Big Game Quarterbacks: Baylor's Jacob Huesman (left) and McCallie's Trent Lusk will lead their teams tonight at Baylor's Heywood Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7:35 p.m. with a regional television broadcast on CSS cable Ch. 27.
photo by Wes Shultz
It's Homecoming Weekend for cross-town rivals – McCallie and Baylor - with pep rally's and bonfires, numerous parties, campuses in pristine condition and alums - with a few more gray hairs and football stories which get better each year - arriving from all parts of the country.
It's a Red-Gray/Blue-White four-day celebration centered around tonight's football game at Baylor (7:35 p.m. kickoff at Heywood Stadium/Etter Field) as 11 teens on each side of the ball have aspirations of becoming Friday night heroes with stories of their own to tell in decades to come.
Families have had three and four generations of boys in this game, as it's the Bills Khakis, Brooks Brothers and Ralph Lauren's version of the Hatfield’s and McCoy’s.
“The only reason I played football was to play in the Baylor-McCallie game,’’ said Sam Warren who kicked three field goals in the Red Raiders’ 9-7 triumph in 1997. “Those games (in the mid 1990s) serve as great memories.’’
Baylor has a new turf, a new quarterback and at about 10 p.m. or so tonight Red Raider fans hope for a new win streak of one (McCallie has won the past 11 games) in their favor as a standing room-only crowd is expected for the regional television broadcast (CSS Ch. 27).
This is the 14th game of the series played at Baylor (all played since the game was re-activated in 1971) with McCallie leading, 8-5.
“As a fan, it's great to play the game on Friday night, but for a McCallie-Baylor football player kicking off at 2:30 on Saturday afternoon on either campus was special,'' said Matt Brock, a 1984 McCallie grad and quarterback in the 1983 game won by McCallie, 33-0.
“I have great memories of pep rallies in Friday afternoon assemblies and then waking up Saturday mornings with the adrenalin going and ready to play that afternoon before overflow crowds at either Heywood Stadium or Spears Stadium.
''For the players, there is nothing better than a Saturday afternoon McCallie-Baylor football game in the fall,'' he stated
McCallie has not lost to Baylor since a double setback in 1997 (11 in a row and longest win streak in the series), but did lose its starting quarterback – Keenon Rush – in the season opener while sophomore Trent Lusk has done a solid job as the team signal caller with the Tornado at 4-2.
Baylor junior QB Jacob Huesman – son of Chattanooga football head coach Russ Huesman – has led the Red and Gray to a 4-1 mark.
Besides Huesman, the solid Baylor offense has running backs Sam Williams and Nelson Pinkstaff.
McCallie’s potent offense touts running backs T.J Kemp and John Burkus.
The win streak has to end sometime and many feel this is the year. McCallie can put up some points, but could look to shorten the game and win it late in the fourth by a field goal or less.
If Huesman’s passing is accurate early on to complement a strong running game, 11 years of frustration could turn into a three touchdown win or more. A 12-15 point margin is probably more accurate.
“When current Baylor headmaster (and then in the admission office) Scott Wilson picked me up at the airport in 1989, before I even set foot on the Baylor campus, I remember him saying,’’ You will remember the Baylor-McCallie rivalry for the rest of your life,’’’ said former Baylor football star Frahn D’Anjou. “And that still holds true today.’’
Baylor alum and Red Raider quarterback Al Dallas who will be in town this weekend for his 15th class reunion recalled playing in the game.
“As players we knew the importance of the Baylor-McCallie game, but now 15 years later I and others have come to appreciate just how special this game was to us then and is still that way now.
“Fifteen years later, I still get emotional about the McCallie game as it provides memories for a lifetime,’’ stated Dallas who works in business logistics in Augusta, Ga. and played football at Amherst College.’’
Series Record:Depending on which record book one opens, Baylor has it 37-33-3 (73 games) for the Red Raiders, while McCallie shows Baylor also leading, but at 37-35-3 (75 games).
The two games in question – 1905 (41-0) and 1906 (5-0; touchdowns were worth five points) – were both won by McCallie, but Baylor's team was not at varsity status since Baylor headmaster Dr. Roy Baylor did not believe in athletic competition, varsity or otherwise.
