Smith County’s John Ross Hord named DTC Communications “Player of the Year”
DTC Communications “Player of the Year” John Ross Hord
In addition to Hord’s individual award, DTC Communications also presented Smith County High School head football coach Scott Murray, and the Smith County High School Football Program, a check for $500 for having this year’s DTC Communications Player of the Year. Tom Duggin of DTC Sports made the presentations to Hord and Coach Murray during a pep rally at the school, Friday afternoon, before the playoff game with Sweetwater. “DTC Communications is proud to be a community partner with the local schools in our service area, and we are equally proud to recognize the accomplishments of the outstanding student-athletes within the area,” said Chris Townson, CEO of DTC Communications. “I want to personally congratulate both John Ross Hord and the Smith County High School football team for their remarkable accomplishments throughout the 2019 high school football season.” Hord becomes the third Smith County Owl to win the DTC Player of the Year Award, joining Jalen Manning (2013), and Carson Hackett (2017). Other past winners include Lucas Phillips (2012) and Steven Jennings (2014, 2015) of DeKalb County, and Seth Price (2016) and Deramus Carey (2018) of Watertown. DTC Sports and DTC Communications are proud to recognize Smith County High School senior running back/linebacker John Ross Hord as the DTC Communications Player of the Year, and proudly congratulate both he and the Smith County High School football team for their outstanding accomplishments in 2019. DTC Communications is proud to continue their long-standing support of its communities and the athletic programs within these communities. 
[wdca_ad id=”11484″ ] [wdca_ad id=”11404″ ]Gordonsville High School Basketball Preview
by Ryan Nixon
The 2019-2020 Gordonsville High School Boys Basketball Team
Gordonsville Tigers Season Preview
The Gordonsville Tigers hired Gregg Bibb as their new head coach during the off-season. Bibb was the head coach of the Smith County Lady Owls last season, and the the Tigers are hoping that he can take them to the next level this season.
The Tigers will look to build off of last season, where the team got hot late in the season and made a run to the region semifinals. Despite losing two of their leading scorers from last year, Gordonsville is retaining a lot of key pieces from that run and could have another good year this season.
“There are good pieces to the puzzle to work with,” Bibb said. “It is just up to me to figure out the best way to use them to give us the best chance to succeed. We are changing the style of play somewhat so I will have to be patient and the players focusing on the changes we’re making and having an attention to detail of doing all the small parts correctly.”
With the core of this years team being juniors and seniors, the Tigers should have the experience needed to fine tune their game to the new style of play. Bibb stated that this teams main goal is to get better every day and maintain effort and good things will follow.
“I think the main goal that I have for us is a consistency of effort and every day doing what we need to do and doing it to the best of our ability to get better every day,” Bibb said. “Move forward every day we set foot on the floor so we can be playing our best basketball in February. I also have high expectations for our players in the classroom and in the community. We talk about us representing our family, school, community and team every time we are out in the public, with how we speak and treat others.”
The 2019-2020 Gordonsville High School Girls Basketball Team
Gordonsville Tigerettes Season Preview
The Gordonsville Tigers will look to continue their upward trend following last years breakout 10-17 season under head coach Jacob Dillard.
Doing so will be a challenge for the Tigerettes, as Gordonsville has a tough regular season schedule, thanks in part to playing in one of the best districts in the state.
“We embrace the challenge that our schedule presents to us this year, our district is one of the toughest in the state each year,” Dillard said. “Our scheduling will hopefully get us ready for our district and understand the level we need to play at each night. One of our goals is to continue to build from year to year like we have in our first two years, the players understand what we expect from them everyday now. We expect to take another step forward this year and have the potential to be a good team this year with key pieces returning for us.”
The team has three seniors returning, Trinity Potts, Lera Britt, and Abby Gochcoff, and no juniors. The team has six sophomores and three freshmen. Dillard stated that despite the team being young, they have gained a lot of experience the past couple years, which will help not only this season but also in building the foundation for the next couple years of building up this program.
| 11/23 6:00p | East Robertson |
| 11/23 TBA | @ Friendship Christian (Two Games) |
| 11/26 6:00p | @ Smith County |
| 11/29 6:00p | Watertown |
| 12/3 6:00p | Eagleville |
| 12/10 6:00p | Clay County |
| 12/12 6:00p | @ Van Buren County |
| 12/13 6:00p | @ Jackson County |
| 12/17 6:00p | @ Red Boiling Springs |
| 12/20 6:00p | Pickett County |
| 12/21 6:00p | Smith County |
| 11/26-28 TBA | Friendship Christian Tournament |
| 1/7 6:00p | Trousdale County |
| 1/10 6:00p | Monterey |
| 1/14 6:00p | @ Clarkrange |
| 1/17 7:00p | @ Clay County |
| 1/21 6:00p | Jackson County |
| 1/24 6:00p | Red Boiling Springs |
| 1/27 6:00p | Van Buren County |
| 1/28 6:00p | @ Pickett County |
| 1/31 6:00p | @ Trousdale County |
| 2/4 6:00p | @ Monterey |
| 2/7 6:00p | Clarkrange |
| 2/10 6:00p | @ Watertown |
| 2/14 7:00p | @ Eagleville |
Smith County High School Basketball Preview
by Ryan Nixon
The 2019-2020 Smith County High School Boys Basketball Team
Smith County Owls Season Preview
Following a tough season last year, the Owls brought in Trey Sanders as the new head coach. Sanders coached the Owls over 12 years ago, but has been the Head Coach of the Gordonsville Tigers since.
