move Jordan Jackson, his quarterback last year, into a more versatile role as a running back and receiver.

“I feel pretty good about our chances,” Derrick said. “Howard will be very talented, and if we don’t have injuries it could come down to Howard and us. Our kids have their goals set, and those goals are pretty lofty. They want to repeat as region champions, but we have to go to East Ridge, Howard and Grundy County, and those are three tough places to play.

“One thing we preached last year was finishing (games). This year we hope to be high octane and know how to finish.”

The Chargers spent the summer in the weight room with positive results. Derrick said each of his players had added at least 10 pounds while maintaining his speed.

Howard has several starters returning from its lines, but the Hustlin’ Tigers graduated running back Tremaine Hudson.

“You don’t replace somebody like Hudson,” Tarver said. “We have capable players. You just have to hope they step up.”

A couple of Tigers to watch are Jahron Reynolds, the return specialist who Tarver said was probably the second-best player on last year’s team, and linebacker Eric McCullough, who impressed most of the region’s coaches last year in his freshman season.

Meigs County, just a season removed from a region championship, has questions involving depth and how many starters will go both ways. Stan Eller, who has returned to the Tigers as coach, said as many as eight Tigers could be playing both offense and defense regularly.

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