Sports
Rivalries take center stage
April 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
As the calendar flips toward May, baseball teams across the state are looking to test themselves against top competition to prepare for the postseason.
While that has been the case for Farragut, Bearden and Hardin Valley, all three teams have taken part in recent rivalry matchups, as well, to ratchet things up even more.
Here’s a look at how things have unfolded lately.
Farragut 7, Hardin Valley 6
On Monday night, March 30, Farragut held off Hardin Valley 7-6 in a tense District 4-4A matchup.
Joey Ray took the win for FHS, fanning six with two straight to end HVA’s final threat in the bottom of the seventh. He also slammed the door in the bottom of the sixth when Hardin Valley had the tying run on third.
“Joey’s a competitor and will compete no matter the situation,” Admirals head coach Garrett Copeland said. “He went a little longer in relief than normal but he competed all night.”
The teams combined for four home runs in the first three innings — three from FHS and two by Zain Kureshi-Smith and Mason Shelton specifically on back-to-back pitches in the top of the second inning.
Aidan Flagg added another for the Admirals one inning later while Kenny Lane hammered one for the Hawks in the bottom half of the third.
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April 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
In a tense moment, Aydan Skelton looked for a teammate she trusts.
She found it in Brooklyn Morris, who had already scored both Lady Admiral touchdowns against Karns on Monday, March 23.
With the game tied 13-13 in double-overtime, Morris caught the pass from Skelton, evaded a defender and crossed the goal line to give FHS a 14-13 win.
The victory marked a 1-0 start in district play for Farragut in its first TSSAA-sanctioned season of girls flag football, as FHS forced OT after trailing 12-6 with 55 seconds left in regulation.
“I was just excited for our team,” said Morris, a first-year player. “We haven’t had the best season yet through the preseason, but I was excited that we all played well. We all worked really hard to get that one.”
Farragut took a 6-0 lead in the first quarter on a touchdown pass from Skelton to Morris, but Karns bounced back with two scores to take a 12-6 lead into the break.
Emma Pearl Riffer and the Lady Admiral defense kept the Beavers at bay, but FHS could not find any more offense until the final minute of the fourth quarter.
Morris hauled in the game-tying score, and when the conversion failed, FHS took the ball first in overtime on a 2-point-conversion style play. Camille Faugot caught the pass from Skelton for a 13-12 lead, but Karns matched before the Farragut defense came up with one more stop.
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April 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Bradley Culbreth knows what it takes to succeed in the postseason — talent, injury avoidance and depth.
All three factors have played pivotal roles in the Farragut boys soccer team’s 8-0 record, as the Admirals have shot out to their best start in Culbreth’s tenure as head coach.
He attributed the start to his players, noting “they want to win together.”
So far, FHS has done exactly that. They brought home the Smoky Mountain Cup last Saturday, March 28, going 3-0 with a 4-2 win over Bartlett in the championship match at Rocky Top Sports World in Gatlinburg.
“All three games were very competitive,” Culbreth said. “It was three tough teams, and we took it one at a time.”
Jason Gao put the Ads up 1-0 before halftime against Bartlett, only for the Panthers to tie the score 1-1 right at the start of the second half.
Uday Sujithkumar broke the stalemate, and Caleb Gahagan found the net shortly thereafter before Gao bookended the day with another goal to outlast a penalty kick from Bartlett in the final eight minutes.
Matthew Burney took the clean sheet in goal, having paced the Ads in their 2-0 win over Westminster, Georgia in the tournament opener, too.
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April 1, 2026 by Jake Nichols
Hallie Grace Johnson hit a notable personal milestone on Tuesday, March 24.
She just didn’t realize it until after the fact.
In the Lady Admirals’ 4-0 district win over Hardin Valley, the junior ace rang up the 300th strikeout of her Farragut career. It also was her 14th strikeout of the game, as she finished with 16 punch-outs on the day for 302 to that point in her time as a Lady Admiral.
“I didn’t even know I was close, so it was a good surprise,” Johnson said with a laugh last week. “They said it over the loudspeaker, and that’s how I found out. I was kind of shocked, actually, but it was a good thing for sure.”
The Radford commitment noted she does not focus on numbers, waiting until the end of each season to check her statistics for that year.
Rather, she focuses on each game as it comes, taking one batter at a time.
That approach reflects the overall mentality within the FHS program, as head coach Nick Green said he was not aware of Johnson’s accomplishment until after the fact.
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April 1, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Two of the state’s top high school boys soccer teams met over the weekend on a cold Saturday, March 28, and scoring turned out to be at a premium to say the least.
Bearden and Ravenwood played to a 0-0 draw to end the week at Turner-Allender Field.
“I thought we had some chances in the first half,” Bulldogs’ coach Ryan Radcliffe said. “And then, they came out and they jumped all over us.
“This was a great game against a very good team. They’re a great team.”
The match against the Raptors (6-1-1) was Bearden’s third game of the week.
The Bulldogs (6-1-1) had a tough match against one of Northeast Tennessee’s top teams on Thursday and Bearden defeated Science Hill, 4-0, in the friendly confines of Turner-Allender Field.
Four different players found the back of the net for Bearden against the Hilltoppers.
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April 1, 2026 by Ken Lay, Correspondent
Bearden High School has endured its share of struggles on the softball diamond this season.
The Lady Bulldogs had a tough go of things last week in a 6-1 loss to geographical and one-time District 4-4A rival Knoxville West.
Bearden’s bats were largely held at bay on Wednesday, March 25, at BHS’s Kim Hazelwood Field as the Lady Bulldogs struggled to solve the pitch of West High ace pitcher Brooke Weaver.
Weaver, who pitched a complete game, going seven innings, gave up one earned run in the bottom of the seventh. She also yielded five hits and two walks. She struck out seven in the contest.
The two teams were locked in a scoreless tie in the top of the third inning until Weaver, who was so dominant in the pitcher’s circle, made some big noise with her bat as she clubbed a three-run home run over the left-field fence.
The Lady Rebels added two more runs in the top of the fourth frame as Ava Humphreys and Mia Beeler each came up with an RBI single.
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