Coach Joe Gaddis has the Patriots of Paris-Henry County believing right now and a lot has been on the backs of their two offensive leaders. Marsalis Teague, 5-10, 174 pound quarterback and Dominque Allen, 6-0, 250 pound running back have been leading the charge for the Patriots who are still undefeated. Allen, who has scored 13 touchdowns and piled up 451 yards, looks poised to strike as the season begins to march closer to the playoffs. The combination of Allen and Teague will have fans watching the Patriots move deep into the playoffs and possible to the 4A state championship game to take on four time defending state champs, Maryville.
While thinking of Maryville, who looks to extend their winning streak to 68 games this week, the Rebels have been seeing some solid efforts in the ground game. The ground game has seen two players emerge in senior running back Thomas Shuler, who has rushed for 695 yards and nine touchdowns and also junior running back Buddy Jones, who has 487 yards and nine touchdowns. The Rebels have had some success through the air with junior quarterback Phillip Juhlin, who has completed 58 percent of his passes for 646 yards.
In the mid state the talk has circled around a few teams but no team more than Nashville-Ensworth. TheTigers have started off to a big time season led by senior quarterback Tavarres Jefferson and junior running back Orleans-Opoku Darkwa. This impressive backfield has combined for an impressive total of 1855 yards rushing and 28 touchdowns through seven ball games.
Another top performer to watch for is junior quarterback Reese Browning, 6-0, 215 pounds. For the 2008 season Browning has already thrown for 1567 yards and 17 touchdowns. On the receiving end of a few of those touchdowns has been junior wide receiver Lee Van Dyne, 6-2, 186 pounds. Van Dyne has hauled in six touchdowns and 608 yards so far in the 2008 season.