Clinton Middle School: Hawks
Eric Woodard will soon begin his second season as Clinton Middle School’s head coach.
In just one year, he helped the Hawks reverse their recent history on the gridiron.
In 2023, Woodard inherited a team that won just one game over the previous three campaigns. The Hawks went 4-5 last season and made the playoffs before losing to cross-county rival Norris in the postseason.
This season, the Hawks will be a new-look team as they lost multiple players from last year’s roster. But Woodard and CMS are writing the upcoming season off as a rebuilding campaign.
“Our expectation is to make the playoffs,” Woodard said. “We ended the season last year with a little momentum and we were all excited about what the kids had done. We play in a pretty tough league.
“We have 28 new guys, but we want to make the playoffs.”
The Hawks will have to survive a tough eight-game regular-season schedule that includes Spring City, Lenoir City, Jefferson, Robertsville, Norris, Fort Loudoun and Christian Academy of Knoxville in Tennessee Valley Athletic Conference games.
Clinton will also face Carter Middle in a non-league tilt on Aug. 29.
“We play in a tough league and we have new people everywhere,” Woodard said. “The offensive and defensive lines will be the strengths of our team. We’ll be physical on the offensive and defensive lines.
“We have young kids and we’re young at the skill positions.” he said. “Our biggest area of concern is an overall lack of experience at the skill positions, but I expect us to compete hard.”
The new players aren’t the only new faces in the Clinton program.
The Hawks have a new defensive coordinator in Tim Minga. Minga previously coached at Knoxville’s Grace Christian Academy and at Clinton High School.
Key players for the Hawks on the offensive and defensive fronts include: Eli Collins (eighth grade, offensive lineman/defensive lineman); Jeremiah Patton (eighth grade, offensive lineman/defensive lineman); Jett Hardy (eighth grade, offensive lineman/defensive lineman); Levi Moran (eighth grade, offensive lineman/defensive lineman); and Ethan Ritter (eighth grade, offensive lineman/defensive lineman).
Key players at the skill positions are: Junior Ward (eighth grade, running back/linebacker); Colten Wright (eighth grade, quarterback/cornerback); Ty Wright (eighth grade, wide receiver/safety); Jason Isabell (eighth grade, wide receiver/cornerback) and Jackson Perkins (eighth grade, running back/linebacker).
The Hawks open the 2024 season at home against Spring City on Aug. 8, at home. Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m.
“We’ll have a tough game to open the season,” the coach said.
“It’s at home, but it’s against Spring City and they’re usually well-coached and they’re usually really good.”
