Area Breaking News

Back in June, I was sitting nicely in Estes Park, Colorado with cool temperatures, a beautiful view of the mountains and elk scurrying around the roads. But the 2026 high school football season brought me back to reality in July, and now we get to deal with a heat dome that I am ready to…

While the past couple of seasons have been fun picking games for Weakley County, the pick’em column needed an upgrade. So when the Union City Messenger hired Gabriel Jackson as the new sports editor, the competition began. Each week of the high school football season, I (Michael Odom) will represent Weakley County and go head-to-head…

Last season, South Gibson reached the Class 4A state semifinals for the first time in program history after winning the region title. But this region wasn’t decided until the final week of the season. There was a chance going into the final week that with a loss to Hardin County, the Hornets could have fallen…

It’s finally time for high school football in West Tennessee. Teams have fought through spring games, 7-on-7 season, heat acclimation week, full-padded practices and scrimmages to get to this point. Huntingdon, McKenzie, University School of Jackson and Westview all played for state championships last year with Huntingdon and Westview bringing gold balls back to West…

The Tennessee Sports Writers Association announced its football rankings for the preseason on Monday. Top 10 teams in each of the six Division I classifications and Top 5 in three Division II classes were selected by TSWA members with first-place votes in parentheses and total points based on 10 points for a first-place vote through…

University School of Jackson was the team to beat in this region last season, and they made it all the way to the Division II-A state championship game. The Bruins didn’t fare well in the state title game as Nashville Christian beat them 59-7. In fact, Nashville Christian beat three teams from this region in…

With the start of the 2026 high school football season a little over a week away, here are my thoughts on who is in line currently to be a Tennessee Titans Mr. Football finalist. Now injuries happen and things can change at any point, but going into the season, these players stand head of the…

With a 62-21 victory over Gatlinburg-Pittman, the Westview football team won the Class 3A state championship. The following week, Graham Simpson was named the Tennessee Titans Class 3A Mr. Football winner. The Chargers outscored their region opponents 354-75, and many of those skill players are back. Dyersburg and Covington seemed to be Westview’s closest competitors…

During the 2025 season, Haywood dominated play in Region 8-4A. The Tomcats went 6-0 in region play and outscored their opponents 300-62 in those six games. The Tomcats lost some key players, so will a year of experience help any of the other six teams be in the mix for the region championship? Haywood still…