JASPER, Tenn. — In spite of Friday’s night TSSAA Class 2A semifinal between York Institute and host Marion County technically taking 48 minutes of football on the scoreboard clock, the result was pretty much decided in the game’s first 13 seconds.
That’s how long it took Sam Pickett to return the opening kickoff 78 yards for a score, and the Warriors were never really threatened while cruising to a 42-0 victory to advance to the BlueCross Bowl state championship game for the first time since 2016 that was the third of three consecutive trips — all ending in runner-up finishes.
The BlueCross Bowl is next Thursday through Saturday at Finley Stadium, with the Chattanooga venue hosting the state’s nine championship games for the fourth year in a row. The Warriors, now 12-2 this season, will face Milan (13-1) — a 21-16 winner over Fairley in Friday night’s other 2A semifinal — at 3 p.m. next Saturday.
Marion County will be making its 10th appearance in a state final. The Warriors won their fourth and most recent championship in 1995, with the others in 1994, 1992 and 1990.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football playoffs)
And if Pickett and the Marion County defense can repeat their respective performances again, that drought of titles could end. The senior standout finished with 254 total yards and four touchdowns, scoring two receiving and one rushing after the kickoff return.
Ironically, York Institute wasn’t trying to kick to Pittman. The first kick went out of bounds, but instead of just taking the ball at his own 35-yard line, Marion coach Tim Starkey acceped the 5-yard penalty on the Dragons and made them kick off again; this time, Pickett picked up the ball and followed his blockers down the right side for the score.
When asked what he saw on the kickoff return, Pickett said “an opportunity to go to state.”
“I grabbed the ball, I knew I was going home with it,” he said. “This was for the team, and I just put it all on the line for them.”
The Dragons had won 11 in a row since an 0-2 start, with only three of their wins decided by fewer than 13 points, and they were coming off a 31-7 quarterfinal win against Bledsoe County. Marion never allowed them a foothold.
“I told them before the game that I wanted to overwhelm those guys,” Starkey said. “I knew we would be the best team they’ve seen, and when that kickoff happened, it showed right there that we were the best team they’d seen.”
The Warriors limited York to 87 yards of total offense, with the Dragons gaining just five first downs and running a total nine plays on Marion’s side of the field. Three of the Dragons’ first downs came on the final drive of the game with a running clock via the TSSAA’s mercy rule, with Marion defenders Ashton Martin and Taylor Scharber living in the York backfield and combining for five tackles for loss.
York’s best drive came in the first half with Marion nursing a 21-0 lead, and it ended when Josh Langston picked off a Nathaniel Tipton pass at the Warriors’ 21-yard line and ran it into Dragons territory.
In the second half, Marion never ran a play on its side of the field.
“It’s great to have a chance to play in the state championship with a special group of kids,” Starkey said. “These seniors, I can’t think of a better group and more deserving group to have one last game in Finley Stadium for the state championship. They’ve won their whole life, and now to get over the (state semifinal) hump and have an opportunity to go play for a state championship is big.”
Marion’s Mason Mays ran for two touchdowns, while quarterback Tilton Pickett threw only one incompletion in his 10 passes and had 128 yards through the air and two touchdown passes.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.