Alcoa Run Game Has Notre Dame's Attention In 3A Semis

Irish D-Line May Be Key Against Defending Champ Friday

  • Thursday, November 27, 2014
  • Larry Fleming
Notre Dame's Chris Hornsby (9) tackles McMinn Central's Jackson Guy (12) in the Irish's TSSAA quarterfinal playoff win over the Chargers last week. The Irish defense will be tested by top-ranked Alcoa on Friday at Finley Stadium in the Class 3A semifinals.
Notre Dame's Chris Hornsby (9) tackles McMinn Central's Jackson Guy (12) in the Irish's TSSAA quarterfinal playoff win over the Chargers last week. The Irish defense will be tested by top-ranked Alcoa on Friday at Finley Stadium in the Class 3A semifinals.
photo by Dennis Norwood

Notre Dame defensive lineman Robert Murphy has a good handle on what defending Class 3A champion Alcoa is likely to do against the Irish in Friday night’s semifinal playoff game at Finley Stadium.

Game time is 7 p.m.

“We know their running game is very powerful,” Murphy said. “They like to pound the ball and run it down your throat.”

That’s exactly what the top-ranked Tornadoes (12-1) did to Christian Academy of Knoxville in the second half of last week’s quarterfinal.

Alcoa trailed 14-7 at halftime.

Resorting to their potent ground attack, the Tornadoes unleashed an 18-play, 88-yard drive that chewed up eight-plus minutes off the clock, tying the game at 14-all when Jaquez Tyson zipped 1 yard for the touchdown.

Alcoa gained possession on Brenden Teeter’s second interception of the game with 8:52 left in the third quarter. Tyson, who carried 11 times for 42 yards on the game-tying drive, scored with 25 seconds left in the period.

On the Tornadoes’ next possession, Tyson scored from 6 yards out as Alcoa took a 21-14 lead.

Tyson bolted 68 yards for his third touchdown with 5:54 remaining in the game and Alcoa had a two-score advantage.

Alcoa added another touchdown before the game ended, giving coach Gary Rankin’s team 28 straight points to finish off a 35-14 win.

Tyson carried 23 times for 142 yards, with 129 yards coming in the second half.

“The first guy that meets their running back has to make sure and wrap him up and hold him up long enough for us to make a gang tackle and take him down,” Murphy said. “They just line up and run straight at you. Our defensive linemen have to do their jobs: squeeze, stay low and don’t get driven off the ball so our linebackers, Kealey Green and Tyler Enos, can make plays.”

Third-ranked Notre Dame’s defense has been stingy this season, making it extremely tough for opponents to put up yards and points. After losing to Knoxville Catholic, 15-12, in the season opener, the Irish gave up 85 points – they held seven foes to seven points or less, with three shutouts – from Game 3 to Game 9.

“Notre Dame’s defense has been solid for a couple of years it looks like,” said Rankin, who can overtake the late Ken Netherland as the state’s all-time winning coach with 369 victories. “Turn on the film and they’ve got some very good players. Nobody has come close to them in a long time. It’s one of the better defenses we’ve seen in some time.”

In its first two games, Notre Dame (12-1) gave up 15 points to Catholic and 20 to East Ridge, but allowed just 65 points in the next 11 games, an average of 5.9 points per contest.

For the entire 13-game season thus far, Notre Dame has outscored its opponents 571-100. The Irish have allowed 7.7 points per game, fourth-best total in the state regardless of classification.

However, it’s obvious Alcoa will be the best opponent the Irish will have faced this season.

“They’ve got a good running game,” Orr said. “Their passing game might be a little weak, although they don’t throw it much. But that one good running back can do some damage. One of their backs might not play this week.”

Running back Keishaun Johnson, who opened Alcoa’s scoring against CAK on a 67-touchdown run, limped off the field in the first quarter and did not return to the game.

Also, Tornadoes quarterback Mitchell McClurg injured his shoulder in the first half and didn’t return.

“We’re banged up,” Rankin said. “(Johnson) won’t likely play and our quarterback may be done, too.”

Regardless of the Alcoa injury report, Murphy knows that replacements for Johnson and McClurg, if they can’t play, will be good football players. And the Irish will still have to solve the Tornadoes’ vaunted rushing attack.

“I would say they’re 80 percent run and 20 percent pass,” Murphy said. “But I’m so confident in our defense the way we’ve played this year, the way we’re flying to the ball, that we’ll step up and prove to people that Alcoa’s running game can be stopped.”

If that happens, the Irish offense is capable of scoring touchdowns at a rapid pace and that could lead to a historical night.

“We came up short last year (in the quarterfinals),” Murphy said. “But we want to be the team that gets the job done and get to the state championship game. There is a lot of adrenaline in our bodies and we’re hyped for this game. We’re ready.”

TSSAA Football Semifinals

Chattanooga Area Teams

Games Start at 7 p.m. Local Time

Class 2A

Grace Christian (10-3) at Marion County (11-1)

Class 3A

Alcoa (12-1) vs. Notre Dame (12-1) at Finley Stadium

Class 5A

Knoxville West (12-1) at Rhea County (13-0)

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

Notre Dame senior Hunter Stolpmann (61), blocking Luke Davis (9) of McMinn Central in last week's game, hopes to do more of the same Friday when the Irish  play top-ranked Alcoa for a berth in the Class 3A football championship game.
Notre Dame senior Hunter Stolpmann (61), blocking Luke Davis (9) of McMinn Central in last week's game, hopes to do more of the same Friday when the Irish play top-ranked Alcoa for a berth in the Class 3A football championship game.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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