How first middle school football program in 40 years could make Clarksville high schools more competitive

From the south end zone of Fortera Stadium, Isaac Shelby took in a scene he'd been waiting to see, in his words, "forever."

The Richview Cowboys were celebrating their 9-6 win over the Northeast Eagles in the Clarksville-Montgomery County School System middle school football championship — the first middle school championship CMCSS has sponsored since the early 1980s. Those Cowboys will help make up Shelby's future Clarksville High School teams.

In his 14 years as a head coach in the district, Shelby hasn't had anything like this: a true feeder program, similar to what's taken for granted in other football-crazed communities in Middle Tennessee. Eventually, Shelby hopes, it will allow Montgomery County teams to compete on a level playing field with the rest of the region.

"I've seen nothing but positive things," said CMCSS activities director John Miller. "There's some things that we know we need to improve going forward. But overall, I think it's been a huge success."

Decades ago, instead of middle schools, CMCSS had two junior highs: Greenwood, whose students would later attend Clarksville High, and New Providence, which fed into Northwest. Greenwood and New Providence served seventh-, eighth- and ninth-graders, who represented their schools in football and other sports.

Miller thinks it may have been 1982 when CMCSS replaced the junior highs with middle schools. Ninth-graders started attending high school, and sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders went to middle school. In the process, organized athletics, except for intramural basketball, were lost.

"They just did away with middle school sports," Miller said. "I don't know the rationale."

Miller experienced the effects of that decision when he was the head coach at brand-new Rossview High from 2001 to 2003. He and his staff had to teach the Hawks' freshmen basic fundamentals. Miller knew Rossview, and all of the city's other public schools, needed middle school football in order to be competitive.

In 2019, Miller started having discussions with CMCSS middle school director Mary Gist and chief academic officer Sean Impeartrice about bringing football back. CMCSS had already introduced volleyball and cross country that year, and football seemed like the logical next step.

COVID threw a wrench in the timetable, but CMCSS purchased all of the equipment it needed for football last school year. Taking into account helmets, pads and jerseys for all eight middle schools along with coaching salaries, Miller estimates the total price tag at around $400,000 — well worth it, in his opinion.

While the interest in middle school football was always there, the space hasn't been. None of Clarksville's middle schools originally had fields, though some have repurposed areas into practice fields, such as Northeast. Most, though, are dependent on high schools for locker rooms, equipment storage, practice or game fields.

"They've had to improvise, and the schools, they've done a terrific job of that," Miller said." We got outdoor storage facilities for them to store equipment for the offseason, that kind of thing. That's really been the biggest obstacle."

Boys in Clarksville had options to play football before this year, such as the Jr. Pro league. But having middle school football through CMCSS means freshmen will arrive at Rossview, Northeast or Northwest already understanding the high school program's schemes and terminology. Each of CMCSS's middle schools feeds directly into one high school.

Before CMCSS hired any middle school coaches, Miller organized meetings between high school coaches, ADs and middle school administration so they could start relationships. As those relationships have grown, many middle school coaches in Clarksville now use the same plays and terminology that are used by the high school coaches.

Shelby has an "open-door policy" with Richview coach Josh Richards and his staff. Richards, a former Austin Peay assistant, said they spent "the whole summer" together brushing up on Clarksville's offense and defense. Shelby tried to attend as many of Richview's games this fall as he could.

"I think a lot of the problems we've had in the county is just a lack of transition between middle and high school," Shelby said. "It's just important to be out here and show your face so the kids see you and they know your name."

MORE: Clarksville high school football predictions for TSSAA Week 8: Can Kirkwood snap skid?

Only two Clarksville-area teams have ever reached a TSSAA state semifinal, and just six have been beyond the second round. Shelby thinks that thanks to middle school football, that non-competitive reality could start to change four or five years from now.

But at the middle school level, the benefits are already being seen. Richards was impressed by the attendance at Tuesday's title game, and he's observed the excitement football has brought inside Richview's halls. Miller said he's heard stories from middle school principals about students who struggled with studies and discipline last year, but have been entirely different this fall.

"The more activities we have in our middle schools, the more it's going to help them academically and behaviorally," Miller said. "And it's going to help those kids transition to high school and be successful there."

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.

This article originally appeared on Clarksville Leaf-Chronicle: TSSAA football: Clarksville high schools hope middle schools can help