Jordan Harris at less than 100% was still plenty enough for Alcoa to win a TSSAA-record eighth straight football state championship.
The senior all-around standout walked to midfield to accept the program’s 21st all-time gold ball trophy after the Tornadoes defeated East Nashville 45-26 in Friday’s Class 3A BlueCross Bowl at Finley Stadium.
Harris, still dealing with an ankle sprain from last week’s semifinal victory, delivered a gutsy performance on both sides of the ball. The 5-foot-10, 170-pounder showed incredible vision on a 12-yard touchdown run to build the final advantage with 7:36 to play.
Harris also keyed a game-changing 10-0 run for Alcoa (14-1) in the final 30 seconds of the first half, taking a screen pass to the left across the field for a 40-yard gain to set up one of three touchdown passes from senior Zach Lunsford to sophomore Luke Cannon. That outburst allowed the Tornadoes to lead 31-20 at halftime.
“This is so big for us,” said Harris, who finished with 84 yards and two touchdowns on eight touches to go with seven tackles and two pass breakups. “I have poured everything into this. Everything. I got hurt last week, and I have been in a boot all week up until today. I told them: ‘I don’t care. I am playing no matter what. It’s my last game. This means too much to stop now.'”
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday’s BlueCross Bowl state championships in Chattanooga)
Harris scored 27 touchdowns this year to help lead Alcoa in its first season under Brian Nix, who was promoted from defensive coordinator this past winter after legendary head coach Gary Rankin stepped down before eventually winding up in Chattanooga at Boyd Buchanan.
Even before last year, the Tornadoes were already the only program with seven straight titles, having also accomplished that feat from 2004-10, with the first five from that run in 2A. In its current streak as 3A’s top dog, Alcoa has outscored its opposition 269-86 in the title game, including putting up 45 points in back-to-back seasons to beat East Nashville at Finley.
With 11:32 left in Friday’s game, Lunsford fired a missile deep down the middle to Cannon, who caught the ball over his shoulder for a 55-yard score and their third touchdown connection, which made it 38-26. Cannon took all three of his catches for scores, covering 73 of 163 passing yards by Lunsford, who was named MVP of the game.
“Every ball I threw to Luke, he was either wide open or snagged the ball right out of the air,” Lunsford said. “I knew each time he was going to catch it.”
Alcoa’s defense was led by Aaron Davis, whose 10 tackles included a pair for loss and one sack, and fellow senior Brayden Cornett picked off a pass at linebacker and returned it 27 yards for a touchdown to break a 14-all tie in the second quarter.
For East Nashville (12-3), running back Tre’quan Waters had a game-high 119 rushing yards on 20 carries, while fellow senior Zach Beard ran for two touchdowns and threw for another to Bobby Joyner, which brought the Eagles within 31-26 at the 3:45 mark of the third quarter.
McKenzie 34, Clay County 14: Marquez Taylor made a promise to his teammates in eighth grade that when they were seniors, they would win a state title.
The Rebels (15-0) did exactly that, and in large part due to Taylor, a fourth-year starter at running back. On the first play of the Class 1A BlueCross Bowl, the 6-foot, 180-pounder exploded on a 55-yard sweep down the right sideline before cutting back to the middle for a touchdown.
Taylor finished with 210 yards of offense and two scores on 16 touches, and McKenzie won the title a year after going 14-1, with the loss to South Pittsburg at Finley.
“That opening play gave us some big momentum, and we just kept going with it,” said Taylor, whose top two college choices are TCU and Kansas. “We have been dreaming about this for a long time. We are going to celebrate this in a big way. Our quarterback is even getting a tattoo and all.”
McKenzie senior quarterback Jackson Cassidy was honored as the game’s MVP after he totaled 213 yards, with 101 of his 168 passing yards to senior Zay Webber, who scored on three of his four catches. Cassidy also led all with nine tackles.
Clay County (13-2) was led by Joseph Marcom (22 carries, 117 yards, touchdown).
Knoxville West 47, Page 13: After leading by one point with 4:49 to go before halftime, West scored twice in a three-minute span — part of a 26-point outburst in the second quarter — to close out the first half and take control of the Class 5A BlueCross Bowl.
The Rebels, whose only other championship came in 2014, limited Page (12-3) to minus-6 yards rushing and held the Patriots to 0-for-11 in third-down conversion attempts.
Game MVP Carson Jessie completed 18 of 24 passes for 286 yards and four touchdowns, and Brayden Latham ran for 101 yards and three touchdowns for the Rebels (15-0).
Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.