Tyner rallies past Silverdale Baptist as Rams prove resilient again

Tyner running back JD Hinton knew he was gone pretty quickly.

Rams head coach Christian Mainor had a pretty good idea as well.

Hinton broke free for a 64-yard touchdown with 1:43 remaining, and the Rams rallied from a 10-point hole at home to defeat Silverdale Baptist Academy 34-27 in the season opener for both teams Friday night.

It was the second straight season the Rams had to come from behind against the Seahawks, although last season’s deficit was 14 before Tyner won 28-27. But like the previous meeting, the Rams relied on dynamic performances: Last season it was quarterback Tyler Anderson, while this time it was the duo of Hinton and De’Aerion McNealy, who combined to score all five Tyner touchdowns in the contest.

McNealy rushed for 210 yards and a pair of scores and caught a 48-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Marcus Turner, while Hinton had 93 yards and the winning sprint to the end zone.

(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night’s Chattanooga-area prep football games)

Tyner vs. Silverdale on Aug. 21, 2026

“He’s a special kid,” Mainor said of Hinton. “He had a couple that he about squeezed out a few times, but as soon as he got to that second level, I knew he was gone. He’s a special kid, a special talent. You usually get the ball in his hands and good things will happen, so I’m certainly glad he’s a Tyner Ram.”

Hinton scored the Rams’ first touchdown, but by the time McNealy got in the end zone, the Seahawks had built a 10-point lead off some dynamic playmaking of their own from receiver Isaac Summey and running back Jackson Deitch. Summey had a pair of kickoff returns covering 72 yards and scored the game’s first touchdown on a 34-yard pass from Connor Jenne. Deitch followed up a couple of possessions later with an 80-yard scoring run.

“We just had to be resilient,” McNealy said. “Coach always told us if we get hit in the mouth, it’s how we respond, and that’s how we responded tonight.”

The Rams had rallied to tie the game entering halftime, then took the lead on an 11-yard run by McNealy, but the Seahawks responded on a 5-yard run by Deitch the following possession.

The teams traded punts until Hinton’s decisive touchdown.

“Tonight was good competition for us,” he said. “It’s going to show us what we need to work on, what we need to do.”

Keion Brooks had 101 yards rushing to lead the Seahawks, who have reached the TSSAA Division II-AA state quarterfinals the past two years, while Deitch was right behind with 94.

Turner passed for 193 yards, with Dion Edwards making six catches for 97 yards for the Rams, who reached the Class 3A semifinals last fall.

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“This was a huge win tonight,” Mainor said. “Our kids sometimes let emotions get the best of them, whether it’s throughout the school day, whether it’s at practice. So the message has been to try to be even-keel. The game of football, the football is an odd-shaped ball. It bounces 20 different directions, and it’s not going to bounce the same way like a basketball will, so when the ball bounces in our direction, we’ve still got to be even-keel, and when it doesn’t bounce in our direction, we’ve got to hold our emotions in check so that we can play the next play.

“When we do that, we’ve got enough guys, enough dudes that we can score. But that is a great defense (for Silverdale), that’s a great team. They’ve been playing together for the last three years, so I wish them the best of luck and hopefully they’re going to win their region, because they’ve got the talent to do it.”

Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.