Did I just read that right??? High School Football listed on a guide for fun things to do in the Smoky Mountains? Two unbelievable local teams! One on the national all time win list with 76 wins in row! The other with the current streak of 43 wins in a row! The best part is they play each other! 14 state titles in 18 years between the two!
Legendary High School Football
Two of arguably the best High School Football programs in the country and they are only 4 miles apart! Actually the two towns border one another and you can not tell where one starts and the other finishes. But each and every year they square off and play each other. Over the last ten to fifteen years have you ever heard of two better programs?
Maryville Rebels / coached by the legendary George Quarles
Maryville is one of those schools that always seems to field a good football team. Back through the years they have had some good teams and won their share of state championships. But for our discussion here we are going to focus in on just the last 15 years and how they have done under the watchful eye of coach George Quarles.
Now you might think a legendary coach would have come to town and had success from the very beginning. Nothing could have been further from the truth. Coach Quarles started his career at Maryville in 2000. The team went out and lost their first 4 games in a row. But in what everyone has come to know about Maryville, they do not panic. In that season they finished by winning their last 11 games in a row and a state title.
That is how it all got started. What has come to around these parts is known as the “Maryville Way”. Year after year Maryville has put together one of the best high school runs ever. In the 14 years since that first season, Maryville has won 10 more state championships, been runner up three times and only once failed to make it to the title game and in that season they lost in the semi finals.
• 15 Seasons – 11 state championships, 3 runner up, 1 semi final
• 213 wins 12 losses, and in the last 14 seasons, 202 wins 7 losses.
• In 14 seasons, only 3 regular season losses (twice to Aloca)
• Average number of wins per season 14.2
• Current Win Steak 30 gamesMaryville is number 9 on the All Time High School Football win streak list with 76 wins in a row! From 2004 to the end of 2008 Maryville won four consecutive state championships and in doing so, 76 games in a row!
•• But are they even the best team in the county?••
Alcoa Tornado’s / legendary coach Gary Rankin
From 2004 to 2010, Alcoa won the last 7 state championship games in Row! Coach Rankin is quickly closing in on being the winningest coach in Tennessee history.
Now Maryville has moved up through the classes to where they now play in the states top class. While Alcoa is a much smaller school, they play several classes below Maryville. But that has not stopped the cross town rivalry. Each year they meet in what has become the game of the season for each team. It usually decides who will go undefeated and who will suffer a loss to their otherwise perfect record.
Summary
If you find yourself in the Smoky Mountains on Friday Night in the fall, I highly recommend you make an attempt to attend a game! Each of these programs are nationally recognized and Big Time high School Football Programs!
