Third Time Oh, So Charmed! McCallie Three-Peats As DII-AAA Champ

Blue Tornado Rolls Past MBA 28-7 Behind Balanced Attack

  • Thursday, December 2, 2021
  • Joseph Dycus
McCallie players celebrate with fans after winning their third straight BlueCross Bowl state football championship. The Blue Tornado defeated MBA, 28-7, Thursday night at Finley Stadium.
McCallie players celebrate with fans after winning their third straight BlueCross Bowl state football championship. The Blue Tornado defeated MBA, 28-7, Thursday night at Finley Stadium.
photo by McCallie Athletics
James Howard held his ground, eating up blocks like all the great defensive tackles do. Montgomery Bell Academy's line, now preoccupied by the steady senior, consistently left fellow senior Aaron Crowder and others free to make plays. The linebacker finished with two tackles, one tackle for loss, and a state championship trophy cradled in his arms at the end of the night. McCallie's 28-7 win over MBA crowned the Blue Tornado DII-AA BlueCross Bowl state champions for the third consecutive season. 

"This team had a lot of weapons, and it wasn't just one guy contributing," Crowder said. "There were leaders at every place on the team, and we were all pieces of a puzzle that worked together. I feel like one thing that is different this year is our hunger for another title. We went hard from day one."

Tario Price, as he so often did this season, was used as a human hammer on the game's first drive. He toted the rock on three consecutive snaps to start the BlueCross Bowl, and his third carry was borderline awe-inspiring. He ripped through arm tackles and then set his sights on a MBA defender. Price lowered his shoulder and trucked right over the red-clad adversary for a 22 yard gain. 


After that drive stalled out on the 10 yard line and McCallie missed a field goal, the Blue Tornado's defense aced their first test of the game. MBA quarterback Marcel Reed is a SEC-caliber prospect, but even the best quarterbacks struggle when defenses are in their face on every down. Thomas Pilon pressured him on first down, stuffed an MBA run on second down, and then pressured Reed again on third. 

After getting the ball at midfield, Price converted a fourth and short behind nasty blockers like EJ Smith and Aaron Crowder. Following that conversion, William Riddle unleashed a pass some 12 yards past the line of scrimmage to Xavier Gaillardetz on the left sideline. The receiver then cut back to the middle of the field, accelerated and split the defense, and then ran into the endzone for a 46 yard touchdown. Gaillardetz had 117 yards in the first half alone. 

"Xavier is the best wide receiver I've ever worked with," William Riddle said. "He's really, really, really good."

Senior Kenzy Paul had a dream sequence a few minutes later. After Reed threw up a desperation pass while running for his life, Paul dove and picked the pass off. Once on offense, Paul ran down the seam and hauled a 30 yard touchdown over his left shoulder to give McCallie a 14-0 lead. 

"I visualized the play before it happened, and it happened so I was happy when I got the pick," Paul said. "Winning the state championship in Chattanooga is crazy."

Reed finally got the Big Red going early in the second quarter. He kept the ball on an option and ran to the middle. Using his elite quickness, Reed broke a pair of Blue Tornado ankles with a sudden juke for 23 yards. A quick slant to Claiborne Richards got his team past midfield, but Matthew Plunkett's tackle for loss sent the Big Red offense back in reverse. MBA's fourth-down attempt was one yard short on fourth and 12, and McCallie took back over......

.....for about 10 seconds. A fumbled snap was pounced upon by MBA's defense, and they took back over at the 20 yard line. It only took two plays for the Big Red to make McCallie regret their mistake. Rhett Hayles ran to his right, saw no space, jumped back to his left, saw an opening, and then made a bee-line to the endzone for a 10 yard touchdown. MBA made it a game again at 14-7. The Big Red had already proven they could hang with McCallie in the regular season, having led the Blue Tornado in the fourth quarter of their regular season matchup. 

The Blue Tornado went right back to work on the next possession. After short rushing gains slowly moved the ball downfield, Riddle finally let one rip downfield to Gaillardetz down the right sideline. The Canadian stud tracked the ball and dragged his toes inbounds for a long reception. Riddle looked for Gaillardetz again on the next play, and his fifth reception took the ball inside the five yard line. Another fumbled snap put the ball back at the fifteen yard line though, and McCallie was fortunate that Riddle fell back on it and that the MBA defender didn't take it 90 yards for a game-tying touchdown. 

The Big Red had to settle for another missed field goal instead. The visiting team may have thought of trying to race downfield in under two minutes for a tying score, but those plans were quickly dashed. McCallie's James Howard slammed Reed into the turf on a keeper, and the teams ran into the locker room with McCallie still up 14-7. 

"Winning a state title never gets old, and the feeling of excitement you get whenever you win will never leave you," Howard said. 

The second half began as the first half did, with a tough seven yard run by a McCallie ball carrier (this time Damian Scott). But on third down, MBA changed the script. A whole host of Big Red defenders converged upon Scott in short-yardage and stopped the run. Unfortunately for Montgomery Bell Academy, their special teams unit ran into the punter on fourth and medium and gave McCallie the first down. 

