The Advocate and Democrat

As we stare Week 9 of the high school football season in the face, we know that only one team will be playing for a playoff bid in the final week.

With a loss to McMinn Central on Friday night, the Sweetwater Wildcats officially ended any hopes they had of reaching the postseason.

Sequoyah saw their postseason aspirations end against McMinn Central a couple of weeks ago, though technically the loss to Polk County on Friday is what finished the Chiefs off.

So that leaves Tellico Plains as Monroe County's last hope. It looks like the county will avoid the unthinkable of going two years in a row without a playoff qualifier.

The Bears still can clinch the automatic bid out of District 3-A with a win over Midway in Week 10, but are still in good shape for a wild card should it come to that.

And give credit to the Bears.

Despite playing and losing two tough games against Harriman and Polk County, Tellico easily handled Greenback.

Frankly, they should have.

But they could have just as easily let the thoughts of the previous two games cloud their vision, play sloppy, and leave Greenback with a loss.

The amount of maturing this team has done in the last year has been incredible.

Certainly there were flashes of the talent they had, but the bears allowed penalties, bad breaks, and shattered confidence to get in the way.

But that's no longer the case.

Beating Sweetwater and Sequoyah was big. The Rockwood win was obviously very beneficial.

But I'd have to say Friday night's win over Greenback was the biggest of the season.

Tellico Plains was in a position of either responding or letting the season slip away.

I'd say 32-7 is a pretty resounding response that the Bears aren't finished.

The team has two weeks to prepare for Midway, who will enter with a 1-8 or 2-7 record.

With the new system the TSSAA has in place, it's hard to tell what quadrant or what seed the Bears could receive.

The best bet would be the team is matched up against the likes of Hampton and Oneida and will draw a four-seed.

And while Tellico is playing to solidify its playoff standing, Sweetwater and Sequoyah will be playing for pride.

Knowing the tradition of Sweetwater's program and how much the players and fans have invested in the Sequoyah program, I certainly wouldn't expect either program to just give up the fight.

The Wildcats still have a chance at two wins to finish the season. A 3-7 record sure sounds better than 1-9 while lifting weights in February and March.

Sequoyah will look to avoid going winless for the first time in school history.

To avoid that mark, the Chiefs will need to come up with a win against Loudon or archrival Sweetwater.

It's been a long, frustrating season for Sequoyah coach Bill Satterfield and his team.

However, a win over the Wildcats would actually feel more like four or five wins to the Chiefs.

The last two seasons, I've seen Sweetwater and Sequoyah fans pack the stadiums and hillsides at each school for this intra-county clash.

It's always filled with a lot of passion and excitement.

I certainly hope those qualities are still present at this year's meeting.

Regardless of the teams' records, a rivalry like the Sequoyah-Sweetwater rivalry deserves to have the same passion as if the teams were undefeated entering the game.

After all, pride is at stake when these two programs meet up.

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