The Upperman Bees are the top seed out of Region 4/3A entering the postseason for the third straight year, but they face a unique challenge as they prepare to take on the Signal Mountain Eagles on Friday in Baxter.
The Bees (7-3, 5-0) are gearing up to take on a Signal Mountain (4-6, 2-3) that has won two straight games and presents unique challenges.
“They’re a very well-coached football team,” said UHS head coach Adam Caine. “Defensively, they’re going to be in the right spots, which means you’re going to have to execute to beat them. Offensively, I love the scheme they’re running. This is the first time I’ve seen running wing-T plays out of the shotgun. They’ve got a really good system.”
The Bees topped the Eagles in the first round of the 2019 postseason, 45-0, but the teams look different in 2020. The Eagles are now led by junior quarterback Duncan Cannon.
“They’ve got a quarterback back there that can distribute the ball,” said Caine. “He’s sneaky fast. He’s made a bunch of plays in the games we’ve watched. They’ve also got some good quickness with their backs. They pose a lot of problems.”
Caine went on to say despite the UHS blowout win in 2019, this is a different season and he expects a good football game.
“I think they were very banged up last year,” said Caine. “I think that game was a little bit mistelling. We worked really hard to get this number one seed, but I don’t think it’s any secret that, maybe, Region 4/3A has been a little down this year, and I think the region they’re in is up a little bit. Signal Mountain is a very good team.”
The UHS defense will be challenged by Cannon and his offense which features a large amount of option plays created to fool the defense. Caine said it will be critical for his defense to stay assignment-sound in the playoff matchup.
“The way we play defense, it’s pretty much like that every week,” said Caine. “In certain games if you’re struggling to stop people, people try to do things they’re not supposed to do. We can’t do that. We’ve got to be very disciplined against this group. It’s something we preach daily.”
There are moments in every playoff game when a player has to take over. Caine said he is looking for one, or more, of his players to become “closers” against Signal Mountain.
“(Former quarterback Donoven McCallister) has been the closer here for the last two years, and we’ve missed him this year, at times,” said Caine. “We’re looking for somebody. It’s going to take a standout performance for us to advance. Maybe we get one, maybe we get two. It’s time.”
Kickoff between the Eagles and Bees is set for 7 p.m. It is the High School Football Game of the Week and will be broadcast live on the UCR Facebook page with pregame coverage starting at 6:45 p.m.