Looking to build off the success from the second half of the 2018 high school football season, Howard rolled to wins in each of its two quarters during Saturday's Best of Preps Jamboree at Finley Stadium.
The Hustlin' Tigers, who won their final four regular-season games last year and will open a new stadium Friday, beat Copper Basin and Signal Mountain by a combined score of 22-6, performances highlighted by a defense that forced four turnovers.
"We did some things really well overall, but I thought we were way too soft on defense, to be honest," Howard coach John Starr said. "We made enough plays when it mattered.
"We were able to get a lot of kids on the field, so we'll have a lot of film on them and know who we can count on."
The 20th annual event's second day - McCallie, Tyner both stood out Friday - got underway early in the afternoon with temperatures hovering in the mid-90s as area teams competed for 13 quarters.
By the evening portion of the event, it was Baylor that impressed the big crowd, opening with a 35-yard pass from Neyland Jean to University of Tennessee-committed Elijah Howard to set up a short scoring run, also by Howard. Jean later added a 51-yard touchdown strike to Gabriel Stulce in the 14-0 win over Soddy-Daisy.
In the first period of the day, the Hustlin' Tigers scored immediately after intercepting a Cougars pass when Eric Johnson broke free on a 51-yard run. Calvin James added a 12-yard touchdown run on a busted play and also had a 2-point conversion toss to Ladarrius Lane.
The Hustlin' Tigers followed with an 8-6 win over Signal Mountain, jump-started by an Ivan Hardwick interception that gave them great field position. Davontay Smith cashed in with a 21-yard touchdown and Tremontay Brooks hit Lane in the back of the end zone for two points. Signal Mountain responded with a 10-yard scoring strike from Jack Wilson to Caldwell Payne, but the try for two points was stopped.
» Cleveland 7, Red Bank 7: The Lions struck first with a 60-yard touchdown pass from Madox Wilkey to Kel Eddins on their third snap. After being turned away midway through the period when Red Bank's Alricko Trimble intercepted a pass in the end zone, Cleveland evened the score on a 15-yard pass from Gage Kinsey to Robert Flowers.
» East Ridge 14, Copper Basin 6: On the second snap of the period, Pioneers senior Marquan Acklin sprinted 68 yards off the right side to score. Latrel Adair set up the Pioneers' next touchdown when he returned an interception 45 yards to the Cougars' 10. Four plays later, sophomore Tyi Mosley swept around left end for a touchdown.
The Cougars got on the board with a minute remaining when Bryson Grabowski hit Timothy Fair on a 25-yard pass.
» Red Bank 13, Walker Valley 7: The Lions scored on their first two possessions, first a 14-yard run by Lumiere Strickland followed by a short run by Trimble, which followed his impressive 36-yard catch-and-run effort. The Mustangs answered Red Bank's impressive opening drive with a quick-strike score of their own when quarterback Tucker Pope hit Brody Swafford on a 70-yard pass.
» Sale Creek 6, Signal Mountain 0: Wyatt Coleman's 4-yard scoring run gave the Panthers the win.
» Walker Valley 14, McMinn County 0: First-year Mustangs head coach Drew Akins has brought the forward pass to the program. After being known for a grind-it-out offense, Walker Valley scored all three of its touchdowns for the day through the air as Pope totaled 132 yards on those three scores alone.
"The biggest thing we took from the day is we got to see the difference in how when you hesitate or make mistakes it costs you, but when you play violent and fast and fly around to the ball, you win games," Akins said. "We have the pieces to be a really good offense. I could see a 100% difference from when we walked into the stadium to when we left the field after the second game as far as believing we can compete.
» Brainerd 14, Sale Creek 7: Brainerd got short scoring runs from quarterback Xiyeer Lattimore and Jaylin Dupree, the second of which came with just less than a minute remaining to snap a tie. Sale Creek's score came on a 2-yard sneak by quarterback Braden Penny on fourth down.
» Ooltewah 13, Notre Dame 7: Two long scoring strikes from Fisher Perry to Ryan Lay - covering 63 and 60 yards - were the difference, as despite being doubled in time of possession the Owls secured the win.
» Notre Dame 20, Soddy-Daisy 0: The Fighting Irish got touchdowns from Dallas Brown, Alex Osborne and Khalil Spence, and the Notre Dame defense was stout throughout the period.
» Ooltewah 3, Baylor 0: In a defensive battle, it was Sarah Moser who connected on a 19-yard field goal as time expired to lift the Owls to the win.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.