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An announcement over the public-address system Friday night at Shields Stadium momentarily interrupted George Quarles.

Maryville High School's seven-time state champion football coach abruptly stopped his postgame speech to players, coaches and parents to listen. In his typically respectful manner, he asked everyone within earshot to do the same.

“He probably thought they were doing (an announcement about) Habitat for Humanity or something,” Rebels defensive coordinator Jim Gaylor said.

Not quite.

It was a repeat of a message for those who might have missed it the first time, when it was drowned out by marching bands playing and the horn blaring at the end of Maryville's 41-0 shutout of Dobyns-Bennett in the first round of the Class 6A playoffs.

Quarles apparently was one of those who didn't hear it, judging by the look of surprise on his face as he listened and learned that he just had become the winningest football coach in school history.

“He probably got embarrassed a little bit about it,” Gaylor said of Quarles.

By picking up his 147th victory, Quarles surpassed Ted Wilson's record before the end of his 11th season as the Rebels' head coach — and in only 158 games.

Wilson needed 15 years and 175 games to set the previous mark between 1966 and 1980.

“That's a great accomplishment. ... It's very humbling to have your name associated with that,” Quarles said. “There's a lot of great tradition here.”

Naturally, Quarles was caught off-guard because no one went to the trouble of warning him that he was about to set the record.

And Quarles, of course, didn't take the time to look it up.

“Believe it or not, I don't keep up with that stuff,” Quarles said, smiling. “I know we have 10 wins this year.”

It's ironic that Quarles, who would be the last coach in the world to mention a personal record — particularly in such a public setting after a big playoff win — ended up calling attention to his accomplishment simply by being polite.

Standing in the large postgame huddle, Quarles immediately deflected the attention to his staff.

“He congratulated us as soon as he heard the announcement,” said Gaylor, who has served as an assistant since Quarles first was elevated from offensive coordinator to replace Tim Hammontree.

Figures.

“I don't think he cares (about the attention),” said Maryville senior quarterback Philip Juhlin, who threw for 250 yards and four touchdowns against the Indians.

“That's probably one of the most unselfish people I know. It's great to have him as our head coach. I wouldn't trade him for anybody, just like he wouldn't trade us for anybody.”

With the way the Rebels played in their postseason opener, why would he?

Maryville dominated on both sides of the ball, putting together its most complete performance since rallying for a 35-32 victory Oct. 16 at Farragut that all but clinched the District 4-AAA championship. Dobyns-Bennett committed five turnovers, and the Rebels scored on five of their six first-half possessions to take a 31-0 lead by halftime.

Wide receiver Stian Romberg had a career game with four catches for 138 yards and three touchdowns. Juhlin put up video-game numbers despite missing, by his count, three deep throws that should have been completed.

“We played a lot better than we did the last game,” Juhlin said, referring to Maryville's sloppy 27-14 win in the regular-season finale last week at Lenoir City.

If you ask Dobyns-Bennett coach Graham Clark, the Indians' all-time winningest coach, Quarles deserves the credit for that.

“Coach Quarles does a great job — much better job than I did (Friday night),” Clark said.

There's no reason for Quarles to be embarrassed about that.

Ryan Callahan is a sports reporter for The Daily Times. Write to him at The Daily Times, P.O. Box 9740, Maryville, TN 37802, e-mail him at ryan.callahan@thedailytimes.com or follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/DTsportsRyan.