NASHVILLE _ For the second time in two years, the Finley Stadium stands will be filled with McCallie Blue and White on one side and Baylor Red and Gray on the other side in the Division II Class AAA state championship game.
If it’s able to match McCallie’ 34-28 win from a year ago, all those in attendance come Thursday night, December 5, will be in for a special treat again.
Roughly 30 minutes after Baylor beat visiting Brentwood Academy 35-21 to return to the BlueCross Bowl, McCallie put the finishing touches on a 31-7 victory over previously undefeated Ensworth on the Tigers’ west Nashville campus.
“We’ve scratched and clawed for everything we’ve gotten all season,” said McCallie coach Joel Bradford after the Blue Tornado reached the state championship game for the fifth time in six years.
“Our guys have earned this and I’m so proud of them.”
The defending Division II Class AAA state champs threw a little bit of everything at the Tigers. As usual, senior running back Keylan Syam scored a touchdown and ran for a game-high 113 yards. Not so usual, senior defensive back Carson Lawrence _who’ll be playing college football next year a few miles from the Ensworth campus at Vanderbilt _ ran an interception back 42 yards to put McCallie up 21-7.
“I knew I needed to run as fast as I could to score,” said Lawrence of his fourth-quarter pick six to put McCallie on top 21-7. “And that’s what I did.”
But that wasn’t the only defensive score for the Blue Tornado. Defensive lineman Max Pincott knocked the ball loose from Ensworth quarterback Taylor Hasselbeck in the fourth quarter, linebacker Cooper Gentle fell on it and McCallie suddenly led 31-7 to end any doubt about the winner.
As it has all season, McCallie’s defense was all but immovable against the run, surrendering but 23 yards in 20 carries. Ensworth did gain 220 yards through the air, but McCallie wound up limiting the Tigers to just seven first downs while collecting 13.
“Our most complete game of the season,” said Bradford of his 10th win of the season in 12 games. “We beat a very good team tonight.”
And now they’ll play the No. 1 team in state, the team that beat McCallie 44-12 in September, to defend their title in the same Finley Stadium they won it all a year ago.
GAME SUMMARY
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MCCALLIE
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0
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7
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7
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17
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--31
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ENSWORTH ACADEMY
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0
|
0
|
7
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0
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-- 7
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SCORING SUMMARY:
2nd Quarter
McC 1:52 2Q: Keylan Syam 1 yd Rush; Elliott Arnold kick, 7-0
3rd Quarter
McC 5:12 3Q: Keeyshawn Tabuteau 23 yd Pass from Elliott Drapeau; Elliott Arnold kick, 14-0
ENS 3:48 3Q: Demarii Thompson 35 yd Pass from Taylor Hasselbeck; Graham Smith kick, 14-7
4th Quarter
McC 10:46 4Q: Interception Carson Lawrence 42 yd Return; Elliott Arnold kick, 21-7
McC 4:55 4Q: Elliott Arnold 27 yd FG, 24-7
McC 4:19 4Q: Cooper Gentle 2 yd Fumble Return; Elliott Arnold kick, 31-7
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STATS
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McCallie
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Ensworth
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First Downs
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13
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7
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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38-162
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20-23
|
|
Passing Yards
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66
|
220
|
|
Total yards
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228
|
243
|
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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7-18-0
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14-22-1
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Penalties-Yards
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9=67
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6-47
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|
Punts-Average
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3-34.5
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3-29.0
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|
Fumbles-Lost
|
0-0
|
2-1
|
|
Third Down Conversions
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7-20
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1-10
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Keylan Syam 28-113; Keeyshawn Tabuteau 6-36; Kris Lloyd 3-10; Elliott Drapeau 1-3 (MC); Jack Watts 1-26; Jaden Pyant 1-8; Micah Smith 2-7; EJ Gibson 9-6; Blake Surratt 1-3; Taylor Hasselbeck 6-(-27) (ENS).
Passing: Elliott Drapeau 7 of 17 for 66 yards, 1 TD; Andrew Polen 0 of 1 for 0 yards (MC); Taylor Hasselbeck 14 of 22 for 220 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT (ENS).
Receiving Carson Lawrence 3-28: Keeyshawn Tabuteau 1-23; Sean Couvertiere 1-10; Ryan Larrabee 2-5 (MC).
Records: McCallie 10-2; Ensworth 11-1.
Next up: McCallie meets Baylor (12-0) in the DII-AAA championship game at Finley Stadium on December 5th at 7:00 p.m.
(Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@mccllie.org)