By Donovan Stewart
MaxPreps.com
With the Holiday Season upon us, 'Tis the time to look back on another season - the 2007 football season - which had its up and downs for many teams, players and coaches across the state of Tennessee
So here are 15 moments that defined the year (in no particular order):
Smyrna Goes Back-to Back
Last season, Smyrna broke a curse by defeating Riverdale in the quarterfinals and parlayed that into winning its first ever Class 5A state title.
This season, the Bulldogs started slowly, losing to Lebanon and Brentwood Academy, and yes, Riverdale in the regular season. But when the playoffs rolled around the Bulldogs caught fire again to make Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association history by becoming the first 5A team to win back-to-back state titles since Brentwood Academy did it in 1995 season.
Maryville, Alcoa Continue Domination
Blount County neighbors Maryville and Alcoa continue to club each other during the regular season and then dominate in Class 2A (Alcoa) and 4A (Maryville) by winning state titles.
Alcoa, under coach Gary Rankin, has now won four consecutive state titles in 2A. Maryville, nationally ranked and winners of 60 straight games have also won four straight 4A titles and eight of the last 10 in 4A.
South Pittsburg Wins for Former Coach
Former Pirate coach Don Grider laid a foundation for South Pittsburg as the legendary coach won a state title in 1969 and was at the controls for almost 30 years.
In April, he died of complications of diabetes, His oldest son, Vic, the current Pirate coach got his team to the Class 1A title game and South Pittsburg blistered McKenzie for the its first state title since 1999.
Montgomery Bell Academy Wins Division II-AA
Led by University of Tennessee commitments Ben Bartholomew and Preston Bailey, Montgomery Bell Academy went 13-0 and beat rival and defending champion Brentwood Academy twice, including a 12-0 win in the championship game. The Big Red were led by first-year coach Daniel McGugin.
Ken Netherland Makes History
St. George's Ken Netherland, Tennessee's winningest active coach with 337 wins, made TSSAA history by becoming the first coach to win state titles at a public and a private school.
His current St. George's defeated Southern Baptist Educational Center (Miss.) for the Division II-A state title capping an undefeated season.
Netherland had waited 24 years before winning another title as his Germantown team won the Class AAA title in 1983.
Gabriel Hunter Runs Wild
Gabriel Hunter, a junior running back at Kingsbury, had an incredible season puncuated by back-to-back weeks that would be difficult to match in a video game.
In the last week of the regular season, Hunter ran for 375 yards in a win over Raleigh Egypt and scored four touchdowns.
But it was his first round playoff performance in a 42-28 win over Munford that gave Hunter national acclaim.
He ran for a state record 436 yards and five touchdowns to earn MaxPreps/USA Today player of the Week.
In the two week rampage, Hunter ran for 811 yards and nine touchdowns.
TSSAA Experiments with Wild Card Format
The TSSAA really didn't know what to do with nine regions in Class 2A.
So instead of the traditional four teams heading to the playoffs from each region, the TSSAA instituted a wild card format this season.
Three teams went from each region and five wild card teams were picked.
The five lucky schools that received wild card berths were Sweetwater, Rockwood, Marion County, Richland and Jackson Christian.
All five teams were knocked out in the first round.
McCallie, Baylor Back On Campus
In Chattanooga there's not a bigger game then Baylor and McCallie.
The game has such a following that the schools quit playing on campus because the crowds outgrew the school's tiny stadiums.
The last several years the two played at Finley Stadium, home of the University of Chattanooga, and 13,000 people witnessed a McCallie win last season.
McCallie has beaten Baylor eight straight years and with it being Baylor's turn to host, athletic director Thad Lepcio decided not to play at Finley and instead on campus at Heywood Stadium.
A backlash followed as instead of an overflow crowd only members of the school's alumni and parents of current students got tickets.
The home field advantage backfired as McCallie won its ninth straight game in the series.
TACA All-Star Game Replaces Tennessee-Kentucky Game
For over 10 seasons Tennessee and Kentucky's best and brightest players got together to represent their states for bragging rights.
Over the last four years, the game began to struggle in drawing the best players because they were either taking summer school classes at their chosen college, or their new coaches didn't want them competing.
So the two states decided to call it quits last season. Enter the Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association to the rescue.
The group, made up of coaches across the state of Tennessee, chose the players to play on an East and West team and played the game not in the summer, but Dec. 15 on the campus of Carson-Newman University.
The inaugural game went to the East as it prevailed over the West, 26-6.
