LPD Principals Propose 4th District

**greencrest1272** · January 15th, 2006, 01:53 PM

Best plan that I have seen so far.

**imported_MoonlightGraham** · January 15th, 2006, 02:22 PM

Will really hurt this region in baseball. Virginia High has the best baseball coaches in the entire state, and John Battle is not too shabby either.

**Jason** · January 15th, 2006, 02:24 PM

Bristol is a baseball town/city.

**imported_MoonlightGraham** · January 15th, 2006, 02:32 PM

I agree Tn High, Va High, Battle...but then again compare them in football, and Tn High is probally the only team who could give GC/PV a game.

**Jason** · January 15th, 2006, 02:34 PM

I used to love the GC vs. TN High football games in the ninties. I think they only beat us once.

**imported_GC_Quincy** · January 15th, 2006, 04:05 PM

The game where we stopped them 8 times inside the 5 yard line was great. I still have the video of that game and watch it occasionally. That was great.

**Jason** · January 15th, 2006, 04:09 PM

They certainly were great! What year was that?

**Jason** · January 15th, 2006, 04:30 PM

I found it.

Gate City holds back THS 14-10
By BUCKY DENT

Bristol Herald Courier

ESPN has been running ads inviting viewers to attend Bristol University on NFL Sundays. Gate City's defense taught some lessons of their own on goal-line stands Friday night.

The Blue Devils kept Tennessee High out of the end zone on six plays inside the three-yard line in the fourth quarter, preserving a 14-10 victory in the season opener before a near-capacity crowd at the Stone Castle.

"I can't say enough about our kids," said Gate City coach Nick Colobro. "We were down inside the 10 on what, eight plays? The kids did a super job. I'm tickled to death."

Scared to death might have been a more accurate term as the Vikings started the game-deciding drive at the Blue Devil 28 after a 20-yard punt return by Derek Gilliam.

Travis Williams reached back to snare a Robbie Spencer pass for an 18-yard gain, setting up first and goal. After a seven-yard run on first and goal by Jon Ewing, Gate City dug in.

Two running plays gained one yard, forcing a fourth down pass. However, the Blue Devils were flagged for pass interference, giving THS first and goal from the one.

After a six-inch offsides penalty on Gate City, a first down sneak was stopped a football length short of the end zone. The Vikings then hurt themselves by taking a delay of game penalty, moving the ball back to the six.

Ewing ran off right guard to the three on second down, but two more running plays managed just one yard as the Blue Devils stayed low and stacked up Tennessee High runners.

"We sucked it up and came off the ball. The front line did a good job," said Gate City linebacker Andy Smith, who delivered his share of crushing hits in a physical no-holds-barred contest. "We like to step it up when the ball gets inside the 20."

Houseright thought the pass interference call gave the Blue Devils energy to hold off the Vikings on the second series of downs.

"That interference call got us pumped up a little bit," he said. "We knew we had to go. Everyone's adrenaline was running and we just happened to stop them."

Tennessee High coach Tommy Hundley thought about employing a play-action pass on the second series of downs, but figured his team could punch it in by running.

"You want to come back and second-guess yourself that we should have thrown a play-action pass", he said. "We were so close we figured we could stick it in with two quarterback sneaks. But we just never did it."

The Vikings' inability to muster much of a surge showed most of the night, as THS managed just 47 yards in 24 rushes. Even though the Vikings used a variety formations- running as many split back sets as they did their heralded Run-and-Shoot- they still found room tough to come by against the well-drilled Gate City D-line.

However, Tennessee High still scored the game's first points on a 36-yard field goal by Andy Stoots with 10:14 left in the first half. The score was set up when Chuck Arnold recovered a Blue Devil fumble on the GC 35.

But the Viking lead lasted all of 16 seconds. On the first play after the kickoff, Houseright ripped 65 yards for a touchdown, taking advantage of huge block from right guard Zeke Spivey and right tackle Smith, then kicking into a gear he didn't have last year to outrace two defenders with an angle on him.

"I ran track during the spring and think it helped me a whole lot," Houseright said. I believe I'm faster now than I was last year. That was a huge hole, they couldn't have done a better job.

After displaying his new-found speed, Houseright went back to his power style for a four-yard TD run with 43.4 seconds left in the half, winning a head-on collision with a defender at the goal line to reach the end zone.

Lefty quarterback Matt Osborne turned in two big passes on the drive, hitting Brandon Seaver for 16 yards, then lofting a 24-yard strike to Adam McClellan on fourth down and three from the THS 33.

Spencer, the Vikings' highly touted sophomore quarterback, showed off his arm in the second half, throwing for 102 yards. Over half came on Tennessee High's lone touchdown.

From the Viking 48, he lofted a screen pass to sophomore Justin Horn, who cut from right to left, got a pair of crushing downfield blocks from Arnold and Gilliam and found paydirt at 6:39 of the third quarter.

Tennessee High had one more possession after getting turned away at the goal line, but went three-and-out as an aroused Blue Devil rush-line hurried at the Vikings into two incompletions.

Houseright finished with 166 yards in 23 carries despite battling leg cramps most of the second half for Gate City, which starts Highlands District play next week at Virginia High.

Tennessee High opens up Big Six Conference play next week in the Stone Castle against Sullivan South.

1 2 3 4 Final
Gate City 0 14 0 0 14
THS 0 3 7 0 10

Gate City Tennessee High
First Downs 12 8
Rushes-Yards 53-213 24-47
Passing 44 123
Comp-Att-Int 3-4-0 7-16-0
Fumbles-Lost 3-3 1-1
Penalties-Yards 8-56 9-60
Punts 5-28.8 7-37.9