McCallie School's Alex Trotter pushes forward as Baylor defenders.Alex Trotter ran for 177 yards and three touchdowns against Pope John Paul II last week.
It would be considered a great performance for most, but it's not even average for the McCallie senior whom the TSSAA announced Wednesday as a Tennessee Titans Division II-AA Mr. Football finalist.
Trotter is one of four Chattanooga-area athletes selected as state Mr. Football finalists, joining Signal Mountain lineman Harrison Moon, Marion County running back and linebacker Blake Zeman and Ooltewah kicker Laszlo Toser. All are seniors.
The Mr. Football winners (back and lineman, each classification, and one kicker) will be announced on Dec. 1 in Murfreesboro.
Heading into the Blue Tornado's game Friday at Montgomery Bell Academy, Trotter is averaging 195 yards per game and has scored 32 touchdowns. His total is 2,145 yards, with four games of at least 200.
Harrison Moon of Signal MountainIn the regular season against PJP II he set the city's single-game rushing record with 374 yards (25 carries) and scored seven touchdowns.
"To get 2,000 yards in our league is just incredible. I don't know if anybody has done that before," McCallie coach Ralph Potter said.
He has three of the area's top 10 single-game rushing performances this season, including 264 yards against Siegel and 244 against Baylor.
"He's just had an unbelievable year. You look for weakness and don't find any," Potter said. "He's durable, he can run inside, he has great speed and he can catch the ball."
Trotter, who has attracted recruiters from numerous schools including Duke, already has a handful of scholarship offers, including from Army and the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.
Part of that is because he's more than just a running back or a sprinter for the Blue Tornado track team.
"He's a tremendous individual and he has been a leader here since his earliest days," Potter said. "He has a 3.7 GPA and the respect of the faculty and the coaches. He's worked hard. I was talking to one of our math teachers and he recalled how Alex was in a basic math class as a freshman and now he's taking calculus, which I think speaks well for the school and for Alex."
Moon is the only one of the four area Mr. Football finalists who already committed to a college program, and he did that at Mississippi State back in the summer.
"He's having to go both ways this year -- full-time offensive tackle and most of the time at tackle or end on defense," Signal Mountain coach Bill Price said of the 6-foot-6, 285-pounder. "He averages four or five pancakes (knockdown blocks) this year, but he's a load to try to move off the line on defense.
Laszlo Toser of Ooltewah"I think he's the highest-ranked offensive line prospect Mississippi State has ever gotten, and I think they plan on redshirting him next year. One of the coaches told me they were going to lock him in the weight room."
Zeman plays both ways for Marion County, gaining 1,360 yards while averaging just under 15 carries per game. Though having played rarely in the second half of nine of the Warriors' 10 games, he leads the team with 95 tackles, including 10 sacks and 25 tackles for loss.
Marion coach Ricky Ross couldn't decide where Zeman was more valuable.
"I couldn't say. If he's on offense he makes it tough (for opponents) in the passing game and on the perimeter, and if he's on defense he forces people to run away from him," the coach said. "The best thing is that he's dominant on both sides. That's probably why some recommended him on offense and some on defense."
Yet when Ross spoke of Zeman's attributes, it wasn't touchdowns or tackles he mentioned.
"He's an unselfish kid," Ross said. "Sure, he wants to run it, but it's never about his yardage, his carries or his tackles. He believes when the team does well that its stars only shine brighter."
Toser has been an unheralded star at Ooltewah, one of those guys who is almost an afterthought except to a coach.
"Unless you follow us or are involved with football, it's hard to explain how valuable he is," Owls coach Mac Bryan said of his kicker. "Most every time we kick off the other team is going to have to start at the 20. All but six or seven of his kickoffs have gone through the end zone, and it leaves the other guys looking at an 80-yard drive to score."
Toser, who has made 51 of 52 PATs and 11 of 15 field-goal tries, including a 52-yarder, was asked this year also to punt.
"He's averaged a little more than 31 yards per punt, but the net punting is only a yard less. That's helpful, too, because it we don't have many punts returned," Bryan said. "And while we haven't kicked more than two or three long field goals, I know that if we're getting close to the end of the half that all we have to do is get to the 30 or 35 and we've likely got a field goal."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.