By Mark Nagi
It’s Year Three for head coach Justin Price and his staff at Grace Christian. And this is shaping up to be their best season yet.
“On paper, we’ve had some success,” said Price. “Two back-to-back quarterfinal appearances, two 9-win seasons. But also, I think there were areas of your program that just take time to get them to where you believe that they need to be… I think year three is a big year when you take over a program, and the success we’ve had on the field has allowed us to do some things as well, but we’re excited (about) where we are. We have got some really talented players, and a lot of those talented players have played a lot, too. So, it’s an exciting time.”
One of the newcomers at Grace is senior QB Corbin Hobson, who transferred from Farragut HS. Hobson beat out Cooper Brayman for the starting spot. Brayman started for the Rams last season and led the Rams to a memorable win over 2025 Class 5A champion Sevier County.
“Obviously, these are two high-level quarterbacks that can play,” Price said of Hobson and Brayman. “Hobson has good size and great arm strength. But he’s picked up on the offense really well and throws the ball well. His timing continues to improve. His accuracy is there… by the time you’re a senior, the game is getting slower for you. You’ve experienced a lot. A lot of times those moments don’t get too big or too low for them. And I think we’ve been able to see a lot of that in Corbin since he’s been in our program and through the scrimmages in the spring and the 7 on 7s this summer. Very mature and I think obviously that comes from a lot of his experience.”
Price added, “It’s rare to have two high-level quarterbacks like this on the same roster in high school. So, we’re blessed for that. But Cooper will be a guy, too, if we ever need him. No doubt he’s going to be ready as well.”
Maybe the biggest story in Grace football is the return of standout playmaker Terrion Thomas, who missed the entire 2025 season due to a foot injury. Thomas, who excels as both running back and wide receiver, has seven scholarship offers. Thomas should see that list grow. Two schools close to home that came calling were Carson-Newman and ETSU. The biggest offer comes from defending national champion Indiana.
“Terrion has been great, and he’s pretty much back to 100% now,” said Price. “He went through spring practice with us and then this summer, and he continues to improve. As good as he was as a sophomore, I think now he’s even better and a lot of that is just the mindset he had once he got the news about his injury last year and finding out that he was going to miss his whole junior season. The maturity he’s shown and how he responded to it, and also personally just to make sure that he can come back and play the level he wants to. Terrion’s a gamer. He is an elite player. We know that. Obviously, a lot of our offense will go through him just because he’s so dynamic. Terrion means a lot not just to our football program, but really to our whole school. What he’s done here and how he represents us, and I think he’s going to be a guy that’s going to be obviously fun to watch this season.”
Grace Christian returns nine starters on each side of the football. The Rams’ season begins on August 28 at Carter.
