KNOXVILLE — Knoxville Webb's Markeis Barrett admits to watching a lot of Travis Hunter, the University of Colorado's two-way football star.
That has shown in Barrett's game as he has helped his Spartans to a No. 3 state ranking in TSSAA Division II-AA and a roaring first half of the regular season.
Barrett helped lead a dominant defense and scored his eighth touchdown of the year in a 33-0 win over Chattanooga Christian School in a DII-AA East Region matchup Friday night.
After defeating the Chargers by just one point with the region title on the line last year, the Spartans (5-0, 3-0) landed a knockout punch in the first quarter as they jumped out to a 21-0 lead. Both teams reached the state semifinals last year.
"Our boys came out and balled on both sides of the ball," said Barrett, who is committed to Vanderbilt. "We have enough athletes all over the field to go make plays when teams try to double (cover) me. We prepared all week like this was the region championship, because CCS is a good team. They were the team to beat. We knew we had to take them down."
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area prep football games)
Fifth-ranked CCS (3-2, 2-1) struggled to find any type of momentum with star senior running back DaRell Brown out due to an ankle injury.
Webb's defense, which has allowed only 28 points this season, totaled four sacks (including two by Xavier Hickman) and three interceptions (two by Harvey Niendorff). Gregory Tate was stellar with several pass breakups.
On the Spartans' first play from scrimmage, quarterback Jack Wagner raced down the left sideline for a 52-yard touchdown on a read-option run. Wagner also threw touchdown passes of 35, 56 and 7 yards, with the final one to Barrett providing the game's final score with 9:52 left in the third quarter.
The Chargers flashed promise on their second possession, when running back Ladarious Hollingsworth carried eight times for 53 yards, including a 19-yard gash up the middle on the first play. However, an interception in the end zone halted the strong series.
Jermaine Stinson had four catches for 42 yards in the first half, including three catches on one drive, and he also had a big hit on defense in the defeat. Ezra Double returned an interception 30 yards, and Darius Talley finished with a sack and two tackles for loss for the visitors.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com.