MCT-2024-08-01

Sports The Marion Tribune August 1, 2024 9A MCS district incorporates new cafeteria payment system LACIE SILVA Editor M arion County School District has announced a change in their cafeteria payment system for the upcoming year. While students will continue to receive free breakfast and lunch daily, the new system will handle payments for items such as ice cream, extra milk, and additional lunch items. Parents do not need a student ID to sign up. The required information includes the student’s fi rst name, last name, and birthdate in the MM/DD/ YYYY format. To register or sign in, parents can download the app using the appropriate QR code or visit the website at linqconnect.com. Pre-season Football A rea high schools are gearing up for football season and we have your pre-season wrap up to see what’s in store (all times are CDT): Marion County Warriors – August 2 - Scrimmage at home against Notre Dame HS at 5:30 p.m. August 9 - Scrimmage at home against Dade Co. and Howard HS at 5 p.m. August 13 - Warriors Under the Lights begins at 6:30 p.m. Come meet this year’s players, coaches, cheerleaders and band at every level. *Prelude to a Championship will be Friday, August 16. The Warriors will play Red Bank at 5:30 p.m. and Hixson at 6 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the PomPom Shack during any scrimmage or at the MCHS o ffi ce during regular business hours. South Pittsburg Pirates – August 2 - Scrimmage at Warren Co. at 6 p.m. August 9 - Scrimmage at Chattanooga Christian at 5 p.m. *Prelude to a Championship will be Saturday, August 17. The Pirates will play Silverdale at 6:30 p.m. and Soddy Daisy at 7:30 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in advance at the SPHS o ffi ce during regular business hours. Whitwell Tigers – August 2 - Scrimmage at Rhea Co. at 5 p.m. August 9 - Scrimmage at Grundy Co. at 6 p.m. August 16 - Tiger Night at home, time to be announced *Prelude to a Championship will be Saturday, August 17. The Tigers will play Sequoyah HS at 5:30 p.m. and Chattanooga Prep at 6 p.m. Tickets may be purchased in advance at Tiger Night or at the WHS o ffi ce during regular business hours. *Prelude to a Championship is this year’s Jamboree and will be held at Finley Stadium. Tickets will be $10 each and sold in advance at each school’s o ffi ce during regular business hours. We encourage anyone going to the games to purchase their tickets from the school’s location so that proceeds remain with the school. Tickets may be purchased at the gate as well. We will update with the parking fee when we learn of it. Please be aware that only one clear plastic bag no larger than 12 inches by 6 inches by 12 inches or a one-gallon, clear, resealable plastic storage bag per person will be permitted. Fans will also be allowed a small clutch purse not to exceed 4.5 inches by 6.5 inches. No other bags will be allowed inside Finley Stadium. All items, including clear bags and clutch purses, are subject to search at the gates. No outside drinks are allowed. The Whitwell Tigers Look to Make Noise HUNTER COOKSTON Writer O wen Kilgore has an impressive resume with a student assistant job at Tennessee before going to Jacksonville State where he would get hired as a cornerbacks coach. For the last two seasons, he has been on the Tigers sta ff as a de- fensive coordinator. This season will be something new for him as he takes over the head coaching job of his alma mater. “I mean I have al- ways been proud to be from Whitwell and have always had lots of pride for Whitwell. Coming back, my sense of pride is even stronger. It’s al- most like I am stepping back in time a little bit coming back home. It’s been really good, the community has been re- ally supportive,” he said when talking about how special it is to be head coach for his hometown. The Tigers will look to build o ff of an 8-4 sea- son. The o ff season will show a coach what to expect from their team. First-year head coach Owen Kilgore said ev- eryone is still learning, whether it be players learning more about his coaching style or him learning more about his players. “They are learning a lot about me and I am still learning a lot about them. I think the big- gest improvement that I have noticed is that their commitment levels have been increasing each day.” Whitwell comes into the year returning all skill position players but one. For the o ff ensive line that is not the case. The Tigers look to fi nd four replacements for the O-line. Connor Staley is the only starter from last year’s team. Kilgore knows he can count on Staley’s leadership, as well as senior linemen Garrett Miller and Kan- nan Smith who have not played on the line in their fi rst three seasons. Even though the inexpe- rience of not playing on the line in previous years is there, the overall foot- ball knowledge and lead- ership make up for it. “There’s not a self- ish bone in that group. It’s a very smart group and they take a lot of pride with playing on the line. We got some other guys who may not have played a whole lot of O- line, but they are very football smart, they have picked up on it really quick. They’ve bonded really well, they are all great leaders and people to have.” Defensively, all of the leaders are return- ing. Seniors Bennett McDougal, Wyatt Da- vis, Brandon Easterly, Kannan Smith, Landon Smith, Garrett Miller, and Jacob Garcia look to lead their team on the defensive side of the ball for one last year. The defense will serve as the side of the ball with the most positional experi- ment. Playing on the road is a daunting task in it- self, for Whitwell, they will play the fi rst four weeks away from home. Starting week one at Huntland, followed by Greenback, Jo Byrns, and Lookout Valley. Whitwell is going to be tested mentally early on. Depending on how well they play on the road, it could be a proving point or a breaking point. The man in charge of this Tigers squad believes his team is ready for the challenge. “I think it is excit- ing to be able to go somewhere that we are not particularly known about and show them what all we can do. I think it is going to cre- ate a little bit of a chip on our shoulders. We can’t make any excuses, we have to go out there and get it done.” This year’s team is poised to make some major noise in 1A. The end goal for the Tigers is to make it to Finley Sta- dium to compete for the gold ball. Head coach Owen Kilgore has no doubt they can reach the mountain top but stress- es to make it very far they have to stay away from the injury bug and get better every week. Whitwell has all the tools necessary starting with key contributors coming back, skill, and knowl- edge. The Whitwell Ti- gers look to become just the second team in school history to win a State Championship. *This is a three-part series previewing the upcoming high school football season. Marion and South Pittsburg will be in upcoming editions prior to the fi rst games on August 23.