Anderson County defeated visiting Powell, 48-14, on Friday, Aug. 19, 2022, in Week 1 of the 2022 high school football season in Clinton, Tenn. (Photo: by Tanner Walker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
Some 40 years after making its first playoff appearance, the Anderson County football program will play in a championship game on Saturday for the first time.
“For our community,” said Anderson County coach Davey Gillum, “it’s been a long time coming.”
Big facts.
Gillum would know just as well as anyone what the wait has been like.
He played for the Mavericks in the mid-1990s, when they reached the semifinals in 1996 only to see championship hopes dashed by Halls that year.
Gillum took over as head coach of his alma mater in 2009. Anderson County made state quarterfinal appearances in 2009, 2010, 2013, 2017 and 2018 and went 0-for-5. Not to mention, the frustration of second-round losses to either Greeneville or Elizabethton from 2019-21.
So for Anderson County to clear those obstacles in November and get to state for the first time, the fan base is at an absolute fever pitch this week.
A win over Pearl-Cohn (12-2) on Saturday would likely send the Mavs’ faithful over the edge.
The game is slated for an 11 a.m. kickoff at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.
“We got a really good football community. People have been excited about our football program for a long time,” Gillum said. “For our community to get this opportunity, it’s extremely rare but extremely rewarding.
“A lot of excitement in Anderson County right now.”
Many pundits expected Haywood to reach the state final for the third time in five seasons. But Pearl-Cohn shocked the unbeaten Tomcats, 53-47, in Brownsville last week, marking the second season in a row that Haywood reached the semifinals unbeaten only to not reach the season finale.
Nevertheless, Pearl-Cohn’s appearance is no fluke — and they’re after their first title since repeating in 1997. The Firebirds were runner-up to Catholic in Class 4A in 2015 and runner-up to Alcoa in 3A in 2019.
Pearl-Cohn has size all over the place, from an offensive line that averages 6-foot-2 and 280 pounds to a defensive front that features 6-4, 350-pound Devin King. And the program rebounded from an 0-2 start to the season.
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Anderson County, by now, has seen it all.
They’ve been chased by Powell star defensive end Steven Soles. They’ve overcome stout defenses from Bearden, Elizabethton and Greeneville.
And they encountered a Red Bank defense last week that even had some Power 5 prospects on it who caused AC to have a sub-standard first half in the semifinal round.
No matter the challenge this season, Anderson County has welcomed and whipped it.
Much of that success can attributed to experience; the Mavericks play loads of seniors on both sides of the ball.
And that 2023 class includes Class 4A Tennessee Titans Mr. Football finalist Walker Martinez, who has thrown for nearly 4,000 yards and more than 50 touchdowns. He and his top-shelf group of wide receivers execute Gillum’s offense to perfection.
And Martinez’s connections with 6-4 senior wideout Bryson Vowell and 5-9 Braden Miller have produced 2,170 yards and 32 touchdowns this fall.
“We have great receivers. We have one of the best receiving corps around,” Martinez said. “Being able to take advantage of defenses in different ways has been the name of the game for us.”
Martinez missed the last half of the 2021 regular season and all the postseason last year with a broken wrist on his throwing arm.
But as soon as he was cleared to return to throwing, Martinez and his seemingly bottomless group of pass-catchers went to work in the offseason.
That work ethic, along with arm talent and elite QB smarts, has made Martinez’s final season pretty special.
“We put a good gameplan together for really building the offense around Walker’s skill set. He’s abnormally mature for his age. Football I.Q. off the chart. Very poised,” Gillum said. “I’m a quarterback guy, but to me poise and accuracy are the most important traits. He’s got a big arm. But really just understanding defensive concepts and being on time (with the ball) and, in all situations, knowing where to go with the ball is pivotal. Pass-protection can be limited in high school. So a quarterback who can break all that stuff down in tenths of a second is crucial.
“He’s just a field general. He has talent and all those type things. But he’s like a maestro orchestrating the offense. We’ll let him handle protections and run checks and things like that. Mentally, he’s able to handle a lot more than the average high school quarterback. I dare to say we have more on him than the average college quarterback has on him, mentally.”
