Walking up and down the senior night line, McCallie coach Ralph Potter smiled and waved and tried to enjoy the moment.
Pregame ceremonies normally rank ahead of halftime interviews and behind root canals for football coaches. Potter is no different, but he understands and appreciates the significance.
"I remember how special it was three years ago when I did it as a parent," Potter said after McCallie's 63-28 win over Pope John Paul II. "It's important."
It was more than that for Joey Belisle, McCallie's senior left tackle from Austin, Texas. His parents made the trip to watch Belisle's final regular-season home game, coming to Chattanooga as Hurricane Patricia was barreling toward them.
"It was really special to have them here," Belisle said after he and his line mates paved the way for McCallie to gain 583 yards of offense on 55 plays. "I know there can be a lot of emotion, but it really got me amped up even more than normal."
Whatever fuel was in the Blue Tornado tank, it overpowered the visiting Knights from the start. McCallie jump-started a near-perfect first half offensively, so the veteran Potter was especially pleased considering the pregame festivities.
His concerns were balanced among the emotions of the final regular-season home game, the view of a handful of walking wounded McCallie players in khakis rather than football pants and an overmatched Pope John Paul II foe.
"As beat up as we are," Potter said, "that's what made starting fast so important. We played well at times, and we'll start to get some kids back and see where we are."
McCallie (5-4, 3-2 DII-AA) clinched a first-round playoff home game against these same Knights, who were overwhelmed from the start.
McCallie needed three plays - all runs - to take a 7-0 lead on Maxim Yeoh's 12-yard run. Yeoh was part of a Blue Tornado running assault that staked McCallie to a 35-7 halftime lead.
Mixing traditional option runs with midline zone options, the McCallie running game was overpowering through two quarters. Led by Shawn McColley's 136 first-half yards, the Tornado had 275 rushing yards on 23 carries and had no negative yardage plays.
"That was a lot of fun, especially when you can do it in a league as competitive as ours," said Belisle, who mentioned the injuries across the line, including senior standout Jay Roberts. "Without Jay we've had to move some things around, but the coaches do a great job of making sure we're all on the same page."
McCallie's offensive execution forced Pope John Paul II into desperate measures. After an impressive 12-play scoring drive on their first possession, the Knights were foiled on a fake punt when Blaine Pritchett intercepted a Jackson Morris throw.
Pritchett's pickoff opened the floodgates as McCallie reached the end zone on each of its five first-half possessions.
With the running game established, McCallie quarterback Robert Riddle was able to pick his spots effectively on the ground and through the air. After scoring on a 1-yard run to stretch the lead to 28-7, Riddle closed the first half with a 13-yard strike to JaVaughn Craig for a score with nine seconds left.
It was in some ways a fitting punctuation for a dominant first half for McCallie. The senior Craig, who started the season at quarterback before battling a couple of injuries, found the end zone on a well-timed pass from Riddle, who accounted for 174 yards of offense and four TDs.
"It's pretty special to end on such a good note on senior night," Craig said. "But the most important thing is that we are starting to play some team ball. We know what we have and what we can do."
Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6343. Follow him on Twitter @jgreesontfp.