**Don’t forget to check out our podcast interview with Coach Teter. The link for the interview is here: Coach James Teter Podcast Interview **

 

The Skinny

 

Coach Jim Teter enters his 10thseason as the head coach of the Sequoyah Chiefs.  Coach Teter has guided the Chiefs into the post-season in five out of the last six seasons. While folks in Hickory Flat have become accustomed to post season play, Teter knows that each season presents it’s own sets of challenges. We asked Teter about the biggest challenge that his team faces this season.

“Developing depth at each position,” he said.

While the Chiefs are busy developing that depth in the pre-season, they do return five starters on offense and six on defense.

The Chiefs Wing-T offense will have experienced ball handlers in Second Team All-Region quarterback Collier Pecht (1,117 yards passing, 12 TDs) and running backs Cole Jacobs (889 yards from scrimmage, 11 TDs) and Jackson Smith (274 yards rushing) all returning. Others working to earn a spot in the backfield are Mason Webster, DJ King  and D’Angelo Smith.

The Chiefs will need to rebuild an offensive line that returns two starters in Alex Majeed, a 6’4 290 tackle that was a First Team All-Region pick. Majeed was also awarded the 2017 Cherokee Gridiron Offensive Lineman of the Year this past season. Joining Maheed will be Wyatt Hampton, a 6’2 240 guard. Other players fighting for playing time on the offensive line will be Cole Stewart, Nick Balance, Spencer Clark, Connor Johnston, Matthew Meyer and Spencer Smith.

At Tight End and Wide Receiver the Chiefs look to replace two 3-year starters with the loss of Wesley Potter and Patrick Ballance. The Chiefs will look to Joshua Estrada, Adam LaSelva, Jordan Bowers and Shayne Smith. Emmanuel Jenkins, Myles McGee, and Christian Hodgins will compete at Wide Receiver.

 

 

Defensively for the Chiefs, Emmanuel Jenkins (37 tackles, nine pass breakups) has over 10 Division I offers.  The defensive line will be a strength with returning starters Spencer Clark, Connor Johnston, Jordan Bowers (six sacks). Several others could see time on the line including Cole Stewart, David Traynor, and the aforementioned Majeed.

The Linebacker corps should be another strong area for the Chiefs as they return their second leading tackler from last season, Adam LaSelva.  LaSelva was  garnered Second Team All-Region honors last season. He will be joined by Junior, Grant Gibson. Other players to watch for  at linebacker will be Jackson Smith and Tray Bray.

The aforementioned Jenkins, a Second Team All-Region selection, is the only returning starter in the Chiefs secondary. The Chiefs will look to Myles McGee, Mason Webster and Cole Jacobs to help fill the void left by Cam Stewart, Brooks Morris and Wesley Potter.

The kicking game should be solid with returning punter Tyler Price and Sophomore Jordan Campbell.

We asked Coach Teter if there were any games that were circled on the calendar this season.

He said, “(we are) not looking past the first game.”

We followed up by asking how success would be defined this season for the Chiefs.

His response was simply, “By getting along and working together.

Leave a Reply