Picture Perfect
Every so often, a sporting event has all the elements, and, every so often, a photographer gets the shot that just nails it.
Brandon Shinn is a worthy winner of the first Editor’s Choice Sports Photo of the Year Award. It wasn’t simply the Maryville/William Blount clash Sept. 28 at Governor Stadium was the Game of the Year. It wasn’t simply the Rebels and Governors both entered unbeaten. It wasn’t simply they played before a Blount County-record crowd, with estimates well in excess of 14,000.
It took your breath away turning into the stadium!
It was all those things, and, with 4 minutes remaining, the Rebels struck, a hook-and-lateral from Brent Burnette to Aaron Douglas to Thomas Shuler lifting Maryville to a stunning, 20-19 win.
That game rocked, and so did the photo.
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If you look closely, you can make out the laces dangling on Jaron Toney’s left shoe. That’s how tight this shot was. Everything, from Toney’s eyes, to the way he’s chomping down on his mouthpiece, to only his left shoe still in contact with the ground, is as crisp as it gets.
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Huntingdon’s Montrey Harris is steamrolled by Maryville College running back Rommel Hightower during a game at Honaker Field last fall. Makes your knees weak just looking at this shot.
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The argument of whether cheerleaders are athletes will rage as long as there are cheerleaders, but there’s no questioning their daring. Karnowski’s shot captures Maryville cheerleader Bethany Clabough at the apex of the toss, backlit against a stunning purple sky prior to an Oct. 8 game at Knox Central. The parachute, apparently, was optional.
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Maryville’s Chris Jordan is stripped of his shoe by a Sevier County tackler, at lower right, in this play from last season’s Maryville Orthopaedic Jamboree. Remarkably, the Rebel junior returned the interception 32 yards for a touchdown.
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It all starts with the point guard in basketball, and Heritage senior Katie Brooks was one of the best Blount County has ever produced. Here, the Lady Mountaineer leader stares down a West defender in a game at Heritage. You can smell the crossover that’s coming.
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A sunny Saturday at Farragut’s Admiral Stadium led to this crisp shot as Maryville’s Ridge Carter battles Farragut’s Jonathan Chancey for possession during the district championship game. Chancey leaps in to intercept a pass intended for Carter in the No. 7-on-7 clash.
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Friendsville’s Tristan Adams looks a man of bad intentions as he lines up a block on Alcoa’s Brett Dunlap during last fall’s Midget Super Bowl. If eye contact means anything, Dunlap had better get low.
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It happens.
With 22 players flying around on every snap, it isn’t always your opponent who poses the greatest threat. Kevin Thomas, airborne, collided with Heritage teammate Justin Roper when a McMinn County running back quickly changed direction. After being attended to, both players would return to finish the game.
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Sealed with a kiss, senior Jordan Halsne celebrates Maryville’s 60th consecutive win and fourth straight Class 4A state championship last December in Murfreesboro. With the win, the Rebel senior class ran the table, finishing their high school careers without losing a single game.
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All eyes track Chancli Connatser’s pitch to the plate during a game with South-Doyle. Maryville catcher Kim Whaley is locked on, ready to make the grab. Even the home plate umpire appears transfixed. This shot was definitely a strike.
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The emotion Alcoa Middle receiver Chaz Vesser displays after a touchdown catch against Maryville, photo at the right, would be missing something without the preceding frame. The difficulty of the grab is brought home with the photograph at left, as Vesser goes up between a pair of defenders for the ball.
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The Maryville and Bearden basketball teams combined for some epic shootouts this season. The second of three took place in late January at Maryville, with Rebel senior Jordan Damron torching the Bulldogs for 32 second-half points, 35 in all, in a 73-71 overtime victory. Here, Damron takes the ball up against Bearden giant Blake Jenkins.
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The unidentified player second from left makes this shot. The Rockford Tigers were down two touchdowns at the halftime of the Grasshopper Super Bowl. Rockford coach Keith Decker did the trick with his halftime speech, with the Tigers rallying in the second half to claim the title, 14-12.
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Just how hard William Blount had come to play is reflected in the body language of quarterback Tyler Burstrom, who lowers the shoulder to take on a Sevier County linebacker in the season opener. This is going to be a big hit. You can feel it.
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