That didn't deter MBA's defense though, and Crayson Soper and Gabe Fisher hunted down Riddle on passing downs. On a fourth and seven in no-man's land, the Blue Tornado pulled from deep in the playbook to convert. Riddle threatened the edge on an option play after presnap motion, and then pitched to a trailing Kenzy Paul for the conversion. 

Damian Scott ran to the left and gained a solid five or six yards before he met a wall of Big Red defenders. Instead of going down, he kept his legs churning, and churning, and churning. Assisted by offensive linemen who pushed the pile with their tailback, McCallie took a 21-7 lead on the 12 yard touchdown. 

Reed made the highlight of the night when he channeled his inner Patrick Mahomes on the next drive. He spun out of a Carson Gentle sack while rolling right, kept his eyes downfield, and threaded a needle to Ty Burd for a 20 yard gain. Gentle got him back a few snaps later though, and threw Reed for a 13 yard loss on second down. MBA had to punt after a desperation pass hit the grass and went over both defenders and receivers alike. 

Gabe Fisher avenged his quarterback by dumping Riddle for a seven yard loss in a game that was quickly becoming defined by unrelenting pass-rushers. McCallie had to punt back to the Big Red, and this time there was no penalty to give the Blue Tornado a first down. Another winding Reed run to the 42 yard line sent MBA to the fourth with momentum. 

"We were able to stop their zone stuff, but Marcel can create so many things and so many plays, and we have talked about it for two weeks now," coach Ralph Potter said. 

That momentum carried MBA to the 23 yard line, where they faced fourth down. Reed rolled right, was trapped by about three Blue Tornado defenders, and hurled a pass back across the middle of the field. It was caught by Keen Zoller, but he couldn't get enough for a first down and McCallie took over. 

On the very next snap, Price burst through a gap in the middle of the field and ran from one 20 yard line to the other on a 60-plus yard run. If he was healthier, Price may have scored. Instead, a gimpier version of the talented runner had to "settle" for a 62 yard run to the 21 yard line. Gaillardetz whipped around right end for an 11 yard run a few seconds later, giving MCallie first and goal at the seven yard line. Price did the rest, and put McCallie up 28-7. Price had 114 yards and a score on only 12 attempts. 

Reed scrambled around and certainly kept coach Ralph Potter on high alert, but the MBA offense just could not find the endzone. At the end of 48 minutes, McCallie hoisted their the state championship trophy for the third time in as many seasons. 

"When I was a sophomore, the seniors were great leaders and coached me up, and I feel like I did the same for the freshmen and sophomores and juniors on the team," Crowder said. "It doesn't matter who is on the team, because that blue line is going to go on forever."

Stats
MBA                    0      7     0     0 --   7      
MCCALLIE          7     7     7     7 -- 28

 
MCC –  Xavier Gaillardetz 46 pass from William Riddle  (Alex Jacques  kick) (2:50, 1st)
MCC  – Kenzy Paul 10 pass from William Riddle (Alex Jacques kick) (11:55, 2nd)
MBA –  Rhett Hayle 10 run (Wren Jacobs kick) (6:15, 2nd)
MCC –  Damian Scott 12 run (Alex Jacques kick) (4:56, 3rd)
MCC – Tario Price 4 run (Alex Jacques kick) (7:04, 4th)
 
MBA                STATS                        MCC
11                    1st Downs                  19
21-82              Rush                            37-187
133                  Pass                           172
215                  Total                            359
12-23- 1           Passes                       10-15-0
8-68                 Penalties                     4-35
3-37.7              Punts                          1-30.0    
1-0                   Fumbles                      2-1
 
Individual Stats
 
Rushing: Marcel Reed 9-56, Rhett Hayles 10-18, Claiborne Richards 1-9, Jonathan Moore 1-(-1)  (MBA); Tario Price 12-114, Damian Scott 13-51, Weston Hammond 2-12, Paul Kenzy 1-11, Xavier Gaillardetz 1-11, William Riddle 6-0 (MCC).
Passing: Marcel Reed 12-23-1 for 133 yards (MBA); William Riddle 10-15-0 for 172 yards (MCC).
Receiving: Claiborne Richards 4-50, Keen Zoller 3-11, Ty Burd 2-38, Hutton Durrett 1-15,Rhett Hayles 1-11, Blake Ragsdale 1-8  (MBA); Xavier Gaillardetz 5-117, Kenzy Paul 2-37, Gentle Carson 1-10, Emile Bellerose 1-5, Andrei Delinois 1-3 (MCC).
 
Records: MBA (9-4), McCallie (13-0)
 
MVP: William Riddle (McCallie)

(Do you have an opinion on this article, or have a story you believe needs coverage? You can contact the author at Joseph.A.Dycus@gmail.com or on Twitter at @joseph_dycus.)

MBA's Marcel Reed gets off a pass under pressure from McCallie's Thomas Pilon.
MBA's Marcel Reed gets off a pass under pressure from McCallie's Thomas Pilon.
photo by M.A. Locke
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