Blackman's football team was a work in progress in 2016.
Blaze coach David Watson hopes that work and a great mid to late-season run will carry over to 2017.
Blackman started the season 1-3 before winning eight straight games before falling to Maryville in the semifinals of the TSSAA state playoffs.
"It was a struggle last year," Watson said, "but when it was all said and done I was really proud of players and coaches. We were 1-3 and beat Riverdale in a close game that could have gone either way.
"Then we started coming together and we ended up winning eight in a row.