ALCOA, Tenn. — Tyner lost a football game for the first time this season, yet managed to gain some confidence in the process.
Class 2A’s Rams fell 42-20 at seven-time reigning Class 3A state champion Alcoa on Friday night in a matchup of two state-ranked No. 1 teams, and with a region title already in hand, Tyner and coach Scott Chandler have no reason to think their chances of adding a state championship have diminished.
After trailing by four scores at halftime last season to the Tornadoes, the Rams were down 7-6 with less than nine minutes left in the third quarter Friday as they drove looking for back-to-back scores. Tyner’s Jarius Cameron had already posted 76 receiving yards on four catches, including a 30-yarder on a pass from Josh Jackson on fourth-and-1 to set up Markel McKinley the play after for a 13-yard touchdown run.
Outside of allowing a 65-yard scoring drive to begin the game, the Rams (8-1) had continued their strong defense, forcing Alcoa (8-1) into a pair of three-and-out series and benefiting from a couple of big pass breakups by D’Michael Hamilton and Rayshun Hinton to trail 7-0 at halftime. A fumble recovery by Marcus Lewis Jr. with 8:56 left in the third quarter set Tyner up at midfield looking to take the lead.
“The first two quarters and first few minutes of the third quarter showed us we should be able to compete at the 2A level (in the playoffs). A very high level,” Chandler said. “When you can go toe to toe with Alcoa for that amount of time, you can build off that for the rest of the season. We were down to them 28-0 at halftime last season. It wasn’t even close.”
The Rams missed out on a pair of big opportunities in the first half when they drove down to the Tornadoes’ 5- and 1-yard lines on separate series only to be turned away on fourth down each time.
The game shifted toward the home team when the Tornadoes recovered a fumble a play after their own lost fumble. A jarring hit by Elijah Cannon forced the ball out with 8:40 left in the third quarter. Cannon then started an explosion for Alcoa’s offense as he broke several tackles on a 24-yard touchdown run for a 14-6 lead with 5:55 left in the third.
Alcoa scored three more times before the end of the quarter to lead 35-6, with running back Jordan Harris proving versatile as a target in the passing game and showing a mean stiff arm on a 34-yard touchdown run.
Tyner’s Jackson completed eight of his first 10 passes for 118 yards. However, the Tornadoes tightened up on defense after building the lead to 14-6 as Jackson finished 9-of-15 for 126 yards with 9 rushing yards on a single carry.
McKinley had 15 carries for 58 yards, with his impressive 13-yard score coming at 9:01 in the third quarter.
“The first half we only give up the one touchdown, and we had the ball twice down on their goal line and don’t score,” Chandler said. “Our defense really played well besides on one busted coverage to let up their touchdown pass on the first drive. For us to fight and be down only 14-6 midway through the third quarter is something I was extremely happy about.
“Markel ran hard, and our offensive line blocked pretty good. Jarius made some big plays for us, too. I was impressed with our guys until midway through the third. We just got tired and lost momentum.”
Tyner junior varsity players finished the game strong, with Jaydan Parker taking off for a 76-yard touchdown as time expired. Jamarie Ballard had a 52-yard run and added a 2-yard score in the final quarter for the Rams.
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com and follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.