GHS Cheerleaders place in regional cheer competition, earn bid to compete at national level
On Saturday, December 1, 2018, the Gordonsville High School Cheerleaders competed in the UCA Smoky Mountain Championship Cheer Competition at the Sevierville Convention Center in Sevierville, Tennessee. The team competed in the Game Day Competition division and placed 2nd out of seven teams.
Front Row: Captains: Skyler Brock, Kailee Barrett | Middle row: Haylee Reece, Hannah Ortego, Nikki Sanders, Brylee Hunt, Beth Woodard | Back row: Kelli Gregory, Megan Greenhaw, Nyce Robinson, Madison Wolf, Alivia Schwan, Violet Gillian
The team rankings for the competition are as follows:
- 1st Place – Beech High School (Hendersonville, TN)
- 2nd Place – Gordonsville High School (Gordonsville, TN)
- 3rd Place – Creekwood High School (North Charlotte, TN)
- 4th Place – Richland High School (Lynnville, TN)
- 5th Place – Watertown High School (Watertown, TN)
- 6th Place – Hardin Valley School (Knoxville, TN)
- 7th Place – Gallatin High School (Gallatin, TN)
As a result of their 2nd place standing in the Smoky Mountain competition, the Gordonsville High School Cheerleaders have earned a bid to compete in the National High School Cheer Championship, which will be held at Walt Disney World in February 2019.
This was the team’s first time competing in a regional cheer competition.
The Gordonsville High School Cheerleaders are led by head coach Mary Baker and assistant coaches Chandra Gillian and Allison Wolf.
Congratulations to all the Gordonsville High School Cheerleaders and coaches!
Gordonsville Tigers fall to South Pittsburg in Second Round
The Gordonsville Tigers lost to the South Pittsburg Pirates 27-14 in the second round of the playoffs.
Gordonsville’s first offensive drive saw them throw an interception, but the Tigers were able to force a three and out. Both teams were able to lock down on defense in the first quarter, but the Tigers took a long 10 minute drive that resulted in an eight yard touchdown by Matthew Thompson. The touchdown gave Gordonsville a 7-0 lead with 2:32 left in the half. The Tigers defense was able to make it to the half without allowing a score.
The Tigers were able to create a turnover in the second half, but an interception gave the Pirates momentum to drive down and tie the game back at 7-7.
Gordonsville couldn’t get anything going on the next drive and was forced to punt the ball back to the Pirates.
South Pittsburg was able to break off a long run to take a 14-7 lead with just under five minutes in the third quarter.
The Tigers were driving the ball, but an interception gave the Pirates the ball back to start the fourth quarter.
South Pittsburg took the ball downfield and scored to take a 21-7 lead with 11 minutes left in the game.
The Tigers weren’t able to get the offense going, being forced to punt and an interception on their next two drives. The Pirates scored to extend their lead to 27-7 with 4:07 left in the game.
Gordonsville was able to score to narrow the gap to 27-14 off of a two yard Taylor Thaxton to Wyatt Pemberton touchdown.
The Tigers were unable to recover the onside, and the Pirates were able to wind down the clock.
Smith County Owls lose first round matchup against Red Bank
The Owls lost to the #3 ranked 3A Red Bank Lions in the first round of the playoffs.
The Lions jumped to an early lead, scoring on their first two possessions to take an early 14-0 lead. The Owls offense was not able to get going, but the defense was able to get a few stops before the Lions extended their lead to 28-0 going into the half.
Red Bank scored first in the second half to extend their lead to 35-0, but the Owls were able to get on the scoreboard with a 55 yard Cameron Spivey rushing touchdown to make the score 35-7.
The Lions scored two more touchdowns to put the Owls down 49-7, but Colton Windham was able to score a touchdown in the fourth quarter to wrap up the scoring at 49-13.
Gordonsville Tigers beat Sale Creek to advance to Second Round
The Tigers won their first round matchup against the Sale Creek Panthers, 35-0.
Gordonsville was able to strike first halfway into the first quarter off of a one yard Braxton Swicegood touchdown run to take a 7-0 lead.
The Tigers were able to score again before the end of the half with a 25 yard Skyshn Washer touchdown rush to take a 14-0 lead into halftime.
The Tigers scored first in the third quarter to extend their lead to 21-0 off of a 4 yard Matthew Thompson touchdown. The Tigers were able to tack on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Thaxton was able to find the back of the end zone to put the Tigers up 28-0, followed by a Jalen Brown touchdown with three minutes left in the game to wrap up the scoring at 35-0.
