Tullahoma players show off their Class 4-A championship trophy to theor fans. The Wildcats defeated Elizabethton 21-14 Saturday in the BlueCross Bowl at Finley stadium to claim the school's first-ever title.
photo by Joseph Dycus
Krys Uselton was fading down the sideline, with one eye on the Elizabethton receiver and the other on the ball. When the ball was in the air, the Tullahoma defensive back turned, raised his hands, and snatched it out of the air. In one instant, the second overtime came to an end and a mob began to form on top of the player who clinched Tullahoma's first ever BlueCross Bowl state championship with a 21-14 win.
"I saw 17 line up on me, and that's their guy, so I knew the ball was probably coming my way," Uselton said. "I knew I had to make a play."
The first half was a throwback to an older era, one where every yard was earned only after intense struggle. Elizabethton's offense orbited around the determined legs and accurate arm of quarterback Bryson Rollins. He toted the ball 17 times in the first half alone for 70 yards, and threw the ball 19 times on top of that.
The Fighting Cyclones got close to scoring with two minutes left in the first quarter, with Rollins connecting with targets like Dalton Mitchell and Cade Russell for good yardage while Russell also ran for 11 on the drive. But on fourth and five, Tullahoma defensive end Cadden Bradford swam into the backfield and pressured Rollins into an incompletion.
On the next possession, the Ryan Scott-led Tullahoma offense moved downfield. Once the Wildcats got within striking distance, Scott decided to take matters into his own hands. He swept along the left side of the formation and barrelled into the endzone for the first score of the game.
With the Wildcat side of Finley Stadium bouncing, Rollins calmly took the field and led his team downfield. Teddy Orton went for 10 on a reception, and then Rollins rushed on three straight plays once the Cyclones got inside the 15 yard line. On the three yard line, instead of bulling ahead for a touchdown, Rollins dropped back and lofted a pass to Jake Roberts. The slant route gained enough separation to give the quarterback and receiver a window, and the game was tied going into halftime after a few more drives produced no points.
Scott enjoyed solid blocking by Logan Crouch and Ian Poe as he moved the ball downfield. The tough quarterback drew a 15 yard penalty on one play after he was smacked off his feet while running out of bounds. The drive died at the one yard line though, when his floating pass was ripped out of the air by Roberts on the one yard line.
Rollins made magic on a scramble to keep the drive alive, rolling to his left and making a throw to the flat while being dragged down by a Tullahoma pass-rusher. His throw was caught by Mitchell, and the receiver did the rest as he dove across the first-down line around the 31 yard line. A few minutes later, Orton turned a routine hook route into a 29 yard foray down the right sideline as Elizabethton made it back into Tullahoma territory.
Wildcat defenders such as Tucker, Cameron Robinson, and Brandon Painter closed down future gaps after these big plays, and Rollins was asked to punt on fourth down. And punt he did: his kick went 38 yards and was downed on the one yard line. Could Tullahoma take it 99 yards for the score?
The answer was no, they could only go seven yards in three downs. At one point, the orange and black team from northeast Nashville narrowly avoided a safety on second down after going for the bomb on first. At the end of three quarters, the score remained 7-7. After another stalled Elizabethton drive, Rollins pinned the Wildcats on the one yard line with another beauty of a punt.
"We love low-scoring games because we take pride in our defense," Uselton said. "We like fighting and we knew that if we kept getting the ball back to our offense, we knew they'd prevail."
Their drive was much more successful than the last. Scott's pass to Jacob Dixon ended going for 27 after a sideline interference penalty on Elizabethton tacked on another 15 yards. Brody Melton took the ball another 22 yards on a reception to get the ball past midfield, but a penalty sent the drive in reverse.
Keishawn Cummings drew gasps from the crowd with a hurdle on a long catch and run across the field. The referees were less impressed, since hurdling in the open field is illegal. Scott juked a defender out of his white shoes when he scrambled up the middle, but the Wildcat quarterback was short of the first and another punt was in order.
