The Chattanooga area is bountiful with illustrious football programs, many boasting sizzling offenses that employ new tactics year after year. However, one thing remains the same – nothing is quite as exciting as the moment that pigskin floats through the air. Crowds watch with bated breath as their eyes scour the field for a receiver. Against inconceivable odds, from heavy coverage to precarious placement, these are the guys who grab those passes, no matter the circumstances.
by katie faulkner
Photo Courtesy of Steven Goldsmith
Marshall Barnes
School: Brainerd High School
Class of: 1963
Caught for: 1,452 yards in 2 seasons
60-yard dash: 6.88
What a Catch!:
A close friend and former teammate, Steven Goldsmith, remembers Marshall’s skills with reverence: “Marshall had an average of 21.4 yards a game, playing his junior and senior years. That’s quite spectacular. And he was making circus-like, one-handed catches before Odell Beckham Jr. and Antonio Brown made it to the highlight reels. He had hands that caressed a football like a baby’s bottom. How else could our football team have had the winningest football program in the history of Chattanooga high school gridiron sports? Without his touch, it never would have happened!
Photo Courtesy of B.J. Davis
B.J. Davis
School: Cleveland High School
Class of: 2011
Caught for: 2,047 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
Quarterback Chad Voytik remembers one of B.J.’s best catches, saying, “B.J. ran a go route and had a play-action pass. I was under pressure early and got hit while throwing it, and the ball floated a little bit outside, so he had to widen his path. As he neared the sideline, he made a crazy one-handed fingertip catch with a defender right on him! And he managed to get two feet in. He had some of the best hands of any receiver I’ve ever played with in high school or college.”
Photo Courtesy of Robert Flowers
Robert Flowers
School: Cleveland High School
Class of: 2020
Caught for: Approx. 1,500 yards in 2 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
“In the Maryville game, I jumped over a defender to catch one. They called for a post route on the weak side. I was in double coverage, but I jumped over one defender and made it around the other to pick up about 12 yards. It kept the drive alive, and I scored on the next play from a slant pass.”
Photo Courtesy of Will Queen
Will Queen
School: Signal Mountain High School
Class of: 2012
Caught for: Approx. 2,000 yards
40-yard dash: 4.56
What a Catch!:
“I had a big touchdown in the state championship game against Trinity Christian – I ran a flat pattern route during the first half and caught a long pass. It was probably at least 60 yards, and we scored off it. So, it really changed the momentum of the game at that time. I also had another touchdown reception that same season. It was in the corner of the end zone and was just barely a toe-tapper. That was a fun one too.”
Photo Courtesy of Joel Bradford
Joel Bradford
School: McCallie School
Class of: 2007
Caught for: Approx. 2,000 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.6
What a Catch!:
“There was one catch my junior year against Brentwood Academy. We had called an in-breaking route, and I noticed that the coverage wasn’t suitable for me to catch the ball in that area. So, B.J. Coleman, our quarterback, and I just looked at each other and adjusted. I ran a deep go route instead. B.J. recognized what I was doing and threw it 55 yards, and I caught it for an 80-yard touchdown! Coach Potter said, ‘Well, if you do that and score, I guess I can’t get too upset.’”
Photo Courtesy of Andrew Manning
Andrew Manning
School: Ooltewah High School
Class of: 2018
Caught for: 1,835 yards in 2 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.6
What a Catch!:
Andrew is one of the first players at Ooltewah to start both sides of the ball. He also won the Iron Man award for Ooltewah’s region. He recalls a favorite catch: “We were playing Maryville, a powerhouse out of Knoxville. We had them at home. In the first drive,
I caught a little over the middle for a 55-yard touchdown that really
set the tone of the game.”
Photo Courtesy of Alan Ridge
Alan Ridge
School: Red Bank High School
Class of: 1971
Caught for: 500 yards in 1 season
40-yard dash: 4.6
What a Catch!:
Alan had 30 catches and five touchdowns his senior year. He recalls one catch in particular that made a difference in a close game against City High School: “We ended up beating City 19 to 18 in a very close game. My favorite catch was one where I ran a deep post route across the middle and caught it to pick up a lot of yards and get us close enough to score.”
