Marion County head football coach Ricky Ross directs players during the Warriors' football practice on Wednesday.JASPER, Tenn. - Tonight at South Pittsburg, Marion County will be playing just another football game, at least to hear coaches and players tell it.
Yes, it's against the Warriors' archrivals. Yes, a victory would snap an eight-year losing streak in the series. And yes, winning would make Marion a league champion for the first time since 1995.
But from the outside looking in -- a view that most of the country had after last year's shenanigans -- it seems improbable if not impossible.
In the days leading up to this annual grudge match, Marion County head coach Mac McCurry and several assistants were involved in an act of self-inflicted vandalism -- they painted their own field house in South Pittsburg colors with insults and profanity -- that made ESPN and eventually cost them their jobs with the Warriors.
It was the most extreme act in a rivalry that long has teetered on the edge between emotional craziness and crazy emotion.
So if any high school program in the Chattanooga area has reason to be subdued in its approach to its game this week, it's the one in Jasper. Kickoff for the District 6-A game is set for 8 EDT.
"We're kind of treating it just like any other game," Warriors defensive line coach Larry Richards said. "Very normal. About an 80-hour week."
In the year that has passed since the incident took place, the school, the community and especially the football program have persevered. The Warriors are 8-1 and ranked third in the most recent Associated Press Class 2A state poll.
Only Richards, who was interim head coach in last year's season-ending 41-14 quarterfinal playoff loss at Trousdale County, and offensive line coach Randy Kirkpatrick remain from last year's coaching staff.
The new head coach is Ricky Ross. He was defensive coordinator at Calhoun, a longtime Georgia power, from 2006 to 2012. He spent last season as defensive coordinator at Class AAAA Mary Persons in Forsyth, Ga.
"We get a lot more done in practice," Richards said of this season. "He's brought a lot more modernization. That's what I call it."
Said senior running back and safety Blake Brooks: "It's been a joy to play for him. He knows his stuff."
Ross, whose wife was an athlete at Marion County, actually was hired as South Pittsburg's coach after Vic Grider resigned after 16 seasons. He was hired in January 2013 but left the Pirates that March.
"I guess you could say the situation is unique," Ross said. "Technically I never got to work over there. But I did get to know some of the kids. They're wonderful young men."
It remains to be seen whether much will be said tonight about the year-old wrongdoing. The Warriors already have dealt with it from others.
"When you play people you're going to get comments about Krylon or paint," Ross said. "People are always going to take their shot. I try to look at it as indifferent as I can. Good, bad or indifferent, it's who we are. Sometimes we learn hard lessons.
"A tough situation can either make you or break you. This tough situation has brought us closer together. We're a tight family and we depend on each other more."
One result of the incident was the TSSAA denying Marion County a spring practice this year.
Senior running back and linebacker Blake Zeman is the team's leading rusher, scorer and tackler. He also was a leader in another way in helping keep the group bonded through summer workouts.
"People in other communities bring it up," Zeman said of the misconduct. "We've put it in the past and moved on. There are better things in the future for us. We're just trying to get better week by week and day by day.
"We're focusing on now. We're not worried about the past. We're worried about what's coming up this Friday."
South Pittsburg has had a beleaguered 5-4 season after finishing Class 1A state runner-up last season. But each team is 3-0 in the district.
The series stands at 47-38-4 in favor of the Pirates. But these Warriors see all that as being in the past. And like the scandal and everything else in the past, that's where they want to leave it.
"Our goal this year was to go do our best and put an end to it," Brooks said. "We couldn't ask for better."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.
News report from the time of the scandal: