Hargis: Tyner's 1997 Rams share close championship bond


Tyner High School Head Coach Wayne Turner discusses a call with a referee during the game against Notre Dame on August 26, 2016.
Tyner High School Head Coach Wayne Turner discusses a call with a referee during the game against Notre Dame on August 26, 2016.

The gold ball sits atop a locker in a corner of coach Wayne Turner's office. There is no fancy trophy case to house it or spotlight shining down to draw attention to it, which makes one of Tyner Academy's most prized possessions easy to overlook.

But considering how close the 32 players who made up the 1997 Tyner football team were, how much time they spent together inside that locker room, the state championship trophy rests right where it should be.

"I don't even have to dust it," Turner said with a grin. "Ever so often one of those former players comes by to check in on us, and they always take it down and look at it and wipe it off before they put it back."

This season marks the 20-year anniversary of Tyner becoming the first public school from Hamilton County to win a football state title. The scores required a double-take, the talent was lethal and the Rams were determined not to be denied as their dream season culminated with a 13-10 win over stubborn Union City on the green carpet of Vanderbilt's Dudley Field for the Class 2A crown.

Like a shooting star, Rory Hinton's 29-yard pass pierced Nashville's frigid night air, refusing to fall to earth until Rams receiver Windarek Stewart had cradled it in his arms in the back of the end zone with just over a minute remaining in the game.

"We were in the huddle and Squiggy (Stewart) looked at me and said, 'Rory, throw me the ball. I won't let you down,'" Hinton recalled. "We had played together since we were 5, so that TD pass wasn't about me throwing a great pass, it was because I trusted Squiggy to do what he said he would.

"I never even saw him catch it, because I got knocked to the ground as soon as I let it go. The first thing I saw was him toss the ball to the ref in the end zone and do that little dance he always did when we scored. That was the best feeling."

The Rams let it be known they had bad intentions for anyone on their schedule by opening that season with a 95-3 whipping of Boyd-Buchanan. They claimed all but two of their 14 wins by at least three touchdowns, outscoring opponents an average of 45-8, including six shutouts. The only loss was to Battle Ground Academy, led by All-America running back Troy Fleming, which went on to win the Division II state title.

The only other postseason test came in the quarterfinals when the Rams had to convert three third downs in the final three minutes to keep an 80-yard scoring drive going in a narrow win over David Lipscomb. Seven Rams signed college scholarships, including three with Division I-A programs, and one of those - fullback and linebacker Kelvin Hughley - became the school's first state Mr. Football award winner.

"We are still the closest of friends," added Hinton, who serves as a positive role model for the kids - including his three sons - on the two youth teams he and four former Rams teammates coach. "I can make three phone calls and have the whole team back together. That's how close we still are.

"That season gets brought up every time we're all together. We even get reminded about it by people who weren't on the team, just folks from the community who were proud and still remember us. That's amazing."

The 1997 season was fueled not just by talent and an unbreakable bond among teammates, but also by the memory of falling short the season before. A 31-point title-game loss to Memphis Melrose - which high-stepped and taunted its way to a state-final record for penalties, most of which for unsportsmanlike conduct - was the foundation Tyner's returning players used to build their offseason workouts on.

"They beat us to a pulp and we had to walk off tasting our own blood," Stewart said. "We had gotten embarrassed, and that feeling pushed us all through the offseason. Other than my kids, winning it the next year is one of the proudest moments of my life. It's the one thing I accomplished that nobody can take away. That's proof that at that time we were the best, and I don't even have to discuss it."

The Rams never had won a playoff game prior to Turner's arrival as coach, and they failed even to make the postseason each of the five years before he took over. But from 1996 to 2005 the Rams failed to win at least 10 games just once, won 60 of 61 region games - by an average of 36 points - and had 36 players receive college scholarships.

"Those (1997) guys set the standard for what our program has become," said Turner, who has more than 200 career wins. "They were great players, but they were also great young men off the field. They set one goal for the whole season and worked their tails off to get there. That bunch could play with anybody."

Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.

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