Cooper Newman of the Sevier County Smoky Bears. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
The highly decorated career of Sevier County quarterback Cooper Newman added another accolade Friday night.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Newman is now the owner of a TSSAA state record for touchdown passes thrown in a career.
Entering the Week 7 contest against Cocke County, Newman had already thrown 17 scoring strikes and just needed three touchdown passes Friday to surpass the record of 131 by former CAK quarterback Charlie High.
Newman had three TD passes Friday in the first quarter and finished with six, bringing his career total to 135.
In his 2025 Tennessee Titans Class 5A Mr. Football winning season, Newman led Sevier County to a state runner-up finish and finished with 45 touchdown passes. He also threw 45 touchdown passes in his sophomore season, when he was named 2024 5Star Preps Offensive Underclassman of the Year. But he was thrust into a starting role as a freshman in 2023 and led the team to a region title with 22 touchdown passes.
Sevier County coach Todd Loveday told 5Star Preps that Newman’s confidence — without being arrogant — is what has always stuck out to him about the quarterback.
“You get some hot-shot young guys, and they want to talk about it all the time about what they can do. But he just went to work,” Loveday said. “He, Parker (Newman) and Jaxson (Perry), I put them in the varsity locker room on Day One as freshmen. I’ve never done that. I haven’t done it since. That’s how mature how three of those kids were.
“He’s just so sure of himself in the right kind of ways. He’s the same kid as he was then, in terms of being humble and wanting to get better.”
Next up for the UCONN commit: the state’s all-time mark for passing yards in a career.
After throwing for 9,089 total yards through his first three seasons and for 1,042 yards in his first five games of his senior year, Newman entered Week 7’s game at Cocke County needing 992 yards to catch state-record holder Kyle Akin of Trinity Christian. Akin threw for 11,122 yards from 2011-14.
Newman threw for 261 yards Friday against Cocke County, leaving him 731 yards short of Akin.
Sevier County plays at Grace Christian in Week 8, at Tennessee High in Week 9, at home against Blountstown (Fla.) in Week 10 and then at home against Morristown West in Week 11.
Oddly enough, Newman’s game against Morristown West was the moment that Loveday knew what he had in Newman at QB.
“His freshman year, we’re playing at Morristown West. We’re down by three. We throw a little throw-back screen. And they have a defensive end who makes a great play, and he picked it and went and scored. Put them up by 10,” Loveday recalled. “That was his first real freshman mistake.
“Was he going to panic? Was he going to fold? He played flawlessly the rest of the game. Got us back in the game and won the game (in overtime). To be that young and to come back from something so deflating, gave me tons of confidence in him. I haven’t worried about that kid since.”