There have been some great football games in the long rivalry between Baylor and McCallie, but Friday night’s contest at Baylor’s Heywood Stadium wasn’t one of them.
There was your usual standing-room-only crowd and spirit was high on both sides, but what could have been a great game was dominated by the Blue Tornado as they headed back home with an impressive 40-14 victory.
McCallie improves to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in D-II East-Middle Region while Baylor falls to 3-5 overall and 1-3 in region play.
Matters couldn’t have started off any worse for Baylor as they fumbled the opening kickoff out of bounds at the 2.
Five plays later, Zack McAteer blocked a Red Raider punt that Dane Beard covered for a touchdown and the tone for the evening had basically been set barely two minutes into the game.
After an exchange of punts, Baylor knotted the score at 7-7 when quarterback Lorenzo White hooked up with Jaylen Baker for an 11-yard TD pass, but the Blue Tornado added two more touchdowns in the second quarter and were never really threatened again.
McCallie coach Ralph Potter was a happy fellow following the game as his team totally dominated on both sides of the ball.
“Physically, we dominated the line of scrimmage and I thought our defense played really well too. I think Baylor thought they could slow our running game down and force us to pass, but that didn’t seem to work very well,” he said after his team had piled up 391 total yards, including 333 on the ground.
“I’m really proud of our offensive line and our running backs as they all played well in a tough environment. I never know what to expect in this game, but all I know is that it’s over and we won,” he added with a smile, noting that Friday was also his wife Jennifer’s birthday.
Perhaps the worst thing that happened to McCallie on the night was a broken leg suffered by defensive back Melvin Tobar midway through the third quarter. He was taken to Erlanger downtown and reportedly had surgery immediately to repair the break to both the tibia and fibula.
Xavier Brooks was injured and did not play for McCallie, but his replacement had an outstanding game in his first varsity start.
B.J. Harris didn’t miss a beat as he gained 125 yards on 26 carries with four touchdowns on runs of 9, 1, 3 and 15 yards.
Quarterback DeAngelo Hardy had a memorable first start against his team’s biggest rivals as the talented sophomore had 198 yards on 23 carries.
The 16-year-old sophomore said he was just a little bit tense before the opening kickoff, but he certainly didn’t look it.
“I don’t think I played very well as I made a bunch of mistakes, but I feel like I bounced back pretty good later in the game. All I know is that this is my first win against Baylor as a starting quarterback and it feels pretty good,” he concluded with a smile.
Baylor coach Phil Massey could only shake his head when the final horn sounded.
“Give credit to McCallie as they wanted it more than we did,” he began while munching on ribs inside the Baylor coaching office after the game.
“We felt like we got a little momentum when we cut it to 27-14, but they came right back with a touchdown. We felt like we had a chance to run on them, but we didn’t seem to have an answer for them up front on either side.
“We still have a lot to play for. That Hardy kid is a great player and the worst part for us is that he’s just a sophomore,” Massey added.
While the McCallie offense had 391 total yards, Baylor was limited to just 169 total yards, including 104 through the air and just 65 on the ground.
Hardy and Harris were the leading rushers for McCallie while Jay Gibson was the leading receiver with three grabs for 44 yards.
Mike Benning led the Baylor ground game with 51 yards on a dozen trips and had one pass completion of 32 yards to Baker on the Red Raiders first scoring drive. Baker was the leading receiver for Baylor with four catches for 71 yards.
Defensively for McCallie, Beard covered the blocked punt for a TD while Chris Godfrey recovered a fumble on a punt return late in the third. Cameron Stewart, Jaylon Wiley and River Henry all had sacks for the Blue Tornado.
McCallie also had a sizable advantage in first downs by a 22-14 margin.
Baylor travels to Nashville next Friday for a game with Father Ryan while McCallie will be off next week before hosting Father Ryan on Oct. 27.
McCALLIE 7 13 14 6 -- 40
BAYLOR 7 0 7 0 -- 14
M – Dane Beard recovered blocked punt in end zone for TD (Alec Earp kick), 9:47 left in first;
B – Jaylon Baker 11 pass from Lorenzo White (Keegan Weekley kick), 0:43 left in first;
M – B.J. Harris 9 run (kick blocked), 7:10 left in second
M – Harris 1 run (Earp kick), 0:15.3 left in second;
M – DeAngelo Hardy 17 run (Earp kick), 7:26 left in third;
B – Dee Appleberry 17 pass from White (Weekley kick), 5:03 left in third;
M – Harris 3 run (Earp kick), 0:32.9 left in third;
M – Harris 15 run (run failed), 9:51 left in fourth.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)