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STAR CORRESPONDENT

The Happy Valley High School library was filled with emotions when JC Andes, a member of the Warrior football team, finished signing his National Letter of Intent to play collegiately for the Maryville Scots. For Andes, it was reaching the apex of his high school football career and being able to extend that career to the next level by signing to play at the college level. It also marked a time of saying goodbye to his teammates who were more family than football players. “This opportunity means a lot because honestly I have hit some bumps in the road during school and it was just having to climb back up and get over those obstacles, figure it out, and now here we are,” said Andes. “Coach Fox has been steady with me during the recruiting process and has stayed with me in helping to constantly get me in and get accepted and everything.”

Andes’ work ethic paid off hugely for the Warriors in the 2023 season as the defensive lineman accounted for 82 tackles, which according to head coach Jason Jarrett, was in the top tier for any classification in Northeast Tennessee. As a result, the senior lineman was named Co-Defensive Lineman of the Year in Region 1-3A. “This is a big day, and I think that this is pretty much the dream for every kid to be able to sit here,” said Jarrett during his comments during the signing. “In the last nine years of this program, JC made the ninth player to sign. Out of those nine players, we have a Southern Conference Championship player, we have a first-team conference player at the next level, we have a second-team all-conference player, we have a bowl winner, and we have an All-American in that group, and that is what you will be representing when you leave here and go to the next level.”

Jarrett said that one of the mottos the program has is “to finish,” and Jarrett challenged Andes to finish not only in football but also in his academics to finish what he started at Maryville College. Andes will be reuniting with former Cyclone teammates Bryson Rollins and Teddy Orton, who Andes played with as a freshman and sophomore at Elizabethton before transferring to Warrior Hill. “That’s going to be fun because we are just going to be boys and brothers on the field,” said Andes.