Playoff bound: CAK will host Norris Senators Thursday
Norris Middle School’s football team closed out the 2022 regular season on a winning note Thursday night. The Senators notched their fifth victory of the campaign as they shut out Clinton 34-0. Norris now turns its attention to the postseason as it prepares for Christian Academy of Knoxville in the opening round of the playoffs.
The Senators and Warriors will tangle for the second time in 2022. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Norris (5-3) will head to West Knoxville with hopes of avenging a regular-season loss to CAK.
“We lost to them by six, I think, the first time and we look forward to the chance to go over there and get that one back,” Norris coach Richie Noe said. “We’ve done it before.”
Noe and the Senators couldn’t have scripted a better ending to the regular season.
“It was a great night for our community and it was homecoming and you played and won against your crosstown rival,” Noe said. “A lot kids got a chance to play a lot. Everybody got to play.” Norris picked up touchdowns from Kaden Webber, Zach Happney and Kassen Sawyer. The senators also scored when John David Gillum connected with Matthew Agee on a 50-yard touchdown pass. Eighth graders Vance Young, Liam Clark and Jaxon Wilson made two-point conversions for the Senators. “That was great to see,” Noe said.
For the Hawks, it was an end to a winless campaign in 2022 but Clinton first-year head coach Justin Hite remains positive after a disappointing season.
“We’re going to continue to build the culture,” Hite said. “We’re going to continue to change the culture and we have some good kids coming in.”
Lakers fall at
Cumberland Gap
Lake City came up on the short end of a 52-12 decision at Cumberland Gap. Joey Radford scored two touchdowns for the Lakers, who didn’t have their best night on the gridiron.
“We just didn’t play real well,” Lake City coach Eric Tackett said. “They run an old school Power T and we just didn’t defend it very well. “It wasn’t our best performance.”
The Lakers have two games remaining and both are on the road. Lake City travels to Huntsville Thursday and they’ll see a similar offense as they saw last week. “Huntsville runs a Wing-T offense as well,” Tackett said. “We’ll have to come up with something and defend it a little batter.”
Kickoff in Huntsville is slated for 7 p.m. The Lakers are set to conclude their regular season Oct. 6 at Sweetwater but Tackett said he is negotiating a date change because of a field scheduling conflict.