McCallie clips Irish on long fumble return in jamboree

Brainerd's Robert Evans (11) cuts back to miss the tackle by Howard's Deveontae Overton (14) as Johnny Pendergrass (6) approaches in the Jamboree opener Friday at Finley Stadium.

Shawn McColley's eyes widened and all he could think was, "Don't drop it."

The junior linebacker slashed into the Notre Dame backfield just as Irish quarterback Alex Darras dropped the ball onto the Finley Stadium turf. McColley scooped up the fumble and returned it 60 yards for a touchdown. That score came with less than a minute remaining in their period of Friday night's Chick-fil-A jamboree and gave the Blue Tornado a 7-0 win.

"I couldn't believe it at first when I saw the ball on the ground," McColley said. "I just grabbed it, and all I could think was run and don't get caught. I wanted to score because I knew the game was almost over."

Notre Dame had moved the ball deep into McCallie territory on an opening drive that chewed up more than five minutes off the clock. However, a long field-goal try sailed wide right, and after McCallie's offense stalled, it looked as though there would be no scoring.

"It was hard to tell much offensively because we really never had the ball much," Blue Tornado coach Ralph Potter said. "They came out in a different formation and we had to adjust, but it's always hard to know much after these things."

* Brainerd 6, Howard 0: What a way to start the night - a 70-yard pass from Panthers quarterback Tevin Walker, who's listed as a tight end and defensive end, to a wide-open David Cosby.

"There were something like 30 cameras up there," Brainerd coach Brian Gwyn said as he pointed to the team cameras that were running in the press box. "We wanted to give all these guys something to think about."

Quatarrius Porter had several long runs for the Hustlin' Tigers and Niejel Billingsley had a 37-yard run up the middle. A clear standout for Brainerd was cornerback Malik Beavers. He had a nifty tackle on the corner, went across the field to chase down a Howard runner and intercepted a pass. Deveonte Overton had an interception for the Tigers.

* Grace Academy 7, Sale Creek 0: The Panthers had a couple of nice runs early, but it was the Golden Eagles, on their third possession, who found the end zone. Moving the ball through the air, Grace capped a short drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass from Jared Thompson to Austin Walls.

* Tyner 14, Chattanooga Christian 7: Resembling past Wayne Turner teams, the Rams used a physical running game to upend the pass-oriented Chargers. Shannon Spralls got them on the board with a 26-yard score and Keonte Halfacre followed with a 14-yard score. CCS's TD, coming in the quarter's final minute, was a 16-yard pass from Matthew Mercer to Justin Wheeler.

* Hixson 0, Red Bank 0: The longtime rivals won't meet in the regular season this year, Red Bank going to a 3A region and Hixson staying in 4A. The two, although showing little, took their best shots. Hixson looks strong in the middle defensively, and running back Myles Ratliffe looks like a powerhouse back. Red Bank's passing game was clicking behind quarterback Caleb Tate.

* Baylor 13, McMinn County 7: The most scoring of the night was in the final period of play as Baylor struck for two long passes for the first points and the Cherokees added a late scoring run. Wil Austin connected with a wide-open Ulysses Strawter for a 39-yard TD to open the scoring, and on the next possessio, Bryce Verble found Daniel Monroe for a 43-yard TD.

McMinn County senior runner D.J. Kimpson had three consecutive physical runs, breaking tackles for nice gains on each, and the final run covered 3 yards for the score.