Region 3-2A sent four teams, as did all other Division I schools -- except in Class 6A where all 32 squads qualified -- to the 2015 TSSAA football playoffs – Boyd-Buchanan, Marion County, Tyner and Bledsoe County.
Bledsoe fell in the first round to Forrest while the Bucs, Warriors and Rams posted impressive victories, outscoring opening foes collectively 117-7.
In Round 2, Marion blasted Forrest, 38-10, while Tyner avenged a 40-7 thrashing at the hands of Boyd-Buchanan with a 13-7 win over the top-ranked and previously unbeaten Bucs.
“We wanted that first game bad,” Rams quarterback Emmanuel Moss said Thursday, “but they wanted it more than we did.
We went into the game last week wanting it more than Boyd did. They probably thought the same Tyner team was going to show up, but this is an entirely different football team.”
In the first Bucs game, Tyner had two offensive linemen out – one hurt with one suspended – and talented running back Shannon Spralls, who has gained 960 yards with 14 touchdowns, only played a half. Also, one cornerback was sidelined with the flu.”
“All that was a psychological letdown for the rest of the kids,” Turner said. “And we just didn’t play well. I knew once we got all the troops back together we could play some pretty good football. We had all those guys back last week,” Rams veteran coach Wayne Turner said. “That made a big difference.”
This week, the Rams (9-3) have a second opportunity in as many weeks to avenge another regular-season setback when they travel to Jasper to play state-ranked Marion County (11-1) in the quarterfinals of the Class 2A playoffs. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. Central time.
“Of course, we wanted to win the region, but weren’t able to do that,” said coach Ricky Ross, who is in his second year at Marion County. “Last year we came up just short (of a state title) and that’s still our goal this year, to get back over there. It’s a five-step process and this is step three.”
The Warriors, who lost 34-7 to Peabody in the 2014 championship game at Tennessee Tech University, were destined to a second-place finish in this year’s race for the region title after suffering a 21-14 loss to the Bucs.
Tyner, which lost to Marion County, 33-20, on Oct. 2, last played in the semifinals in 2005 and lost to nemesis Alcoa, 31-14.
Moss, who shares the signal calling duties with Shaylan Bailey and sometimes Kieontae Halfacre, said the Rams’ got a shot of added confidence with the upset of Boyd-Buchanan, but that win will have no bearing on Friday’s contest.
“We’re pretty confident, but we can’t go over there overconfident,” said Moss, who has thrown for 837 yards and eight touchdowns with six interceptions. “Overconfidence will be the death of our season. We have to go with a positive mind-set and think about what we have to do to win the game.”
Senior Chaysen Patrick, a team captain, along with running back/linebacker Spralls and Brandon Jackson, has rushed for 802 yards and is a standout at weakside defensive end where he’s registered 146 tackles, second only to Spralls’ 170.
Patrick points to the two Boyd-Buchanan games as an indication how the defense is playing at this stage of the season. The Bucs loss’ began a three-game skid with Tyner yielding a combined 114 points. In the six subsequent games, the Rams have allowed 48, or six points per game.
“I give it to Boyd, they’re a very sound team across the board and for us to hold them to seven points after they got 40 earlier, shows that we’ve improved a lot since the last time we played them,” Patrick said.
Patrick and his runningmate at end, Markize Gillespie, are accustomed to opposing teams double-teaming them and would expect nothing less from the Warriors.
“I get doubled consistently in almost every game,” Patrick said. “Usually, the guard’s pulling and coming at you, you shed him and another guard or fullback is right behind him. Watch Marion on film and their guards are always pulling and coming at the ends. We have to hold our ground.”
Ross’s squad is on an impressive roll.
While Friday will mark the 12th straight road playoff game for the Rams, Marion County is 6-0 at home this season, outscoring the opposition 288-59, including 113-0 in its regular-season finale and first-round playoff game against Polk County and Westmoreland, respectively. Last week the Warriors went on the road and hammered Forrest, 38-10.
Since losing to the Bucs, the Warriors have reeled off six straight wins by averaging 47.3 points and holding the opposition to six per game. Three times in the streak, Marion County’s offense has produced 50-plus points. The defense has posted two shutouts and held another foe to six.
“For us, it boils down to limiting (Tyner’s) big plays because they’ve got skilled people capable of making big plays,” said Ross, who was the Calhoun (Ga.) – the Yellow Jackets have one of the top small-school programs in Georgia – defensive coordinator for 10 years and held the same position at Mary Persons before assuming the Warriors’ job. “We have to win the special teams – that’s critical – and we have to have ball security.”
The Warriors rely heavily on sophomore running back Josh Henderson in various ways. He has rushed for 1,373 yards and scored on six kickoff returns and three punt returns.
Another sophomore running back, Jacob Saylors, has piled up 1,085 total yards and put up a combined nine rushing and receiving touchdowns.
Senior quarterback Logan Walters has passed and run for 1,170 yards 23 touchdowns, including 17 on the ground.
“We’re getting better,” Ross said.
What does Tyner have to do – and not do – to upend the Warriors?
“We have to play hard-nosed, consistent football for 48 minutes,” Turner said. “Marion is going to execute extremely well on both sides of the ball. We have to eliminate turnovers, create some turnovers and win the field-position battle, which we didn’t do the first time we played them.”
TSSAA Football Playoff Schedule
Third Round, Friday
Chattanooga Area Schools
All Games Start at 7 p.m. Local Time
Class 1A
Columbia Academy (11-1) at South Pittsburg (9-3)
Class 2A
Tyner (9-3) at Marion County (11-1)
Class 3A
Notre Dame (9-3) vs. East Ridge (12-0), Finley Stadium
Class 4A
Marshall County (11-1) at East Hamilton (8-4)
Class 5A
Rhea County (9-3) at Ooltewah (10-2)
Division II-AA
Baylor (9-2) at Brentwood Academy (10-1)
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)