Two years later, Alex Guerry had been hired as athletics director and convinced Dr. Baylor of the importance of athletic competition and pointing out that McCallie had a three-year head start. In Baylor's first year of varsity play, the rivals tied 0-0 in 1908 before the largest crowd in Chamberlain Field's short history.
Baylor posted its first win in the rivalry in 1911, 32-0.
The vast majority of the games have been played at neutral sites – mainly due to large crowds – but Baylor brought the game back to campus in 2007 as the Red Raider players and alums wanted to play at home.
When it’s a McCallie home game (even years), the contest has been played at Finley Stadium beginning in 2000.
“I have been a player and a coach in the Baylor-McCallie game and Finley Stadium is a great place and Chattanooga is blessed to have it, but playing on each others campus was something special,’’ stated Dallas.
“Being on the field for warm-ups and seeing the caravan of cars and fans come rolling into campus with horns blowing and all the pageantry was something you cannot duplicate at Finley or any other big stadium for that matter,’’ he said. ‘’Seeing people crammed into every nook and cranny at Heywood Stadium or Spears Stadium on a beautiful fall Saturday afternoon cannot be copied anywhere else.’’
Prior to World War II: The game created such a large fan interest from the first game that the contest was played off campus until 1971. A few early games were played at Andrews Field downtown, but the vast majority were held at Chamberlain Field which opened in 1908.
Series Stopped: From 1905 to 1940, Baylor led 20-12-3 and the series was not re-instituted until 1971 when Baylor won, 9-7, with a Heywood Stadium dedication.
1971-Present: McCallie has won 23 of the past 40 games, and is 8-5 in games played at Heywood Stadium..
The Breakdown of Game Locations Starting in 1971: Baylor's Heywood Stadium (13), McCallie's Spears Stadium (10), Chamberlain Field (10) and Finley Stadium (7).
The 13 Games Played at Baylor’s Heywood Stadium ...
1971 – Baylor 9, McCallie 7 ... In the first game since World War II, Baylor edges the Blue Tornado, 9-7.
On a night when 4,500 fans attend the dedication of Heywood Stadium, Baylor's David Dick scores on a 7-yard first quarter touchdown (extra point failed) while Mike Shuford's 27-yard field goal 13 seconds before halftime proves to be the difference.
McCallie counters with a third quarter Lawrence Mills to Brooke Hawkins 20-yard scoring pass ... Mills was 10-of-21 for 141 yards.
Humpy Heywood coached Baylor for 21 years years with a 161-20-8 record and six perfect seasons ... A sophomore-laden team including Bobby Worthington, Andy Rutledge, Clay Gibson and, Shuford beats McCallie three straight years in route to state and national titles in 1973.
After Baylor won handily at McCallie (36-0) in 1972 when Spears Stadium was dedicated, the game was back in its old setting of Chamberlain Field for the next nine years (1973-1981) … The next two decades provided the fans with a Saturday afternoon, home-and-home, on-campus game, (at McCallie in even years, at Baylor in odd years) except for a TSSAA playoff game in 1997 (Friday at Baylor) and the 2000 game on a Saturday at Finley Stadium.
1983 – No. 6 McCallie 33, Baylor 0 ... Blue Tornado (6-0) scores 27 second half points and its impressive defense has 17 straight shutout quarters before the Baylor game ... This is McCallie's first win at Baylor and will win three more times across the river this decade ... McCallie quarterback Matt Brock passes for 105 yards and one score and rushes for another ... Bodie Spangler, who kicked the winning field goal in the 3-0 win in 1982, twice split the uprights (34, 48) on this picture perfect Saturday afternoon in Heywood Stadium ... Tornado defense is led by all-state safety Peter Hunt, along with Mike Robinson, Dean Clements and Austin Hamilton.
“We had a good offense, but we were really good on defense,’’ said Brock who would lead the Blue to the state semis.
Defensive back Ricky Taliaferro saw the team as a high school version of the Oakland Raiders.
“We cut up some and maybe weren’t always real serious before game day, but when it was game time we were always ready to play.
“There was a certain swagger to our defense and we had a goal of not letting Baylor score,’’ stated Taliaferro who was injured the week before and did not play in the ’83 Baylor game. ‘‘The guys came out and hit ‘em in the mouth on the first series and Baylor was never in the game after that.’’
