Honorable Mention
Zay Brown, Red Bank: He had 20 carries for 205 yards and two touchdowns in the Lions’ win at McMinn Central.Porter Johnson, Southeast Whitfield: He completed 10 of 16 passes with no interceptions for 302 yards and three TDs in the Raiders’ win over Christian Heritage.Gavin Chambers, Soddy-Daisy: He hit on 20 of his 31 passes for 278 yards and four TDs in a 49-48 loss to Knoxville Catholic.
He's just a sophomore, but he obviously gets it.
"Coaches are always talking about players having 'it.' Well, he has 'it,'" Meigs County coach Jason Fitzgerald said of his quarterback, Aaron Swafford.
Swafford was selected the Times Free Press area prep football player of the week as sponsored by Waffle House after he ran for 186 yards and four touchdowns and passed for 173 yards and three scores last Friday against Rockwood. He also accounted for four point-after kicks along with four tackles, and he had an 80-yard punt return negated by penalty.
When asked his definition of "it," the veteran coach responded: "Certain things you cannot coach. He does things with the ball in his hand. He sees the running lanes, the cutbacks, the holes. He sees the field, too, as a passing quarterback, and you turn him around on defense and he knows how to get everybody lined up right and he can quite often see what's coming."
Swafford, who was measured at a Florida Gators camp this past summer at 6-foot, 182 pounds, has accumulated 1,140 rushing/passing yards and is responsible for 18 TDs in five games this season. The only time he is not on the field is for kickoffs and kickoff returns.
The Tigers, top-ranked in the state's Class 2A poll, are 5-0 after beating Rockwood 48-21.
Swafford receives much of the credit for Meigs' success.
"He's smart and he's a leader. He's smart and he's a leader. Even when he was a freshman he was one of the hardest workers out there, and his teammates follow that," Fitzgerald said. "He understands the game, sees it."
The Tigers start just three seniors (all on defense), and Fitzgerald and his assistants thought originally that the 2017 season would be a rebuilding year, especially after graduating more than a dozen starters from a playoff-participating 2016 squad.
But what they anticipated down the road has come to fruition much sooner.
"Yeah, it's happening sooner than we thought it would," Fitzgerald said. "It is with the team in general because we lost so many from last year. We didn't know how long it would take. We thought this might be a learning year and then next year we'd see more success, but the kids have played hard and done the things they needed to do, so we've had some success here early."
Fitzgerald knew the Tigers had a special player in Swafford. They saw it last year.
This year the offense has moved from last season's two-back approach to an offense more designed to Swafford's specific skills.
"And the good thing is that he has three or four running backs that can carry the ball and he's spread around the receiving with five or six guys having several catches," Fitzgerald said.
The Tigers also have four new starters in the offensive line, and while not where offensive coordinator Walt Cameron wants them to be, they are improving each week.
"All the pieces around Aaron have come together. They guys around him are working hard," Fitzgerald said. "Now don't get me wrong. Aaron's a special player, but if doesn't have the guys around him to take the pressure off, then we're not nearly as good."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him on Twitter @ wardgossett.