Chattanooga Times Free Press

LaFayette

BY LINDSEY YOUNG / lyoung@timesfreepress.com

Head coach: Andy Scott (4-6 here; 50-76 overall)

Returning starters: 7 offensive; 5 defensive

Last year’s record: 4-6 overall, did not qualify for GHSA Class AAA playoffs

Key players: Zach Barrett (6-0, 165)

Sr. QB, Austin Tucker (5-11, 195) Sr. LB, Noah Johnson (6-3, 290) Jr. OL, Michael Hamilton (6-0, 235) Jr. OL, Chase Hughes (6-0, 275) Sr. OL, Sam Hall (6-2, 175) Sr. WR/DB, Dawson Pendergrass (6-0, 175) Jr. WR/DB, Cody Davis (6-0, 215) Jr. LB

Season outlook: Scott painfully calls his first year on the job the “could have, would have, should have” season after the Ramblers ended the year with three consecutive region losses, all games that came down to the final minutes.

The frustration from that stretch fostered an offseason filled with physical gains. The Ramblers are bigger, faster and stronger, and in a new-look Region 6-AAA that no longer has Rockmart, North Murray and Sonoraville, those gains could mean big things.

“We don’t have a football weightlifting program,” Scott said. “We have an athletic program that includes lots of knee bending and squats, which makes the kids more explosive.

“We work the back, chest and shoulders and do major injury prevention stuff. Fast on the bottom and strong on the top is what we want to see here.”

As a result, the Ramblers will trot out a team capable of winning whether the games are tight and physical or filled with big plays. Johnson, Hamilton and Hughes help form one of the best offensive lines in the area, and a backfield by committee will feature the physical inside running of Tucker — a player Scott said “will knock the taste out of your mouth” — and the speed of Pendergrass and Jaden Morris, who along with Hall will also lead the receivers.

Returning starter Barrett is being pushed by Khalis Finley — Scott said the sophomore will be one of the best to come out of LaFayette — and both will play other positions when not at quarterback.

Tucker and fellow linebackers Davis and Morris team with backs Pendergrass and Hall to form a solid back seven. Replacing Lane White and Coy Pendergrass up front will be difficult, with A.J. Johnson one of the defensive end candidates.

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2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-08-14T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://edition.timesfreepress.com/article/282875144568454

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