John Shearer: Memories Of Watching 38 Baylor-McCallie Games

  • Wednesday, October 1, 2014
  • John Shearer
News clippings of former Baylor-McCallie games
News clippings of former Baylor-McCallie games
photo by John Shearer

Back in the fall of 1971 when I was in the sixth grade at Bright School, I listened on the radio to the exciting football game between Baylor and McCallie schools, the first since the series had been discontinued after 1940.

I was hoping to attend Baylor School as a student the next year, so I was quite excited that Baylor won, 9-7. 

And the next year as a seventh-grader, I was delirious watching from the stands as Baylor eventually took command of McCallie and won 36-0 at McCallie’s field in what was supposed to be a close game. 

It was at a time when coach E.B. “Red” Etter was beginning to develop Baylor into a powerhouse, as he had done with Central High’s football program the previous 25 years or so before moving to the private school in 1970. 

This Friday night, in the first game played at McCallie between the two schools since 1998, the old rivals will square off again. With a dominating win over perennial state champion Ensworth of Nashville last Friday, McCallie is now ranked No. 1 in the Division II large school poll, and – yes – Baylor is No. 2. 

Since the rivalry was renewed 43 years ago, I have either watched in person or played in 38 of the 46 regular season or playoff games. 

I am not alone, as there are probably several longtime coaches, teachers or administrators at each school who have attended every, or nearly every, Baylor-McCallie game since 1971. 

With the teams squaring off again this week, here are a few of my memories as a diehard Baylor fan and alumnus who also respects and appreciates McCallie and the great coaching done over the years by current Blue Tornado mentor Ralph Potter and his late father, former coach “Pete” Potter. 

After that first year in 1972, I saw the great Baylor team of 1973 win again at UTC’s Chamberlain Field over the Blue Tornado – but only by a 33-15 score. A reason for the lower-than-expected margin of victory may have been that former Brainerd coach Pete Potter was now in his first year leading the Big Blue.

In 1974, McCallie was solidly favored, but Baylor surprised them with a big 31-14 win. Unfortunately for Baylor, the two teams had to meet again in the playoffs. This time McCallie was ready and easily won, 29-7.

In 1975, I was a sophomore member of the Baylor team and stood on the sidelines without playing any as Baylor won easily, 35-14, with standout backs like Jeff Aiken, Robert Hays, and Frank Hughes.

The next year I was a junior and had been injured and did nothing more than be on the kickoff return team two or three times. I don’t remember any kicks being sent my way, so I basically just had a good vantage point to watch the game.

McCallie won 12-0. I still remember us disappointed Baylor players waiting to be picked up by our bus outside the stadium, and the McCallie bus passed by, and all the Blue Tornado players cheered in our direction. Of course, I am sure we would have likely made the same spontaneous noise if put in that situation.

The next year as a senior, who was injured again, I stood on a wet sideline and watched as junior Dan Reynolds returned an interception for a touchdown in the only score in the game to save Baylor, 7-0.

My disappointment over vanished dreams of being a star – or even touching the ball – in a McCallie game was quickly forgotten, because I decided to walk on at Georgia. And I received quite a thrill by getting to play in some freshmen/junior varsity games in famous stadiums, including Tennessee’s Neyland Stadium. As a result, any individual high school dreams that were lost quickly and permanently went to the back of my mind.

In 1978, during my freshmen year as an inwardly proud college football player knowing I had survived the first few weeks at an SEC school, I returned home to watch Baylor go out to a big lead that was insurmountable, despite a late McCallie rally. I believe the final score was 21-14.

Ironically, the next year I would play freshmen football at Georgia with two former McCallie players from that 1978 team – Mark Brock and Scott Mercer.

That would actually be the last Baylor-McCallie game I would attend for awhile. As most college students do, they move on to their lives in college, and the winner of the Baylor-McCallie game is not quite as important as it used to be.

However, I happened to read Jim Hitt’s history book of Baylor in the fall of 1981 – probably when I should have been doing schoolwork. And, with a newfound pride for my former alma mater, I called my father, Dr. Wayne Shearer, the Saturday afternoon of the game that year to get the score.

After watching the news, he let me know Baylor had won, and I remember being ecstatic, even though I was getting to watch some good Georgia teams led by tailback Herschel Walker after retiring from the game after two years of JV ball.

When I finished at Georgia and returned to Chattanooga to live in 1983, McCallie under Pete Potter was starting to gain the upper hand in the rivalry. However, Baylor did win in 1984, the first year I started working at the Chattanooga News-Free Press.

Several colleagues at the paper were McCallie alumni, and they, of course, mentioned when McCallie won. As a result, I decided to start going to the rivalry game, hoping I could cheer Baylor on to victory and maybe get an occasional opportunity to kid my colleagues in return.

