For the past 20 years Chattanooga-area prep football teams have had their state championship dreams killed by Blount force trauma.
It's been a dead end for area programs whenever the road to the championship went through Alcoa - which along with neighboring rival Maryville has combined to bring an astounding 28 state titles back to Blount County.
That's the monster awaiting Notre Dame tonight in a Class 3A semifinal. Top-ranked Alcoa, which ended the Fighting Irish's season one step shy of the title game last year, hasn't lost to a team from the Chattanooga area since 1995 against Meigs County in the semis.
Since then the Tornadoes have won 14 straight playoff meetings - the number is an even more daunting 38 consecutive wins over our area when regular-season matchups are factored in - and they've claimed nine of their class's last 14 state titles.
"Last year I think it affected our kids," said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant, whose team gave up interception and fumble returns for touchdowns in falling behind 21-0 in the first half. Despite a late rally, that early hole was too much to overcome in a nine-point loss at Finley Stadium.
"Alcoa came out with about 80 kids on the field for warm-ups, and I think we got intimidated," Fant added. "That mentality played a huge role, but the difference now is we've done it. Our kids remember they fought back and played with them, even after that first quarter.
"There's no doubt you respect them, but our kids are looking at it as a do-over, like East Ridge last week. We didn't play well and we want to redeem ourselves."
Notre Dame did in fact redeem itself in a large way last week, making up for a midseason five-point loss to East Ridge with a resounding 55-27 win last week to get here. It was the Fighting Irish's sixth straight win, and the combination of confidence from that streak - they've outscored those teams an average of 43-11 - playing well in the final three quarters against Alcoa last year and having one of the most balanced offenses in the state could be the recipe for ending the area drought.
But to do so they'll have to win the battle up front against a defense, led by University of Tennessee at Chattanooga commitment Jonathan Decker, that has held nine teams to seven points or less, including last week's 24-0 thumping of third-ranked Christian Academy of Knoxville.
"This is a good defense," Alcoa coach Gary Rankin said matter-of-factly this week. "Up front, we're real good.
"It's different here than most places because of the tradition and the amount of pride. Our community feels like this is their team, and they back it up by packing the place every Friday. That mentality is important. We've beaten some teams that were as good as us, but our kids just believed they were going to win because we always have."
Alcoa, which has a 97-15 all-time playoff record, has outscored its 2015 opponents, which included seven state-ranked teams, by an average of 38-8. Its only loss (20-14) came to 6A power Maryville, which is favored to claim a record 16th state title.
"Last year we basically had two guys who could make plays for us, but we're such a different team this year," Fant added. "We've had seven kids who've made big-time plays just in the last few games to help us win. It's not as easy to take somebody away and stop our offense now. I'm not sure they've seen many teams that are as balanced as we are.
"Our defensive style has changed, too, because we put so much more pressure on teams. We'll give up a few plays here and there, but we'll also cause more turnovers and make plays for a loss because we're so much more aggressive. Alcoa will play a different Notre Dame team than they saw last year."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.