Off The Field
Huskins’ squad is for real
By: Curtis Carden
I’ll start off with some economics.
In the high school football stock market of northeast Tennessee, some people within the area were buying that stock that had the UCHS Blue Devil program’s season possibly being a rocky one after dropping their season opener to South Greene, 35-0.
I’m not exactly a top notch economist but I can assist with anyone who bought that share of stock.
SELL!, SELL!, SELL!
With this year’s football season barely underway, one thing that has stood out to me the most about the Blue Devils squad is the hard work being put in by the players, coaches, and fans ever since the end of last year’s gridiron adventure.
While entering the world of sports’ reporting, one thing I learned right off the bat is to not question nor place doubt in any type of sports team that you know has ‘that’ certain quality about themselves.
Especially a program at UCHS.
The Blue Devils were able to rebound after a home defeat and travel on the road to Afton, Tennessee to defeat a team that had scored 52 points the week before and whose defense posted a shut out.
Like I said, you might want to start selling that stock.
The 28-10 win over Chuckey Doak on Thursday, Aug. 28, issued a notice to teams within the Three Rivers Conference that Unicoi is in the hunt for the number one spot.
Play on the field was something to be admired, with all facuets of the game being addressed and excueted during the night’s festivities.
Offensively, the play of quarterback Austin Hensley spearheaded the offense while being contributed by a receiving core that consisted of a host of Blue Devils coming up with key catches during the night.
Hensley also showed off his scrambling ability, by turning plays that could of resulted in negative yards category into plays that resulted in first downs for the UCHS squad.
In the backfield, junior Hunter Abbott proved to be a vital powerback for the Devils by showing his strength in many situations by plowing through defenders and also showing off the wheels by breaking off some huge gains that included one touchdown run.
Also not to be forgotten is sophomore Matt Lingerfelt, who proved to be strong number two runner for Unicoi by coming up with some key running plays during the night.
Defensively the Devils silenced the critics by holding the causing some havoc, with the Blue Nation witnessing their squad coming up with momentum shifting plays.
Stops on fourth down, forcing fumbles, tackles in the backfield, the list goes on and on.
Special teams was also shown during the night with Tomas Vazquez proving his stock as the Devils kicker, drilling all extra point attempts during the night.
With the play-calling, discipline and leadership coming from the coaches and the athletes doing their jobs on the field; the Big Blue Train was able to chug along to bring the Devils to their first win of the season.
Even though it’s early in the season, I’m just honored to have a chance to witness the growth of the football program and to watch a team that can cause a comotion within the conference race.
This week brings up the Johnson County Longhorns and the Devils first encounter with a conference team.
Like the rest of the season, I expect the Devils to come out with a heart and fire to be able to tackle this next challenge during the next phase of the 2011 football campaign.
For the movie buffs reading this.
Everyone might “Remember the Titans” but people within northeast Tennessee will be sure to “Remember the Blue Devils.”
