Coach Ken Sparks’ Career Included Exciting Games Against Red Bank, UTC

East Tennessee football fans and Carson-Newman University supporters have been fondly remembering former Eagle football coach Ken Sparks, who died Wednesday at age 73 following a public battle with prostate cancer.
 
This man known for his success on the field and for being a Christian gentleman off it had two memorable games against Chattanooga schools during his lengthy head-coaching career.
 
One was unforgettable for Chattanoogans, while the other was definitely forgettable.
 
The unforgettable game occurred in 1978, when his favored Knoxville Farragut High School squad lost at home to an inspired and inspiring Red Bank team making a Cinderella run. But after he became coach at Carson-Newman, he enjoyed some redemption over the Scenic City with a stunning victory over a UTC team from a bigger classification in 2007.
 
The 1978 game between Red Bank and Farragut took place on the day after Thanksgiving, Nov. 24, when the news outside of sports was dominated with the now-familiar discovery of the mass deaths at the Jonestown religious commune in South America.
 
The Red Bank game occurred in the third round of what was then a four-round playoff in Class AAA, which was the highest classification at the time and consisted of both public and private schools.
 
Red Bank, whose only loss of the regular season had been to City High, had actually beaten a favored powerhouse Baylor team coached by E.B. “Red” Etter, 7-6, in the opening round at home in front of 6,000 fans.
 
The two local teams were actually to play in the last regular season game of the year, but mutually agree to forego that game, since both were already set to meet in the first round of the playoffs.
 
Red Bank had enjoyed some competitive teams under coach Tom Weathers, who was known for his hard preseason workouts, but had struggled to get enough wins over the previous two or three seasons.
 
But what took place beginning with the Baylor game on Nov. 10 was a run to remember for the Lion faithful. And this was despite an impressive offensive output from such Baylor runners as Troy Potter, Tim James (son of just-elected Alabama Gov. Fob James, who was in the stands) and Bill Stephenson. Future Tennessee state Sen. Bo Watson also had an interception for the Red Raiders.
 
However, Baylor turnovers and an opportunistic Red Bank team helped the Lions enjoy the memorable upset.
 
“I think they rushed for 4,000 yards and got just six points,” recalled Gary Partrick, an all-state receiver on that Red Bank team who now is the golf coach, assistant athletic director and dorm head at – yes – Baylor. 
 
After an early Baylor touchdown by quarterback Frank Hirsch, Red Bank went ahead 7-6 on a David Kreider run in the third quarter and a Steve Adams extra point.
 
Baylor then drove late. But a field goal attempt by standout wrestler Marc Lyle went wide to the right, and Red Bank was then able to hold on for the victory.
 
This was Red Bank’s first-ever victory over Baylor and first playoff win in the history of the school, an article at the time said.
 
“You made your dreams come true,” coach Weathers told his team afterward.
 
Little did he know, but that would not be the only far-fetched dream to come true before Christmas. The next week against Murfreesboro Riverdale, also at Rankin Field, the unranked Lions were again predicted to lose, but this time they won by a more one-sided score of 20-0.
 
That set up the third round playoff game at No. 2 and undefeated Farragut, another favored team, in front of 11,000 fans. Many people remember that Farragut had a pretty good defensive back named Bill Bates, who would go on to enjoy a stellar career for Tennessee (except for one bad tackle attempt against Herschel Walker of Georgia in 1980) and an overachieving career as a hard hitter with the Dallas Cowboys.
 
Farragut – which was also wearing the Dallas Cowboy-style uniforms – was lesser known in Chattanooga at the time for their coach -- 34-year-old Ken Sparks.
 
Mr. Partrick, who went on to play at Austin Peay, recalled this week that he was looking forward to playing receiver against all-state defensive back Mr. Bates, and they ended up matching up in reverse as well. Mr. Bates – the father of current UT defensive player Dillon Bates – surprisingly also played tight end, while Mr. Partrick was lined up at defensive back.
 
“It was very physical,” recalled Mr. Partrick of the overall game played in chilly temperatures. “It was a really, really good high school game.”
 
One person who agreed was second-year Tennessee football coach Johnny Majors, who was no doubt there to recruit – or be seen by -- Mr. Bates before leading Tennessee to a victory over Kentucky the next day in Neyland Stadium.
 
“Coach Majors was standing in the end zone,” recalled Mr. Partrick. “He said it was the best high school game he had ever seen.”
 
With the help of the passing of quarterback and three-sport standout athlete Bill Price, the Lions came from behind twice in the first four quarters. But Red Bank had to settle for a 13-13 tie at the end of regulation after Farragut’s Dwayne Burchfield kicked a 36-yard field goal as time expired.
 
That set up two overtimes that are still remembered fondly in Red Bank football lore.
 
In the first one, Red Bank went ahead on a Price-to-Partrick TD pass, but Farragut came back on its possession to tie the game at 20-20.
 