Regardless of what kind of stats or day Martinez and the Mavericks end up having Saturday, Gillum said he and the program have appreciated each step and have been overwhelmed emotionally at times as to what has transpired through 15 weeks.
But Gillum added that while they’re “thankful for the ride” that they’ve had, the goal this season wasn’t just to beat Elizabethton or Greeneville.
“It was the get over the hump to get to this,” he said. “Our team and our community is hungry to get a state championship. We’ve never had one. We’ve never been there.
“We got one week left. We’re going to make the most of it.”
CLASS 4A BlueCross Bowl Championship
Kickoff: 11 a.m., Saturday, Dec. 3, Finley Stadium (Chattanooga)
TV: MyVLT
On the call: Dawn Davenport (lead play-by-play), former Vol Ramon Foster
PEARL-COHN (12-2)
Head coach: Tony Brunetti (154-63 in 17 years at Pearl Cohn)
Championship history: State Champions in 1996-97, runners-up in 2015, 2019
Playoff Road: def. Jackson South Side (38-0), Hardin County (54-21), Lexington (41-24), Haywood (53-47)
PEARL-COHN PLAYER WATCH
1 – Javion Kinnard (WR, sophomore, 5-9, 177) – 798 yards rushing, 8 TDs; 391 yards receiving, 3 TDs
2 – Keshawn Tarleton (QB, junior, 6-2, 180) – 1,746 yards passing, 23 TDs, 5 INTs
3 – Malachi Cromwell (RB, junior, 5-9, 177) – 144 carries, 1,013 yards, 13 TDs
8 – D’Arious Reed (WR, junior, 6-0, 180) – 507 yards receiving, 6 TDs
11 – Grace’son Beach (LB, junior, 6-2, 215) – 142 tackles, 20 TFLs,
51 – Devin King (DT, junior, 6-2, 320) – 20 tackles, 3 TFLs
55 – Jerran Jackson (DL, senior, 6-0, 270) – 48 tackles, 16 TFLs, 2 sacks
90 – Emanuel Russell (LB, junior, 6-1, 240) – 80 tackles, 28 TFLs, 6 sacks
56 – Nicholas Gray (OL, junior, 6-4, 300)
ANDERSON COUNTY (14-0)
Head coach: Davey Gillum (131-67 overall, 117-51 in 14 years at Anderson County)
Championship history: First finals appearance
Playoff Road: def. Seymour (55-6), Elizabethton (30-24), Greeneville (38-7), Red Bank (29-13)
ANDERSON COUNTY PLAYER WATCH
1 – Tate Russell (WR, senior, 6-3, 190) – 562 yards receiving, 9 TDs
5 – Braden Miller (WR, senior, 5-9, 180) – 1,010 yards receiving, 15 TDs
7 – Eli Braden (WR, senior, 6-0, 190) – 495 yards receiving, 9 TDs
8 – Jermaine Allen (DB, senior, 6-0, 185) – 25 tackles, INT
9 – Walker Martinez (QB, senior, 6-0, 180) – 213-333 passing, 3,856 yards, 52 TDs
13 – Chris Nelson (K, senior, 5-10) – 79 kick points
14 – Bryson Vowell (WR/DB, senior, 6-4, 195) – 1,160 yards, 17 TDs
16 – Andrew Meier (LB, senior, 6-0, 190) – 117 tackles, 23 TFLs
18 – Nick Moog (RB/LB, junior, 6-0, 205) – 1,344 yards rushing, 18 TDs; 460 yards receiving; 103 tackles, 9 TFLs
21 – Tyler Radcliffe (P/K, junior, 5-10) – 67 touchbacks on kickoffs, 36.1 punting average
25 – Gavin Noe (RB/LB, senior, 6-2, 225) – 658 yards rushing, 9 TDs; 100 tackles, 11 TFLs
34 – Eli Davis (DE, senior, 6-2, 230) – 139 tackles, 19 TFLs, 9 sacks
5STAR PREPS PREDICTION
Anderson County 41, Pearl-Cohn 29
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