KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A pair of seniors took home the first 10Sports Blitz Player of the Week honors of the season following eye-popping performances in week one of the high school football season.
Stone Memorial senior wide receiver Jayden "Bear" Eldridge earned Offensive Player of the Week after helping the Panthers to a 25-20 victory over Cookeville. He accounted for all four of Stone Memorial's touchdowns in the victory and hauled in nine catches for a total of 209 yards in the win.
He's happy the player of the week honor can bring some attention to his school.
"It's a really big deal," Eldridge said. "I really think Stone needs to be more recognized for their athletics."
The wide receiver said he got his nickname from his dad, and the nickname is in honor of former Alabama football head coach Paul "Bear" Bryant.
"[My dad] and my mom had a little bet that if I was a boy, my dad got to name me," Eldridge said. "He wanted to put the name Bear in there, and my mom was not a fan of that as my real name."
Defensive Player of the Week honors goes to Cocke County senior linebacker Carson Devotie, who was a force for the Fighting Cocks in their 27-20 win over Cherokee.
Devotie tallied three sacks, three forced fumbles and an interception to help Cocke County off to a 1-0 start for the second straight season. He said it meant a lot to him to get the season started on a good note after a tumultuous offseason.
"I tore my hamstring about five months ago running track," Devotie said. "It was a big personal goal for me to have a good season and dominate coming back from that hamstring injury."
Stone Memorial goes on the road to face Sweetwater on Friday at 7:30 p.m., while Cocke Co. will host Gatlinburg-Pittman at 7 p.m.