Homecoming Queen: Courtney Cochran ...
Stats: McCallie led in total offense, 333-47 and first downs, 20-1 ... Baylor did not cross midfield ... Baylor punter Billy Smith averaged 41.1 yards on seven kicks, including two of 50 yards ... This was Baylor coach Red Etter’s final McCallie game and would retire after the season ...
Hurry to the Hospital ... McCallie assistant coach Kenny Sholl (and current McCallie dean of students) arrived to the game late and had little time to celebrate the win as he left the stadium shortly after the final horn for Erlanger Hospital ... His wife, Penny, gave birth to their first child, Scott, shortly after halftime, coinciding with McCallie's second half offensive production.
“I talked with the hospital staff during halftime and everything was okay, so I stayed at the game,'' said Sholl. “There were no cell phones or text message machines in those days so there was no way the hospital could contact me in the second half.''
Game Ball: Scott was born 10 pounds, 2 ounces and would be a three-year letterman for the Big Blue. He also received the '83 game ball.
“Coach (Pete) Potter tossed me the game ball for Scott at a school assembly on Monday, so I guess he has to be the youngest player (two days old) to ever receive a game ball,'' said Sholl.
The seniors on both teams had the rare distinction of playing games on both campuses, plus Chamberlain Field (1981) … The seniors in 2000 also played on both campuses – McCallie (’98), Baylor (’99) – and Finley (2000).
1985 – McCallie 22, Baylor 15 ... McCallie’s Doug Hightshue, who had a pair of 1,000 rushing seasons, rushes for 149 yards and two touchdowns as the Blue Tornado improves to 5-1 ... McCallie opens the scoring on a Buff Grace field goal, followed by a Hightshue score ... a Rob Noble interception sets up a Greg Williams touchdown for a 15-0 advantage ... Baylor cuts it to 15-8 before intermission as Baylor sophomore quarterback Clint Pairamore leads the Red Raiders on a 73-yard scoring drive capped by a six-yard pass to Murray Willis followed by a William White to Taylor Gill 2-point conversion ... The teams trade fourth quarter scores – Hightshue for McCallie and Sam Diamond for Baylor – to make it 22-15 ... Pairamore leads the Red Raiders on a late fourth quarter drive to the Blue 18, but a Ken Crisp sack of Pairamore on fourth down sealed the win ...
"Coach Pete Potter was the most influental coach I played for,'' said Hightshue who wrestled one year at Indiana and played three years of football at Sewanee.
"The McCallie coaching staff was great and they taught us discipline and moral character along with the game of football,'' he stated.
"Coach Potter made football fun.''
Homecoming Queen: Joanna Erwin
Stats: An even game in the stats column ... each team had 16 first downs and McCallie led in total offense, 269-262 ... in a well played game, each team had only one penalty each and McCallie had the one interception.
1987 – McCallie 21, Baylor 14 ... In a near repeat of the ’85 contest Baylor’s Shane Robertson leads the Red Raiders 70 yards to the McCallie 8-yard line late on this sunny Saturday afternoon, before a Brian Case interception with 10 seconds remaining seals the win ... Case has 16 tackles on the day ... McCallie (7-2) claims the District 6-AAA title …Tornado sophomore Beau Tucker rushes for 98 yards on 20 carries and three touchdowns ... His 39-yard run to pay dirt with 2:48 remaining proves to be the difference ... McCallie builds a 14-0 advantage in the first half, but Robertson rallies the troops with a 73-yard scoring drive (he scores on a 1 yard run) in the second period (McCallie leads 14-7 at intermission) and evens the score on a 5-yard run in the fourth on a fourth-and two situation ... Robertson is 11-of-17 for 105 passing yards and rushes for 49 yards ... Tucker's third touchdown of the day, gives the Tornado the lead for good.
Stats: Baylor led in total offense, 267-260 ... and first downs, 19-14 … Turnovers are the difference as McCallie had a 4-to-1 advantage, including recovering three fumbles (Kyle Haren, Thomas Hayes, Scott Grant) ... McCallie wins its third straight in the series for the first time (’85-’86-’87).
