It wasn’t quite as bad as the first time, but almost.
The Nashville Christian Eagles won their second state football title and first since 2015 with a convincing 49-21 victory over the Columbia Academy Bulldogs in the Division II-A championship at Finley Stadium Thursday afternoon.
Nashville Christian had finished as the state runner-up in both 2021 and 2022.
The Eagles finish an outstanding season at 12-1 with a 10-game winning streak as they beat the Bulldogs for the second time this season. The first was a more lopsided 45-7 defeat on Oct. 11.
But on a crystal-clear day where the temperatures continued to drop as sundown approached, it was the Eagles who had the upper hand as they broke from a 14-14 halftime tie to score four straight touchdowns to win going away.
Nashville Christian quarterback Jared Curtis earned MVP honors for the game after scoring four rushing touchdowns and gaining 60 net yards on 13 carries. He also completed eight of 16 passes for another 158 yards and two TDs.
Curtis scored the first touchdown of the game on a six-yard run with 4:37 left in the opening quarter while teammate Javin Drewelow was on the receiving end of a 35-yard pass to put the team from the Music City up 14-0 with 9:53 left before halftime.
The Bulldogs tied things up with two TDs in the final six minutes, the first coming on a one-yard run by Harrison Brownlee with 5:53 left and the second when Brownlee snagged an 11-yard pass from quarterback Stephen Nieves with just four seconds left in the half.
The game was close at that point, but the Eagles took charge with four straight touchdowns to settle the issue after a Curtis’ four-yard run with 5:19 to play extended the lead to 42-14.
Brownlee scored his third TD of the game on a 24-yard pass from Nieves with 4:09 left to trim the lead to 42-21, but the Eagles responded in a hurry to match that score when Zane Crampton scored on a 31-yard pass from Curtis with 3:04 left.
The Eagles finished the game with 419 total yards to 387 for the Bulldogs, who ran 24 more offensive plays and had a possession advantage of more than eight minutes.
Terry Ward was the leading rusher for the Eagles as he finished with 203 yards on 18 carries while Drewelow was the leading receiver with four catches for 74 yards and the one touchdown.
Montae Baldwin had 167 yards on 37 carries to lead the Columbia ground game that netted 212 yards. Brownlee was the leading receiver with six catches for 96 yards. He was also the leading defender for the Bulldogs with eight tackles.
Thursday was the initial appearance for Columbia Academy in the BlueCross Bowl. The Bulldogs finished with a 10-4 record, Thursday's loss snapping a five-game winning streak.
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COLUMBIA ACADEMY
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14
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0
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7
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--21
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NASHVILLE CHRISTIAN
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6
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8
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6
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29
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-- 49
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SCORING SUMMARY:
First Quarter
NCS 04:37 Jared Curtis 6 run (kick failed) 6-0
Second Quarter
NCS 09:53 Javin Drewelow 35 pass from Jared Curtis (Pryor Browning run) 14-0
CA 05:53 Harrison Brownlee 1 run (Jackson Usherwood kick) 14-7
CA 00:04 Harrison Brownlee 11 pass from Stephen Nieves (Jackson Usherwood kick) 14-14
Third Quarter
NCS 06:41 Jared Curtis 3 run (kick failed) 20-14
Fourth Quarter
NCS 11:13 Jared Curtis 1 run (Zane Crampton pass reception) 28-14
NCS 07:55 Terry Ward 64 run (Braden Griffin kick) 35-14
NCS 05:19 Jared Curtis 4 run (Braden Griffin kick) 42-14
CA 04:09 Harrison Brownlee 24 pass from Stephen Nieves (Jackson Underwood kick) 42-21
NCS 03:04 Zane Crampton 31 pass from Jared Curtis (Braden Griffin kick) 49-21
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TEAM STATS
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CA
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NCS
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First Downs
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21
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17
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Rushes-Yards
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56-212
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35-261
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Passing Yards
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175
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158
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Total yards
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287
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419
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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10-19-3
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8-16-0
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Penalties-Yards
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13-80
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7-53
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Punts-Average
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1-18.0
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1-31.0
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Fumbles-Lost
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3-1
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1-1
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Third Down Conversions
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5-14
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6-8
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Time of Possession
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28:02
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19:58
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Montae Baldwin 37-167; Wyatt Ayers 7-31; Harrison Brownlee 5-17; Richard Nash 1-0; Stephen Nieves 6-(-6) (CA); Terry Ward 18-203; Jared Curtis 13-60; Brock Haywood 2-8; TEAM 2-(-10) (NCS).
Passing: Stephen Nieves 10 of 18 with 3 interceptions for 175 yards and 2 touchdowns; Wyatt Ayers 0 of 1 (CA); Jared Curtis 8 of 16 for 158 yards and 2 touchdowns (NCS).
Receiving Harrison Brownlee 6-96; Ethan Jackson 2-9; Wyatt Ayers 1-48; Montae Baldwin 1-22 (CA); Javin Dreweow 4-74; Kaden Grigsby 2-49; Zane Crampton 2-15 (NCS).
Most Valuable Player: Jared Curtis (Nashville Christian)
Notable: First state championship for Nashville Christian since 2015.
Records: Nashville Christian 12-1; Columbia Academy9-4.
(Contact John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)