What’s next?
The Tigers will host their second round matchup next Friday night.
J.M. Insurance Agency presents High School Football’s Beast of the Week 2018 – Week 11
Here are J.M. Insurance Agency’s picks for High School Football’s “Beast of the Week” for Week 11:
Smith County:
Greg Bass and Seth Dillehey
Greg Bass
Center | #78
Greg displayed consistency in sub-par playing condition, only missing one snap, resulting in a 90% grade out during the Owl’s victory over Grundy County.
Gordonsville:
Mac Petty, Taylor Thaxton, and Seth Dillehey
Taylor Thaxton
QB | #12
Taylor went 11/14, throwing for 152 yards with 1 Touchdown, and had 15 carries that went for 93 yards with 2 touchdowns during the Tigers’ win over Clay County.
J.M. Insurance Agency would like to congratulate all the 2018 Beast of the Week recipients, and they look forward to representing the students in the 2019 football season!
Smith County secures playoff with win over Grundy County
The Owls punched their ticket to the playoffs, beating the Grundy County Yellow Jackets 35-14 in a must-win game.
A 69 yard Jaden Apple Gibbs touchdown got the Owls on the scoreboard first. The Owls were able to punch in another couple of touchdowns to take a 21-6 lead into halftime.
Neither team was able to score in the third quarter, as the Owls were able to stop the Yellow Jackets deep in Owl territory.
Smith County scored with just under ten minutes left in the fourth quarter off of a touchdown pass by Cameron Spivey to Eli Martin to make the score 28-7.
The Owls forced a fumble on the next drive, which gave the Owls the ball back at midfield with just over eight minutes left in the game. Martin scored another touchdown off of a 44 yard run to make the score 35-6.
Grundy County scored to make the score 35-14 but Smith County was able to wrap up the game and secure their playoff spot.
What’s next?
The Owls will go on the road to play at Red Bank in the first round of the playoffs.
Gordonsville wins big against Clay County
The Tigers beat the Clay County Yellow Jackets 42-14 to go through their region schedule undefeated and wrap up the regular season.
The Tigers got started off on the right foot, scoring in under two minutes off of a 16 yard Taylor Thaxton rushing touchdown.
The Tigers were able to force a three and out, but were struck by the turnover bug on the next drive throwing an interception that gave the Bulldogs great field position.
The Tigers were able to force a turnover on downs to get out of the scare.
Following a series where they weren’t able to get anything done, the Tigers offense put another touchdown on the board off of a 3 yard Thaxton rush to put Gordonsville up 14-0 at the start of the second quarter.
The Bulldogs were able to pull off a 65 yard touchdown pass on the next drive to narrow the Tigers lead and bring the score to 14-6.
Gordonsville scored again with 2:31 left in the first half off of a 2 yard rushing touchdown by Braxton Swicegood.
Clay County received the kickoff deep in their own territory, and the Tigers were able to force a punt from their end zone.
The Tigers recovered the ball at the Clay County 30 yard line, and scored a 30 yard touchdown pass from Thaxton to Skyshn Washer to put the Tigers up 28-6.
The Bulldogs scored on a 90 yard kickoff return to bring the score to 28-14 with just over a minute left in the half to wrap up the first half scoring.
Neither team scored in the third quarter, but Swicegood scored his second touchdown of the night off of a one yard rush to make the score 35-14.
Nathan Herd had a 28 yard touchdown run to wrap up the scoring at 42-14.
What’s next?
The Tigers will host Sale Creek High School in the first round of the playoffs next week.
J.M. Insurance Agency presents High School Football’s Beast of the Week 2018 – Week 9 & 10
Here are J.M. Insurance Agency’s picks for High School Football’s “Beast of the Week” for Week 9 & 10:
Smith County:
Week 9 – vs Cannon County:
Cameron Spivey and Seth Dillehey
Cameron Spivey
#2 QB/FS
Cameron had a great game on both offence and defense going 13/18, for 177 yards, accumulating 2 rushing touchdowns, and forcing a turnover late in the game that led to the win over Cannon County.
Week 10 – vs Watertown:
Austin Williams and Seth Dillehey
Austin Williams | #68 RG/DE
Despite the loss to Watertown, Austin displayed consistency on both sides of the ball with a high percentage grade on offence and racking up 6 total tackles on defense.
