Signal wins and clinches spot in state playoffs
A flock of the Signal Mountain Eagles football team spent a chunk of Friday morning showing all of us what can be great about high school sports.
Sure, the Eagles rolled Friday night at home, using five firsthalf touchdown passes from Tom Vatter to beat McMinn County 49-7 in a Region 3-3A game and clinch a spot in the state playoffs in Josh Roberts’ first season as coach. Those were grand achievements for the team and its goals.
Friday morning, though, the Eagles were good on a grander scale.
“It really surprised me how much they knew about our team, what our record was. That was pretty cool,” Vatter said of the visit he and many of his teammates took to Alexian Village, a Signal Mountain life care retirement community. “Some of them had grandkids that go to school here and some just have lived here their whole lives, but to be able to make their day better was pretty awesome.”
Vatter and his first-team offense were pretty awesome Friday night. The starters played into the first series of the second quarter, getting six touchdowns and a field goal on their eight drives.
It was a confident performance borne of several factors.
Yes, McMinn Central (0-9, 0-4) has struggled, and Signal (3-5, 2-2) expected to have success. Yes, Vatter and the explosive tandem of junior receivers Drew Lowry (three catches, 92 yards, two touchdowns) and Travion Williams (five catches, 162 yards, three touchdowns), have spent a lot of extra time on the deep ball.
But the experience of being in a lot of tight games and winning more than in recent years carries a lot of emotional weight.
“We have a lot more (confidence) this year because we have seen how good we can play,” said junior offensive lineman Whit Hunt, who was among the Alexian Village visitors. “We knew we had to come out and start strong because of what this means for the playoffs and the seniors.”
It was an avalanche of points made even more daunting for McMinn Central by a defense that intercepted three passes — Will Bennett, Collin Farr and Jacob Woodlief had the picks — and stiffened on the Chargers’ two first-half trips inside the red zone.
“It’s been a tough year, but that’s the one thing I know about these kids: They have not quit, in any game or at any point,” said McMinn Central coach Josh Goodin, who got a late touchdown run from Jeremiah Long after a couple of long completions from Hunter Powers to Jordan Carter. “Signal deserves a lot of credit; they hit some big plays.
“But the great character of these boys is they always feel like there’s something to fight for.”
For McMinn Central, that will be trying to get into the win column in its season finale.
For Signal, which got second-half rushing scores from Sam Gault and Braden Casner, that means trying to be better as the regular season ends and the playoffs begin.
And they should know the extra fans at Alexian Village are pulling for them.
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com and 423-757-6343.