McCallie quarterback Robert Riddle on the move in a game earlier this season
photo by McCallie School
Baylor QB Wil Austin on the move against Rhea County earlier this season
photo by Randall Brewer
It’s Baylor-McCallie football and you know the drill.
Sold out … hope you have a ticket ... arrive early so not to get stuck in traffic … rain is in the forecast so dress for the weather … but it's McCallie-Baylor so a little water what's the matter ...pep rallies and trucks with homemade banners ... spirit-filled cheers with plenty of banter .. bon fires, weekend luncheons and alums in town from coast to coast ...
by 10 p.m. in this town both sides will know whom to toast... Baylor honors class of '65 because its number fifty ... great athletes including Kidd and Healy … … Baylor's hall of fame is on Sunday and welcomes a guy named Dyer his first name is Lee ... last year McCallie posted a vic-tor-ee ... but Baylor leads overall 43-36 and 3 … Heywood Stadium for the faint of heart - not the place to be ... kickoff at 7:30 and everyone is in a frenzy .. the Bible talks about a jot and a tittle, McCallie hopes to find a win in a riddle ... Baylor athletes some go both ways, a wrestler named Ryan could save the day.
Series (82): Baylor leads 43-36-3
First Game 1905 – McCallie won 41-0
Editor's Note: The McCallie-Baylor game is the oldest - not the most games played - rivalry game in the state with the first contest in 1905.
Winning Streaks: McCallie (11; 1998-2008) … Baylor (6, twice – 1939-40; 1971-1974 (won first game in 1974) … 2009-2013 (played 2x in 2010)
Baylor Keys to Victory – Coach Phil Massey – “several things come to mind ... we have to come out fast (we started slow last year fell behind and never caught up), eliminate turnovers and play hard all four quarters … in our league (D-II) you have to play a complete game to have a chance to win … ball security is important, especially with the threat of rain, and the kicking game is huge as far as field position.”
McCallie Keys to Victory – Coach Ralph Potter – “we have to eliminate mistakes on offense which has slowed us down in previous games ... and on defense, we have to keep Baylor from having the big play.”
Potter is the only coach to be a head coach for each school and also play in the game … McCallie’s Ed McCallie was player-coach for the Blue and White in the series opener in 1905 ...
Potter recalls his first understanding of the importance of the rivalry.
“My dad had been hired as the McCallie coach in the winter of 1993 and that spring at a McCallie-Baylor baseball game I noticed Baylor students wearing t-shirts with “36-0” imprinted on them. I soon realized that was the score of the game from the previous fall and this was a big deal to both schools.”
Welcome to McCallie-Baylor.
A look back at a few games in the series.
1910 - Nov. 19 at Chamberlain Field
McCallie 18, Baylor 0
From 1910 to 1940, the McCallie Baylor game was played the Saturday prior to Thanksgiving, while the U. of Chattanooga played on Thanksgiving Day and City and Central would eventually play its season-ending game the Saturday following Thanksgiving.
In 1910, McCallie’s Tolley ran for one score (5 points for a touchdown) and kicked three extra points … Hamblin and Norman also crossed the Baylor goal line … McCallie led the series, 4-0-1 and had yet to yield a point in the series, but that would end the next year.
1911 – Nov 25 at Chamberlain Field – First Baylor Win in the Series
Baylor 30, McCallie 0
Baylor completely dominated the game as Patton ran for a pair of 25-yard scores (5 points for a touchdown) followed by Simmons’ 45-scoring run to lead 18-0 after one quarter as Whiteside was good on all three extra point attempts ... In the third, Patton scored on a 60 yard pass play for a 24-0 lead … Callahan’s 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth made it 30-0 and the Red Raiders had their first victory and first shutout win of the series … McCallie was 0-5 on the season and was shutout in all five games
1925 – Nov. 22 at Chamberlain Field
McCallie 6, Baylor 0
Baylor had won three in a row on the way to 10 of 12 in one stretch (1918-1929) with the two McCallie wins coming in 1921 (first team named the Tornado, 7-0-0) and 1925 …
In the 1925 win, junior fullback Harry “Sac” Milligan led the way for the fourth quarter scoring drive accounting for a pass or run on all but one play including running the final four yards to the end zone. Milligan, recipient of the school’s highest award – the Grayson Medal – at graduation in the spring of 1927, would coach the Blue Tornado for nine years (1956-64) with a Mid-South title in 1956.
Baylor’s best scoring opportunity came in the third quarter, but Ken Strong fumbled just short of the goal line and McCallie’s Joe Harrison returned the fumble 30 yards to stop the threat.
