On the field where every high school football team in Tennessee wants to end its season, several of the Chattanooga area’s top contenders to do so made their debut Friday night in preseason action.
On the final night of the Prelude to a Championship jamboree, which began last weekend with two nights of scrimmages, Marion County, McCallie, Silverdale Baptist, South Pittsburg and Tyner all showed flashes of why each expects to make deep runs in the TSSAA playoffs later this season. All are contenders for a return to Finley Stadium for the annual BlueCross Bowl championship games.
County rivals Marion and South Pittsburg lived up to their hype as the favorites in their respective classifications, with the Class 2A Warriors cruising past Sale Creek in the night’s opening matchup, 28-0, and the Class 1A Pirates blistering North Carolina’s Hayesville in the nightcap, 35-7.
In between those results, Silverdale Baptist defeated Whitwell, 27-7, and Tyner rallied to tie McCallie 7-7, setting off a wild celebration by Rams players, who sprinted onto the field after a goal-line stand to congratulate the defense.
“That was great for our kids,” Tyner coach Christian Mainor said. “Our guys are still learning that when things don’t go well, you have to respond in a positive way. We fumbled the ball late to put ourselves in a bad spot that could have cost us points, but the kids on defense made two big plays to get the stop and respond well.”