Top-Ranked McCallie Steamrolls Knox Catholic

William Riddle Tosses Six TD Passes As Blue Tornado Keeps Rolling, 44-7

  • Friday, September 17, 2021
  • John Hunt

The state’s top two Division II-AAA teams met at McCallie’s Spears Stadium Friday night and there’s no doubt who the better team is.

McCallie, the two-time defending D-II-AAA state champs, remained unbeaten after five games with perhaps its best performance of the season as they steamrolled Knoxville Catholic by a 44-7 final.

This game really wasn’t close as McCallie stretched a 12-7 lead after the first quarter with 32 unanswered points to win going away.

Coach Ralph Potter certainly had a lot to be happy about following a tough region battle.

“Offensively, we controlled the game on the ground and our receivers won a bunch of one-on-one matchups.  And William Riddle put the ball on the money,” Potter assessed after his team piled up 518 total yards, including 140 on the ground and another 378 through the air.

“I also thought we played well on defense.  Their touchdown was somewhat of a fluke, but I thought we executed well on both sides of the ball as we came out ready to play,” Potter added.

Riddle completed 17 of 22 passing attempts for 372 yards and six touchdowns, equaling the six TD passes he had against Chattanooga Christian.

If there was a Heisman Trophy awarded in high school, this 18-year-old senior would be the front runner as he has now completed 69 of 96 passes for 1,168 yards and 16 touchdowns with no interceptions.

“I thought our offense executed pretty well.  I think I did pretty good, although I still made a bunch of mistakes.  But we knew this was a big region game and we were ready to play,” Riddle said afterward.

McCallie took the opening kickoff and marched 80 yards in eight plays, Riddle connected with Andrei Delinois for the final 36 yards to put the Blue Tornado up 6-0 with 7:22 left in the opening stanza.

Ironically, McCallie missed five of its seven extra point kicks.

The Fighting Irish had scored touchdowns on their first drive in each of the first three games, but that streak ended as Catholic punted after going three-and-out.

McCallie then went 60 yards on seven plays and scored for the second time when Riddle connected with Xavier Gaillardetz for the 20-yard TD with 2:17 left in the opening stanza.

The Fighting Irish got on the board in their second possession when quarterback Jayden Neal hooked up with Braylon Harmon on a 65-yard pass play where Harmon caught a deflected pass and still scored.

It was 12-7 when the first quarter ended, but it never got any closer as the Blue Tornado basically scored at will the rest of the way.

Catholic coach Korey Mobb didn’t dodge any bullets with his post-game comments to his players.

“Certainly things didn’t go our way tonight and I’ll take the blame, but this isn’t who we are as a football team,” he began.

“We won a big game last week over Baylor and thought we were pretty good, but we’re just an average football team that still has a lot of work to do.  It’s amazing how things can change in a week.  But I have total confidence that we can get this thing turned around as we have some great leaders on this team,” he added.

Ontario Price gained 69 yards rushing on 10 attempts after getting 36 yards on the opening drive.

Gaillardetz was the leading receiver with 104 yards on seven catches while Emile Bellerose had 43 yards on five grabs.  Kenzy Paul, who gained 36 yards on his only carry, had two catches for 71 yards, including a 63-yarder for a touchdown in the third quarter.

The Fighting Irish finished with 176 total yards, including 61 on the ground and 115 through the air.

Keondre Jarmon was the leading rusher with 27 yards on 10 carries while four receivers all had two catches apiece.

Braylon Harmon had two for 70 yards, including the 65-yard TD, while Javis Mynatt had two for 17.

KNOX CATHOLIC  7  0  0  0  --  7

McCALLIE  12  6  19 7 – 44

McC – Andrei Delinois 36 pass from William Riddle (kick failed), 7:22 left in first;

McC – Xavier Gaillardetz 20 pass from Riddle (kick failed), 2:17 left in first;

KC – Braylon Harmon 65 pass from Jayden Neal (Brock Taylor kick), 0:54.2 left in first;

McC – Gaillardetz 3 pass from Riddle (kick failed), 1:36 left in second;

McC – Kenzy Paul 63 pass from Riddle (Alex Jacques kick), 8:29 left in third;

McC – Weston Hammond 85 pass from Riddle (kick blocked), 4:45 left in third;

McC – Riddle 5 run (kick failed), 0:57.1 left in third;

McC – Emile Bellerose 5 pass from Riddle (Sawyer Smith kick), 10:57 left in fourth.

TEAM STATS                       KNOX CATHOLIC               McCALLIE

First Downs                                        7                                    18

Rushes-Yards                                 19-61                            23-140

Passing Yards                                   115                                378

Plays/Total Yards                            40-176                          47-518

Passes (Comp-Att-Int)                     9-21-2                         19-24-0

Penalties-Yards                                 8-74                            12-98

Fumbles-Lost                                     2-0                                1-1

Punts-Avg.                                       6-43.2                           1-37.0

Time of Possession                          23:49                            24:11

INDIVIDUAL STATS:

CATHOLIC RUSHING: Keondre Jarmon 10 for 27 yards; Eli Hamilton 3 for 16; Spence Margolis 2 for 11; Jayden Neal 4 for 7.

CATHOLIC RECEIVING: Braylon Harmon 2 for 70 yards; Javis Mynatt 2 for 17; Keondre Jarmon 2 for 11; Jaylon Harmon 2 for 10.

CATHOLIC PASSING: Jayden Neal 9 for 21 with two interceptions for 115 yards and one touchdown.

McCALLIE RUSHING: Ontario Price 10 for 69 yards; Kenzy Paul 1 for 36; Damian Scott 10 for 29; William Riddle 1 for 5.

McCALLIE RECEIVING: Xavier Gaillardetz 7 for 104 yards and two TDs; Emile Bellerose 5 for 43 and 1 TD; Kenzy Paul 2 for 71 and one TD; Weston Hammond 1 for 85 and one TD; Andrei Delinois 1 for 36 and one TD.

McCALLIE PASSING: William Riddle 17 of 22 for 372 yards with six TDs and no interceptions; David Baker 2 of 2 for 6.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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