Sanders and the Owls will have a lot to prove this season, as they went 1-25 last season. Sanders said that the Owls had a good summer, and this change of energy could help the Owls turn some head in the season.
“The team responded well at camp this summer,” Sanders said. ”We were able to win some games, which gave them some encouragement. I learned a lot about them, as they learned a lot about me. The guys are excited and eager to play. One thing I have tried to have them focus on is attitude. I encourage them to approach everything with a ‘We can, We will’ attitude.”
The Owls will have a slight disadvantage at the start of the season, as they have eight players on the football team which have not been able to get much practice with the team. This could lead to a slow start to these players when the season starts.
The 2019-2020 Smith County High School Girls Basketball Team
Smith County Lady Owls Season Preview
The Lady Owls will be led by a new head coach, Todd Hess, when their season starts. Hess was a member of the Lady Owls coaching staff last year, but was promoted this offseason when Gregg Bibb went to Gordonsville.
The coaching change will only be a part of the new look Lady Owls, who had five seniors graduate last year. Hess will need to look to their four juniors to provide leadership this year, as there are no seniors on the roster. Experience is a point that may be lacking, with their only being a few players on the Owls team last year that got a significant amount of minutes. With the graduation of 1,000 point scorer Allyssa West, the team will need some new players to step up to fill her shoes.
The Lady Owls will need these young players to learn fast and get their confidence, because they have a difficult path through their conference this year. Macon County and Upperman are two of the better teams in the state, and are the first two district games the Lady Owls will play this year. These games could help quite a bit in building experience and if the Lady Owls can keep it close or get the win, it should work wonders for their confidence throughout the season and on to next year as well.
| 11/19 3:00p/6:00p | Hall Of Fame Games at Friendship Christian (Boys) |
| 11/21 3:00P/6:00P | Hall of Fame Games at Friendship Christian (Girls) |
| 11/23 TBA | Hall of Fame Games at Red Boiling Springs |
| 11/26 6:00p | Gordonsville |
| 11/29-30 TBA | Pickett County Thanksgiving Tournament |
| 12/2 6:00p | @Macon County |
| 12/3 6:00p | Red Boiling Springs |
| 12/10 6:00p | Upperman |
| 12/13 6:00p | @Livingston Academy |
| 12/16 6:00p | Trousdale County |
| 12/17 6:00p | @Portland |
| 12/21 6:00p | @Gordonsville |
| 12/27-29 TBA | Lake Cumberland Holiday Classic |
| 12/26-28 TBA | Westmoreland Christmas Tournament |
| 1/7 6:00p | Merrol Hyde |
| 1/10 6:00p | @York Institute |
| 1/14 6:00p | @Cannon County |
| 1/17 6:00p | @Watertown |
| 1/21 6:00p | @DeKalb County |
| 1/24 6:00p | Macon County |
| 1/28 6:00p | @Upperman |
| 1/31 6:00p | Livingston Academy |
| 2/4 6:00p | York Institute |
| 2/7 6:00p | Cannon County |
| 2/11 6:00p | Watertown |
| 2/13 6:00p | DeKalb County |
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Gordonsville wins 17-7 over Whitwell to advance to third round
The Gordonsville Tigers are advancing to the third round following their 17-7 win over Whitwell on Friday night.
The Tigers were able to strike first, scoring halfway through the first quarter on a 24 yard Treyson Davis touchdown rush to put Gordonsville up 7-0.
Neither team was able to score until the second quarter, when the Tigers were able to tack on 3 with a 22 yard field goal by Tanner Pierson with 4 minutes left in the half.
The Tigers extended their lead in the third quarter, with Davis finding the end zone to extend their lead to 17-0. Whitwell was able to narrow the score to 17-7, but it was too little too late and Gordonsville was able to hold their lead and advance to the next round of the playoffs.
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Owls lose to Loudon 41-7 in second round of playoffs
Gordonsville advances after beating Copper Basin on the road
by Ryan Nixon
Gordonsville at Copper Basin – Friday, November 8, 2019
The Gordonsville Tigers traveled to take on the Copper Basin Cougars in the first round of the playoffs.
