Before McCallie could make some TSSAA football history with longtime rival Baylor, the Blue Tornado first had to rewrite some history against Montgomery Bell Academy.
MBA ended McCallie’s bid last November for a fourth consecutive state championship and looked the part of spoiler again Friday night by taking a 9-7 halftime lead before a nervous crowd at Spears Stadium, but Ja’Von McMahan had second-half touchdown runs of 74 and 47 yards to spark the Blue Tornado’s 33-15 triumph. McMahan’s 47-yarder occurred with 3:41 remaining and sealed the game at 26-15.
Friday’s Division II-AAA semifinal was a rematch of McCallie’s 35-0 rout on Sept. 22, which was an instant runaway that required the mercy rule.
“MBA is a great team, and they always have great coaches and players who play super hard,” McCallie senior tight end/defensive end Carson Gentle said. “I’ve got nothing but respect for them. Maybe we did blow them out early in the season, but we are both different teams now.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football games)