In a game that had five lead changes and two ties, McCallie rallied from a third-quarter deficit to score the final 17 points for a 45-31 Division II-AAA East Region road win over Knoxville Catholic on Friday night.
Senior running back B.J. Harris ran for 194 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries. Two of Harris's scores came during the deciding second half, with one of those going 68 yards. Senior receiver Eric Rivers caught three passes for 133 yards and a touchdown and also ran for 74 yards and another score.
William Riddle completed 11 of 18 passes for 258 yards and a 72-yard score to Rivers. Defensively, J.D. Tessman and Nic Robinson each had nine tackles, with Tessman getting two for loss.
"It's a huge thing for us not to start 0-2 in the region," Blue Tornado coach Ralph Potter said. "They were coming off a bye week off so they were fresh and had a good plan for us. We had a lot of success throwing the ball in the first half, and then B.J. really got going in the second half and they got tired, and we were able to pull away finally.
"The first two drives of the second half were really key because they had the ball in our territory after turnovers, but our defense held them to just the one field goal."
READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games
Baylor 30, Ensworth 28: The Red Raiders held on thanks to a late defensive stand, turning away an Ensworth 2-point try that would have tied the game with just more than two minutes remaining. Junior Gaston Carmichael deflected a slant pass across the middle to preserve the lead late, and Baylor was able to run out the clock after Neyland Jean connected with Elijah Howard to convert one third-and-9.
Despite being outgained 307-268 in total yards, Baylor secured the DII-AAA East win by outscoring the Tigers 10-6 in the second half.
Jean ran for one touchdown and threw for another, accounting for 178 total yards. Riley Jenne also returned a kickoff 96 yards for a second-quarter score.
"We showed some character with the way we kept battling," Red Raiders coach Phil Massey said. "We made plays when we needed to, and that fourth quarter I saw us take some steps forward against a really good, physical team."
Brainerd 34, Sweetwater 6: Xiyeer Lattimore threw for 162 yards and three scores, with Jaylyn Dupree had 162 yards of total offense, including 112 receiving and a score, and also led the defense with four solo tackles and an interception. KaDarius Price ran for 185 on 18 carries with two scores to help the Panthers (4-1) improve to 1-1 in Region 3-3A.
Rhea County 41, Lenoir City 7: Kaleb Martin threw for three touchdowns, including a 65-yard connection to Jayden Goodwin, and ran for another to help the Eagles cruise to the Region 4-5A win. Rhea County outrushed Lenoir City 479-119, led by Ethan Davis' 203 yards and Dalton Hampton's 107. The Eagles also intercepted five passes as they improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in the region.
South Pittsburg 56, Huntland 7: Six players scored for the Pirates, who jumped out to a 21-0 lead after the first quarter of the nonregion matchup. Senior running back Hunter Frame ran for 131 yards and scored three times in the first half, and Class 1A's top-ranked Pirates (5-0) also got scoring runs from Richard Hunter and Jayden Mount. J.J. Beene returned the second-half kickoff 65 yards for a touchdown, and Kobe Cooper hauled in a 38-yard scoring pass from Brayden Sanders, who finished the game with 116 passing yards.
Meigs County 67, Rockwood 21: The second-ranked Tigers (5-0, 2-0) rolled up 511 rushing yards, led by Will Meadows' 213 and three touchdowns. Quarterback Logan Carroll added 144 rushing yards and two scores in the Region 2-2A win.
Walker Valley 49, White County 14: Senior Brody Swafford finished with 248 all-purpose yards, including an 85-yard kickoff return, two receiving touchdowns and an interception on defense in the nonregion win. Tucker Pope threw for five touchdowns and ran for another as the Mustangs, whose losses have come by combined six points, improved to 2-2 overall.
East Hamilton 46, Central 24: The Hurricanes jumped out to a 46-6 lead as Haynes Eller threw for three touchdowns, including two to Kaunyae Burgans. Walter Lindsey had two interceptions, returning one 60 yards for a score and Blaine Savage also had an interception to lead the Hurricanes (4-1, 2-0) defensively for the Region 2-4A win.
East Ridge 21, Sequatchie County 14: The Pioneers improved to 2-2 this season heading into next week's game at Signal Mountain, thanks to stellar play from Latrell Adair and Desmond Drake. Adair scored once, made 12 tackles and converted all three of his extra-point attempts, while Drake scored twice, including one toss sweep from 68 yards out.
Knoxville Grace 49, Notre Dame 27: Bennett Brinson and George Fillauer scored two touchdowns each for the Fighting Irish, but it was not enough to overcome the visitors. Khalil Spence also had an interception for Notre Dame, which fell to 1-2 this season.
McMinn County 63, William Blount 32: Going on the road was no problem for the undefeated Cherokees, who improved to 4-0 overall and 2-0 in Region 2-6A. Running back Jalen Hunt, who is committed to Western Carolina, ran for 271 yards and four touchdowns, quarterback Jayden Miller rushed for 112 yards, scored twice and threw for two more touchdowns, and Jalen James returned an interception 45 yards for another score.
Hixson 36, Sequoyah 0: The Wildcats went on the road to earn their first victory of the season. Jack Alexander booted a 51-yard field goal, while Nykee Logan ran for 125 yards and two touchdowns. Bradley Woodall and Braxton Burton each intercepted a pass, and Parish Tacetti had three tackles for a loss and a sack to help secure the shutout.
Cleveland 35, Maryville Heritage 28 (OT): Kley McGowan caught a touchdown pass from Gage Kinsey to start overtime, and Destun Thomas batted away a fourth-down pass from Heritage to move the Blue Raiders to 3-2 heading into next week's open date. Markel McKinley had two touchdown runs for the winners, McGowan had a second touchdown catch and Thomas also caught a touchdown pass for Cleveland.
Middle Tennessee Christian 36, Grace Academy 13: Despite a touchdown pass from Mason Long to Caleb Adams and a touchdown run from Cooper Knecht, Grace fell to 0-3 heading into next week's game against Donelson Christian Academy.
Other area scores:
Georgia Force 31, Tyner 20
Anderson County 42, Howard 0
Loudon 55, Signal Mountain 21
Coosa 41, Lookout Valley 0
Tellico Plains 47, Polk County 0
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.