 The Appalachian Wireless, 30th anniversary holiday sale is going on now from now until the end of the year. Visit us in store or reserve online for an unbelievable sale and give away. We know what you want for the holidays because we are you. We are Appalachian Wireless. Being back this year, this show is just how great what we really are and just how exciting you can be. After a long heartfelt season, Johnson Central's football team will face off against Boyle County in the class 4A state championship this Friday. Before the big game, Mountaintop had the opportunity to speak with players and coaching staff about the state championship and its importance following the passing of coach Jim Matney last September. We always get a little better as the year goes on. In October, we didn't know what was going to happen. You kind of feel like that you are beneath the rock. You are not between a rock and a hard place, now the whole world fell on you. So to see these guys step up and work and as much as they have our coaching staff to step up and take on different roles like they have has been nothing shorter than amazing. In the fight for state champions in 2020, Johnson County ultimately lost to Franklin County in the semifinals. In 2021, players say they hope to reclaim the title in coach Matney's name. It was heartbreaking. We felt like all the people down were not going for the first time. It was the first thing not to go in all those years. We felt a little everybody down and we hated it, but we are glad that we beat Franklin this year and we are ready to go back. And losing our coach this year, I know he wanted more than anything to win a state championship and he knew we had the talent to do it and winning it for him would be great this year. Usually you would play every game for him. We are playing every play. As soon as we go out there it is all for him to leave it all on the line. If you come off the field you are not tired and you did something wrong. It is all for the life of a coach. Although considered the underdogs to this year's championship, players say they hope to show their strengths and show what their team is about. Yeah, I think as a team we like being underdogs. I think really under looked as it is. Every team kind of overlooks us just because of our play style and maybe we are not the biggest team but we go out there and we give it all we have every time. Yeah, we love it. I mean we love being underdogs. We love everybody thinking that they are just going to roll over us and that we don't stand a chance. We really do enjoy just making people eat their words. And following the passing of Coach Matney in September, Peck says they hope to use his memory to fuel the team moving forward. What he meant to every player on the field, what he meant to us as a coach and staff, his memory has kind of driven us and given us that drive to carry on and continue. You can't take anything away from this football team. We've got a great group of seniors who've been together a long time. We've got a great coaching staff who's worked under Coach Matney for a long time and so we've just tried to echo what he's passed down through the years and we've been fortunate this season to play good enough to get back. For Mountain Top News, I'm Joel Hodgell.