Clarksville, TN – The Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association (TACA) held the annual Tennessee East-West All-Star Classic in Clarksville Friday night, December 9th, at APSU’s Fortera Stadium.
TACA puts on the All-Star Classic to give student-athletes and coaches a chance to showcase their talents. Because of this, several students have received scholarships for college sports.
Approximately 88 high school senior football players from across Tennessee, representing 63 high schools, took part in the game. The East All-Stars coach was Hayden Chandler of David Crockett High School and the West All-Stars coach was Will Hester from Ravenwood High School.
“This game is great for Clarksville. The ball players come into town Tuesday and stayed all week. The parents arrived on Thursday. It’s just a great event. It’s a good boost for us. We are excited they are back here again,” stated Visit Clarksville Executive Director Theresa Harrington.
The game kicked off at 7:04pm. East got on the scoreboard first when #18 Kade Hewitt threw a pass to #20 Ashton Auker that went 35 yards for a touchdown.
Later in the first quarter, West answered with a 5-yard touchdown pass from #2 Ryan Damron to #0 Jamari Person. East came right back and scored on a #17 Jack Risner 72-yard pass to #19 Kaleb Carver.
West scored in the second quarter when #25 Steven Mack leaped across a defender at the line of scrimmage and then ran 17 yards to the end zone.
The score at halftime was East All-Stars 14, West All-Stars 14.
Neither team was able to get on the board during the third quarter. West had a missed field goal that went wide right from 30 yards out. Early in the fourth quarter, East drove 58 yards on 10 plays that ended in a #80 Ben Shrewsbury field goal putting the East All-Stars up 17-14.
This is where the wheels started coming off for the West. A West fumble was recovered by the East’s #24 Elijah Pitts who ran 68 yards for a touchdown. West recovered another fumble and went 12 yards on 3 plays for the score. The drive was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by #18 Kade Hewitt.
The final score of the game was East All-Stars 31, West All-Stars 14.
“Tonight we had the TACA East-West All-Star game, Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association. This past week we had over 125 players and coaches from all across the state. Seniors in high school played in this all-star classic. They practiced here, played here, and have eaten here. Tonight, they got to show off their skills,” said Blake Monroe, Director of Sports Tourism for Visit Clarksville.
“To have an event like this in Clarksville, a state-wide event like this, is something that is very important, said Monroe. “I think it is something that shows the rest of the sports industry, the community, that Visit Clarksville is trying to pull in those kinds of events.”
Monroe continued, “It is also huge for Clarksville because we have all these players, their families, staying in town eating at our restaurants, learning more about the Clarksville History. I think that it is just kind of important for this community.”
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About the Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association
The Tennessee Athletic Coaches Association, commonly known as TACA, is a non-profit organization that was founded by Jim Cartwright in 1983. His vision for TACA was to promote education, self-awareness, and leadership skills, through all youth sports as well as provide many needs for student-athletes that were not being met.
Cartwright’s vision has become a reality that has been met over the years through his efforts and every individual who has been a part of TACA.
For more information visit www.taca.net
About Visit Clarksville
The Clarksville-Montgomery County Tourist Commission was established by the State of Tennessee in 1979 to positively influence tourism in the Clarksville-Montgomery County area by promoting tourist attractions, hosting conventions and group tours, and engaging in large-scale marketing efforts.
In 2015, the organization adopted the Visit Clarksville brand. Visit Clarksville is governed by a nine-member board of directors and is funded by a portion of the local hotel-motel tax.
For more information visit www.visitclarksville.com