McKenzie Fulfills Mission With Class A Football Title

The McKenzie Rebels were on a mission at Finley Stadium Friday afternoon.

They had finished as the state runner-up to South Pittsburg in the Class A BlueCross Bowl state football championship here at Finley Stadium a year ago, but vowed to themselves and to each other that they would be back this year with the intention of winning it all.

Consider it a mission accomplished after the Rebels wrapped up a perfect 15-0 season with a 34-14 victory over the Clay County Bulldogs.

The Rebels had finished as the state runner-up twice – 2007 the only time before 2021 – but had never claimed a state title.

Wade Comer has been at McKenzie since 1996 and the head coach since 2000, so he was quite relieved to finally get that monkey off his back.

“I’m so proud of the way we came out and played today. We’ve had more than our share of ups and downs this year, so for us to come out and win it all today is really sweet,” he said after receiving the TSSAA coaches award annually given to the winning coach.

“This has been a long time coming. But we made a promise to ourselves a year ago that we were going to come back and win it all. We know what it feels like to play in this game. Now we know how it feels to come out on top and it’s outstanding,” the coach concluded with a smile.

The Bulldogs made their last semifinal appearance in 1985, but this was the first time to make it to the finals. They came up a little bit short, but coach Bruce Lamb was extremely happy and proud just to have such an opportunity.

“Our biggest problem was that we gave up too many big plays today,” Lamb began while consoling his players after all the awards had been presented.

“We had plenty of opportunities, but were never able to cash in. We had the ball on the one-yard line and didn’t score and that was the first time all year that we were in the Red Zone and didn’t get a touchdown.

“But we gave all we had and we can walk off this field with our heads held high and no regrets,” he added.

The Rebels scored on the first play of the game and never trailed.

Marquez Taylor, who led McKenzie running backs with 163 yards on 15 carries, raced 55 yards the first time he touched the ball and it was 7-0 some 16 seconds into the first quarter following the extra-point kick by Zach Aird.

The winners made it 14-0 on their second possession that covered 90 yards in five plays, game MVP Jackson Cassidy hooking up with Xavier Webber on a 69-yard pass play with 6:07 left in the opening stanza.

The Bulldogs had to punt on their first two possessions, but third time was a charm.

Joseph Marcum scored on a run from the 2 on the final play after Alec Kerr had set it up with a 39-yard gain on a double reverse. The conversion run by Nate Adams was good and the difference was 14-8 when the second quarter began.

Etijay Tharpe only had one carry for the game, but he made the most of it by racing 11 yards for a touchdown with 2:28 left in the half, the play wrapping up a nice drive that covered 63 yards in seven plays and consumed 3:45 off the clock.

It was 20-8 at the break.

Clay County took the kickoff to begin the second half and marched from their own 26 down to the McKenzie 2, but never got any closer as Marcum was stuffed for a one-yard loss and quarterback Keaton Arms stopped for no gain on fourth down.

McKenzie was unable to move the ball and forced to punt from their own 27, the Bulldogs again receiving great field position when the punt only went five yards.

Clay County couldn’t take advantage and had to punt, giving McKenzie the ball at the 20 after the punt sailed into the end zone.

The Rebels needed just 2:05 to move 80 yards in five plays, extending their lead to 27-8 when Cassidy hooked up with Webber for a 25-yard TD with 9:47 to play.

Clay County finally scored again after moving 80 yards in 11 plays, using 7:15 before getting a 16-yard run by Kerr for a 27-14 difference after the point-after kick failed.

McKenzie added its final touchdown with 1:07 to play when Cassidy tossed his third TD pass of the day to Taylor, who was wide open down the middle on the fourth-and-11 play.

Marcum picked up 32 yards on back-to-back running plays, but the game ended before anybody else could score.

Cassidy had a memorable game in his final appearance in a McKenzie uniform as he completed seven of his 14 passes for 168 yards and three TDs, in addition to gaining 45 yards on 11 carries.

He also played a vital role on his team’s defense as he finished the day with 11 tackles, tops on both teams.

While Taylor was the leading rusher with his 163 yards, Webber was the leading receiver with three catches for 101 yards and two touchdowns, including the long of 69 yards.

Marcum finished the game with 117 yards on 22 carries to lead the Clay County ground game while Kerr had 80 yards on nine attempts. Kerr was also the leading receiver with two catches for 29 yards.

McKenzie finished the game with 376 total yards on 40 plays, including 208 on the ground and another 168 through the air.

Clay County finished with 199 yards rushing and 32 passing for 231 yards total.

The Bulldogs also had an 11-minute in time of possession.

The loss for Clay County snapped a nine-game winning streak, the only defeat for the Bulldogs coming on Sept. 23 in a tough 20-19 setback to Westmoreland.

SUMMARY

CLAY CO.	8	0	0	6	-- 14
MCKENZIE	14	6	0	14	-- 34

MCK Marquez Taylor 55 run (Zach Aird kick) (11:44, 1st)

MCK Zavier Webber 69 pass from Jackson Cassidy (Aird kick) (6:07, 1st)

CLA Joseph Marcom 2 run (Nate Adams run) (0:00, 1st)

MCK Etijay Tharpe 11 rush (kick failed) (2:28, 2nd)

MCK Webber 25 pass from Cassidy (Aird kick) (9:47, 4th)

CLA Alec Kerr 16 run (kick failed) (2:28, 4th)

MCK Taylor 17 pass from Cassidy (Aird kick) (1:14, 4th)

STATS	CLA	MCK
First Downs	16	16
Rushes-Yards	199	208
Passing Yards	32	168
Total yards	231	376
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)	5-12-0	7-14-1
Penalties-Yards	6-63	7-74
Punts-Average	5-42.4	4-30.5
Fumbles-Lost	1-1	1-0
Time of Possession	29:40	18:11

Individual Stats

Rushing: Alec Kerr 9-80; Joseph Marcom 22-117; Keaton Arms 10-9; Jimmy Burchett 1-(-7) (CLA); Marquez Taylor 15-163; Jackson Cassidy 9-49; Etijay Tharpe 1-11 (MCK).

Passing: Keaton Arms 4-11-0 for 26 yards; Nate Adams 1-1-0 for 6 yards (CLA); Jackson Cassidy 7-14-1 for 168 yards, 3 TDs (MCK).

Receiving: Alec Kerr 2-29; Joseph Marcom 2-(-3); Keaton Arms 1-6 (CLA); Zavier Webber 3-101; Zach Aird 2-15; Marquez Taylor 1-47; Colt Norden 1-5 (MCK).

Records: Clay Co. 13-2; McKenzie 15-0

Most Valuable Player: Jackson Cassidy, McKenzie

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)