The Stone Memorial Panthers are quietly making some noise in the local world of middle school football.
SMMS opened the season two weeks ago with a convincing victory over Bledsoe County.
Last week, Stone made it 2-0 on the year with a 22-12 win over visiting Algood.
“We’re very excited about getting the win over Algood,” said Stone Memorial Coach Andrew Hargis.
“But, we know we’ve still got a lot of work to do.
“The kids know they could have played way better. We as coaches, that’s actually pretty nice to hear. We’re not having to preach that and preach that over and over. That shows their maturity as a team that they know what they’re capable of and how good they are.”
The Panthers will look to make it 3-0 Thursday, Aug. 20, when they visit Cookeville to play Prescott School. Kickoff is slated for 6 p.m.
Stone Memorial jumped on top of Algood early in the game and never took its foot off the pedal.
The Panthers scored through the air and on the ground. Evan Whitson connected with Gavin Luttrell for a touchdown and then he found Wiliam Alley for a score to push the margin to 16-6 at the half.
Each team added a score in the second half to push the final margin to 22-12.
“We knew going into the game with Algood that we were going to have to pass a whole lot more than normal,” Hargis said. “Both of our main running backs are out right now. So, for Gavin to really step in and take the reins at running back, he did amazing.
“The game was nowhere near perfect. We did some things wrong, but we will take a 2-0 record, for sure.”
Hargis liked what he saw on defense.
“We were good on defense, but again, not perfect. I am proud of how we were able to make plays. There were times whenever we came up short, and, that’s the thing that we know we’ve gotta work on,” he said.
“Our defense is very good, we’re very fast, and I’m definitely proud of that. But, I mean, it’s the little mistakes that can be costly, and we don’t need to keep making the same mistakes.”
Hargis said Thursday’s game with Prescott may pose a different obstacle than the Panthers faced with Algood. Prescott is traditionally one of the better running teams in the district.
“I really feel like with the last two weeks, we have done well defending the run game,” Hargis said. “We’re gonna go into this same week with the same intensity, if not more. We’re gonna basically try to shut that down.”
Hargis said a victory against Prescott would do a lot to send Stone forward for the rest of the season. However, no one is thinking too far in advance.
“Honestly, we don’t. We don’t look at it that way. We look at every week as a chance to go 1-0,” Hargis said. “But going 3-0 would be great. I think we’re showing the Stone Middle School football program is strong and the future of the high school program is bright.
“I think [Stone Memorial High School Coach] Derik Samber likes what he sees in our program. I think he knows the kids are putting in the work. We know things aren’t going to come easy. We’ve got to work for it.”