Tyner’s Zashun Hubbard recognized the flat route, and he jumped all over it to help provide a 2-point conversion stop with just 40 seconds remaining and his team holding a 26-24 lead over Decatur-Riverside.
Moments later, fellow senior Josiah Bridgeman caught a line drive at his feet on the onside kick attempt, making the slim advantage stand and securing Tyner’s first football state championship since 1997 in Saturday’s TSSAA Class 2A BlueCross Bowl at Finley Stadium.
“I will never forget this moment,” Hubbard said. “We will all remember this forever. All the hard work we have poured into something much bigger than ourselves paid off in the greatest way. We were prepared for that last-second moment. To come up with a stop and get the gold ball feels unreal.”
For the first time, two football programs inside the Chattanooga city limits are TSSAA state champions in the same season. The Rams capped a memorable week for the Scenic City that included Baylor winning the Division II-AAA championship Thursday, and Tyner is also the first Chattanooga public school to win a football state title since Signal Mountain’s 2A triumph in 2010.
