by Rusty Ellis
“You’ll thank me after this 15-0 deal.”
Those words were said by Upperman head coach Adam Caine back in a July practice during the Bees’ training camp.
Most coaches shy away from making declarations like that, even if they’re 13-0 and on the cusp of a state championship game appearance, but Caine made that statement before the Bees had played an official down for the 2023 season.
What gave him that confidence? In his words, his players and their buy-in to everything he asked of them.
“We kind of put ourselves out there on several occasions this year, and it brings me great pride that we were able to back it up to this point,” Caine said. “The difference with this group is that a lot of these kids were starters on the team last year, we only graduated six seniors. A majority of the team was back. We really just felt like we left a lot of meat on the bone last year.”
There was a feeling around the Bees’ locker room at the conclusion of the 2022 season that there was unfinished business.
It wasn’t a bad season by any means. The Bees were 9-3 and fell in the second round of the playoffs in a 43-42 thriller at East Hamilton. Many teams might call that a success.
Not Upperman. They believed they could accomplish more and left certain goals on the table.
Caine says that sentiment was echoed by the coaching staff and it’s what fueled the Bees to their current success in the season’s first 13 games.
“It left a very bad taste in my mouth when we got beat down there at East Hamilton,” Caine said. “Beaten by a team I thought we were clearly better than, and it didn’t sit well with me…I think everyone wanted to win, but I don’t think everyone was willing to do what it took to win. We talked very openly about that with this group, and we made some changes. We were going to make sure our focus was football and nothing else during the confines of the season, and this team embraced that.”
Now, UHS sits in a position that should feel familiar to their senior class. After all, it was just two years ago that Upperman went on the road for a semifinal tilt with Elizabethton, a game that current seniors such as Jaxson Rollins and Clayton Harris saw significant action in.
It didn’t go the Bees’ way, as the Fighting Cyclones won 23-6. Despite that loss, Caine reiterates that he feels his team is more prepared for this stage this time around.
“I’ve always said the talent is here,” Caine said. “I’ve always said if I get 25 or 30 kids who are serious about football, we can make a run. I think that’s the case with this group…they go about it the right way. One good thing is the last three times, we faced defending champions. This will be a game where we’re not facing a defending champion, and I think that makes it a little less daunting, because the difference is that teams that have that experience in these games have such a huge advantage.”
Standing in the Bees’ way now is Greeneville, the biggest hurdle yet in the form of the 11-0 Greene Devils. Running back Carson Quillen is a threat on the ground, and GHS possesses several threats through the air to make life hard on the Upperman defense.
So what will it take to win? The Bees’ best effort yet, and then some.
“There’s a certain pressure that if you’re not able to manage it, especially early on, you’re going to find yourself in a hole,” Caine said. “Teams are so good in this round, you dig yourself a 10-point hole, you can’t count on the ability to score that many points…you’ve got to stay within reach, and a lot of that has to do with that first quarter. We need to move the football and get first downs, and we need to get stops, especially early one.”
“Once all the nerves and jitters wears off, we’ve always been able to do well then,” Caine continued. “My biggest message is we’re coming out of the gate hard and fast, and we’re here to play ball.”
The game will kickoff at 6 P.M. CT, and it will be aired on UCR’s Facebook page, YouTube channel and the NFHS network with pregame coverage beginning at 5:15 P.M. CT.