The Advocate and Democrat

The Tellico Plains Bears have spent the last two weeks preparing for the upcoming season and trying to erase the memories of last year’s 0-10 record.

Friday night was a big step forward in doing both as the Bears defeated the Greenback Cherokees and Copper Basin Cougars in a three-way scrimmage.

Tellico topped the Cherokees two touchdowns to one and beat the Cougars three touchdowns to one.

The Bears defense was much improved compared to last year’s unit.

Tellico gave up only 111 total yards to Greenback and 69 total yards to Copper Basin.

Tellico Plains head coach Trevor Hunt was pleased with his team’s performance.

“We felt good about [the scrimmage]. Greenback and Copper Basin worked just as hard. I think we battled with them. I saw some good things, I saw some bad things,” said Hunt.

One of the good things was the performance of senior Joe Snyder and sophomore Deion O’Dell.

After holding the Greenback offense to only one yard in four plays to start the scrimmage, the duo led Tellico Plains down the field, capped by O’Dell falling on a fumbled ball for a Bears touchdown.

Cody Atkins also had a good night, including a 33-yard run on the drive.

Atkins, taking his first snaps as Tellico’s quarterback, connected twice in three plays with junior receiver Donovan McKenzie for touchdown passes against Copper Basin. The plays covered 35 yards and 59 yards.

Snyder and O’Dell also highlighted the 10-play series with runs of 30 yards and 21 yards, respectively.

After a break that allowed the back-ups of all three teams some action, the each team’s first string went one more drive to close out the scrimmage.

Tellico scored once against the Cougars in the final 10 plays on a 63-yard run by Snyder.

Overall, Snyder ran for 98 yards on four carries in the final segment of the scrimmage against Copper Basin.

The defense was as stingy as it had been all night, holding the Cougars to –11 total yards and recording an interception.

Against Greenback, O’Dell intercepted a pass on the first play of the drive, and after seven plays, the Bears found the end zone one last time when Atkins scored from a yard out.

The Bears defense forced a fumble after a long Greenback run, and with the recovery, ended the scrimmage.

Friday marked the lone scrimmage the Bears will hold before the Loudon Jamboree, scheduled for Aug. 15.

The Bear will play host Loudon in the fourth quarter of the event.

“We’re not going to do anything different than what we’ve been doing. We’re going to work and try to get better everyday,” said Hunt.

The Bears will then look the the regular season, as the team opens at home against Gatlinburg-Pittman on Aug. 22.

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