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No more 'district of death'

District 4-AAA will still be a tough competition with Farragut, Hardin Valley and Maryville — "hyper competitive" Farragut coach Ray Dover called it — but its not what it was now that Bearden and West have shifted to District 2-AAA.

Bearden and West will still play that trio of teams, but the games may not have the same fire, at least not until any potential matchups in the sectional round.

Dover likes his team's chances if it can stay healthy. The Admirals lost four starters and brought a lot of new players up to varsity, so has good depth.

Bearden moves east

The Bulldogs are playing with a target on their backs in District 2-AAA. They come into the new district with a reputation after winning the Class AAA state title two years ago, even if they didn't make it out of the district last year.

Bearden is starting eight new players this year but new starter junior midfielder Collin Lewis is already off to a good start, leading the Bulldogs in scoring. Bearden will also rely on senior defender Mitchell Mazrimas.

Radcliffe is stressing the need to win the district to host the region games against a tough Region 1.

Greeneville looks to repeat

The Greene Devils have been to the state tournament seven years in a row and won the Class A-AA state title last year. 

They lost four starters but coach Jerry Graham feels good about the players who are filling those spots.

Moving to District 1-AA this year, which has six teams instead of the nine Greeneville had before, helped open up the Devils' schedule for some tougher non-district opponents. They were already playing Bearden, having started a home-and-home last year, and now add CAK and Farragut.

Junior twins JP and Devin Elyze-Vital lead the way for the Devils, JP at forward and Devin at defender.

CAK to Division II

CAK has been a staple in the Class A-AA state tournament; the Warriors haven't missed a trip to state since the TSSAA adopted the quarterfinal format in 2003 and they have eight state titles in that span.

But this year the Warriors are looking to make the trip in a different bracket after a move to Division II-A. Now they will be competing with Webb, who lost in the state semifinals last year and won the state title the year before.

A whole new class

TSSAA created a Class A this year and Alcoa could be in a position to benefit. The Tornadoes are now one of the largest schools in Region 1-A instead of one of the smallest in the district.

"It really changes it for us now," coach Shane Corley said. "We’ve always been in a really tough district. (CAK has) always been one of those humps we couldn’t get through."

Alcoa is off to a tough 2-4-1 start, but Corley knew that might happen when he scheduled tough teams to open the season. He's hoping that will pay off when they get into district play.

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