Alcoa quarterback Eli Graf gave a tip of his backwards state championship hat to his Westview counterpart Graham Simpson in Friday's battle of Mr. Football Finalists as the Chargers headed for their Finley Stadium locker room and his Tornado teammates celebrated a 40-21 BlueCross Bowl 3A state championship.
"They do what they do, and do it well. We are more of a smash mouth football team and we do it well. I don't think this was as much him against me as it was us against them, and we had a little more us," said Graf minutes after collecting his second straight BlueCross Bowl MVP trophy.
And with Graf running for 225 yards and a pair of scores, tossing another one amongst his 39 passing yards combined with a Tornado defense which harassed Simpson from kickoff to final horn, Alcoa (13-1) completed yet another state title run. It was the 10th straight golf ball for the program adding to its state record and 23rd overall, extending that record as well.
"That may be the hardest three score win I've ever been a part of," said Alcoa head coach Brian Nix, now 3-for-3 in state titles since taking over the program from the legendary Gary Rankin. "They didn't want to go away."
Which was to say Simpson, the phenomenal freshman, wouldn't go away. The brother of current Alabama backup QB Ty Simpson and the son of UT-Martin head coach Jason Simpson, Graham withstood several brutal hits to deliver 18 of 24 passes for 265 yards and one score. He was sacked six times as protection broke down time and again with no rushing attack to compliment his dazzling show. Alcoa limited Westview to 51 yards rushing on 25 carries.
"We have so many young ones in the secondary. All four of them are sophomores so we had to get as much pressure as possible, and the kid still performed," Nix praised.
Of course, Simpson has performed all year long, breaking the single game state record with a 620-yard effort and finishing the season with the fifth best single season in Tennessee prep history. He finishes with 4,131 passing yards and 57 TD passes (third best all-time). Not bad for a 15-year-old freshman.
"We will take this experience and build on it. I told all the freshmen, sophomores and juniors we start getting better tomorrow," said Simpson, who already holds several SEC and DI offers.
The one thing he and his mates won't have to contend with going forward is Alcoa, as the Tornados move up to 4A classification next year in their quest to keep the streak alive.
"Every one of these kids understands the expectations of the program and that can be a lot mentally and it can be exhausting if you let it. I had the fortune of learning from the all-time best, and Coach Rankin always told them if you let it get to you it will. These kids come out and play for four years and they want to be good. They have two goals, to beat Maryville and win a state title and they put in the work. This isn't the same team that was down by 17 to Ravenwood to start the season, that's for sure," Nix said of the season-opening loss to 6A Ravenwood.
Alcoa, as it has so many times, exerted dominance from the get go, scoring on its first four possessions of the first half to take a 27-7 lead at the break. Micah Jones capped off the two first quarter drives with runs of 7 and 5 and Graf added the next two with runs of 2 and 4. The drives covered 68, 44, 40 and 57 yards with the final one perhaps being the dagger.
After Simpson led a nine play, 71 yard drive for score to cut the lead to 20-7 which was eerily reminiscent of Thursday night's momentum shift in the Baylor-McCallie game, the Chargers were poised to stop Alcoa for the first time. Facing a fourth and 7 at Westview's 41, Graf lined up in punt formation but turned a fake into a 32-yard run before scoring two plays later.
"Yeah, we didn't want to punt and we were kind of angry about it until we got the play. It was definitely a momentum shift and we didn't want to let any of it shift away," said Graf of the play.
Westview (14-1) managed to get its first defensive stop after a fourth down pass fell incomplete on Alcoa's first drive of the second half and Simpson led a 77-yard drive which included a 40-yard TD pass being negated by penalty. He completed all six of his passes and Asa Barnes rammed it home from the 3 to make it a 27-14 game.
The Chargers got a stop on a fourth-and-goal play when Cody Meeks and Scott Tylon stopped Graf short of the end zone with a chance to make it a one score game. ALcoa linebacker Darius Sudderth sacked Simpson at the 18 though and forced a fumble which teammate Carter Cowart recovered.
Graff finished the short 24-yard drive with a pass to Michigan signee Eli Owens on a third and goal play to make it 34-14 with 2:07 remaining. Both Simpson and Graf then made last ditch efforts to impress with Simpson tossing a a 64-yard TD pass to Miles Brown at the 1:28 mark, and Graf scoring on a 49-yard rush on the first play after a failed onside kick.
Alcoa ran for 345 yards and Westview passed for 265 which helped the Tornado run 11 more plays and hold the ball for 12 more minutes in the game. Jones added 76 rushing yards for the champs. Miles Brown caught seven passes for 153 yards and Dontez Joy had five for 70.
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ALCOA
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13
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14
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0
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13
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--40
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WESTVIEW
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0
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7
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7
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7
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-- 21
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SCORING SUMMARY:
First Quarter
AL 05:59 Micah Jones 7 run (Kyrin Tyson kick) 0-7
AL 02:19 Micah Jones 5 run (kick failed) 0-13
Second Quarter
AL 06:19 Eli Graf 2 run (Kyrin Tyson kick) 0-20
WV 03:02 Asa Barnes 4 run (Jayce Cook kick) 7-20
AL 00:20 Micah Jones 4 run (Kyrin Tyson kick) 7-27
Third Quarter
WV 05:01 Asa Barnes 1 run (Jayce Cook kick) 14-27
Fourth Quarter
AL 02:07 Eli Owens 6 pass from Eli Graf (Kyrin Tyson kick) 14-34
WV 01:28 Miles Brown 64 pass from Graham Simpson (Jayce Cook kick) 21-34
AL 01:17 Eli Graf 49 run (run failed) 21-40
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TEAM STATS
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Alcoa
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Westview
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First Downs
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23
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13
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Rushes-Yards
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51-345
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25-51
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Passing Yards
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39
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265
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Total yards
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384
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316
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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6-10-0
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18-24-0
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Penalties-Yards
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4-20
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10-66
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Punts-Average
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0-0.0
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2-19.0
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Fumbles-Lost
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2-0
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2-1
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Third Down Conversions
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5-9
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3-10
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Time of Possession
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30:00
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18:00
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Eli Graf 21-225; Micah Jones 21-76; Jermon Bishop 6-32; Justin Lindsey 3-12 (AL); Asa Barnes 12-56; Cody Meeks 5-13; Graham Simpson 8-(-18) (WV).
Passing: Eli Graf 6 of 10 for 39 yards and 1 touchdown (AL); Graham Simpson 18 of 24 for 265 yards and 1 touchdown (WV).
Receiving Jamir Dean 3-13; Eli Owens 2-24; Demauri Dubose 1-2 (AL): Miles Brown 7-153; Donteze Joy 5-70; Cooper Spaulding 2-26; Asa Barnes 2-(-6); Tyler Belew 1-15; Malik Smith 1-7 (WV)
Most Valuable Player: Eli Graf (Alcoa).
Notable: Alcoa gets its 10th straight championship.
Records: Alcoa 13-1; Westview 14-1.
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)