Knoxville, Tenn. – If you take a look at the box score, Chattanooga Christian had Webb right where they wanted them. The Chargers began the game with a -- you get a carry, you get carry, and you get a carry – approach. Riding a two-game win streak, averaging 51 points-per-game, they were ready to get down and dirty again.
In the first drive alone, Jamicheal Baxter, Javoris Havis, and Tink Scott were assigned the duty of moving the rock. It was evident early that Chargers’ coach Mark Mariakis was looking for the hot hand – and boy did he find it. Baxter finished the first half with 73 yards on only six rushes, having the most success of any of the early ball-carriers. Still, Chattanooga Christian was shutout through the first two quarters. But the Chargers, the Spartans, and everyone in the stadium knew that Baxter was due for a big second-half workload. “Jamicheal is our work-horse, said Mariakis. “And he did a lot for us tonight.”
Webb had similar ideas as they bruised the ball inside with Elijah Bane and get Brandon Winton on the perimeter. The key difference: the Spartans were able to get QB1 involved in the rushing attack. Sophomore signal-caller Charlie Robinson caught fire as halftime approached. When protection broke down, he found green grass on scrambles of six, ten, and 14 yards, announcing he was going to be a force down the road.
“Robinson is going to be big-time, that kid is only a sophomore,” said Webb coach David Meske. “If he keeps working hard, he’s a division one football player and he is a big factor for us.” Mr. big-time kept it up after intermission, this time with more designed runs. Eight carries and 74 yards later, Maske’s comments all made sense.
But it was the Chargers who came out dominating on the first drive of the second half. And it was time for the Baxter show. Their play-sheet definitely read give 22 the ball and they listened. He carried on the first five plays, tallying 20 yards, then couple of carries after one play off for eight yards. Then BOOM, Javoris Havis weaved through the Spartan defense for a 38-yard house call. The crowd became silent and the Chargers held all of the momentum.
“Our kids have been fighters all year long,” said Mariakis “We came out (in the second half) and did what we thought we could do, and that’s fight.”
After an uneventful answering drive from Webb, they flipped field position, setting up the Chargers’ offense on their own six-yard line. Baxter carried on first-down for five yards—giving himself just enough space to blast off on an 89-yard explosive touchdown. For the first time of the evening, Chattanooga Christian held the lead (14-7.)
“We made some big plays,” said Meske. “They were beginning to move the ball and we had to answer.” Bane answered that call when they differed to him, covering 14-yards after a methodical march to red-zone from Robinson, tying the game a 14 squared.
Even as the fourth quarter began, neither side felt the need to air the ball out. The teams combined for only 16 passing attempts all game.
Webb finally gained complete control of momentum when Knox Foss of Webb skunked a Charger drive on a sack near the red zone with seven minutes remaining in the fourth quarter. “That was a massive stop,” said Meske. “They were driving down to score again.”
On that same drive, the Chargers took the risk of running the ball of fourth and 10 from the Spartan’s 32 yard-line. Tink Scott got the ball on a jet-motion and despite a heroic attempt to move the chains, was dropped short of the marker.
Webb was able to dwindle the clock all the way down to 5 seconds on their own 14 yard-line thanks to Dominic Vance taking the late load. As Otto Niendorff jogged on the field to break the tie, the tension in the air was palpable. After all, he’d missed a chippie late in the second quarter. “I was nervous,” said Niendorff, “My teammates just told me not to miss.”
But Meske chose another tactic. “I didn’t say anything to him before the kick,” said Meske “I had complete confidence in him.”
The final buzzer rang with the pig skin spinning in the center of the uprights, and the Webb Spartans took home the victory.
Knoxville Webb 7 0 0 10 – 17
Chattanooga Christian 0 0 14 0 – 14
Webb – Elijah Bane 1 run (Otto Niendorff kick) (0:01, 1st)
CCS -- Javoris Havis 38 run (Two-point attempt fails) (6:23, 3rd)
CCS – Jamicheal Baxter 89 run (Two-point attempt good) (2:11, 3rd)
Webb – Elijah Bane 14 run (Otto Niendorff kick) (11:33, 4th)
Webb – Otto Niendorff 34 field goal (0:00, 4th)