The Tuesday Team Spotlight: Independence Eagles

In this new weekly series, I am going to be picking one team in the state of Tennessee, and subsequently deciding on 5 players involved in all three phases of the game to cover. I will be touching on both known commodities as well as new talent I think you should be keeping an eye on from both the 2022 recruiting class, as well as the underclassmen graduating in 2023. As an introduction to this series, I wanted to pick a team known for producing some absolute studs on the field: The Independence Eagles. I’ve touched on Independence briefly before, but  wanted to do a deeper dive into the roster and bring 6 players to the focus. The following young men represent just a sliver of the talent that the Eagles produce, so join me as I break down their respective games, and look ahead to the 2021/2022 season. [player_tooltip player_id="102246" first="Tre" last="Hartwell"] 6’1" 220 Independence Let me start by saying Hartwell is a sophomore. In terms of his development, this kid is just beginning to show us what he is capable of. In only his second season with the Eagles, this young man rushed for 648 yards on 98 carries for 7 touchdowns. He did this while averaging 6.5 yards per carry and 64.8 yards per game. Again, he did all this as a sophomore. For comparisons sake, the leading rusher for Independence last season (a senior) had 776 yards on 111 carries for 14 touchdowns with averages of 7 yards per carry and 77.6 per game. No other running back on the roster rushed for more than 90 yards. Those 111 caries are going to have to go somewhere, and I’d say that Hartwell has the inside track to be the workhorse back for this team. He’s already proven that he can handle the bulk of the carries out of the backfield, and as he matures and continues his development he’s only going to tighten his hold on the spot. Now it may be foolish to think that Tre will simply add those 776 yards to his total the more snaps he gets, but nevertheless I’m confident that this young man will eclipse the 1,000 yard mark his junior year. Look at his performance in the season finale against Brentwood last season: 1 touchdown to go with 135 yards on 13 carries for an average of 10.4 per carry. That is one heck of a showing from this young man, in a game which the Eagles lost I might add, and if he can duplicate that performance on a regular basis Tre will be one of the best tailbacks in the state by the time he graduates. Brooks Sapone 5’11" 160 Independence Let’s switch to the defensive side of the ball and look at the secondary for a second. Independence has several defensive backs who are absolute ballers, but they are going to be losing some key senior players. Led by [player_tooltip player_id="102086" first="River" last="Katina"], the Eagles are gonna need some underclassmen to step up and help lock down opposing offensive talent. Enter, Brooks Sapone. Brooks will be a junior next season and already has a solid sophomore season to build on. He finished the year with 22 solo tackles and 20 assists for 42 total tackles, with 3 interceptions and 6 passes deflected. Already, this young man just seems to have a nose for finding the football; Brooks has the makings of an elite ballhawk and accounted for 3 of the 8 Eagles picks last year . He hones in on the football and uses his incredible speed to stick to receivers like white on rice. Take a look at the game against Blackman last season: 5 total tackles and both a pick and a pass deflected. He may have had games with more tackles, but in this performance he truly effected the game keeping Blackman scoreless until the last 4 minutes of the game. He’s a lockdown defender, and look for him to double his totals from last year as he gets more and more reps. The Eagles are going to have one of the best secondaries in the state next year, and look for Brooks to be a big reason why. [player_tooltip player_id="102275" first="Ty" last="Lockwood"] 6’5" 225 Independence Switching back to offense, we have an absolute beast of a tight end for the Eagles. Standing at 6’5", Ty towers over most defensive backs, and his size makes him exactly what you want from the position. He is a true hybrid at the position possessing the hands and speed needed to haul in passes, while also having the length and mass to properly block defensive ends. It’s hard to find both on the high school level, but this kid truly is the total package already as a junior. The most impressive thing about Ty’s game, is what he’s capable of after the catch. The yards after catch from this young man are insane, and this skill was on full display against Brentwood last year. He finished that game with 12 receptions for 158 yards while averaging 13.2 per reception. He didn’t haul in a score, but he continually chipped away at Brentwood’s defense catch after catch.  Every time he got his hands on the ball in this game, it would consistently takes multiple defenders to bring the big guy down. He’s going to make darn sure you work for every tackle, and he’ll even gash you for a few yards while your doing it making defenders pay for shoddy tackling. His versatility cannot be understated, and look for this young man to be an integral part of the machine at Independence next fall. [player_tooltip player_id="129555" first="Brady" last="Jenkins"] 6’1" 195 Independence Returning to the other side of the ball, the Eagles will be looking at this young man to step up and help anchor the middle of their defense next year. Brady is an absolute force at linebacker and already has a stout foundation to build on as he enters his senior year. As a junior he amassed 42 total tackles (14 solo, 28 assists) and 7 tackles for a loss, and he did so getting reps behind senior Ethan Pickering (Ethan for comparison had 101 total tackles, 10 for a loss on the season). It's an ideal situation for Brady to be in, as he possess the relentless motor needed for the increased workload and the tackling ability to truly man a defense (he had 4+ tackles in 60% of his games last season). And believe me when I say this young man can tackle. He keeps his head on a swivel and deals out licks left and right, game after game. Look no further than Independence's game against Dickson County last year to see what this kid can do. Brady finished that game with 7 total tackles (4 solo, 3 asst), 3 tackles for a loss, and 3 sacks. If he's able to maintain this level of consistent play his senior year, he'll be a huge reason why the Eagles trot out an elite defense next season. Sam Henke 6’0" 180 Independence Now to show some love to the special teamers at Independence. Quite often it seems kickers are pushed to the wayside and easily forgotten, but make no mistake there is nothing forgettable about Sam Henke. Consistency in the kicking game is equally imperative to the success of a football team as consistent quarterback play. And let me tell you, Henke is nothing if not consistent; the young man connected on 44 of his 45 PAT attempts last year.  Again, 44 of 45. There are NFL franchises who would literally give up a limb to have that level of consistency from their special teams. I would argue that there is more external pressure on the kicker than any other spot on a roster, and being able to connect on 98%(!!!) of your kicks is by no means an easy feat. It takes so much off of the coach, knowing that on every scoring drive they don't need to worry about leaving points on the board because their guy can sail it through the uprights. It gives the offense a bit of a break as opposed to leaving them on the field to try and score when, in the Eagles case, they don't need to because Henke can score in the third phase of the game (he accounted for 50 points off of kicks last year). This young man also handles kickoff duties and as to be expected he excels in this avenue as well. He had 53 kickoffs last year which accumulated in total 3,218 yards, with an average of 60.7 yards per kick and 34 touchbacks. When combined with his PAT numbers, this has Henke in the upper 50% of NFL kickers.  Not too shabby for a junior in high school. Football is a game of three phases, and because of their kicking situation the Eagles, more so than other teams, are in a position to really thrive. This kid is the primary reason for this, and as he gets another season under his belt look for his numbers to continue to spike. If his trajectory remains as is, we may be looking at an All-State kicker this time next year. The Independence Eagles have some capitol T talent all over their current roster. At all three phases of the game, they have guys capable of having both a positive and profound impact on the outcome. These five players are just a piece of the puzzle, and as the Eagles move forward with their season I fully expect them to increase their win total from last year. The aforementioned young men will be a huge reason why, and I am beyond excited to see what they serve us this fall.