McCallie’s Gavin Cagle dives for extra yards.
photo by M.A. Locke
The DII-AAA quarterfinals appeared to be a great game on paper. The Purple Wave had the kind of talent to theoretically match up with McCallie’s. Unfortunately for the visiting Christian Brothers, football games are not played on paper. McCallie thoroughly dominated all phases of the game in their 28-6 rout.
“I thought we really got back to how we were playing earlier in the year,” said coach Ralph Potter, “We had a really good two weeks of practice, so it was almost like camp. We played really physically. I couldn’t be prouder of our kids.”
McCallie’s game plan embodied the time-tested strategy of “establishing the run.” Of their first nine plays, all nine ended with either a DeAngelo Hardy keeper, handoff, or pitch to a ballcarrier. Their first drive concluded in familiar fashion, as B.J Harris cruised into the endzone from 25 yards out to give the Blue Tornado a 7-0 lead.
While Christian Brothers had intermittent success with the short passing game, their offense was too sporadic to be effective. In the second quarter, the Purple Wave had a wonderful chance at extending what was maybe their best drive of the game. They had the ball on midfield and only needed a couple of yards to move the chains.
Jay Hardy decided the chains would stay where they were. The Auburn commit crashed in from his familiar spot on the edge and snuffed out the Christian Brother’s back for no gain. McCallie got the ball back and then embarked upon a long drive of their own.
Gavin Cagle and his favorite spin move was the featured weapon after BJ Harris went down late in the first quarter. With Cagle’s nifty runs and a clutch fourth down pitch to Eric Rivers on fourth down, McCallie slowly moved the ball downfield. From four yards away, Cagle needed no whirling to secure points eight through 13 for his team. McCallie entered halftime up 14-0 on the chilly November night.
“Gavin’s been great all year, and he’s more than capable of carrying the team,” said coach Potter, “You saw that tonight where he came in and did what he did.”
McCallie continued to roll during the third quarter. After the Wave’s swift quarterback ripped off two nice runs to start the second half, Jay Hardy personally took it upon himself to stop any sort of good momentum Christian Brothers was possibly gaining. Three straight runs by the Memphis-based team were snuffed out by big number eight, forcing yet another punt. To Christian Brother’s credit, their punter Chris Marable was excellent. He often pinned the McCallie ground attack deep in their own territory.
“He’s a force, he’s a dominant force,” said Hardy’s coach, “He’s so big and fast, and he did a really great job tonight.”
The Blue Tornado’s other Hardy took over during their next scoring drive. The quarterback single-handedly took the entire Wave defense for a ride on a deking, juking, sliding slalom down the right sideline for about 35 yards. After running the ball so effectively for the entire game, the fans and defense alike were expecting another effort on the ground. Hardy had another idea.
He lunged forward as if he was about to facilitate another option run. But suddenly, the quarterback lurched backward and began to scan downfield. The Christian Brother’s defense had left wide receiver Thompson Byrd completely unattended, and it was an easy touchdown toss for McCallie’s third score of the game.
When the Blue Tornado picked off Christian Brother’s fourth down pass early in the fourth quarter, McCallie put one final bow on their playoff win. Utilizing a combination of inside runs, option pitches, and quarterback keepers, McCallie ripped their way down the field. Gavin Cagle’s score with 6:36 put the final touches on the win. McCallie ended the game with 329 yards rushing on 50 attempts.
While Christian Brothers scored a garbage-time touchdown, the losing side elected to kick deep after the score, rather than attempt an onside kick. This gesture signaled the end of the game, a jubilant one for several reasons. While the McCallie win was the major cause for elation, jubilant chants of “Baylor lost!” broke out in the student section once word spread of their bitter rival’s 12-7 loss. McCallie waits to see who they play next week in the semi-finals.
“We just got to find out who we’re playing first,” said coach Potter, “Then we’re going to go and keep the momentum going.”
McCallie next faces Ensworth, 35-33 winners over Briarcrest.
Scoring Summary
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS 0 0 0 6 -- 6
MCCALLIE 7 7 7 7 -- 28
First Quarter
MC - BJ Harris 25 Run
Second Quarter
MC - Gavin Cagle 4 Run
Third Quarter
MC - DeAngelo Hardy 36 Pass to Thompson Byrd
Fourth Quarter
MC - Gavin Cagle 1 Run
CB – Al Wooten 1 Run (PAT Blocked)
YARD STICK
CHRISTIAN BROTHERS MCCALLIE
First Downs 12 18
Rushes/Yards 33-91 50-329
Passing 11-20-70 2-4-45
Total Yards 161 374
Fumbles/Lost 0-0 0-0
Punts 4-34.2 2-38
Penalties 2-30 4-42
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing – CB: Al Wooten: 12-45-1, Trace Heffernan: 6-20, Ashton Strother: 7-19, Michael Neuhoff: 2-12
Rushing – MC: DeAngelo Hardy: 10-114, Eric Rivers: 7-100, Gavin Cagle: 22-68-2, B.J. Harris: 8-56-1
Passing – CB: Ashton Strother: 11-19-70-0-2, Ryne Kreitz: 0-1-0-0-1
Passing - MC: DeAngelo Hardy: 2-4-45-1-0
Receiving – CB: Michael Neuhoff: 3-32, Connor Morgan: 2-14, Jack Garbuzinsk: 2-10, Dallan Hayden: 2-4
Receiving – MC: Thompson Byrd: 2-45-1
McCallie cheering section
photo by M.A. Locke