ROCKWOOD, Tenn. - It wasn't a thing of beauty. It wasn't pretty by any measure. It wasn't what a lot of prep prognosticators predicted. And it wasn't particularly impressive.
But for Tyner football coach Wayne Turner, more times the critic than not, it was absolutely perfect.
For the third time in the program's history, the Tyner Rams will play for a state championship, this one thanks to a hard-fought, gutty, nail-biting 16-10 victory over host Rockwood in a TSSAA semifinal Friday night.
Tyner (12-2) will play Union City (11-2) next Friday at noon EST in Cookeville for the Class 2A title, 20 years after beating Union City to become Hamilton County's first state-champion public school in the playoff era.
"Sometimes in life things aren't going to go your way and you have to fight through them, overcome it. It's called character, and when you rise to the occasion in those situations, you've got a lot to be proud of," Turner said amid the postgame celebration. "I'm just overwhelmed with happiness for these kids. You can describe it however you want, but it got us to Cookeville."
The game was dominated by Tyner except for a series of unfortunate events. The Rams scored on their opening drive when Jaylen Bowens hit Jeremiah Batiste on a 39-yard strike to set up a 1-yard touchdown burst by Tyon Young just seven minutes into the game.
From that point on, though, it was a test in perseverance and restraint. The Rams added a 27-yard field goal by Luke Qualey but had first-and-goal before a penalty pushed them back. Bowens intercepted a pass and put Tyner back in business again inside the 10, but another penalty forced a fourth-down try that came up short in the end zone.
And just before halftime in what can only be described as bizarre, Rockwood electrified the home crowd with its lone touchdown. Tyner had an amazing throw-and-catch between Bowens and Batiste negated with a penalty and wound up trying to kick a field goal to end the half.
The kick was blocked and the Rockwood sideline celebrated, with coaches and players running onto the field as time expired. Rockwood's Octavious Worthy picked up the loose ball and made his way through nearly 30 people on the field and took it 98 yards. It looked something like the 1982 Stanford-Cal band-formation game.
The Tigers were penalized for illegal participation, but the officials let the TD stand and it was 10-7 at the break and Rockwood had all the momentum.
"Coach T just came in and a very relaxed way told us we had a job to do - a job we have been working towards for a long time. We were not going to let a bad call or anything else stand in our way to what we wanted to accomplish," said Tyner tackle Tracey Justice, who was dominant.
Rockwood was held to 122 rushing yards on 38 carries with its vaunted wing-T offense, which did manage to keep the ball away from Tyner's offense and gave the Tigers a chance. A field goal in the final seconds of the third quarter tied the score at 10-all.
Tyner forced a punt thanks to Tyrique Henry's sack and with 6:10 left in the game mounted a 54-yard drive that essentially took them to Cookeville. Jeremy Elston and Young were not going to be denied, and Bowens found the promised land with a spectacular 10-yard run in which he carried half the Rockwood defense into the end zone with 4:21 left.
"It was hard to get, but we were not going to be stopped," Bowens said later. "I don't know how my legs didn't give out, but I just kept pushing and when I fell it was in the end zone."
The Rams missed the PAT, though, and it was 16-10 and time for one final Tyner defensive stand.
Rockwood got to the Tyner 30, but two passes came up empty and the Rams' victory was in hand.
Elston wound up with 129 rushing yards on 14 carries, and Young had 106 on 15 runs.
"I had a good feeling about this bunch long before the season started," Turner said. "Tonight was tough. We got some bad calls. We made some mistakes. We didn't hang our heads and we kept at it. Those are signs of a champion."
And come next week, the Rams will play for exactly that recognition.
Contact James Beach at sports@timesfreepress.com