"There was something special about playing Baylor on Saturday afternoon as we were the only game in town that day,'' said Tucker who played football for the Air Force Academy and whose dad, Gary, played at Brained, the University of Chattanooga and later in the NFL for the Miami Dolphins.
"It was great to take the bus ride over to Baylor with the caravan of cars,'' he stated. ''Every game was important, but the intensity of the Baylor game with a big crowd got us pumped up.''
1989 – McCallie 30, Baylor 0 ... McCallie’s Beau Tucker rushes for 108 yards and two second half touchdowns, and McCallie scores first on a Ryan Soteres 37-yard field goal seven seconds before halftime ...
but the game turns on a pair of defensive plays early in the third quarter ... Craig Long and Hank Bowles return interceptions for scores in the first 2:23 of the second half and the Blue lead is 17-0 ... Long scores at 10:52 for a 10-0 lead and Bowles matches his teammate with a score at 9:37 ...
Tucker scores on runs of nine and four yards ... Baylor's George Mann recovers a first period fumble at the McCallie 14, but a Red Raider field goal attempt is wide right ...
Homecoming Queen: Caroline Rittenberry
Stats: McCalle led in total offense, 243-95 ... McCallie wins 8 of 10 in the 1980s.
The 1990s ... Baylor is 6-5 in this decade, including a four-year run beginning in 1991 ...
1991 – Baylor 28, McCallie 7 ... Former Baylor and Alabama player Charlie Hannah gives an inspiring speech on Friday which evidently carries over to Saturday afternoon at 2:30 as the Red Raiders score on their first four possessions and never look back in breaking a six-game losing streak to the guys on the Ridge ... Frahn D’Anjou gains 126 yards on the ground and two TDs in the first half with 163 yards on the afternoon ... Baylor quarterback Ryan Dillard rushes four 48 yards and one score, while Andy Moore also reaches the end zone ... Baylor limits McCallie to 43 yards in total offense in the first half ... Red Raiders win the District 6-AAA crown, its first league title since 1981 ...
McCallie’s score came on a fourth quarter, 63-pass play, Chip Harris to David Office.
Stats: Baylor leads in total offense, 341-230 ... Baylor INTS were by Pete Hall (2) and David Yann.
“My fellow teammates knew that 1991 was our year to overcome years of adversity,’’ said D’Anjou who is the director a high-end, luxury spa in New York City. “We knew we had an excellent coaching staff (better than any coaching staff I have been around, including an SEC staff).’’
D’Anjou on McCallie Game Hype: “The pep rally on Saturday morning was a cross between a Broadway production and an NBA game introduction as this showcased Baylor’s finest.
“We had the finest pre-game meal, the finest pep talks by legends John and Charlie Hannah and the finest crowd of alumni. We were ready to play the VOLS on that day.’’
1993 – Baylor 10, McCallie 7 ... Both teams enter the game with seven game win streaks and the Region 3-5AAA title on the line ... A light drizzle at Heywood Stadium does not dampen things for this Saturday afternoon crowd as Baylor is in the midst of its 100th anniversary year … Baylor’s 1973 national championship team is recognized at halftime ... McCallie scores first on a 31-yard Tawambi Settles-to-Marc Knight pass and a 7-0 lead ... Baylor evens the score as Andrew Boehm scores his 11th touchdown of the season on a two-yard run in the second quarter ... Late in the quarter the game turns on a controversial pass interference call against Settles after he makes an interception deep in McCallie territory ... Baylor is awarded the ball on the McCallie 11 and Adam Hodges’ 37-yard field goal with two seconds on the clock proves to be the difference ...
Stats: Baylor had the advantage in takeaways, 4-0 ... Baylor led in total offense, 192-149 ...
The Baylor defense holds McCallie’s 30 point-a-game offense to seven points and 149 yards in total yards.
“We didn’t scare anyone on film, but we were a sound football team,’’ said quarterback Al Dallas who was part of a senior class who was 20-0 at Heywood Stadium (at that point in the season) for the past three years and a class that didn’t lose to a Hamilton County team.
''McCallie was the most offensively intimidating team to watch on film that I had seen that year. I doubt any other team held them to seven points.’’
