Warriors hit the road for Cumberland Gap

Published 10:16 am Tuesday, September 27, 2022

By C.Y. Peters

Star Correspondent

The Cumberland Gap is a pass through the long ridge of the Cumberland Mountains, within the Appalachian Mountains, near the junction of the U.S. states of Kentucky, Virginia, and Tennessee. It is famous in American colonial history for its role as a key passageway through the lower central Appalachians.  Long used by Native American nations, the Cumberland Gap was brought to the attention of settlers in 1750 by Thomas Walker, a Virginia physician and explorer. The path was used by a team of frontiersmen led by Daniel Boone, making it accessible to pioneers who used it to journey into the western frontiers of Kentucky and Tennessee.  The passage through Cumberland Gap was originally created by herds of woodland buffalo that traveled across it over thousands of years, drawn by the abundance of salt in the region.  That’s about all the History I know about Cumberland Gap.

Their football team scored 60 points last week while the Happy Valley Warriors fell to 1-5.  The remainder of the season doesn’t get any better for Happy Valley.  They have to play Johnson County, Pigeon Forge and travel to Unaka who defeated them on Homecoming night 16-12.

On the bright side, the Warriors running backs, Joseph Sowards and Bronson Norman are as good as any running backs I have seen this year.  Last week after Sowards was hit he drug the defensive players five to ten yards further down the field.  Happy Valley’s numbers are as low as I can ever remember seeing them.  This means players have to play on both sides of the ball.  By the final period, you start getting cramps, sore muscles and fatigue sets in.

If you look at the sidelines and it looks like there are many players dressed out you have to look at the classes.  The Warriors have 23 Freshmen and Sophomores and they have 39 on the roster.  Jason Jarrett has one of the best coaching staff and most qualified coaches in the county.   They know how to turn the season around.

Reagan Ensor is a seasoned quarterback who is a threat to score every time he touches the ball.  He already was chosen player of the week leading the Warriors over Cloudland 22-14.  Ensor completed 9 of 11 passes for over 100 yards and scored two-two-point conversions.

They scored first on Chucky Doak and Unaka and may have the toughest schedule in the area.  They played nose to nose with South Greene but costly mistakes at crucial times led to what looked like a blow-out.  But in truth when the second half started if they scored when they were moving the ball down the field, they only trailed by one score.  A miscue and the score goes 21-0 instead of 14-7.

South Greene beat Cumberland 38-22 and in my opinion, the Warriors should of beat South Greene, or been within one score. They have a great chance to get back in the winning column and recover this season. They can beat Johnson County, Pigeon Forge is down this year, and they were within one play from beating Unaka.  If they win out, they would be 5 and 5 and make the playoffs.

Coach Bennett of Unaka said “Happy Valley is a tough, well-coached football team. This game came down to who could best capitalize on mistakes” speaking of last week’s Unaka game.  Both teams have to overcome mistakes and penalties at the wrong times.  They plagued both teams last week and whoever got the ball last was going to win.

Cumberland has won two games this year but none in Tennessee. They beat Thomas Walker, Virginia and Lynn Camp Kentucky.