Proving that some people can complain that their diamond shoes are too tight, veteran McCallie coach Ralph Potter admitted he was frustrated with his team’s performance after its two quarters of action at Finley Stadium on Saturday, the final night of the three-day BlueCross BlueShield prep football jamboree.
“We still have to learn to line up right sometimes. We’ve got a long way to go,” Potter said after his team defeated Notre Dame and Cleveland by a combined margin of 35-0. “We’ve got a pretty good idea about some guys, and other guys we don’t really know much about yet, so what we use the preseason for is to play a lot of people and try to figure out exactly who can play at what level.
“It’s a sorting process that’s been taking place, which for me as a coach is harder because we haven’t really been preparing for an opponent. But that’s the mode we get to shift into this week.”
The Blue Tornado will open the regular season Friday night at Chattanooga Christian, a matchup of TSSAA Division II semifinalists from last year. The Chargers made the deepest run in program history by being part of the final four in DII-AA, while McCallie’s season ended with a painful one-point loss at Montgomery Bell Academy in the DII-AAA semifinals, halting the Blue Tornado’s bid to return to the BlueCross Bowl at Finley and go for a fourth straight state title.
In its first quarter Saturday, McCallie’s Javon McMahan broke a 30-yard run on the first play from scrimmage and scored four plays later on a 1-yard carry. Keylan Syam and Keeyshawn Schneider added short touchdown runs for the final margin.