NASHVILLE -- For the briefest of moments Friday night, McCallie football coach Joel Bradford and senior defensive back De’Shun Tipton had a sick feeling they had experienced this halftime break against Lipscomb Academy once before.
Two years ago, an undefeated Blue Tornado squad led 28-7 before ultimately falling apart in the second half and losing 34-28, which would wind up as its only loss of the year on the way to a Division II-AAA state title. This time around, up 21-0 after one quarter, Bradford and Tipton went to intermission up 21-14.
“Yes, 21 points isn’t a good number for us up here,” said Bradford after McCallie rolled to a 56-20 road win.
“But we played a little better in the second half. We’ve still got a lot of work to do, but to win this first one on the road is a good start.”
“I definitely thought about that game two years ago,” said Tipton, who had one interception against the Mustangs, with teammate Ryan Muxlow also getting a pick for the winners . “But we settled down after halftime. We played a lot better defense.”
Freshman wide receiver Levi Scott showed Lipscomb that the Blue Tornado had a lot better offensive weapon than anyone knew about when he scored McCallie’s first two touchdowns of the game on catches of 43 and 25 yards on passes from senior quarterback Elliott Drapeau. The first two of Ben Brewer’s eight eventual extra points put McCallie up 14-0. When Drapeau ran in for another score a few minutes later, the Blues were up 21-0.
But then Lipscomb got two touchdowns in the second quarter to bring flashbacks of 2023.
“I was really proud of the way we played in the second half,” said Bradford of McCallie’s 35-6 cushion led to a running clock late in the final quarter. “There were a lot of teachable moments and the offense played fairly well throughout.”
Indeed, the offense piled up 535 yards of offense with Drapeau passing for 270 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Junior running back Xavier Fillion ran for 111 yards and one touchdown and senior Kris Lloyd ran for 78 yards and two scores.
McCallie improves to 1-0 on the season heading into next week’s home opener against Hebron Academy from Georgia.
GAME SUMMARY
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MCCALLIE
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21
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0
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21
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14
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--56
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LIPSCOMB ACADEMY
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0
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14
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6
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0
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-- 20
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SCORING SUMMARY:
1st Quarter
McC: Levi Scott 43 yd Pass from Elliott Drapeau; Ben Brewer (PAT) 7-0
McC: Levi Scott 25 yd Pass from Elliott Drapeau; Ben Brewer (PAT) 14-0
McC: Elliott Drapeau 8 yd Rush; Ben Brewer (PAT) 21-0
2nd Quarter
LA: Z. Crockett 3 yd Rush (TD); Tyler Guiness (PAT) 21-7
LA: Cam Blivens 11 yd Pass from JC White; Tyler Guiness (PAT) 21-14
3rd Quarter
McC: Kris Lloyd 7 yd Rush; Ben Brewer (PAT) 28-14
McC: Kris Lloyd 11 yd Rush (TD); Ben Brewer (PAT) 35-14
McC: Xavier Fillion 7 yd Rush (TD); Ben Brewer (PAT) 42-14
LA: Cam Chaffin 33 yd Pass from JC White (run failed) 42-20
4th Quarter
McC: Keeyshawn Tabuteau 38 yd Pass from Elliott Drapeau; Ben Brewer (PAT) 49-20
McC: Kelby Barnett 12 yd Rush; Ben Brewer (PAT) 56-20
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STATS
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McCallie
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Lipscomb
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First Downs
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25
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18
|
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Rushes-Yards
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39-239
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17-25
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Passing Yards
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306
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359
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Total yards
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545
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384
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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16-20-1
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22-44-2
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Penalties-Yards
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8-85
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14-97
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Punts-Average
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1-31.0
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5-36.0
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Fumbles-Lost
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0-0
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0-0
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|
Third Down Conversions
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3-6
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4-13
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Individual Stats
Rushing: Xavier Fillion 11-111; Kris Lloyd 12-78; Elliott Drapeau 3-24; Kelby Barnett 2-12; Cooper Gentle 1-2; Levi Scott 1-2 (MC); Z. Crockett 6-16; M. Crockett 6-6; JC White 2-6; Robert Nicholas 1-0; Langston Jordan 2-(-3) (LA).
Passing: Elliott Drapeau 13 of 17 for 170 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT; Louis Fortier 3 of 3 for 36 yards (MC); JC White 22 of 44 for 359 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INT (LA).
Receiving Levi Scott 4-156; Keeyshawn Tabuteau 4-48; Loia Valada 2-30; Patrik Meyers 1-18; Mikey Bartlett 1-16; Antonio Burton 1-12; Xavier Fillion 1-11; Jacob Lamontagne 1-9; Wilson Pollock 1-6 (MC); Cam Bivens 1-105; Langston Jordan 4-42; M Crockett 4-37; Cam Chaffin 1-33; Tripp Naiman 4-28; Jaxon Spencer 1-23; Kobe Grigsby 1-7; Eli Mast 1-0; Z. Crokett 2-(-6) (LA)..
Records: McCallie 1-0; Lipscomb Academy 0-1..
Next up: McCallie hosts Hebron Christian (GA); Lipscomb Academy hosts Ravenswood.
(Contact Mark Wiedmer at mwiedmer@mccllie.org)