Gordonsville:
The Gordonsville coaches requested to combine the award for Week 9 and 10 because two Gordonsville players worked especially hard in both games to help lead to both victories.
Week 9 & 10:
Mac Petty, Hunter Clemons, Layton Cripps, and Seth Dillehey
Hunter Clemons | #54 RT
Layton Cripps | #62 RG
Hunter and Layton displayed true Tiger pride over the last two weeks, grading out at a combined 87% with a total of 19 pancake blocks, assisting the team to victories both against Jo Byrns in Week 9 and Week 10 win over Jackson County.
Congratulations to the players named “Beast of the Week”!
Smith County Lady Owls soccer team wins District 7 Championship
L to R: Assistant Coach Lisa Reece, Assistant Coach Kit Jenkins, Kristen Shoulders-District MVP, Kaytlin Patterson-First Team All-District, Mallory Dillon-Second Team All-District, Maijala Harrelson- First Team All-District, Samantha Lewis-First Team All-District, Shyenne Newton-First Team All-District, Avery Schoolfield-Second Team All-District, Kayla Starling-District Goalie of the Year, and Head Coach Nicholus Bussell
The Smith County Soccer Complex has recently been playing host to the District 7 Tournament.
On Tuesday, October 9, 2018, the Semi-finals were played out between York Institute (2) vs Watertown (3) and Smith County (1) vs Cannon County (4).
York secured their place in the Championship game by taking down Watertown 8-1. Then Smith County took the pitch with Cannon County. These two played each other last year in the Semi-finals where The Lady Owls won 3-0. This year The Lady Owls took their place in the Championship game by beating Cannon 6-0. Smith County showed up with goals from Mallory Dillon with 1, Kaytlin Patterson with 1, Delaney Eldred with 1, and Maijala Harrelson logged another hat trick with 3. The Smith County Defense showed up strong against Cannon, logging a shut-out. All 24 Lady Owls had time on the pitch and played, as always, as One Team.
Thursday, October 11, 2018, was the District Championship game of Smith County vs York.
The sidelines were packed. The Pride of the Upper Cumberland Band showed up to lend their support and gave a great performance as well as brought spirit to the crowd and team. These two teams came to win; however, there can be just one Champion. Smith County won the title with a score of 4-1. Maijala Harrelson had one and Kaytlin Patterson showed up with a hat-trick of 3. After the game, the District Awards were handed out. The Lady Owls were well represented with the Goalie of the Year, Kayla Starling, the District MVP, Kristen Shoulders, First Team included Kaytlin Patterson, Maijala Harrelson, Samantha Lewis, and Shyenne Newton, Second Team included Mallory Dillon and Avery Schoolfield.
Second year Head Coach Nicholus Bussell shared his thoughts on winning back-to-back District Championships:
“I am super proud of this team and all they have accomplished thus far this season. Being back-to-back District 7A Champions really shows how much hard work, dedication, and effort they all have put in to get this accomplishment. The team motto for the last two seasons is One Team. These ladies understand that it takes everyone and all their effort to be successful in anything they do on or off the pitch. I truly believe that is why they have been so successful. They have really bought into my system and each other. I also want to thank all the fans for all their support thus far this season. This is really a fun team to watch play on the pitch. So please come out and cheer really loud for these young ladies.”
Smith County Owls lose to undefeated Watertown
The Owls lost 57-21 to the undefeated Watertown Purple Tigers on Friday night, as Smith County was not able to slow down Watertown’s offense.
The Purple Tigers took an early lead, but the Owls looked like they would be able to bounce back driving the ball down to the 11 yard line before being forced to turn the ball over on downs.
The Purple Tigers would drive the ball down field and score to extend their lead to 14-0, followed by another touchdown to take a 21-0 lead after the first quarter.
The Owls got on the board on a 32 yard Jaden Apple-Gibbs touchdown to cut the score to 21-7.
The Purple Tigers were able to take over following the Owls touchdown though, scoring four straight touchdowns to take a 49-7 lead into halftime.
Cameron Spivey was able to run the ball in from 11 yards out halfway through the third quarter to make the score 49-14.
Watertown scored again in the fourth quarter, and the two point conversion brought the score to 57-14.
Spivey ran the ball in to score for the Owls with less than a minute left in the game to wrap up the scoring at 57-21.
What’s next?
The Owls will travel to Grundy County next week in a game that will have playoff implications.
