Last season Bryce Smoot caught and passed former Cavalier Tee Jackson, sliding into the top spot on the Boys All – Time scoring list. Tuesday night Principal Chuck Thompson and Head Coach Anthony Barnes made it about sliding into a prestigious spot next to Jackson.

Thanks to Vickey Ritchie, we can relive the moment over and over !

Both Bryce and Brayden Smoot are enjoying their freshman year at Southwest Virginia Community College playing for the Flying Eagles. The team will return to action later this week.

The Smoot family has long been a part of Sports on The Hill. The latest member participating in the family business is Aaliyah Hampton and thanks to the kindness of Carroll County High School, Bryce Smoot has a permanent position in the Schools history !

Great capture of an impressive young Man 👨 who I have watched go from an undersized Kid into the Leader that he is today.

Across my  six years in Carroll County , I don’t know that I’ve spent more time around one Student Athlete than Isaiah Easter.

From the early days playing for Jason Stockner on the Junior Varsity Basketball team and I remember the day at the end of his Freshman season when Varsity Coach Anthony Barnes brought him up for the Cavaliers post season run.

That Spring, I remember him as a free spirited little Brother hanging out at Cavalier Park watching the youngest of his Big Sisters play Softball for Rick Nester. Kaylee Easter was an intense young Lady that helped lead Carroll County High School 🏫 to consecutive State Championships in Basketball and she played Softball with the same amount of determination.

I watched Isaiah Easter play ▶️ a role in leading Carroll County High School to a spot in the State Tournament, alongside the Pic-6 of Seniors who had played together for ever and a day.

If this was Hollywood and I was just adding glitz to the storyline because I can, I would create a scene with Marion Harris talks Easter into giving football a try as he did with a seven year old Alyssa Ervin in regards to Basketball 🏀. That second part is documented fact.

Enter a young Man who I have a boatload of Love and respect for, Mr Seth Greer. How much appreciation do I have for Greer ? I think we should get together a club of 31 people and we rotate days of bringing Seth his favorite flavor if Coffee ☕ and a Muffin every morning 🌄 of every day for the Pride he has instilled back into our Community through his efforts as Varsity Football coach in just two years.

Greer has Easter as a wide out and defensive back his Junior season and during the off-season he also realized that Easter has the ” It ” factor and moved him to quarterback for his Senior year.

How did that turn out for Greer and Easter ? They did okay the writer says with a smile after they recorded the BEST season in recent history. Greer took no shortcuts and while he could have publicly complained about how empty the house was when he found it. It would have been justifiable for sure but wouldn’t have been helpful.

The last conversation I had with our friend, Allen Worrell before he retired from public life went like this…

Allen – When do we have to start considering Easter for the All-Time Mount Rushmore of Cavalier Male Athletes ?

My response – I guarantee you if he remains healthy, he will graduate 🎓 with the single season scoring record for Basketball.

Over the years, we have connected to do live interviews during Volleyball 🏐 matches and the ease Easter speaks into a microphone 🎤 in front of a gym full of people is another great sign!

My favorite exchange between the Son of Vickie and Israel went like this ” Of all of the Easters, you are my favorite to which he responded, As I should be!”

Wonderful young Man we have the joy of watching 👀 on The Hill!!!

Now, let’s address the other two topics in regards to writing ✍.

It took a while but Allen and I built a great relationship and he used North of 250 of my stories over the years. Looking back at the State run 🏃‍♂️ by Carroll County last year and you will see that Allen wrote the preview and jumped back in at the end with everything in between being stories that I penned for him.

My stories, including the one I’m working on right now, are available to use, reprint, run in a publication at no charge. I don’t write for bylines, fame or Facebook likes – I write for Parents, Coaches and Students

Feel free to use anything that I write ✍ with my only request is run it as it is.

Why is that so important ? Someone who has the power to change your thought process is a slippery slope and I will use the Facebook posting above as my example.

Wow, great graphics and undeniable stats but I have one serious issue with just one thing in the piece and I’m not a parent of any of the other 10 parents.

” Putting the Cavaliers on his back ” is what is called a Money 💰 Line. But its not my work so I accept that and move on.

  How would I say the same thing ? Isaiah Easter is showing tremendous leadership skills for Anthony Barnes and his hard working Cavaliers 💪.

I welcome 🙏 William Pence to run anything that I create for anyone who I create things for, as long as its left as is.

Wow, I have serious appreciation for Easter and Barnes but not at the expense of fellow Seniors or fellow starters on the team.

The other end of the spectrum is when I’m writing my Saved by the Bell 🔔: The Cavalier College Years material. Its absolutely focused on just one player, whether its Alyssa Ervin or Elijah Cox for example. They are just one former Cavalier playing a game.

Got to get over to the Airport here in San Francisco, where waiting for my first ✈️ of the day. What will that look like? Breaking out the laptop 💻 and watching Hailey Cushman coach up her Junior Varsity team against Cave Spring…..

Read my efforts, don’t read my efforts but please don’t question the dedication to All- Things Cavalier.

See you shortly….

Israel and Vickie – Thank You 🙏 for sharing your not so little Boy with us

Katie did play in the game but didn’t score any points. Still proud of another former Lady Cavalier !!!

We are closing in on our 41st Wedding 💒 Anniversary and the main thing that works for us is Lin understanding  my passion for helping others ❤, whenever possible.

Furman University is facing the favorite in the Southern Conference ( Chattanooga) and on the road so we knew it would be an uphill climb. The Paladins trailed 31 – 12 before closing the first half on a 5-0 run to make it 31-17.

Working 💪 with Kristy Jones has been an absolute pleasure and getting to help West Long at the same time is a Bonus!

Wrestling will get its own post 📫 later but wanted to sneak in the pictures📷 early.

Furman University battles back and wins the 3rd quarter, 18-16. Cut the deficit to 40-30 at one point and trail by 12 after three(47-35).

The shots are not falling today for our Lady Cavalier which means dig deep and find other ways to help your team.

Chattanooga plays suffocating defense from start to finish, holding our Ladies to under 30% from the floor for the game.

Had to give Lin some space because she is about the Duke University Men’s program in the manner I am about the Football team and Women’s Basketball team.

More Saved by the Bell 🔔: The Cavalier College Years coverage and it comes with a sigh of relief. Elijah Cox had been starting at Randolph College most of the season but his name was absent last time out, leaving me worried that something was wrong.

Great news in that Cox was back out there representing The Hill !

Whether its Ervin, Cox, Katie Lam or Bryce and Brayden Smoot, all five are former Cavalier playing at the next level. All five represented Carroll County High School 🏫 in a positive manner and I do my best to show each of them that I still care about their future.

With that said, I have no inside information from the Colleges or Coaches as the season plays out. Just doing my best to show that we still see 👀 them !!

Speaking of Miss Lam,

Her game will take place during our final ✈️ and I will circle 🔵 back with some notes 📝