1995 – McCallie 14, Baylor 10 – It has been called “The Drive’’ (or at least ‘’The Drive I’’ i.e. 2001 state title game) in McCallie football history ... McCallie trails 10-7 as senior quarterback Thomas Gallant leads the Blue Tornado on an 80-yard scoring drive, eating up 4:18 of the fourth quarter ... On consecutive plays, Gallant connects with Travis Schievelhud (10 yards), Jonathan Westfield (for 12), Forrest Vanderbilt (for 15) and a 30-yarder to Schrievelhud on a 3rd-and-21 to the Baylor nine ... Gallant finds Bryan Strain open in the end zone for the winning score ... both would play in college; Strain at Centre College and Gallant at Vandy.
“That was the best day of my athletic career by far,’’ said Gallant. “It was an incredible victory and my biggest win ever.’’
In his final high school game, Gallant is 12-of-16 for 151 yards passing and 30 yards rushing … On that final drive, he either passes or keeps the ball himself on every play ...
McCallie opens the game with an 11-play, 92-yard scoring drive capped by Jahmaal Overton’s 3-yard run ...
“After that first scoring drive, Baylor was able to stop our running game,’’ said Gallant whose wife is expecting their first child this week (maybe tonight).
Baylor pulls to within three (7-3) on Travis Knight’s third quarter 27-yard field goal ... and takes the lead late in the fourth, 10-7, as Jason Green’s scoring run caps an 18-play, 83-yard drive to set up Gallant’s heroics.
“On the winning drive, I was able to roll out and hit my receivers, except for the touchdown pass which was a drop back pass to Bryan.’’
Gallant’s interception of a Baylor ‘‘Hail Mary’’ pass after the ensuing kickoff seals the win ... The QB/safety, who leads the team in tackles, looks to return the INT for a touchdown, but decides to safely fall down with the ball due to a number of McCallie students running onto the field.
Gallant on Saturday Afternoons vs. Baylor: “Whether at McCallie or Baylor, I loved being on the field 30 minutes or so before kickoff warming up and here comes the visiting school’s caravan of cars and fans driving down the road to the stadium making all kinds of noise. It doesn’t get any better than that.’’
Stats: McCallie led in total offense, 273-146.
1997 – Baylor 9, McCallie 7 ... Senior Sam Warren proves to be the hero on a rainy Saturday at Heywood Stadium with three field goals ... Warren’s first one – a 46-yarder in the second quarter – hits the cross bar and goes over, cutting McCallie’s lead to 7-3 ...
Warren’s second one is good from 35 yards on the final play of the half and McCallie leads, 7-6 ...
“It was a sloppy day with a muddy field, so to make that first one was big,’’ said Warren who was a starting kicker for Columbia University for two years and works in the world of finance (bond trader) in New York City.
“We had had a rough season going into the McCallie game (Baylor was 2-5, McCallie 1-6 at kickoff) so to have that first kick go through gave us some momentum.’’
Baylor fumbles on three straight possessions in the first quarter, but McCallie misses on two field goal chances, and finally scores on a Will Thomas run for a 7-0 lead.
Warren’s third quarter field goal from 31 yards out proves to be the difference ... he also has two important punts, the second one for 69 yards late in the fourth quarter pinning McCallie on its own three ... But Thomas is not deterred and marches the Blue and White nearly the length of the field to the Baylor eight to set up a game-winning field goal … but a 25-yard FG attempt is wide right and Baylor has the win ...
“It was a dream day for me, to say the least’’ said Warren.
1997 – Baylor 21 McCallie 7 ... In the first playoff meeting and the first Friday night game between the two schools since a McCallie 29-7 triumph in 1974, Baylor scores 21 unanswered points in the second half for the win ...
The Blue Tornado’s only score came on a 45-yard first quarter run by Brian Mayes ... An inspired Baylor defense stops McCallie the rest of the night, while Brad Rooks (13 yards) and Joey Ferguson (12 yards) score in the third quarter for a 14-7 lead ... Wes Angel’s 3-yard run in the fourth seals the win … Sam Warren is good on all three PATs ...
Stats: Baylor led in total offense, 283-213.
