Happy Valley fueling up for long postseason run

The scene last Friday night on Warrior Hill was nothing short of pure jubilation. Happy Valley's football team had just put the finishing touches on a phenomenal 9-1 campaign with a 49-14 victory over South Greene, putting an exclamation point on a regular season during which the Warriors outscored their opponents 461-91 en route to a second consecutive Region 1-2A championship. "It's been a great ride," Happy Valley coach Jason Jarrett said on Monday. "They're a joy to coach and a joy to be around. At this point of the year, the goal is to just try to spend one more week together. It's a special bunch." Even though he couldn't be around for it, there's no doubt Randy Ferrell was sporting his trademark grin last Friday. Ferrell, who passed away over the summer, spent 15 seasons as an assistant coach at Happy Valley and left an indelible impact on the lives of the players he coached and the coaches he worked alongside. "He's a man you don't replace," Jarrett said. "You don't replace him in life and you don't replace him on the coaching staff. He's the best mentor I've ever been around." The Happy Valley football program has honored Ferrell throughout the season not just with a ceremony, but with how the players and coaches have handled their business on a day-to-day basis. Not only have the Warriors been dominant, they've also played with the sort of unselfishness and quiet class that defined Ferrell throughout his coaching career. "We were just awarded the Ralph Stout Sportsmanship Award in this region for all of 1A and 2A," Jarrett said. "That's just another piece of evidence to show the quality of individuals that we are blessed as a coaching staff to surround ourselves with each and every day." Offensively, the Warriors have been very dynamic, and Lane Parker and Nalique Anderson are a huge reason for that. Both have gained more than 800 yards on the ground this season, but they are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Happy Valley's potent offense. Tyler Berry, Artee Bahn and Greyson Endsor have also done plenty to keep opposing defensive coordinators from getting a decent night's sleep. "We've really got a four- or five-headed monster there back in the backfield," Jarrett said. "We're trying to make people defend multiple people at once so they can't just key on one." Of course, a strong offensive line is a prerequisite for the type of production Happy Valley's offense has put up this season. The Warriors struggled through injuries up front early in the season, but that turned out to be a blessing in disguise once everyone got healthy. "If you can win the battle in the trenches, you're going to give yourself a chance to be successful," Jarrett said. "(Injuries) forced us to create a little bit more depth up front. Now we're able to rotate eight or nine players up front, and we feel very confident in whoever has their hand in the ground up there." Defensively, the Warriors have been equally impressive this season, overcoming a season-ending injury suffered by defensive end Mason Norman in the third game of the season. Berry has over 100 tackles and double-digit tackles for loss while Parker leads the team in interceptions and Anderson has been a disruptive pass rusher and has also snagged three interceptions. Greg Hyder, who was the defensive coordinator at Happy Valley when Jarrett arrived as a freshman back in 1997, continues to work his magic. "We've been blessed to play great defense up here on Warrior Hill for a long, long time," Jarrett said. "It's all about getting aligned correctly, knowing our assignment and trying to be aggressive. That's kind of our mentality, trying to create turnovers on the defensive end." As the Warriors enter the postseason, they are hoping to use their lone loss of the season as fuel for a long postseason run. Jarrett said a hard-fought 36-29 loss to Unicoi County this season was valuable because it forced the Warriors to refocus. "We faced some adversity there in the third quarter, and we didn't handle it well to Unicoi's credit," Jarrett said. "We were able to get back to the drawing board to revisit our core values and expectations within the program, and hopefully we've been able to use that as a fuel since then." Ten years ago, the Warriors suffered a similar loss to Gatlinburg-Pittman, falling 25-22 at home. That was their lone setback during the 2016 regular season, and the Warriors responded by advancing to the Class 2A quarterfinals before bowing out against Austin-East. "I know that particular team used that as the fuel, motivation and hunger to go out and accomplish more," Jarrett said. "I'm hoping that this football team will continue to do that, because at this point of the year, that's what you've got to do."