In the second OT, Farragut went on offense first and scored on its first play to go up 27-20. On Red Bank’s possession, Mr. Price – who went on to become head coach at such schools as Soddy-Daisy, Bradley Central and Signal Mountain -- soon scored on a one-yard keeper to make the score 27-26.
 
Due to the fact that the regular long snapper was hurt, Red Bank made a decision that no doubt added to the already dramatic moment – it decided to go for two points and the win.
 
“Coach Weathers made the decision that we were going for two and that we were not going to lose on a bad snap,” said Mr. Partrick.
 
They called the play that had been working all night and had drawn some penalties against Farragut – a slant from Price to Partrick. However, in an unusual twist, the two future coaches decided in the huddle to go to the right side to a defensive back whom they had not really tested, instead of to the left as they had earlier.
 
Mr. Partrick caught the ball for the 28-27 double overtime win, flipped it to coach Majors, who was still watching from behind the end zone, and pure delirium erupted among the Red Bank faithful.
 
“It was Bill’s and my first coaching decision and I am glad it worked,” Mr. Partrick recalled with a laugh.
 
Afterward, coach Weathers was quick to praise the duo. “When the going gets tough, you go to your winners, and Bill and Gary are just that,” he excitedly said.
 
Other Red Bank players who enjoyed the victory included Mr. Kreider, Mr. Adams, Gene Stephens, Kyle Varner, Barry Glasscock, small Boo Ingle (who also caught a touchdown pass), Wayne Elrod, Brent Johnson, Mark Scissom, Mark Thomas, Walt Hall, and Tom Weathers Jr., among others.
 
The other Red Bank coaches also celebrating included Jack Coppinger, Jerry Cotter and Tommy Runyon.
 
After the game, coach Sparks offered the disappointed and much different Admiral perspective to the Knoxville Journal. “We made more crucial mistakes in this game than we did all year,” he said. “Penalties hurt us, too. We were flagged for four pass interference calls and that caused our defensive backs to start laying off their receivers.
 
“But our kids played hard,” the coach continued after watching the Farragut fans give their team a standing ovation as it left the field. “We had a great year. It really hurts to come this close and lose.”
 
Unfortunately for Cinderella Red Bank, midnight finally came the next Friday night. Despite much anticipation, a special souvenir section in the Chattanooga News-Free Press, and about 10,000 fans who gathered at the now-razed Rankin Field off Dayton Boulevard, the Lions lost to a very good Gallatin team, 42-13.
 
But after the initial disappointment wore off, the Red Bank team and fans would still cherish this season to remember for a long time.
 
In fact, although the well-liked coach Weathers would later go on to have a nationally ranked team in 1990 under quarterback Marty Lowe and finally win an elusive state championship in 2000 with the help of running back Gerald Riggs Jr., many Red Bank followers still consider the 1978 squad their favorite team.
 
And a key reason was the surprising win over Farragut.
 
As for coach Sparks, he was just getting started in 1978. He left Farragut after the 1979 season and became the head coach of his alma mater, Carson-Newman. He would go on to win five National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics national championships in the 1980s and three NCAA Division II national runner-up finishes in the 1990s.
 
But perhaps his most memorable single moment came on Thursday night, Aug. 30, 2007, when his Carson-Newman team beat UTC, 29-17, at Finley Stadium, despite trailing 14-3 at halftime. As a result, he finally got a little revenge against a Chattanooga team, even though he likely did not think about it that night.
 
“Our kids showed a lot of heart tonight,” said the elated coach Sparks following what was apparently the only time he faced the Mocs as C-N coach. “We played against a very well-coached team.”
 
UTC that season finished 2-9 under coach Rodney Allison. Russ Huesman arrived before the 2009 season and soon led the Mocs to heights not reached since the Joe Morrison days of the late 1970s and the Bill Oliver tenure of the early 1980s.
 
One of the Carson-Newman players in that 2007 game against the Mocs was James Banks, the dismissed former Tennessee quarterback/receiver. He was one of several players over the years given a second chance by the deeply religious coach Sparks after missteps at other schools.
 
Mr. Partrick said that the video of the UTC game was played regularly for recruits in the Carson-Newman football facility when his son, Price, who was named for Bill Price, went to Carson-Newman to play not long afterward.
 
His son played there before transferring to Tennessee Tech to play under Gary Partick’s former Austin Peay coach, Watson Brown, who also coached at Vanderbilt.
 
During his son’s time at Carson-Newman, Mr. Partrick said he and coach Sparks would discuss the Farragut-Red Bank game of many years before.
 
“He didn’t like that game as much as I did,” recalled Mr. Partrick with a laugh.
 
But nearly everyone apparently liked coach Sparks, who also recruited to Carson-Newman a number of players from the Chattanooga area.
 
“He was a fantastic human being,” said Mr. Partrick. “I have never met anyone who did not like him.” 
 
Jcshearer2@comcast.net