The first game I went back to was in 1986, when boyhood friend Kurt Schmissrauter and I went to the game at McCallie, Kurt’s youngest child, Jon, by the way, is a senior offensive lineman on Baylor’s 2014 team.

Baylor looked flat that game, while McCallie looked ready to play and won, 21-0, I believe. It was my low moment as a Baylor fan against McCallie.

Despite the fact that McCallie was favored and had such a solid program under Pete Potter over the next four years, Baylor managed to play McCallie tight in 1987, 1988 and 1990.

The 1988 game was perhaps one of the two or three most memorable in the series, as heavy underdog Baylor – under first-year coach Fred Hubbs -- somehow rose to the occasion and scored late. However, the Red Raiders could not convert the go-ahead two-point play and lost 7-6 on a good McCallie tackle.

In 1991, thanks to running back Frahn D’Anjou, Baylor finally broke a six-year drought with a dominating 28-7 win that was duplicated the next year. After the 1991 game, I proudly wore my Baylor sweatshirt to work that Monday and remember being so pleased the streak had ended.

1993 was also an exciting game as well, as Baylor’s Andrew Boehm made a key first down run late, and Baylor was able to hang on for a 10-7 afternoon win at home in what may have been the coldest Baylor-McCallie game in the modern era.

McCallie’s coach Pete Potter had also risen to the occasion and had his team ready to play in his last game in the series before cancer unfortunately overtook him.

The next year, after coach Hubbs had brought the Baylor football program back to relevance, Baylor had a new head coach. He was none other than Ralph Potter, the son of Pete Potter and the quarterback in the 1980 McCallie victory over Baylor.

In the 1994 game at McCallie, Blue Tornado quarterback Thomas Gallant struggled with turnovers and Baylor had a somewhat surprising 14-3 victory.

But in what may have been the most touching individual storyline in the modern history of the series, he had a chance at redemption in 1995 as a senior. Showing much poise after probably stewing inside for 12 months about his 1994 performance, he led McCallie down the field for a late touchdown and a 14-10 victory over the disappointed Baylor faithful.

I was so impressed that I wrote Thomas and his family a congratulatory letter afterward.

It was a great moment in the series, even though I was among the disappointed, Although I had been quietly cheering for the Big Red, I was actually sitting on the McCallie side because my stepson, Ben Whitelaw, was an 11th grade student at McCallie.

The next year Ralph Potter led Baylor to victory and, after leading Baylor deep into the playoffs in 1995 and 1996, made the stunning announcement – to me at least -- that he was considering going to McCallie, his alma mater, as their coach.  I remember writing him one, or maybe two, notes encouraging him to stay on at Baylor as coach.

It unfortunately did no good, as he went to McCallie, and, as I feared, quickly enjoyed success there as he had at Baylor. And it was at the expense of my beloved Red Raiders, as Baylor went from 1998-2008 without being able to win a single game in the series, even though coach Potter had left for Brentwood Academy after the 2006 season.

This losing streak came despite a great effort from Baylor in 2007 in a 20-17 loss in overtime in what may have been the single-most exciting game between the two teams in the series. That was also the first game at Baylor in the series since 2001.

A missed extra point kick to tie the game late in 2004 at Finley Stadium also kept the Red Raiders from enjoying victory in the 21-20 loss.

During the long win streak by McCallie, I began to take the series more in stride and did not take wins or losses as seriously. Eleven years of losing will do that.

Also about the time McCallie started dominating, I went back to school to get certified to teach. As a result, teaching public high school and later college on a part-time, off and on basis channeled my non-writing passions and interests in other areas instead of my high school team’s football fortunes.

But I have still continued to try to attend the Baylor-McCallie game every year since then, even though I now live in Knoxville and have to spend most other fall Friday nights covering Knoxville area games for the Knoxville News Sentinel.

And I have gone back to enjoying the game even more in recent years, of course, since Baylor under capable coach Phil Massey has managed to win every regular season and playoff game against McCallie since 2009.

That included the memorable 34-28 Baylor victory in 2011, when McCallie was a dropped pass from completing an unbelievable rally at Baylor.

To my pleasant surprise, that winning streak of regular season and playoff games has now reached six for Baylor.

Of course, to the chagrin of us Baylor alumni and fans, Ralph Potter returned to McCallie as coach in 2012 after five seasons at Brentwood Academy. He has the program in solid shape, and the Blue Tornado seems quite capable of breaking the streak.

Baylor, of course, will try to have something to say about that.

I hope to be there, just as I have every year continuously since 1986. I will be wearing red, of course, but will have my usual sense of admiration for both schools and the healthy rivalry.

Jcshearer2@comcast.net

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