McCallie football coach Ralph Potter looked around Finley Stadium late Thursday night. Looked at the scoreboard that proclaimed McCallie 34, Baylor 28. Looked at his football players climbing into stands to celebrate with their fellow students. Looked at the dejected faces outfitted in archrival Baylor Red.
He had experienced a similar ending to a McCallie football season four times before, a season ending in a state title. They had celebrated similarly in 2001 in Nashville.
He had celebrated in Cookeville in 2019 and 2020, then here in Finley in 2021.
But never before had McCallie beaten their bitter rivals to claim the state crown. And not just beat them, but sweep them, having won 34-31 this past September.
So as Potter took it all end, a slight smile crossing his face, he said, “This is the mountaintop. This is No. 1.”
Two days earlier, praising the pinball machine offense that Erik Kimrey has fashioned in his first two seasons coaching the Red Raiders, Potter had mused, “We’re not going to stop them. You can’t stop them. We just need to stop them a couple of more times than they stop us.”
When Baylor scored twice in the opening period on drives of 80 and 64 yards that took a total of 10 plays, you wondered if Potter’s Blue Tornado defense could stop them at all.
But Baylor wasn’t stopping McCallie either. The Blue Tornado scored on drives of 50 and 84 yards in that same period, even if they took a total of 16 plays to do it. But at the end of the first period, at the close of one of the most exciting first quarters in BlueCross Bowl history, the Red and Blue were tied at 14-all.
“We have a big play team,” Kimrey said of Baylor’s first two scores, which consisted of a 41-yard pass to Alabama commit Amari Jefferson and a 64-yard run from junior running back Shekai Millks-Knight. “McCallie’s a team that grinds it out. We lost to a very good football team.”
Barely.
And a defensive play from Baylor senior Nelson McKnight nearly provided the Red Raiders the kind of cushion that might have propelled them to victory. Midway through the second period, McCallie looking to grab the lead on a fourth-and-goal from the 2, McKnight stripped McCallie quarterback Jay St-Hilaire and ran 97 yards for a touchdown.
“I’d practiced that play ever since the (semifinal) game against Knox Catholic. I just grabbed it and took off.”
When he crossed the goal at the other end, Baylor led 21-14 following Cooper Keown’s third extra point of the night.
But McCallie, particularly St-Hillaire, quickly regrouped. First, St-Hilaire hit Zach Chari from 21 yards out, but the extra point was no good and the Blue Tornado was within 21-20. Then a Marcellus Barnes interception set McCallie up for a touchdown pass from St-Hillaire to tight end Carson Gentle, the Tennessee commit, 15 seconds before the half.
McCallie went into the break ahead 27-21 and St-Hilaire, who would finish as the Bluecross Bowl MVP, had completed 14 of his 15 first-half passes.
The first half was a game unto itself. McCallie had amassed 263 yards of offense at the break, Baylor 205. Nobody punted.
Come the second half, everything changed. Baylor didn’t score until 6:39 remained in the game on a 63-yard Jefferson catch-and-run. McCallie added a five-yard TD pass from St-Hilaire to Nolan Sergeant, giving him four TD passes on the night and 309 passing yards. Senior Ja’Von McMahan rushed for 122 yards.
“That first half was my best half of the year,” said St-Hilaire, who’s headed to Vanderbilt. “This is unbelievable. Now I get to celebrate with my family and my teammates.”
It looked for a moment as if Baylor might be the one celebrating. They got the ball a final time, advancing to midfield with a first-and-10. They lost two yards, threw incomplete on second and third downs. Now it was fourth and 12. They threw to Jefferson. McCallie sophomore defensive back De’shun Tipton tackled him at the Blue Tornado 41, one yard shy of a first.
“We just started playing man defense,” said Potter. “They were picking apart our zones.”
Said Kimrey, “We gave ourselves a chance.”
McCallie gave its fans their fourth state championship in five years and its coach his best win ever.
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BAYLOR
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14
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7
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0
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7
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-- 28
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MCCALLIE
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14
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13
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7
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0
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-- 34
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SCORING SUMMARY
BAY Amari Jefferson 41 pass from Whit Muschamp (Cooper Keown kick) (10:18,1st) 7-0
MCC Ja’Von McMahan 2 run (Elliott Arnold kick) (9:07, 1st) 7-7
BAY Shekai Mills-Knight 64 run (Keown kick0 (7:18, 1st) 14-7
MCC Enrique Jaimes Leclair 27 pass from St-Hilaire (Arnold kick) (0:45, 1st) 14-14
BAY Nelson McKnight 97 fumble return (Keown kick) (6:45, 2nd) 21-14
MCC Zach Chari 21 pass from St-Hilaire (kick failed) (3:21, 2nd) 21-20
MCC Carson Gentle 7 pass from St-Hilaire (Arnold kick) (:15, 2nd) 21-27
MCC Nolan Sergeant 5 pass from St-Hilaire (Arnold kick) (6:44,3rd) 21-34
BAY Jefferson 63 pass from Muschamp (Keown kick) (6:39, 4th) 28-34
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STATS
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BAY
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MCC
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First Downs
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18
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21
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Rushes-Yards
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21-149
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35-165
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Passing Yards
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258
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309
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Total yards
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407
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474
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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13-22-1
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22-28-1
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Penalties-Yards
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6-41
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9-98
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Fumbles-Lost
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1-0
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1-1
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Punts-Average
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1-38.0
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3-38.0
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Time of Possession
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17:27
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30:33
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INDIVIDUAL STATS
Baylor Rushing: Shekai-Mills-Knight 15-134, 1 TD; Cooper Keown 0-6; Whit Muschamp 5-5; TEAM 1-(-16).
McCallie Rushing: Ja’Von McMahan 22-122, 1 TD; Keyshawn Tabuteau 2-32; Jay St-Hilaire 6-17; Keylan Syam 2-5; TEAM 2-(-2); Enrique Jaimes Leclair 1-(-9).
Baylor Passing: Whit Muschamp 13-32-1 for 258 yards, 2 TDs.
McCallie Passing: Jay St-Hilaire 22-28-1 for 309 yards, 4 TDs.
Baylor Receiving:: Amari Jefferson 8-210, 2 TDs; Max Leblanc 3-32; Cameron Sparks 2-16. ;
McCallie Receiving: Enrique Jaimes Leclair 8-173, 1 TD; Ja’Von McMahan 3-58; Keeyshawn Tabuteau 3-10; Zach Chari 2-28, 1 TD; Nolan Sergeant 2-17, 1 TD; Carson Gentle 3-9, 1 TD: Ryan Larrabee 1-9; Mathieu Hebert 1-5.
Records: Baylor 10-3 ; McCallie 12-1.
Most Valuable Player: Jay St-Hilaire, McCallie.
Notable: Baylor’s Nelson McKnight sets state championship game record with 97 yard fumble return for score. McCallie wins fourth title in five years.
(Contact Mark Wiedmer at sports@chattanoogan.com)