Sports
September 3, 2025 by Ken Lay
Hardin Valley – The 2025 high school season is a mere two weeks old, but Hardin Valley Academy already has doubled its win total from last year.
The Hawks kept their perfect record intact, improving to 2-0, with a 34-0 victory over Morristown East Friday night at HVA.
But, second-year head coach Tyler Wynn knows plenty of work lies ahead for his squad, which will hit the road for the first time this season as it travels to Cleveland to play Bradley Central this week.
“I’m proud of these guys,” Wynn said. “We’ve won two games but we still have a lot of work to do.”
It was the defense that took center stage for the Hawks, which won their second consecutive meeting against the Hurricanes.
HVA forced Morristown East into five turnovers.
Samuel Mann forced a fumble and came up with an interception while recoding 18 tackles for the Hawks, which scored points off of most of the Morristown East miscues.
Owen Vaughan returned an interception for a touchdown while Tran Rowe recovered two fumbles and recorded three sacks on the night.
“Our defense is playing well right now,” Wynn said.
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A game that was a battle for the ages
September 3, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
It was an extraordinary fourth-quarter comeback by Farragut High School’s football team Friday night at home against Powell High School.
Unfortunately for the Admirals, it didn’t hold up.
After storming back from a 20-7 deficit in a wild final period to lead 21-20, FHS couldn’t stop Powell on its next drive, which gave the Panthers a 26-21 lead with 2:20 left.
The Admirals had one final chance, but, with under a minute left on fourth and nine from the Powell 33, quarterback Corbin Hobson was stopped short. Powell then ran out the clock to win 26-21.
“Great game,” FHS coach Geoff Courtney said, “Powell’s got a heckuva club. We made some plays in there to win the game … we just didn’t make enough winning plays.”
“Unbelievable effort by both sides,” PHS coach Matt Lowe said. “Couldn’t be more impressed with the effort and the resiliency of these young kids.”
The Panthers led 7-0 with 6:26 left in the first when, after forcing FHS to punt on its first possession, quarterback Brodie Hollowell hit Dezion Jackson for a 70-yard touchdown up the right sideline.
On Farragut’s next possession, Hobson was picked off on second down, and Powell was right back in business on the FHS 24. On third and 10, Hollowell threw a screen pass to Johonauan Moore, who took it in for the score.
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September 3, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville --- Farragut High School’s girls soccer team was busy last week and it faced some stiff completion.
The Lady Admirals (3-1-1) competed in the Bearden Invitational late last week and they closed their stay with a 2-1 victory over Station Camp on Saturday at Turner-Allender Field.
Farragut played its final match of the tournament without starting goalkeeper Emery Wylie, who suffered a concussion during pregame warm-ups.
So coach Jessie Stephens Burkhart enlisted the services of sophomore Rigsby Williams, a field player.
“Emery got a concussion before the game, so I used a field player, Rigsby Williams,” Burkhart said. “I’m really proud of her for stepping up for her team.”
The Lady Admirals have already played a tough schedule, and they’ve already sustained some key injuries.
But they had enough to pick up their third win of the season.
“We were tired on Saturday and we were just trying to hang on,” Burkhart said. “I’m really proud of our girls; I’m pleased with their work rate and I’m happy with their effort.
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September 3, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Knoxville – During the opening two weeks of the 2025 high school girls soccer season, Webb School of Knoxville has won six of its first seven matches.
Last week, the Lady Spartans (6-0-1) played some of the state’s top teams. They concluded the week at the annual Bearden Invitational, playing two games and closing out their stay at the elite tournament with a 2-0 victory over defending Class AAA state champion Germantown-Houston at Bearden’s Turner-Allender Field on Saturday afternoon.
Against the Lady Mustangs, Landree Horner and McKalie Ball both buried the ball into the back of the net. Emerson Clarke and Simone Romain were credited with assists in the match.
Goalkeeper Lauren Newell posted a clean sheet against Houston for her second shutout of the week.
Thursday, the Lady Spartans played the first game of the tourney and had to come back to salvage a 1-1 draw against District 3-AAA favorite Oak Ridge.
The Lady Wildcats darted out to a 1-0 lead when Noel Norstedt scored in the ninth minute of the match.
Webb would answer with a marker by Mary Mac Emery late in the opening half. The Lady Spartans had a chance to capture a victory in the waning moments of the match but Oak Ridge’s all-state goalkeeper
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September 3, 2025 by Bill Howard, Correspondent
Of the many cliches in sports, “no lead is safe” rang painfully true for Farragut High School’s volleyball team last Thursday night at Lynn E. Sexton Gymnasium against Webb School of Knoxville.
The Lady Admirals won the first two sets and seemed to be cruising to an easy best-of-five win. Three sets later – all won by Webb – FHS had lost the match three sets to two. Late leads in both the fourth and fifth sets slipped away.
Lady Admirals’ coach Andre Alves didn’t hide his disappointment about his squad’s inability to hold its lead.
“Very, very disappointing,” he said. “We took our foot off the gas. They’re a very good opponent; we just took them for granted (after the first two sets) and we never recovered.”
“We’re a young group and we’re finding ways to work through hard things,” Lady Spartans coach Nicklin Hames said. “I thought they stepped it up and found a way to fight.”
FHS built a 12-2 lead in the first set. Each team then had runs of several points, but when Farragut won five of the last seven, it won the set 25-16 and led 1-0.
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September 3, 2025 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Athletes from three area high schools competed at the Victor Ashe Park Fall Classic Saturday boys cross country meet over the weekend.
Farragut High School won the event on Saturday as three of its runner posted top-10 finishes and all five of its scorers placed inside the top-20.
The Admirals, who finished with 55 team points, were led by Chase Temples. Temples came in third as he crossed the finish line in 16 minutes, 38.20 seconds.
Andrew Cabniss finished fifth for Farragut with a time 16:31.60. Nick DeGuira was 10th as he posted a time of 17:00.40. Tyson Ebbert came in 18th (17:25.90) and Anders Kofoed was 19th (17:26.90).
Hardin Valley Academy was second in the tram standings. The Hawks scored 59 team points. Cooper McKaig took sixth and was HVA’s top finisher as he crossed the finish line in 16:53.40. Aiden Rufi was seventh (16:57.89). JD Rutig was 11th as he posted a time of 17:07.80. Isaac Socha was 15th (17:17.40). Brody VanMeter came in 20th as heee crossed the finish line in 17:27.60.
Bearden had four runners in action Saturday, one short of the number to be eligible for a team score.
Alexander Montpelier was 85th for the Bulldogs as he finished the 5,000-mrter course in 19:20.90. Reid Townsend was 196th (20:08.50). Judd Graves was 146th (21:41.00) and Grayson Haun was 203rd (24:15.10).
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