Story by Rusty Ellis
Photo by Kailee Dick
It’s become tradition around the Upper Cumberland for Putnam County rivals Cookeville and Upperman to open the season on the gridiron against each other.
That’s what will happen Thursday night, as Cookeville looks to rebound from last year’s 1-9 record and 28-6 loss at the hands of the Bees.
Leading the way is first-year head coach Taylor Hennigan.
“They’re very well-coached, and they’re disciplined,” Hennigan said of the Bees. “No matter what they’re doing or who’s doing it, that’s going to be a challenge for us…they have good players doing what they do. They’re good for a reason.”
Hennigan follows that up with reminding the public that he and his staff are more focused on what his players can do versus what Upperman might do.
“Us keeping it about us and doing what we have to do,” Hennigan said. “We know we have a good team we have to play on Thursday, so we have to play well.”
One of the biggest keys to the game for Cookeville will be on the offensive line, a unit that was hit hard by graduation last year. Against a Bees front that features Clayton Harris, Evan Briggs and Terrance Dedmon, Hennigan has emphasized that his line will need to play their best game for the Cavaliers to compete.
“We’re going to have to be physical,” Hennigan said. “Each week, you’re going to have to bring that, I’ve never been around a team that didn’t…we’re going to have to be mentally and physically tough. These guys are well-coached and tough, so we’ve got to be able to hold our own up front.”
And for Bees head coach Adam Caine, that front will be just as crucial if they want to leave Tucker Stadium with a win.
“They’re obviously very important,” Caine said. “(Briggs and Harris) have started since their freshman year, and we look to them for a lot on that front…you kind of have to lean on your experienced guys for leadership, as well as to steady the ship and calm the panic.”
That leadership is something Caine harps on further, as he knows how chaotic week one of the football season can be.
“There’s going to be a great deal of adversity, and if you’re not careful, there will be a lot of chaos,” Caine said. “What we’ve tried to prepare for is to function among the chaos. Any time you have any experienced guys, you lean on them for that.”
An interesting storyline to watch for the Bees is at the quarterback spot. After his performance at Red Bank in the playoffs last season, many assumed that Jonathon Rushing would be in line to be the Bees’ starting quarterback. With the offseason emergence of Ja’Lyric Cullom and arrival of freshman Bronzdon Chaffin, that picture was muddied just a little.
If you ask Caine, he fully expects to see each of them on the field Thursday night.
“I can pretty much say that all three of them will play,” Caine said. “I hate to break the news, but each one of them is probably going to have a personnel grouping they go on the field with…they’ve all done a good job at times, so I’m hoping they all can get themselves mentally ready to play.”
Despite the gap in experience, Caine is prepared for a battle at Tennessee Tech.
“We’ve got our hands full,” Caine said. “It’s a 6A program, and they’ve got guys that look like 6A players…we’ve got respect for them, and it’s not lost on me that we won 12 games and went to the semifinal while they had a rough year, but it was a one-score game with eight minutes to play. It’s a thin margin of error, and that’s not lost on me.”
As far as Hennigan is concerned, he’s preached to his players about enjoying the moment and the game meaning something to them whether they win or lose.
“Hopefully our players understand that not everyone gets a chance to do this,” Hennigan said. “A lot of high school football players don’t get games like this. They don’t get a chance to play in a game that’s meaningful, that the community cares about…that’s the message to our team: have fun and go play football.”
It all gets started at 7 p.m. at Tennessee Tech’s Tucker Stadium, and it will be live-streamed on the Upper Cumberland Reporter Facebook page.