Two weeks ago, top-ranked Ensworth defeated Montgomery Bell Academy, 50-21, ending MBA's 15-game home winning streak.

Consequently, Ensworth looked like the team to beat for the DII state football championship.

Ensworth improved to 3-0 Friday night at Spears Stadium, but McCallie'e Blue Tornado hung tough in a 28-13 loss.

It was McCallie's first loss after four victories. The Blue Tornado will play MBA next week, then travel to play at rival Baylor.

Ensworth started strong, taking a 14-0 lead in the first quarter on a 4-yard run by Orleans Darkwa and a 10-yard run by Rodney Anderson.

McCallie pulled within 14-7 at halftime when John Burkus caught a 13-yard touchdown pass from Trent Lusk.

Ensworth took a 21-7 lead in the third quarter on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Cody Tollison to Corey Sacks.

McCallie refused to fold and fought back within 21-13 when Keenan Hale caught a 9-yard touchdown pass from Lusk. The point-after kick failed.

Ensworth then put the game away with 5:05 left when Darkwa ran 26 yards for a score.

Darkwa ran for 215 yards on 33 carries for Ensworth.

T.J. Kemp had 53 yards rushing on 17 attempts for McCallie, and Jay Meacham had 46 yards on eight carries.

Box Score (Final)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
EHS2009............. 14 0 7 7 - 28 Record: (3-0,2-0)
McCallie............ 0 7 0 6 - 13 Record: (4-1,1-1)
Scoring Summary:
1st 08:28 EHS2009 - Orleans Darkwa 4 yd run (Clayton McGlass kick), 9-67 3:32, EHS2009 7 - MCC2009 0
00:59 EHS2009 - Rodney Anderson 10 yd run (Clayton McGlass kick), 10-61 5:45, EHS2009 14 - MCC2009 0
2nd 04:31 MCC2009 - John Burkus 13 yd pass from Trent Lusk (Hudson Brock kick), 13-72 5:43, EHS2009 14 - MCC2009 7
3rd 03:29 EHS2009 - Corey Sacks 4 yd pass from Cody Tollison (Clayton McGlass kick), 9-35 3:43, EHS2009 21 - MCC2009 7
4th 07:50 MCC2009 - Keenan Hale 9 yd pass from Trent Lusk (Hudson Brock kick failed), 9-39 4:04, EHS2009 21 - MCC2009 13
05:05 EHS2009 - Orleans Darkwa 26 yd run (Clayton McGlass kick), 6-80 2:38, EHS2009 28 - MCC2009 13
EHS2009 MCC2009
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 13
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 45-283 35-110
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 95 76
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 16-7-0 20-9-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 61-378 55-186
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-23 1-4
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 2-49 4-64
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-35.3 5-40.4
Fumbles-Lost.................. 1-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards............... 7-53 2-20
Possession Time............... 25:50 22:10
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 12 6 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 3 of 3 2 of 3
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 3-4 2-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-8 0-0
RUSHING: EHS2009-Orleans Darkwa 33-215; Rodney Anderson 5-30; Cody Tollison
3-28; Quinn Hamilton 2-6; Nantambu Fentre 1-5; Rodney Edmiston 1-minus 1.
McCallie-TJ Kemp 17-53; Jay Meacham 8-46; John Burkus 5-11; Daniel McClure
1-3; Trent Lusk 4-minus 3.
PASSING: EHS2009-Cody Tollison 7-15-0-95; Corey Sacks 0-1-0-0.
McCallie-Trent Lusk 9-20-1-76.
RECEIVING: EHS2009-Corey Sacks 4-60; Rodney Anderson 2-21; Quinn Hamilton
1-14. McCallie-Justin Simerly 4-31; Keenan Hale 3-26; John Burkus 1-13;
Garrett Hicks 1-6.
INTERCEPTIONS: EHS2009-Nantambu Fentre 1-0. McCallie-None.
FUMBLES: EHS2009-Orleans Darkwa 1-1. McCallie-Trent Lusk 1-1.

(E-mail Stan Crawley at wscrawley@earthlink.net)