Photo Courtesy of Herman Prater
School: The Howard School
Class of: 2000
Caught for: 2,229 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
Kevin broke Chattanooga’s All Time Receiving Yards for Career record his senior year. That game is one of his favorite receiving stories. He says, “I really enjoyed that game against Central High. It was my senior year, and I was playing with a freshman quarterback. I had about 11 catches for 192 yards and two touchdowns to break the Chattanooga record.”
Adarius Bowman
School: Notre Dame High School
Class of: 2003
Caught for: 2,219 yards in 2 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.7
What a Catch!:
Adarius was ranked as a Top Wide Receiver in Tennessee by ESPN during his high school career. One of his top high school performances came in a game against McCallie in his 2001 season. In that single game, he racked up an astounding 293 receiving yards with five touchdowns. He went on to play pro football in the Canadian Football League.
Photo Courtesy of Jeremiah Batiste
Jeremiah Batiste
School: Tyner Academy
Class of: 2020
Caught for: 2,239 yards in 3 seasons
100-meter time: 10.67
What a Catch!:
“I had two catches in the state championship game, which we played my sophomore year, that I would consider my favorite. I caught the game-tying touchdown pass and the game-winning two-point conversion pass in the same series. For the first pass, we only had 14 seconds on the clock in final regulation time, and I ran a hot route straight down the field to tie it up. The next play we went for two, and I ran a counter route. I faked the slant and did an out for us to tie the game.”
Photo Courtesy of Herman Prater
Anthony Grigsby
School: The Howard School
Class of: 1987
Caught for: Approx. 3,500 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.35
What a Catch!:
Anthony held the school’s All-Time Leading Receiver title with over 3,500 yards. He was all-American, all-state, and all-city. He recalls his two favorite catches: “I had one against Baylor my senior year. I caught a 73-yard pass and ran in the game-winning touchdown. I also used to return kicks, and I caught one kick at Memphis Melrose and ran it the whole length of the field to get the game-winning touchdown.”
Photo by Melissa Holder Photography
Hudson Petty
School: Whitwell High School
Class of: 2019
Caught for: 1,200 yards in 2 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.55
What a Catch!:
“We were playing Lookout Valley my senior year. I ran a route, and the ball wasn’t thrown to me, but it was tipped up – and I caught it. Then I ran about 60 yards before I got tackled, so that was a fun catch!”
Photo Courtesy of Christian Rogers
Christian Rogers
School: Silverdale Baptist Academy
Class of: 2017
Caught for: 1,001 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.9
What a Catch!:
“I’m not a super fast guy, but I had good chemistry with our quarterback, Alex Gonzalez. We’d played ball together since we were 7 years old, and he just always seemed to find me when he was throwing. It felt natural.” Christian made All-District as a receiver his senior year.
Photo Courtesy of Tanner Stewart
Tanner Stewart
School: Whitwell High School
Class of: 2019
Caught for: Approx. 1,600 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.64
What a Catch!:
“I had a cool catch in the second round of the state playoff game against South Pittsburg last year. We were throwing into the end zone, and a defender and I dove for it at the same time. No one knew how I grabbed it, but I came up with it and scored a touchdown to tie the game up in the fourth quarter!”
Photo Courtesy of Michael Bowman
Michael Bowman
School: Ridgeland High School
Class of: 2009
Caught for: Approx. 2,500 yards in 4 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
“My senior year, we were at the regional championship game playing a team out of Atlanta. It was a record-breaking game for me. I had 211 receiving yards in seven catches and scored four touchdowns. My favorite play was the game-winning one. It was kind of a trick play. I went out for the pass, caught it, and our running back came out right behind me. I tossed a lateral flip to him, and he caught it and scored the game-winning touchdown.”
