The Tellico Plains Lady Bears powered an 18-0 victory against McMinn Central on Monday, fueled by grand slams from senior Kelsie Jones, right, and sophomore Jaden Hollinghead, left. The Lady Bears also took down Central in the second game in Monday’s doubleheader with a 4-2 victory.

Before the season began, Sequoyah soccer head coach Manuel Orozco wasn’t even sure if the Chiefs would have the numbers to even field a team.

Everything was working for Sweetwater on Thursday.

If there was any question whether Eric Neal had the respect of his coach, the senior’s performance on Tuesday left no doubt.

Patience is a virtue.

At the same time the Sequoyah baseball Chiefs were taking on the McMinn Central Chargers and winning in Englewood on Tuesday, the Chiefs soccer team was blanking the home-standing Chargers in soccer, 7-0.

Sweetwater’s Mari Robbins scores on a passed ball during Monday’s road game at McMinn County High School. Sweetwater fell to the Cherokees by an 11-2 margin.

It’s fun enough to beat a county rival.

Through three innings on Tuesday, visiting Copper Basin had had an answer for every punch that the Sequoyah softball team threw at it early on.

Sweetwater softball head coach Sarah Davies knows what her team is made of.

The Sequoyah Chiefs historic 2014 baseball team was honored at Friday night’s home game. The 2014 Chiefs finished in the top four in the state, losing to the eventual state champion Knox Catholic. Pictured, from left to right: Samson Stakely, Wes Hampton, former athletic director Steve Hall,…

Jeremy Pruitt’s second Tennessee football team was on display on Saturday.

The district crown was up for the taking on Tuesday night.

It surely wasn’t in Sequoyah head coach Josh Monhollen’s game plan to get a decent lead, give it up and then win in nail-biting fashion on Thursday against Sweetwater.

Sequoyah High School senior Sam Peters, seated, signed last week to run track at Lincoln Memorial University. Peters received both a athletic and academic scholarship to continue his education at LMU. He is pictured with his family at the signing.

Sweetwater’s Austin Givens signed to play football at Carson-Newman University on Tuesday.

Three county games in three nights for Sequoyah (with a fourth in wait)? Check.

In softball, a lead can disappear as fast as it arrived, and that was the case for Sequoyah on Thursday night. After building a comfortable advantage, the Lady Chiefs saw their confidence shaken and their lead erased by a capable Tellico Plains team.

Josh Stakely will soon hang up his red and gold and move on to Georgetown, the Sequoyah senior announced in a Friday ceremony at Sequoyah High School.

Middle school football will be coming to Monroe County next fall, and three new teams have formed throughout the county to replace old Sequoyah Youth Football leagues.

Sweetwater took the lead on a home run on Monday night, but in the end the Lady Cats couldn’t hold on through a Heritage barrage and fell to the Lady Mountaineers for the second time this season, 13-8.

With a nice hit and a bit of luck, Kent Wiseman redeemed himself.

You couldn’t ask for a better start than what Sequoyah got on Thursday night.

Sweetwater scored early and often in Tuesday night’s rematch with Sequoyah and remained unblemished in district play as the Lady Cats cruised to a 13-2 win over the Lady Chiefs at Sequoyah.

Jace Lynn saw the opening and went for it.

Friday night was Maycee Bovard’s night.

Sweetwater vs Sale Creek

It’s not about how you start, it’s about how you finish.

The Lady Chiefs’ defense was in bend-but-don’t break mode on Thursday afternoon against McMinn County, but Sequoyah got outs when needed to squeeze past the Lady Cherokees 3-2 on their home diamond.

It wasn’t a question of whether or not Heath Ware’s young Tellico Plains team would make mistakes; that comes with fielding youth.

Sometimes adjusting to an unfamiliar pitcher takes some time, and unfortunately for Sweetwater, it took too long to make adjustments in Tuesday’s 9-4 loss to Grace Christian Academy.

Chloe Yearwood set the Tellico Plains school record in the long jump last week at a meet at Rhea County. Yearwood jumped 15-2 for the Bears.

Piper Carter’s 19-3 mark in the long jump last week set a new school record for Tellico Plains High School.

Kolbe Billingsley (left), Dominique Oggs (center) and Matthew Kile (right) signed with Tennessee Wesleyan in basketball last week.

Matthew Kile signed to continue his basketball career and education at Tennessee Wesleyan University last week.

It took a full seven innings on Tuesday for Sweetwater to pull off a 1-run win over McMinn Central, but on the road Wednesday night, the Wildcats flipped the script.

For head coach Chris Armstrong and the Sweetwater Wildcats, patience is priority.

Sequoyah coach Josh Monhollen couldn’t help but feel disappointed in his team’s focus for Thursday’s loss at Midway, but he couldn’t have been happier with the way the Chiefs responded to the loss.

The search is over for Tellico Plains’ next head football coach.

It was a tight contest for most of the night between Loudon and hosting Sweetwater on Tuesday night, but the Redskins used a breakthrough seventh inning to break a tie and top the Wildcats 8-4.

Sequoyah may have gotten the better of Sweetwater in Athens’ Tiger Classic last Saturday, but the Lady Cats had revenge on the mind Tuesday night in Sweetwater as the Lady Chiefs came calling to open district play.

They’ve been playing basketball together at Sweetwater High School for four years, and now Kolbe Billingsley, Dominique Oggs and Matthew Kile will be teammates in college as well.

Monday night, it was a freshman that led the way for the Lady Chiefs as they run-ruled Polk County 12-1 in five innings.

It was Mari Robbins’ night, but Tellico Plains almost took it from her.

Tellico Plains almost made a complete comeback on Thursday night, but in the end it was the Oakdale Eagles that held on for the 6-3 win over the Bears at Tellico Plains High School.