Preseason heat: Local football teams set for scrimmage action

Anderson County, Clinton, Oak Ridge take the field on Friday

July 30, 2025 by Ken Lay

Preparations for the 2025 high school football season are in full swing as area teams kick off their first scrimmages this week.

Clinton will host Knoxville Grace Christian Academy at 6 p.m. Friday at Dragon Stadium in the Dragons’ first summer tune-up under new head coach Jake Dawson.

Dawson, hired in December, is Clinton’s third head coach in as many seasons. The former Knoxville Catholic defensive coordinator also served as an assistant at Powell during its Class 5A state title run in 2021 and previously coached at Heritage. A former defensive student assistant at Tennessee under Jeremy Pruitt, Dawson is now the youngest head coach in the Volunteer State. Clinton went 3-8 last year and reached the Class 5A playoffs.

Anderson County will also open its preseason slate Friday when it hosts Knoxville Halls at 7 p.m. in Clinton. The Mavericks, eight-time defending Region 2-4A champions, are coming off an 11-2 campaign that ended in the Class 4A state semifinals. Halls reached the postseason last fall as well.

Oak Ridge begins its summer work at 6 p.m. Friday, welcoming Fulton to Blankenship Field. The Wildcats went 9-5 in 2024, advancing to the Class 5A semifinals before falling at home to eventual champion Sevier County.

Oak Ridge, the two-time defending Region 3-5A champion, will move up to Class 6A this season under third-year head coach Derek Rang.