BPR’s Preseason All-County Team

MOC jamboree confirms our thoughts on some of the area’s best

Heritage’s Orlando Bledsoe rumbles for a Mountaineer touchdown against Alcoa on Friday. Photos by Jolanda Jansma

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

The Maryville Orthopaedic Clinic Jamboree Friday night at William Blount confirmed quite a bit.

Bledsoe holds on in heavy traffic.

We’re convinced Heritage is not to be taken lightly this season. The Mountaineers are more than just a sound football team in Tim Hammontree’s third season as coach.

Junior Dustin Richardson is Blount Press Row’s pick as Blount County’s top quarterback entering the season. Senior Orlando Bledsoe is a playmaker second to none at fullback. In the two Devins, Harris and Gardner, Kahlil Abuhania, Hunter Terry and Riley Hill, Richardson has a wealth of receiving targets who’ll not only catch the ball. They’ll do something with it.

Zach Amburn is just a ball player.

Alcoa didn’t look very good in the quarter with the Mountaineers, but don’t get the wrong idea. Highlighted by prospect offensive tackle Kyle Malik Mitchell and tailback Jaquez Tyson, both returning All-State selections, the Tornadoes are going to run the ball on some people.

Tight end Ryan Clark, all 6-foot-7 of him, is a matchup nightmare for anybody, and it looks like Alcoa is going to throw to him. Caleb Woody is a big-time playmaker at both receiver and defensive back. Just watch.

Quarterback Mitchell McClurg calls the signals for Alcoa.

Defensively, Alcoa returns an All-State linebacker in senior Keller Maples. When All-State defensive back Brenden Teeter and All-State end Jonathan Decker return from injury, the Tornadoes are going to be pretty stout on that side of the ball.

William Blount has not only one of the county’s top touchdown makers in senior receiver Joel Graham. Graham, also one of the area’s best defensive backs, is a leader, the kind a team rallies around.

Quarterbacks Reed Daniels and Austin Myrick took equal snaps Friday, both hitting the target with their passes. The Governors have found a runner in senior Michael Bryant to keep things balanced. An offensive line championed by all-county selection Josh Perkins gives William Blount a lot to work with.

It’s going to be tough to pick a starter at quarterback for the home opener with Loudon on Friday, Governor coach Justin Ridge said.

“I’ll sit down this week and tell them where we’re at,” he said. “It’s one of those situations where you’ve got two guys that just are prepared to play.”

Maryville’s Kelby Brocks hangs on as William Blount’s Dustin Carver makes a play for the ball.

The Rebels weren’t sharp in the quarter against the Governors, but there wasn’t anything wrong with the way senior Jaylen Burgess ran the ball in his only series.

Maryville starters, offensively and defensively, were done after a series. Three quarterbacks – Tyler Vaught, Zach Cardwell and Austin Ensley – ran the offense.

Running back is going to be a Maryville strength. Dylan Shinsky, Joel Hopkins, and sophomore Jordan Ervin, a player with scary potential, can all carry the mail.

Defensively, Maryville returns Blount Press Row’s 2013 Blount County Player of the Year in senior and Tennessee commitment Dylan Jackson. For 2014, he looks taller, bigger, fitter and faster. Just saying.

Sophomore all-county linebacker T.D. Blackman is going to be one of those kids that get offered early. End Matt Young, cut from the same cloth, is back from injury.

Here’s our Blount Press Row 2014 Preseason All-Blount County Football Team.

Blount Press Row
2014 All-Blount County Preseason Football Team

Preseason player of the year: Dylan Jackson, Maryville