La Vergne, Creek hope moving down to 5A beneficial

LA VERGNE – Stewarts Creek cut its teeth competing in an all-Rutherford County Class 6A football league its first two years of existence.

Now in Year 3, the Red Hawks along with North Rutherford rival La Vergne will drop down a class. And both have higher expectations.

“I feel like this is going to be the best team we’ve had since I’ve been here regardless of the classification,” said La Vergne coach Stanton Stevens, who is entering his sixth season. “We made the second round (of the playoffs) last year. I think we could have duplicated that again in 6A.

“We may not have gotten any further. But I think we could at least get to the second round this year had we stayed up. Going down, I’d like to get at least a round or two further.”

La Vergne finished 6-6 in 2014, falling to Oakland 23-7 in the playoffs. La Vergne won three of its last four games to finish on a strong note.

La Vergne was originally slated to be the smallest 6A school in the state, but was given the option to move down to 5A after Maryville requested permission to move from 5A to 6A.

In the new TSSAA playoff system, the schools with the 32 highest enrollments compete in 6A with all qualifying for the playoffs.

In Class 1A-5A the top four teams in each region reach the playoffs, which is like the TSSAA’s playoff plan prior to 2009.

La Vergne and Stewarts Creek are both in Region 5-5A. Columbia, Independence, Franklin County, Lincoln County, Shelbyville and Summit also are in the region.

Stewarts Creek took its lumps over the past two seasons in 6A. The Red Hawks finished 2-8 last season, and are 3-17 in its first two seasons of varsity play. Two of Creek’s three wins have come against Summit.

Stewarts Creek coach David Martin said the past two seasons competing in an all-Rutherford league should help the Red Hawks this season.

The Red Hawks have played varsity since their first day as a school.

“I don’t think there is any question that our guys have been through the grind for two years and know what it’s all about,” Martin said. “They are older and wiser. They’ve been tested. We have 20 seniors now.

“We are starting to get those numbers up. We have kids that want to play for Stewarts Creek.”

How that transfers onto the football field is not yet known.

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Kreager.