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BlueCross Bowl preview: Friday’s TSSAA title games at Finley Stadium

Staff photo / Alcoa's defense swarms to the ball during a playoff game at Red Bank in November 2020. Alcoa has shut out seven of its past eight opponents this season to return to the BlueCross Bowl and continue the bid for its seventh straight state title.
Staff photo / Alcoa's defense swarms to the ball during a playoff game at Red Bank in November 2020. Alcoa has shut out seven of its past eight opponents this season to return to the BlueCross Bowl and continue the bid for its seventh straight state title. Staff photo / Alcoa's defense swarms to the ball during a playoff game at Red Bank in November 2020. Alcoa has shut out seven of its past eight opponents this season to return to the BlueCross Bowl and continue the bid for its seventh straight state title.

By Staff Reports 6 min read

For more BlueCross Bowl coverage from the Times Free Press, read more here.

FRIDAY’S TSSAA BLUECROSS BOWL MATCHUPS AT FINLEY STADIUM

Class 3A

Alcoa Tornadoes (12-1) vs. East Nashville Eagles (10-4), 11 a.m.

What to know: Alcoa, which is playing in its ninth consecutive BlueCross Bowl, is going for its seventh straight title and 20th in program history. The Tornadoes have shut out their past two championship game opponents, 35-0 and 27-0, and they are led by Gary Rankin, the state’s all-time winningest coach with a 466-78 overall record. The 67-year old Rankin has 16 state championships in his career – 12 with Alcoa and four at Murfreesboro’s Riverdale.