By Steve Williams
The large crowd at Friday night’s high school football game at Covenant Health Park wasn’t just there to see how a football field would look in a baseball park or two good high school football teams playing each other. No, most were there to see one of the best high school players in the country and a future Tennessee Vol running back.
They call him DGG for David Gabriel Georges. He plays for unbeaten Baylor School and is well known to sports fans from Knoxville to Chattanooga and beyond.
With UT Coach Josh Heupel looking on from the sideline, DGG didn’t disappoint either. He scored all three of the Bears’ touchdowns in a 21-7 win over Knoxville Catholic.
Yes, he drew a crowd. The attendance was 7,338, said Chris Allen, the Knoxville Smokies’ President and CEO, and the seating capacity for baseball is 7,448.
“I believe it’s the biggest crowd we’ve ever had,” said Allen.
Georges scored all three of Baylor’s touchdowns, which covered 30, 68 and 67 yards.
He gave the Bears a 7-0 lead on the first play of the second quarter and added a TD in each of the third and fourth quarters. Down 21-0, Catholic senior quarterback Mack Bartholomew scored on a 7-yard run with 8:25 left in the game.
After his post-game talk with his team, Catholic Coach Philip Shadowens said, “I told them I was proud of what they accomplished this year. They faced adversity through the tough times. A team with five seniors to accomplish some things we accomplished this year was remarkable. We didn’t end the night like we wanted to, but I certainly was proud of how hard our kids played.”
Shadowens also addressed the playoff ban that the TSSAA issued Catholic this year. It was for a recruiting violation and Catholic was not allowed to play in the post-season.
“If we were in the playoffs, we would be hosting next week, so you would like to have that opportunity to go back through it,” said Shadowens. “We are a very talented team, but unfortunately that’s the way it goes. Our kids have handled it with class. They’ve handled it with pride and high character and I’m really proud of what they have accomplished.”
Shadowens also was asked what he thought about DGG.
“He’s probably the best high school player in the country,” he answered. “He’s one of the best I’ve ever seen at that position, especially because he has grown. He doesn’t look like a high school kid. He looks like a 23-year-old kid that’s been in a college weight program for a long time.
“He’s hard to tackle. Anytime you don’t fit a run just right, and with his speed, he’s going to outrun everybody. We did some good things against him. We also knew that he was going to break some which he did. We just couldn’t score enough to stay with that.”
On the way out, Shadowens said: “What a great event this was for Knoxville. I appreciate Covenant Health Park and the community that backed this. I hope it was a great show for everybody.”
PREPS OF THE PAST
Oct. 31, 1983
Seymour quarterback Mike Latham fired four touchdown passes and sneaked over for another six-pointer in a 34-21 win over Tazewell. He wound up with 206 yards through the air on 10 of 16 completions.
Defensively, in two quarters of action, he had six tackles, returned an interception 47 yards and broke up another pass from his safety post.
“He’s had a lot of good games, but this was one of his best,” said Coach Gary Householder.
Oct. 31, 1983
Karns’ Steve Diggs, a senior offensive guard and nose guard, was a thorn in Oak Ridge’s side, making 18 tackles, including four for minus yardage, and recovering one fumble. He also graded out at 85 percent in the offensive line in the Beavers’ 7-2 loss.
“He was in Oak Ridge’s backfield all night long. Pound for pound he’s the best player in Knoxville,” said Coach Wayne Stiles.
Nov. 2, 2001
Justin Price threw four touchdown passes while Matt Price had a TD reception and an interception return for a score in the Mavericks’ 48-0 Class 3A playoff victory over visiting Sullivan North.
Justin threw for 310 yards. He has thrown for more than 2,100 yards and 26 touchdowns this season for Anderson County (10-1).
Frank Phillips caught three of the TD passes. He had five total catches for 186 yards.
Oct 28, 1981 Journal Action Ratings
The State’s Top 10
1-Nash. Overton 93.0
2-Germantown 91.6
3-Father Ryan 91.5
4-Farragut 90.1
5-Rhea County 90.0
6-Memphis Northside 89.2
7-Oak Ridge 88.7
8-Sullivan South 88.6
9-Franklin County 88.4
10-Bolivar 88.1