The Tigers were able to get off to an early 6-0 lead following a two yard Grant Underwood rush for a touchdown just five minutes into the game.
Sloppy play and not taking advantage of situations was the story of the rest of the first half, with the Tigers having a few opportunities to extend their lead.
The Cougars were able to tie it up late in the first half, scoring with 40 seconds left to tie the game at 6-6.
Treyson Davis got the Tigers an advantage with seven minutes left in the 3rd quarter with a rushing touchdown, and Davis also ran in a two point conversion to get the Tigers a 14-6 lead.
The Tigers had a couple opportunities to extend their lead in the second half, but weren’t able to score until just over a minute left, with Underwood getting his second touchdown of the game to put the game out of reach.
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Smith County Owls survive and advance in a close game over Sweetwater
by Ryan Nixon
Smith County vs Sweetwater – Friday, November 8, 2019
The Smith County Owls hosted the Sweetwater Wildcats in the first round of the playoffs, in a game that went down to the wire.
Sweetwater got off to an early 7-0 lead, but the owls were able to score back-to-back touchdowns off touchdowns by Eli Martin and John Ross Hord.
Sweetwater took advantage of good field positioning on a mistake by the Owls punt team, scoring a touchdown. The Owls were able to block the PAT to keep a one point lead, 14-13. This lead carried into halftime.
Sweetwater took a long drive down the field to take a 21-14 lead in the second half.
The Owls were able to answer back with a Cameron Spivey touchdown pass to Martin to tie the game at 21-21 halfway through the third quarter.
A couple plays later the Owls were able to force a turnover. The Owls were able to carry the ball downfield and scored on a Hord touchdown to give the Owls the lead back at 28-21.
Sweetwater drove down and scored, but the Owls were able to block their second field goal of the game to keep their lead, 28-27 midway through the fourth quarter.
The Owls were able to milk the clock down to 2:30 left in the game before giving Sweetwater the ball back with no timeouts. Sweetwater drove down within striking distance, but the Owls defense was able to stop them from scoring forcing a turnover on downs. This allowed the Owls to drain the clock and advance to the second round of the playoffs.
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Gordonsville Youth Football League teams crowned Tri-County Champions
On Saturday, November 2, 2019, all three teams in the Gordonsville Youth Football League were crowned Tri-County Champions.
The Flag, Junior, and Senior teams all came away with a victory in Saturday’s games.
In the Flag division, Gordonsville bested Trousdale County by a score of 34-12, finishing with a 8-0 record on the season.
In the Junior division, Gordonsville was victorious over Watertown by a score of 12-6, finishing with a 7-1 record on the season.
In the Senior division, Gordonsville defeated Clay County by a score of 26-7, finishing with a 8-0 record on the season.
The championship tournament was held in Trousdale County.
Congratulations, boys!
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Gordonsville loses close battle against undefeated Monterey Wildcats
by Ryan Nixon
The Gordonsville Tigers lost 28-21 in a close battle on Friday night against the Monterey Wildcats 28-21, dropping to 3-7 on the season.
The Tigers got off to a hot start, with Skyshn Washer scoring two touchdowns to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead in the second quarter. Monterey responded midway through the second quarter to narrow the lead to 14-7. This score continued to halftime.
Monterey would tie it up late into the third quarter, to make the score 14-14 with 3:41 left in the 3rd quarter.
The Wildcats kept their momentum in the fourth quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take a 28-14 lead, in the 4th quarter. Gordonsville was able to claw back and score to narrow the score to 28-21, and got one last opportunity late in the game to make a comeback. Im a last ditch effort, the Tigers were stopped at the 5 yard line on the last play of the game.
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Owls win big over Grundy County thanks to huge first quarter
Photo by Melinda Spivey
Smith County vs Grundy County – Friday, November 1, 2019
The Smith County Owls won big in the last game of the regular season, winning 59-8 over Grundy County.
John Ross Hord scored from 4 yards out to take a 7-0 lead early in the game.
The Owls were able to get the ball back and score off of a 10 yard rush to take a 13-0 lead with 7 minutes left in the first quarter.
The Owls were able to recover the ensuing kickoff, which led to a quick drive for Smith County that saw Hord find the end zone for the third time in the first quarter, this time scoring off of a 20 yard rush to go ahead 20-0 with 6 minutes left in the first.
Hord and the Owls offense kept up their momentum, scoring a fourth touchdown in the first quarter scoring a 39 yard touchdown to take a 27-0 lead with 4 minutes left in the first. Hord and the offense would get one more touchdown before the end of the first quarter, for his 5th touchdown.
Smith County was able to tack on two more touchdowns in the second quarter to take a 46-0 lead into halftime.
The Owls were able to keep their lead, tacking on thirteen more points in the second half, but Grundy County was able to score 8 points in the second half to avoid being shut out.
Photo by Melinda Spivey
