passing league gives teams a jump-start on the competition

The unofficial summer countdown to the 2007 high school football season finally gets under way this week with the annual non-contact passing league held at Webb School of Knoxville, a sure-fire indicator that the real season is not far behind.

The league got cranked up with a series of games Monday and will run through the rest of the week with the league championship games to be played on Friday.

Directed by David Meske, the Spartan’s head coach for the last 23 years, the annual summer passing league is entering its ninth year of existence.

“The league really helps passing teams,” Meske commented in a telephone interview Thursday morning as he helped put the finishing touches on a week-long youth football camp at the West Knoxville private school.

“(The Webb Passing League) allows the quarterbacks and receivers the opportunity to work on routes and timing,” Meske added. “It also helps defensive backs get used to different coverages and gets them used to breaking on the ball.

“And it allows teams to get out there and compete. I think that’s one of the more important facets of the league. It gets pretty competitive and the kids and the coaches are all out there to win.”

Meske said that through the years he’s seen several different teams come and go as participants in the league. From year to year, certain teams who might have been part of the action in the past have decided not to participate for whatever reason, but seemingly every year there are new football teams eager to join up and compete in the week-long tournament-like round-robin format.

The teams consist of a quarterback, running backs, receivers, kickers and a center to snap the ball from the line of scrimmage. Only linebackers and defensive backs, usually converted offensive players, participate on the defense.

One of the high school programs that has been a constant participant in the league is the Seymour Eagles.

Meske said he has the utmost respect for longtime Eagles’ head coach Gary Householder, who has been bringing his players to compete in the league since the its inception.

“Coach Householder is a great coach and a good friend of mine,” said Meske. “We have a lot of respect for that program and the great job that he and his staff do every year.”

Householder is known locally for his innovative offensive schemes, typically spreading the field with multiple formations in an effort to establish a controlled passing attack to set up the all-important running game.

The set-up for the Webb passing league allows Householder a real-time look at his team facing top competition.

Last year the Eagles were the league co-champions, sharing the title with eventual Class 3A State Champion Fulton when the final game was prematurely halted because of a lighting storm.

Meske said this year’s league schedule will include reigning Class 2A State Champion Alcoa along with area 4A powerhouse Powell.

Including the host Spartans, last season’s Division II State Champion, this year’s field will include three of the six state champions from the 2006 season.