Friday night’s high school football between visiting Knoxville Webb and host McCallie looked an awful lot like a game many of us watched in Atlanta Monday night, but the only difference was the team with all the offense came out ahead the second time around.
The Blue Tornado averaged more than seven yards per carry as they piled up 491 yards on the ground and the result was a comfortable 49-22 victory over the Spartans.
Quarterback Deangelo Hardy was the sparkplug for McCallie as he gained 233 yards on 29 attempts and scored touchdowns on runs of 1, 2, 6 and 3 yards.
With the Blue Tornado scoring touchdowns on their first five possessions a close game at the start was 35-15 at intermission and it really never got any closer.
McCallie coach Ralph Potter, who is always looking for ways to get better, seemed to be a bit happier this week than last Friday when his team suffered its first loss at MBA. Potter has been called an offensive genius by several opposing coaches, so he’s always striving to make the Big Blue offense as efficient as possible.
He didn’t have much to complain about from that point of view on Friday.
“Our offensive line played a lot better and we were more patient as a group on that side of the ball,” he said near the middle of Pete Potter Field after the final horn had sounded.
“We had fewer penalties, we didn’t have any turnovers and I felt like we did a good job of communicating, but I just happy that we were able to get better from last week’s game.
“It was a hard game, so we need to take it and learn from it. I also thought our defense was a lot better except for five big plays we gave up. Webb has some speed and that hurt us a couple of times, but overall, I felt like we played pretty well,” Potter added.
Jahlil Jefferson was the big-play guy for the Spartans as he scored the first two touchdowns on long plays and finished with 151 yards rushing on just 10 carries. One of those carries was a 66-yard run for Webb’s second TD after a 67-yard pass play from quarterback Hunter Green was the first in the opening stanza.
Jefferson finished with 216 total yards as Webb had 288 yards total as a team.
The Spartans were state runner-up last year in D-II Class A, so they’re really at a disadvantage playing teams like McCallie who dress more than twice as many players.
Webb coach David Meske didn’t want that to be an excuse for his team’s defeat.
“We had some chances, but just didn’t make enough plays,” he began after shaking hands with the McCallie players and coaches.
“McCallie is really out of our league, but playing games like this will only help us get better on down the line. We just have to keep pushing, but I thought Jahlil Jefferson did a great job,” he added.
While Hardy set the pace for McCallie’s rushing attack, teammate Xavier Brooks added 180 yards on 28 carries and scored three TDs on runs of 3, 1 and 44 yards.
Rico Dozier had 78 yards on a dozen trips as McCallie finished with 491 rushing yards on 69 attempts.
Hardy only threw the ball five times and completed two for 45 yards, the longest being a 36-yarder to Hakim McMorris on a diving catch near the end of the first quarter that moved the ball from the Webb 39 down to the 3.
Hardy scored on a keeper from the 1 two plays later to give McCallie a 15-7 lead and the Blue Tornado never trailed again.
Webb finished with 288 yards total offense, including 196 on the ground and 92 through the air.
While Jefferson was the leader in both categories, Elijah Howard followed with 34 yards on seven attempts.
McCallie also won the first down battle by a 26-13 margin.
Quindarius Dunnigan and Kristopher Bowman both had fumble recoveries for McCallie while Adams Robinson, Ledarrius Mason, Dane Beard, River Henry, McMorris and Bowman all had tackles for losses.
McCallie will be at home again next week to face Ensworth.
WEBB 7 8 7 0 -- 22
McCALLIE 15 20 7 7 -- 49
McC – Xavier Brooks 3 run (Alec Earp kick), 7:19 left in first;
Webb – Jahlil Jefferson 67 pass from Hunter Green (Trevor Hall kick), 5:38 left in first;
McC – Deangelo Hardy 1 run (Hakim McMorris pass from Rico Dozier), 1:42 left in first;
McC – Hardy 2 run (Earp kick), 9:59 left in second;
Webb – Jefferson 66 run (Elijah Howard run), 9:15 left in second;
McC – Brooks 1 run (Earp kick), 6:56 left in second;
McC – Brooks 44 run (kick failed), 4:09 left in second;
Webb – Morgan Ernst 6 run (Hall kick), 7:29 left in third;
McC – Hardy 6 run (Earp kick), 3:45 left in third;
McC – Hardy 3 run (Earp kick), 4:19 left in fourth.
(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)