It’s really hard to put into words exactly what happened as nobody is completely sure, but the third and final evening of the Best of Preps football jamboree at Finley Stadium ended prematurely on a most unfortunate note.
Notre Dame and Baylor had just started play in the eighth and final 20-minute segment when all hell broke loose.
Baylor players sprinted across the field toward Reggie White Boulevard and fans followed in mass.
The original rumor was that gunshots had been fired and people were literally running for their lives. A later story surfaced saying that a fight had broken out in the stands, somebody started screaming and everything went crazy from that point on. In actuality, a Hamilton Co. Sheriff's deputy had deployed a taser which was mistaken for the gunshot.
The bottom line is that the Fighting Irish and Red Raiders didn’t get to finish their quarter as the jamboree was halted at that point with instructions for fans to file patiently toward the exit and to head home peacefully.
Other than that final surge of insanity, Saturday was by far the best of the three as far as pure football competition was concerned.
When all was said and done, East Hamilton was the only team to win twice as they defeated Howard by a 7-0 final before holding off Notre Dame, 7-3.
Red Bank, Blackman and Baylor all claimed one win apiece.
Red Bank beat Tyner by a 7-0 final before losing to Blackman by the same score. Blackman beat Red Bank before losing 14-7 to Baylor in what turned out to be the most exciting contest of all three days.
Central played to ties with Tyner (6-6) and Howard (0-0).
CENTRAL 6, TYNER 6: The Purple Pounders drew first blood when Ronye Watson tossed a 16-yard TD pass to Houston Boykin with just over 15 minutes remaining, but the extra point was not good.
The Rams came back and knotted the score when Markel McKinley scored on a run from the 3 following a brilliant 48-yard pass play from Joshua Jackson to Travius Ruffin on the play right before. Tyner also failed to convert its extra point.
Jackson also had a nice completion covering 37 yards to Jarius Cameron on Tyner’s first play, but that drive ended on downs at the Central 11.
RED BANK 7, TYNER 0: Red Bank forced a three-and-out on Tyner’s first possession before marching 62 yards on seven plays, the Lions getting into the end zone for the only time when MarChez Beach scored on a run from the 4.
Beach had four carries for 24 yards in that drive while Cordell Howard added 45 yards on three attempts, including a 26-yarder on the play before the TD.
Red Bank had another long drive on its second possession before it ended with a fumble where Sh’Quaveon Wells recovered.
Tyner’s Jamarie Ballard then completed a 10-yard pass to Landis Ratliff before Ballard got sacked as the horn sounded.
CENTRAL 0, HOWARD 0: The defense was outstanding for Central as the Purple Pounders forced three Howard punts.
Howard’s defense was pretty good as well as Central had a tough time moving the ball and didn’t pick up a first down.
“We were just trying to be resilient tonight as we played a full game last night,” said Central coach Curt Jones after the horn sounded.
“We tried to be vanilla on offense as we didn’t want to show much, but I’m pretty excited about this team. We have some experienced kids who we’re expecting great things from, but it’s early and we’re still learning,” the veteran coach added.
BLACKMAN 7, RED BANK 0: Senior quarterback Jack Risner completed his first five passes for 79 yards, including the last one of 44 yards to Ben Marshal for the only touchdown of the quarter with some 17:35 to play.
The Lions came right back and marched down the field, only to get stopped on fourth down when Daune Morris got dropped for a two-yard loss at the 15.
Red Bank got the ball back immediately when Jaden Baccus intercepted a Blackman pass, but were unable to threaten again.
Red Bank coach Ted Gatewood was smiling and optimistic about the way his team played.
“I saw a lot of good stuff tonight,” he began.
“We just wanted to go hard and fast and that’s what we did, but I thought our defensive line played well and the quarterback got the ball where it needed to be.
“We still made our share of mistakes, but everything is fixable,” he added.
EAST HAMILTON 7, HOWARD 0: Ben Cole’s fumble recovery at the 31 put the Hurricanes in business and it wasn’t long before Michael Hinton cruised into the end zone from the 4 midway through the quarter.
Ja’Caron Sanders had some nice runs and gained 17 yards on four carries, but the Hustlin’ Tigers were unable to score.
London Cross was outstanding defensively for Howard with stout defense that included a 14-yard sack of Juan Bullard near the end of the quarter.
BAYLOR 14, BLACKMAN 7: Risner completed a 40-yard pass to Justin Brown for Blackman’s first TD with 11:50 to play, but Baylor came storming back to score twice in the waning minutes, both on short runs by Caleb Hampton.
The first one covering six yards evened score with 6:35 to play. It was an eight-play drive covering 70 yards.
Big plays included a 20-yard pass from Whit Muschamp to Amari Jefferson on the first play while another beautiful throw by the Baylor quarterback covered 22 yards to Dalton Restelli.
Muschamp connected with Jefferson again on Baylor’s next possession for a 42-yard gain down the right sideline before Hampton got the next 12 yards on two carries, including the TD from the 4 with less than a minute to play.
Baylor coach Erik Kimrey liked what he saw from his kids and was really proud they didn’t panic when Blackman scored first.
“We had some big plays on defense as they have some outstanding players, but the best news is that we didn’t panic when we got behind,” Kimrey began.
“We still have some things to clean up, but I’m just thankful that Amari Jefferson is a Baylor Red Raider. He’s a very talented football player, but he’s an even more outstanding young man,” the coach praised.
EAST HAMILTON 7, NOTRE DAME 3: It’s been a tough week for the Hurricanes as starting quarterback Lake Clark suffered a knee injury last week and is facing surgery.
Bullard, an outstanding running back for the Hurricanes, was pressed into service as the quarterback and he performed with very few mistakes.
He had a throw of 32 yards to Jake Ralls in their first drive and the senior standout scored his team’s only TD on a run from the 1 about the 15:49 mark.
Kenny Hammond Jr. had a big 30-yard option pass to Landon Goeller on Notre Dame’s second play and Mason Sims connected with Hammond on a 12-yard completion that moved the ball from the 17 down to the East Hamilton 5, setting up a 22-yard field goal from Al Hastick.
Grant Reynolds was really proud of his team for the way they battled through the adversity of the past few days.
“I thought we came out and executed well against two really good football teams. Our starting quarterback got hurt and is out, but Juan came through and did a nice job. He was a little bit nervous at the start, but came through when it counted.
“We just have to keep working as we prepare for our first game at Ooltewah next Friday,” Reynolds added.
NOTRE DAME 0, BAYLOR 0: Jaydon Kelley intercepted a long pass from Baylor’s Hugues Picard on the final play of the jamboree as bedlam prevailed from that point on.
“I’m really sorry that we didn’t get to finish as we were ready to get down to work,” said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant.
THE REGULAR SEASON starts on Friday with a full slate of games, but there are three games scheduled for Thursday, including Brainerd at Bradley, Red Bank at Cleveland and Signal Mountain at Hixson. See the complete line-up in Prep Schedules here in Prep Sports.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)