1999 – McCallie 37, Baylor 7 ... McCallie quarterback Penn Garvich has touchdown runs of 69 and 1 yards as the Big Blue scores the most points since the 41-0 win in 1905 ... Garvich has a stellar day with 7-of-17 for 102 passing yards and one score, plus 135 yards on the ground and the two scores ... McCallie has a second, 100-yard rusher (101) in Johan Koo ... McCallie opens the scoring on a 24 yard field goal by Will Copeland, who would go on to be a valedictorian at Sewanee ... Baylor leads 7-3 in the second quarter on a Ty Krug-to-Greg Thomas 4-yard pass ...
McCallie (6-3) strikes twice early in the third as Garvich reaches the end zone at 8:51, followed 50 seconds later by a Brian Mayes scoring interception for a 24-7 advantage ...
Stats: McCallie led in total offense, 426-161 ... McCallie led in takeaways, 4-1 ... INTs by Jason Gruner (2) and Mayes.
2001 – McCallie 44, Baylor 14 ... McCallie (7-0) sets a series record for points in a game … McCallie posts a 12-0 record and the state crown ... The Blue and White scores on its first six possessions ... Finding the end zone are Campbell Thomas (2), Wayne Fullam (2), Keppy Baucom (blocked punt), and sophomore quarterback Ryan Moore ... Campbell rushes for 89 yards on the day, while Fullam gains 108 ... Moore passes for 106 yards ...
Baucom leads all defenders with 23 tackles, recovers a fumble, plus scores on his blocked punt ... McCallie leads 30-7 at intermission and opens the third with a 16-play, 88-yard scoring drive that eats up nearly nine minutes for a 37-7 advantage ... Baylor is led by Willie Idlette who had scoring runs of 59 (second quarter and 13 (fourth quarter) ...
Stats: McCallie led in total offense, 379-266 and each team lost one fumble.
2007 – McCallie 20, Baylor 17 OT ... Only overtime game in the series ... McCallie’s Matt Higgins kicks the 22-yard winning field goal on the team’s first overtime possession ... Baylor calls time out to freeze the kicker just before the ball is snapped and Higgins attempt is wide right ... but the timeout stands giving Higgins a second chance, and he splits the uprights … McCallie rallies twice after trailing 7-0 and 14-7 ... but Baylor forces overtime with a Tanner Temple’s field goal as regulation time expires ...
Baylor opens the game with a 6-play, 80-yard scoring drive as quarterback Tyler Massey runs in from four yards out ... McCallie replies with a long drive (15-play, 80-yards) of its own as Jarrod Coleman ties it on a one yard run ...
Massey gives the Red and Gray the lead again at 14-7 in the second, only to see the Tornado cut it to 14-10 on a Higgins 28-yard field goal before half ...
McCallie quarterback Keenon Rush scampers 50 yards down the right sideline in the third period to make it 17-14, for the game’s only lead change.
Stats: McCallie interceptions are by James Cupo and Jay Fullam ... McCallie’s Chad Lee had a fumble recovery.
Did You Know ... ? ... Brief History Lesson ... Baylor was founded by Dr Roy Baylor in 1893 with a tuition fee of $100 ... First school building was the old McCallie home near downtown which Baylor rented from the McCallie family ... Baylor moved to its present location in 1914 ... Baylor had girls for the first 11 years and then again in 1988 ... McCallie was founded by a Baylor graduate and Dr. Baylor’s prize pupil, John Park (J.P.) McCallie, who along with his older brother, Spencer, open the doors to the school on the Ridge (the McCallie family farm) in September, 1905 ... J.P. McCallie attended Baylor’s 75th anniversary in 1968, where he presented Baylor School with the Latin book he used as a student at Baylor ... Park graduated from Baylor in 1896 with the highest grade point average in the school's short history ... McCallie had varsity teams from the start (fall of 1905), while Baylor did not field first varsity teams until 1908 ... The 1908 football game (0-0) was played at Chamberlain Field before a then-record crowd ... McCallie’s original “Blue Tornado’’ team was 1921 and McCallie’s first perfect season (7-0-0) ... The coach was Bill McAllister who was a Baylor and University of Tennessee graduate and played major league baseball ... Brentwood Academy coach Ralph Potter has the rare distinction of playing in the game (for McCallie) and being the head coach of both teams.
Contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net