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Scores and Photos: Friday Night High School Football - Aug. 28
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Thomas Burks booted a 29-yard field goal on the final play of the game, making up for a missed extra point earlier in the contest and giving Blackman a 44-42 victory over visiting McCallie on Friday.
McCallie scored twice in 71 seconds late in the final period, with Robert Riddle passing to Shawn McColley for a 21-yard touchdown pass with 2:03 remaining. Jonah Bryan then executed a perfect onside kick and Rico Dozier recovered at the Blackman 46.
Five plays later, Riddle threw to Tynelius Hall from 13 yards out, and after a timeout, the Blue Tornado (0-2) went for the win. Riddle found Dozier in the back of the end zone for a two-point conversion and a 42-41 edge with 51.6 seconds to play.
Blaze quarterback Miller Armstrong accounted for all 68 yards before the field goal on the final drive, completing four of six passes. He hit Darius Simple on fourth-and-10 to the McCallie 25, and Quantez Pugh's catch for 13 yards moved the ball to the 12 with just 2.7 seconds to play. Pugh cut outside to get out of bounds, setting up the Burks kick for the win.
McCallie coach Ralph Potter explained why he decided to go for the win with the two-point conversion but also pointed out a critical mistake on Blackman's final drive.
"We went for two because our kicker was shaky and we hadn't played very good defense," Potter said, "but the big play was (on the fourth down). Our corner came inside and they let (Armstrong) scramble out there. That's probably what did us in."
Blackman's Taeler Dowdy finished with 184 yards on 25 carries and three touchdowns while Riddle, McCallie's backup quarterback, finished 24-of-29 passing for 320 yards and four TDs. The teams combined for 967 yards of offense.
McCallie fell behind 14-0 in the opening quarter but scored three times before halfatime. Riddle rushed 5 yards for a score after a 71-yard kickoff return by Nygel Edmonds and Dozier's 2-yard TD catch tied the contest at 14. The Blue Tornado took the lead, 21-20, on Hall's 63-yard scoring catch midway through the second quarter, but trailed 27-21 at the break.
The visitors marched 81 yards on 11 plays to start the third quarter, capped by McColley's 28-yard scoring run, with the junior bowling over a defender just before crossing the goal line.
Blackman then went 97 yards on 17 plays, taking nearly 10 minutes off the clock, to retake the lead early in the fourth quarter, and Dowdy's 5-yard run with 3:50 remaining seemed to put the game away but actually set up the wild comeback by the Blue Tornado.