When one football team is kicking off for the fourth time and less than nine minutes has elapsed off the game clock, that’s generally a good sign for that team. It certainly was Friday for McCallie.
The Blue Tornado’s third touchdown came at the 3:29 mark of the first quarter, and they kept their TSSAA Division II-AA playoff hopes alive with a 44-26 victory over Battle Ground Academy at McCallie.
BGA quarterback C.J. Beathard came into the game having thrown for 329 yards and three touchdowns against Montgomery Bell Academy last week, and he hooked up with teammate Jimmy Redovian for 10 yards on his first throw against McCallie. On his second pass he connected with McCallie defensive back Will Bruce, and the first play afterward Trell Gardenhire took an option pitch from quarterback Trent Lusk and swept around the left side for a 27-yard touchdown.
The Blue Tornado took advantage of an 11-yard punt, which set up a 38-yard scoring drive on their next possession. The next time McCallie got the ball, Lusk threw his first pass, which turned out to be a 43-yard gain to George Harrison. A key block from wide receiver Keenan Hale sprung Gardenhire around right end on the next play, and Arturo Rocha’s third extra point after the 15-yard run made it 21-0.
“The kids were excited,” McCallie coach Rick Whitt said of the sideline reaction at that moment. “We hadn’t been that way in a long time.”
The Wildcats battled back with three touchdowns of their own, but a missed extra point and failed conversion pass left them two points behind.
“I don’t think we let our guard down,” Whitt said. “They did some things in the first half we hadn’t seen.”
With the aid of an offside penalty on BGA with no time showing on the clock, Lusk then capped a 13-play, 77-yard drive at the end of the half with a 1-yard scoring run and McCallie went to halftime leading 28-19.
Another 1-yard run by Lusk provided the only points in the third quarter, which ended with the Blue Tornado facing third-and-12 at the Wildcats’ 38. With time to set something up during the break, McCallie went with a throw-back screen to fullback Daniel McClure, who stormed through the defense for a touchdown.
Beathard was intercepted twice – the second time by tackle Josh Bandy near his 30-yard line, and he took it a little past midfield. That led to Rocha’s 21-yard field goal with 3:20 to play and pushed the lead to 25, rendering a 50-yard touchdown run by BGA’s Keenan Bass with less than three minutes to play meaningless.
McClure led McCallie with 22 carries for 134 yards. Gardenhire picked up 126 on 11 rushes.
“We did a great job executing,” Whitt said. “We took advantage when they were in tight with some things on the perimeter. When they were wide we made some good reads, and Daniel did a good job running the ball up inside.”
Beathard ended up 20-of-35 for 188 yards and two touchdowns.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653.