McCallie spent a good deal of time Friday night honoring its storied past before facing visiting Lipscomb in its final regular-season game of the year.
It held a pregame dinner for all of its former players who could attend. It officially dedicated Pete & Ralph Potter Field in a moving pregame ceremony. It recognized its 23 senior players and managers just before kickoff.
Then it watched senior running back Keylan Syam put on the kind of show that will have all those former players talking for years to come.
With his mother Christelle watching him play in a McCallie uniform for the first time ever, Syam scored five touchdowns on runs of six, one, 45, two and 19 yards, rushing 19 times for 181 yards total in a nervous 42-28 win that completes an 8-2, (4-1 in Division II Class AA East Region play) for first-year head coach Joel Bradford.
“I wanted to play well for her,” said Syam.
“As I’ve said before, he’s our heart and soul,” said Bradford.
“He just has a huge heart. This matters so much to him. He’s a leader. He’s a warrior and some college who grabs him is going to be super excited once they see what he can do.”
Syam had to play his best game of the season to overcome a gritty effort from Lipscomb, which finishes 3-7 overall and 2-3 in region play as it prepares to serve the second year of its two-year postseason ban for TSSAA violations.
McCallie will have a bye for next week’s opening playoff round before hosting a second-round game on November 15.
But this one was a struggle throughout. After a scoreless first quarter, Lipscomb scored first in the second before Syam scored three of his five TDs in the second to give McCallie a 21-7 lead at halftime.
But Lipscomb bounced back in the third to tie the game at 21-all before another Syam score made it 28-21 heading to the fourth. When Blue Tornado quarterback Elliott Drapeau hit Jacob Lamontage from 14 yards out and Elliott Arnold connected on the fifth of his eventual six extra points, McCallie led 25-21 with a little over nine minutes to go.
Yet here came the Mustangs again to pull within 35-28 with 7:06 to play. Yet the next time Lipscomb had the ball, De’Shun Tipton intercepted for McCallie around midfield, paving the
Way for the final Syam score of the night with 1:44 to go.
“This whole night was a tribute to our seniors and our program,” said Bradford afterward. “I’m most proud of how we responded throughout this game.The resilience we showed when things didn’t always go our way. We’re not playing our best ball right now. But Lipscomb’s a good team, they’ve got a lot of talent and we found a way to win. Really glad to get this one.”
GAME SUMMARY
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LIPSCOMB ACADEMY
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0
|
7
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14
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7
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-- 28
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MCCALLIE
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0
|
21
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7
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14
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-- 42
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Second Quarter
LIP 11:13 2Q: Chauncey Gooden 3 yd Rush; Cy Pepper kick 7-0
McC 9:31 2Q: Keylan Syam 6 yd Rush; Elliott Arnold kick 7-7
McC 7:42 2Q: Keylan Syam 1 yd Rush; Elliott Arnold kick 7-14
McC :47 2Q: Keylan Syam 45 yd Rush; Elliott Arnold kick 7-21
Third Quarter
LIP 9:50 3Q: Drew Patterson 10 yd Rush; Cy Pepper kick 14-21
LIP 6:19 3Q: Drew Patterson 17 yd Rush; Cy Pepper kick 21-21
McC 2:58 3Q: Keylan Syam 2 yd Rush; Elliott Arnold kick 21-28
Fourth Quarter
McC 9:37 4Q: Jacob Lamontage 14 yd Pass from Elliott Drapeau; Elliott Arnold kick 21-35
LIP 7:06 4Q: Drew Patterson 2 yd Rush; Cy Pepper kick 28-35
McC 1:44 4Q: Keylan Syam 19 yd Rush; Elliott Arnold kick 28-42
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STATS
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Lipscomb
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McCallie
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First Downs
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19
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14
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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35-141
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23-206
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Passing Yards
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255
|
104
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Total yards
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396
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310
|
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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25-36-1
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9-20-0
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Penalties-Yards
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3-45
|
1-0
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Punts-Average
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2-44.5
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2-39.5
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Fumbles-Lost
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0-0
|
0-0
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|
|
|
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Drew Patterson 27-111; Sebastian Nelson 2-11; Chauncey Gooden 1-11; Tav Shaffer 1-6; CJ Jimcoily 3-2 (LIP); Keylan Syam 13-184; Elliott Drapeau 2-17; Keeyshawn Tabuteau 2-8 (MC).
Passing: Tav Shaffer 11 of 16 for 177 yards, 1 INT; Sebastian Nelson 14 of 19 for 78 yards; Travis Wakefield 0 for 1 (LIP); Elliott Drapeau 9 of 20 for 104 yards, 1 TD (MC)
Receiving: Cam Bivens 9-106; Lex Baskin 8-92; Jackson Spencer 2-16; Travis Wakefield 1-12; Drew Rempel 1-11; T.J. Briggs 1-9; Drew Patterson 4-5; Bo Strickland 1-4 (LIP); Loia Valade 3-34; Carson Lawrence 1-31; Keeyshawn Tabuteau 3-22; Jacob Lamontage 1-14; Ryan Larrabee 1-3 (MC).
Records: Lipscomb Academy 3-7, 2-3; McCallie 8-2, 4-1.
Next up: McCallie has a bye in Week 1 of the playoffs.
(Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@mccllie.org)