Photo Courtesy of Michael Gordon
Michael Gordon
School: Brainerd High School
Class of: 1987
Caught for: Approx. 2,700 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
“One of my favorite experiences was playing against Howard in high school. One year I think I had about 180 yards and three touchdowns, including the winning touchdown. All of the touchdowns in my whole career came from our quarterback, Brian Atkins (his dad was the Howard coach).”
Photo Courtesy of Dominique McDuffie
Dominique McDuffie
School: Red Bank High School
Class of: 2008
Caught for: 850 yards in 3 Seasons
40-yard dash: 4.54
What a Catch!:
Dominique was the third all-time receiver at Red Bank during his years there. “When we were playing Cleveland my junior year for the district championship, I had a good catch. They put me in at tight end, and I ran a drag route. I had a one-handed catch on the sideline, and it was a 50 or 60-yard touchdown!”
Photo Courtesy of Ryan Carter
Ryan Carter
School: Heritage High School
Class of: 2018
Caught for: 1,854 yards in 4 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
“We were playing Southeast Whitfield my senior year, and I ran a light screen route and caught a pass. As I was running, my teammates were doing a great job blocking for me, but I remember I was headed down the field and it seemed like the whole opposing team was there. So I reversed it and headed to the other side. Then they were all over there. So I reversed it again, cut it up the middle, and worked my way back across the field to get to the end zone.”
Photo Courtesy of Taylor Wilson
Taylor Wilson
School: Grace Baptist Academy
Class of: 2010
Caught for: 1,903 yards in 4 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.6
What a Catch!:
“We were playing South Pittsburg my junior year, and it was a very close game going into halftime. Josh Blake was our quarterback, and I ran a good route, and he threw to the back of the end zone. It was a thread-the-needle pass right between two defenders, and I got hit as I caught it, but we scored and tied the game up going into the half.”
Photo Courtesy of Zeke Cobb
Zeke Cobb
School: Dalton High School
Class of: 2017
Caught for: 1,786 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.75
What a Catch!:
“The coolest catch I ever had would be my sophomore year, toward the end of the season. I ran a post route, but the corner that was on me was very good. So he stayed in my hip pocket the whole time, and when we both went up for the ball, I actually jumped earlier and higher. Thanks to my height, I had him beat by a long shot!”
Photo Courtesy of Kyric McGowan
Kyric McGowan
School: Dalton High School
Class of: 2017
Caught for: approx. 1,054 yards in 4 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.47
What a Catch!:
“I had a one-handed catch against Sprayberry my senior year. I ran a quick slant into the end zone, and the pass was just out of my reach. But I jumped up and grabbed it with one hand and stayed in for the touchdown.”
Photo Courtesy of James Stovall
James Stovall
School: Bradley Central High School
Class of: 2012
Caught for: 1,900 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
“One of my favorite catches was actually an interception. It was the first play of the game against Ooltewah my senior season.”
Photo Courtesy of Jeremy Caldwell
Jeremy “Ta-Ta” Caldwell
School: Red Bank High School
Class of: 2007
Caught for: approx. 3,500 yards in 4 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.3
What a Catch!:
“My junior year, I had a diving right-handed catch against Knoxville Halls High School to give us a two-touchdown lead. And my senior year I had 11 kick and punt returns.”
Photo Courtesy of Anthony Jones
Anthony Jones
School: Tyner Academy
Class of: 1998
Caught for: 2,900 yards in 3 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.4
What a Catch!:
“My coolest catch was probably the first play of our game against Marion County. It was my senior year, and it was about a 60-yard touchdown pass straight down the field!”
Photo Courtesy of Luke Grant
Luke Grant
School: Heritage High School
Class of: 2018
Caught for: 3,205 yards in 4 seasons
40-yard dash: 4.5
What a Catch!:
“My favorite catch was my senior year in a game against Murray. I ran a drag route across the middle and had a guy on my back hip. I saw the ball coming in a little high and out front and wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to get to it. I just stuck my arm out and watched it in, and once I had it, I realized there was green grass in front of me and ended up scoring.”