Off the Field – ETSU releases schedule (Feb. 10, 2016 issue)
A special tip-of-the-cap goes out to the senior members of the Unicoi County High School basketball teams and cheerleaders for their dedication to their school.
The seniors are scheduled to be honored on Thursday, Feb. 11, when UCHS faces Cloudland at the Devils Den.
Photos from the event will appear in upcoming issues of The Erwin Record as a tribute to the upperclassmen who will leave the program at the end of the season.
But before fast forwarding to then, theres still a full schedule of hoops ahead with the district tournament looming for both the boys and girls.
Information on the tournament, which will be held at Sullivan South High School, along with tournament pairings, will be featured in an upcoming issue.
The East Tennessee State University football team released its schedule for its second season since reopening the program to fans during the 2015 season.
Among the different games for the Buccaneers, who will begin their first full year in Southern Conference play, will feature their own Battle of Bristol with the Bucs squaring off against Western Carolina on Sept. 17, at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Here is the schedule for ETSU football in 2016:
Sept. 3 at Kennesaw State
Sept. 10 OPEN
Sept. 17 vs Western Carolina at BMS
Sept. 24 at Wofford
Oct. 1 vs Chattanooga
Oct. 8 at VMI
Oct. 15 vs Furman
Oct. 20 vs West Virginia Wesleyan
Oct. 29 at The Citadel
Nov. 5 at Mercer
Nov. 12 vs Cumberland University
Nov. 19 vs Samford
Times are to be determined. To purchase season tickets for the 2016 ETSU football season, call 439-3878. For more information on Buc football, visit ETSUBucs.com.
Things officially got interesting in Carter County last week.
In a surprise to no one after the past two weeks, Cloudland officially announced that Mike Lunsford would take over the schools football program as head coach.
Lunsford makes the transition to the Highlanders after coaching Hampton, a team that recently made an appearance in the Class 2A state semifinals. With the heated rivalry between Cloudland and Hampton, another potential domino to fall into place would be the hiring of Michael Lunsford, Mikes son, as the head coach for the Bulldogs. Michael has emerged as the early favorite for the position.
Visit erwinrecordpix.com for a variety of Blue Devil and Lady Blue Devil photos taken throughout the 2015-2016 basketball season of the high school and middle school teams. Photos on the store are available for purchase by print or download.
For up-to-date information on Unicoi County athletics, visit The Erwin Record Sports Facebook page online. Readers can also look for updates on Twitter by following along at: @CurtisCarden_ER.