Rollins scrambled around and chucked a deep ball for a 40 yard reception on the next drive, but it was called back because of a hands to the face penalty. On the ensuing punt, Tullahoma's Krys Uselton broke tackles in the middle of the field and returned the ball to the 25 yard line. Cummings caught a pass out of the backfield for ten yards and then he ran for eight to put the ball inside the five.
"We have grit and heart, and we have dedication and we know we're going to get yards," Cummings said. "When we were in the locker room and it was 7-7, coach said to keep fighting and to keep our nose down, and to drive, drive, drive."
On second and three, Cummings was stonewalled by Taylor to make it third and three. Cummngs took it insie the tackles for two yards, and so it was fourth and one with under three minutes to go. Tullahoma's coaching staff took a timeout. A field goal would've given them a three point lead, but coach John Olive went for the touchdown and the proverbial kill.
Two receivers were to Ryan Scott's left, and one to his right on fourth down on the one yard line. AFter lining up in the gun for most of the game, he rushed up under center and tried to sneak it in. The Elizabethton defense, led by Blake Stewart and Trenton Taylor, pushed him back for no gain.
"We've been through thick and thin all season, and that wasn't anything big for us," Scott said. "We just had to keep our heads up high and keep fighting."
This decision to go for six may have cost Tullahoma the BlueCross Bowl championship, but the defense held and gave the ball back to Scott for one last drive before overtime.Uselton caught the short pass and followed blockers 31 yards downfield before being knocked out 11 yards short of the endzone.
Rollins trucked over the goal line for a one yard score on Elizabethton's first possession, and then Cummings cut upfield after reading his blocks to score a 10 yard touchdown to answer for Tullahoma. Ryan completed a pass to Jacob Dixon for five yards to put Tullahoma back on top 21-14, and then Uselton's clutch play in the corner of the endzone sealed the championship for the Wildcats.
"It feels awesome and I loved having my family here," Scott said. "It felt like a home game, and I think that was a big factor in us winning."
"When you're my age, you don't think you're going to win a state championship," coach Olive said. "Fortunately for me, we had an outstanding team this year. I'm very fortunate to win this game in overtime."
Stats
TULLAHOMA 0 7 0 0 14 -- 21
ELIZABETHTON 0 7 0 0 7 -- 14
TULL – Scott Ryan 7 run (Justus Chadwick kick) (11:13, 2nd)
ELIZ – Jake Roberts 3 pass from Bryson Rollins (Sean Smithdeal kick) (4:31, 2nd)
ELIZ – Bryson Rollins 1 run (Sean Smithdeal kick) (12:00, OT)
TULL –Keishawn Cummings10 run (Justus Chadwick kick) (12:00, OT)
TULL –Jacob Dixon 5 pass from Ryan Scott (Justus Chadwick kick) (12:00, OT)
TULL STATS ELIZ
14 1st Downs 19
31-213 Rush 46-169
124 Pass 131
337 Total 300
12-18-1 Passes 16-26-1
4-54 Penalties 6-70
4-30.0 Punts 5-37.2
0-0 Fumbles 1-1
Individual Stats
Rushing: Ryan Scott 16-88, Keishawn Cumming 10-68, Krys Uselton 1-34, Jaxon Sheffield 3-24, Jacob Dixon 1-(-1) (TULL); Bryson Rollins 35-138, Cade Russell 3-17, Nate Stephens 8-14 (ELIZ).
Passing: Ryan Scott 12-16-1 for 124 yards (TULL); Bryson Rollins 16-26-1 for 131 yards (ELIZ).
Receiving: Jacob Dixon 7-55, Brody Melton 2-36, Keishawn Cummings 2-24, Krys Uselton 1-9 (TULL); Cade Russell 4-26, Jake Roberts 4-15, Teddy Orton 3-50, Dalton Mitchell 3-30, Cam Baker 1-5, Jerriah Griffin 1-5 (ELIZ)
Records: Tullahoma (15-0), Elizabethton (12-2)
MVP: Ryan Scott (Tullahoma)
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