1935 – Nov. 23 at Chamberlain Field
McCallie 21, Baylor 7 …
Baylor took a 7-0 at the start of the second quarter on a Hall 6 yard run and the point after by English ... later in the quarter, McCallie’s Hazard (safety) and Wall (touchdown) blocked Baylor punts and led 8-7 at half. Franks ran for two, fourth quarter scores as Baylor led 17-11-2 in the 30th meeting between the two schools.
1940 – Nov. 23 at Chamberlain Field – Last Game in the series prior to WWII
Baylor 21, McCallie 6
Future Ga. Tech star Eddie Procop scored three times for victorious Baylor on runs of 93, 4 and 39 (190 yards on the day) … Baylor led 15-0 at halftime, while McCallie’s Noah Pitts crossed the Baylor goal line in third quarter and the Blue Tornado were knocking on the door again late in the fourth, but lost the ball on downs at the Baylor 7 … Procop’s last run as a prep star was 93 yards to the McCallie end zone as time ran out during the run … Baylor finished the season 10-0-0 and McCallie was 3-5-1.
1975 - Oct. 11 at Chamberlain Field
Baylor 35, McCallie 14
It was all Baylor, as the Red Raider wishbone attack was led by fullback Jeff Aiken (139 yards and three scores, 93 in the first half), quarterback Robert Hayes added 132 more on the ground (103 before intermission). Baylor had 409 rushing yards on the night to McCallie’s 185.
Hayes opened the scoring on a bootlegged 47 run untouched to the end zone, followed by Frank Trundles’ 31 yard jaunt for a 13-0 lead and Aiken’s 31-yard run made it 21-0 (Hayes ran for the 2-pt conversion) at the end of one and held that lead heading into the end zone.
McCallie moved 75 yards for its first score – a Jeff Brown bootleg 8-yard run) – to open the third quarter, but Baylor put the game away with Aiken scoring from 43 and 4 yards out for a 35-7 advantage with a quarter to go. McCallie’s Dan Robinson scored on an 8-yard run in the final stanza.
McCallie entered the game at 5-1 and Baylor was 6-0 and No.1 in the AP poll in AAA.
1981 - Oct 31 at Chamberlain Field
Baylor 19, McCallie 7
Baylor’s Charles Stephenson scored touchdowns in the second and third quarters for a 13-0 led before McCallie’s Cullen Browder scored from 1-yard out to cut it to 13-7 … but Baylor answered with a 76-yard drive capped by a Mike Brookshire to Greg Smith 31 pitch and catch to make it 19-7 … McCallie then drove to the Baylor one early in the fourth quarter, but the Red Raiders stopped the Blue Tornado on four straight plays ... Damon Barnes led Baylor with 106 yards on 16 carries, while Stephenson totaled 68 yards on 14 carries.
1995 – Oct. 28 at Baylor
McCallie 14, Baylor 10
Known in McCallie football history as “The Drive”, senior quarterback Thomas Gallant led the Big Blue on an 11-play, 80-yard final drive in 4:18 to win 14-10 … Baylor had scored to lead 10-7 for the first time before Gallant (12-of-16, 151 yards on the afternoon) and Company answered …
14s are Wild … Wearing jersey No.14 in 1975, Gallant’s prior win against Baylor was 14-0 score in a ninth grade game … “It’s ironic, that my house number today is 1410,” said Gallant.
The Vandy grad passed or ran the ball the entire last drive and found Bryan Strain open in the end zone for the winning score … but lost in the history of “The Drive” was a third-and-21 at the Baylor 39 when Gallant hit Travis Schievelhud for a 30-yard gain to the Red Raider 9 …
After the ensuing kickoff, Gallant intercepted a Baylor desperation pass and would have returned it for a touchdown, but several McCallie students were running on to the field as time expired so Gallant wisely took a knee to close out his final high school game.
On McCallie’s first possession, it moved 92 yards in 11 plays capped by a Jahmal Overton 2-yard run to the end zone and a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter. Baylor’s Tevis Knight split the uprights from 27 yards out to trail 7-3 in the third before Jason Green’s 1-yard plunge with under five minutes to play in the fourth had Baylor up, 10-7.
2013 - Oct. 4 at Baylor
Baylor 38, McCallie 14
McCallie scored first, but Baylor led at halftime, 10-7 and scored four more times in the second half … George Porter (183 yards on the night) reached the McCallie end zone on runs of 3, 3 and 61, while Nick Nuano and Gage Upshaw also had touchdown runs …
McCallie’s score was on a 3-yard run by sophomore quarterback JaVaughn Craig … Paul Silverblatt led the Big Blue with 102 rushng yards, but Baylor was able to neutralize Craig most of the night (48 rushing yards, 79 passing).
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net