Phillips, Wells help East win big

Signal Mountain quarterback Reese Phillips was the East offensive MVP after his record-setting squad won 41-20 in the Toyota East vs. West Tennessee All-Star Classic high school football matchup Saturday at Tennessee Tech, and McMinn County's Kelvin Wells Jr. was the game's leading rusher with 81 yards on 15 carries. Wells' 3-yard run with 1:55 left in the first quarter gave the East a 13-6 lead, and a Phillips 1-yard pass to Lucas Hamilton with 22 seconds left in the first half made it 27-6. Phillips wound up 10-for-10 passing for 95 yards and had one run for 9 yards. Hixson's Allante Novene had a 6-yard reception. The East was without Mr. Football quarterbacks Charlie High from Christian Academy of Knoxville and Brent Stockstill of Siegel, recovering from injuries, so Phillips and Science Hill's Reed Hayes ran the show in the largest scoring display in the game's history. "It was hard. I'm not going to lie," Phillips said, as quoted by The Tennessean of Nashville. "My offense was nothing like this, but I learned a lot. Reed and I had a great week of practice, and we both just kind of eventually got the hang of it and we knew we would be all right." Hayes was 6-of-11 for 61 yards with a TD and an interception. "They were great play calls," said Phillips, who has committed to Kentucky. "[Coach] would sit over there and figure out exactly what the defense was doing, and he would give us good chances to complete high-percentage passes. We ran the ball so well that we were able to run the play-action to perfection." Baylor's Colton Jumper made four solo tackles, one for lost yardage, and Cleveland's David Morgan had three solos and two assists, also with a lost-yardage hit. McMinn's Kallaunte Hammonds had a tackle for loss and another stop, and Novene and East Hamilton's Cody Knox also were credited with tackles. Giles County quarterback Al Giles was the West offensive MVP. Dobyns-Bennett's Devan Swafford and Ensworth's Anthony Batey were the defensive honorees.

• Times Free Press sports writer David Paschall will be the guest speaker for the Chattanooga Quarterback Club's noon luncheon meeting Monday at Finley Stadium, and the public is invited. Attendance costs $10 with a meal, $4 without. This will be the club's last meeting until Jan. 7. Paschall, who covers Southeastern Conference football for the newspaper, will talk about the 2012 season, upcoming bowl matchups and recent coaching changes, among other topics.

Running

• The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga's Nathan Wanuch and Taylor Hawk had runner-up finishes in the Middle Tennessee Christmas Invitational meet opening the indoor track and field season Saturday in Murfreesboro. Senior Wanuch was second in the men's 3,000-meter run, with freshman teammate Matthew Marshall sixth, and Hawk led a two-three-four finish for freshman Mocs in the mile run, with Zack Darby and Austin Ethridge. Iman Isang was fourth in the 55-meter hurdles, and fellow freshman Marquis Carter was seventh in the 800. The Lady Mocs' Ambria Reese and Jessica Philpott were fifth and sixth in the women's 800, and Alex Whatley was sixth in the triple jump. Philpott and Whatley are freshmen, Reese a sophomore.

• Baylor School senior Simon Holden finished 37th in the boys' race of the Foot Locker Cross Country Championships national finals Saturday at Balboa Park in San Diego. Holden covered the 5-kilometer course in 16 minutes, 6 seconds. Winner Ed Cheserek from St. Benedict's Prep School in Newark, N.J., won in 14:59, six seconds ahead of runner-up Sean McGorty from Fairfax, Va.

Golf

• Mere days after his wife Carol connected on her first career hole-in-one, Bob Babb knocked in an ace of his own Saturday at Creeks Bend Golf Course. Bob hit a 9-iron 143 yards on hole No. 9 for his 10th career hole-in-one, witnessed by Glenn Fairbanks, Bernard Miller and Jim Vineyard. Carol had hit a 9-wood 101 yards for her ace on hole No. 6, witnessed by Ruth Cooke.

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