Story by Rusty Ellis
The Cookeville Cavaliers sit at 1-6 on the season with an 0-2 mark in region play, as they head into a week 8 showdown with Coffee County.
The last time they were in action, Cookeville lost 38-0 to Alcoa. While the final score is indicative of a blowout, there were some signs of life from the Cavaliers.
“I think we did a really good job against their running game,” said CHS head coach Jimmy Maynord. “They’re very big up-front with some big lineman, and they’ve got some good skill kids…we had a couple blown coverages with our young guys in the secondary. Offensively, we had a hard time getting them blocked.”
One could say the bye week came at the right time for the Cavaliers, as it gave them a chance to catch their breath and heal up seven games into the season.
Maynord echoed those sentiments, saying it was even a great thing that the bye week came when it did.
“It’s always good to get a break and get away from it,” Maynord said. “With the record the way it is and the way things were going, I felt like it was a great time for it. Guys have come back rejuvenated, and coaches have come back rejuvenated.”
The season hasn’t gone the way anyone involved in the program has wanted it to, but Maynord made one thing clear: his players have still shown up to work and haven’t shown any signs of giving up on the year.
“Even though our record is not good, our kids have practiced hard every week,” Maynord said. “It’s tough when things aren’t going the way you’d like for them to go. The kids have had a positive attitude, and they’ve practiced hard every day we’ve been out there since July.”
This week brings a matchup with Coffee County, the team right above Cookeville in the region standings. This is the Cavaliers’ best opportunity to get back into the playoff race, as it would put them in prime position to potentially play a win-and-in game against Shelbyville in the last game of the season.
It was a battle last year that Cookeville won in a close game, and Maynord expects nothing less from this year’s contest.
“They’ve got some young people playing, and we played a tough game against them last year that we won by one point,” Maynord said. “Their quarterback is a three-year starter, he’s a big kid and he throws the ball well..they’ve had three or four good wins. They’ve got a quality football team, and we’re going to have to play well and have some breaks to win the football game.”
The Cavaliers and Red Raiders will battle on Friday at 7 P.M. in Manchester. The game will be live-streamed on Upper Cumberland Reporter 3 on Facebook.