Kingsport Spirit

Any given Saturday.

It’s more than a football cliché. Look at the Southeastern Conference. Ten of its 16 teams have three losses or fewer. Good teams have taken turns beating one another, and sorting out the College Football Playoff contenders could be almost as difficult as playing the games.

That’s parity. And it isn’t confined to college football.

Look at Dobyns-Bennett.

The Indians enter November at 7-3, champions of Region 1 and winners of six straight games. Yet I’ve heard people proclaim the demise of this storied program.

Really?

D-B’s three losses came in its first four games, by margins of one point to Knoxville Central, one to Asheville and four to Oak Ridge. Three defeats by a combined six points. A few plays in three games separate this record from an undefeated regular season.

And look at the competition. Asheville finished 9-1. Knoxville Central is 9-1 and has won two state championships since 2018. Gate City, a five-time Virginia champion, is 7-2. Oak Ridge, a four-time playoff-era Tennessee champion, finished 7-3.

Those aren’t opponents chosen for easy victories.

Scheduling has become its own competition. With relatively few Class 6A schools in Northeast Tennessee, D-B has only four region opponents. That leaves six games to fill. Finding willing opponents hasn’t been easy, and traditional rivals aren’t required to accept an invitation. So the Indians have crossed state lines to Asheville and Gate City and reached farther afield for Knoxville Central, Oak Ridge, Bearden and Claiborne County.

It’s a different landscape from the one many of us remember.

So is the championship system.

Before Tennessee established its postseason in 1969, champions were recognized through ratings and polls. D-B earned six such titles, the last in 1960. Fifty years ago, Tennessee was already playing for championships in three classifications, but with much smaller playoff fields. Today, Division I football has six classes, and 32 Class 6A teams begin a five-round march toward Chattanooga.

For years, the road out of Northeast Tennessee ran through Knoxville. Regions 1 and 2 generally settled matters among themselves in the early rounds. Sooner or later came Maryville, a perennial powerhouse that often went on to claim the championship.

Then came another change.

In 2025, the TSSAA restructured its playoff brackets to create new second-round matchups. Instead of Northeast Tennessee and Knoxville teams eliminating one another before facing Middle Tennessee, Regions 1 through 4 now begin crossing paths in the second round.

The result is a different road to the championship—and potentially a more interesting one.

Because D-B won its region, it has the opportunity to host its first two playoff games.

First comes Oak Ridge, back at J. Fred Johnson Stadium on Friday. Win that rematch, and the Indians host the winner of Gallatin and Smyrna. Meanwhile, Maryville and Oakland—two names that have loomed large over Tennessee football—could meet in the second round. Only one would survive.

None of that guarantees a D-B victory. It does mean the path is different, and the opportunity is real.

Convincing teenagers to peak in November is hard enough. Convincing adults not to judge an entire season by September may be harder.

Kingsport is proud of its football tradition. But when November’s chill settles over the stadium, too many longtime fans stay home. Tradition shouldn’t be only the stories we tell about players we watched decades ago. It should include showing up for the young men wearing the uniform today.

We won’t win another state championship by a sportswriters’ poll. It must be earned, one Friday night at a time.

Football has changed. It’s time we stop measuring today’s players against yesterday’s system.

The good old days were good. But they aren’t the rulebook anymore.

Any given Friday.

You can buy your season tickets through Wednesday at the Dobyns-Bennett Activities Office, just to the left of the Dome entrance. Hours are Monday Noon-3:00, and Tuesday-Wednesday 8:00-3:00. After that, they’re opened for public sale. Tickets are also available at the gate.