Best of Preps football jamboree is set
The countdown has begun for the high school football season. In fewer than eight weeks teams will take the field for the event that has become the prelude to the season’s kickoff — the 20th annual Best of Preps jamboree at Finley Stadium.
A total of 22 Chattanooga-area teams will compete in this year’s jamboree, which is set for Aug. 16-17 and will have 20-minute quarters with a continually running clock for each. Sponsored by the Times Free Press and Truck N’ Trailers USA, the event will feature nine quarters of action that Friday and 13 quarters on Saturday, and admission will be $10 both days.
“We’re really excited about the number of local teams playing this year,” said Todd Agne, jamboree operations director. “The community has gotten used to this being the showcase for the start of the season. There are new coaches, new players, new uniforms and helmets and just a lot of excitement around it.”
Prep athletes in Tennessee, for all sports, are currently in a two-week dead period mandated by the TSSAA. Athletes cannot practice, lift weights or attend any team-oriented functions until after July 6. After that, football teams again will begin preparations for the season.
Copper Basin was added to the teams that will compete this year, and among the more intriguing first-day matchups will be Bradley Central vs. East Hamilton, McCallie vs. Central and Chattanooga Christian vs. East Hamilton. Saturday’s lineup of games includes Howard vs. Signal Mountain, Walker Valley vs. Red Bank, Brainerd vs. McMinn County, Notre Dame vs. Ooltewah, Notre Dame vs. Soddy-Daisy, Baylor vs. Soddy-Daisy and Baylor vs. Ooltewah.
The event also will feature several college prospects, including McCallie defensive lineman Jay Hardy,