“He’s a good athlete, but he also has good football-sense,” said Holt. “He has a lot of that. He’s always worked hard and paid attention, particularly on defense. He had to replace a couple of really good linebackers, Daniel Logan and Cody Martin. He learned along the way and did the best he could.”
“You name it, he did it,” said Holt. “A lot of times, he needed a break, but we needed him too badly on the field. On special teams, you can’t afford to take plays off and he was always out there.”
Bailey was the heartbeat of a team that went 8-3 and finished third in 4A Region 8. The fourth-year starter had 66 tackles, a sack, fumble recovery and six interceptions in Elkmont’s first season competing in 4A.
Bailey started for the Red Devils since ninth grade, playing on defense for the varsity team as far back as eighth grade. For the past two years, Bailey has anchored the defense at middle linebacker.
The 5-10, 195-pound senior lined up at fullback most of the time in Elkmont’s Wing-T offense. Set directly behind the quarterback, Bailey was often the back that carried out misdirection on running plays.
Splitting carries with Mike Tucker, Zeb Pankey and Eli Hobbs, Bailey ran for 683 yards on 101 carries with 11 touchdowns. Bailey also threw three passes on trick plays with two of them going for touchdowns and led the team with 14 catches for 239 yards and a touchdown.
Bailey is the first Elkmont player to receive first team all-state honors since the 2009 Athlete, David Solomon.
LINK TO COMPLETE ARTICLE: ATHENS NEWS COURIER
*you can buy a hard copy, Dec 20 issue, of this article until next Saturday at the newspaper office in Athens
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