The Fannin County Rebels and Copper Basin Cougars met at the Fannin County Recreation Center Friday, August 7, for 2020 Media Day.
Rebels Head Coach Chad Cheatham brought Rebel players Mason Bundy, Seth Reece, Luke Holloway, Micah O’Neal and Cohutta Hyde, while Copper Basin’s Offensive Coordinator, Jeremy Locke, brought Eli Patterson, Dawson Worthy, Timothy Fair and Chance Rollins.
One of the first questions asked of the Cougars regarded some of their favorite moments from last year’s season. Coach Locke answered, “Probably the most obvious one was that last year for the first time in quite a while we beat Polk County. It rained, and we had to run the ball a lot, and we had luck with the counter play with Chance Bailey, so that’s what we gave them all night long. I guess my favorite memory from that standpoint was every single time I would scream, ‘Five! Five! Five!’ Everyone on Polk County and Basin knew exactly what five was, the counter was coming from the right side, but there was no one that could do a thing about it.”
Fannin Rebel quarterback Luke Holloway was asked to discuss what he was able to accomplish this summer despite the pandemic. He said, “When the whole thing hit, me and Micah (O’Neal) started lifting like four or five days a week, and then the whole dead period with the recruiting cycle kinda hit hard, but we just kept working. Toward the end of July, seven-on-seven season opened back up and throughout the whole time, I was seeing my quarterback coach. We have just been working really hard, and I know these guys have been doing the same so we’re just looking forward to a good season.”
Fannin Rebel Mason Bundy spoke to his commitment to Liberty University, stating, “My deciding factor was the fear of spots filling up, I wanted to keep my spot, and I love Liberty. Liberty was one of the hardest recruiting schools for me. I built a relationship with them, and Hugh Freeze was a winning coach at Ole Miss, and he took Liberty to their first championship game in a FBS program, so I thought that was a pretty good opportunity for me, so I took it and ran with it.”
One of the leaders on the Cougars’ defense, Timothy Fair, was asked about his role on defense this year. The senior said, “It makes me want to work 10 times harder than I did last year, and I’m really going to miss it, but this year I’m just going to help my team and do my role so we can go all the way to state.”
The Cougars are set to open their season at Polk County High School Friday, August 21, to renew their in-county rivalry game against the Wildcats starting at 7:30 p.m.
The Rebels are set to start their season at Union County Friday, September 4, against the Panthers with a 7:30 p.m. kickoff.