One play.
One play to turn what could have been a devastating loss in McCallie’s season-opening game on Friday night into a delirious win. One play for a young, inexperienced Blue Tornado football team to build momentum for the remainder of one of the most challenging schedules in school history. Or … well, no one on the McCallie sideline or in the Spears Stadium stands wanted to think about the alternative scenario when Lipscomb Academy lined up 18 inches from the end zone for a fourth down do-or-die play in overtime, the Blue Tornado desperately clinging to a 27-24 lead.
Lipscomb came to the line of scrimmage. Ralph Potter, the former McCallie head coach turned defensive coordinator, didn’t like what he saw. Timeout. Already frazzled nerves on both teams, among both fan bases, were now close to breaking.
Said Potter to the Chattanooga Times Free Press of that timeout: “You just put everybody up on the line. We did a good job because they ran a different formation than when they ran the first one and we called a timeout. It could not have been better.”
It … Could … Not … Have … Been … Better, indeed. The ball was snapped. The Mustangs ran it straight ahead. McCallie converged. The whole McCallie defense. The ball never crossed the goal against that Big Blue pile of weary humanity. Suddenly that entire worn-out defense sprinted, arms in the air, toward the McCallie student section, a perfect portrait of unbridled joy. And relief.
“We got a good push,” said Potter of his defensive line on the final play. “When the ball is on the half-yard line, that is what you have to stop. We had our free safety on the quarterback in case he pulled it.”
Said Head Coach Joel Bradford, a proud smile crossing his face, “The defense hung in there all night. We made some mistakes. Lots of ups and downs. But I’m proud of the way we kept fighting.”
Both the Blue Tornado offense and defense had their moments. Indicative of that final snap, McCallie held Lipscomb’s ground attack to 43 total rushing yards. Meanwhile, the Big Blue offense erupted for 474 yards, including 302 passing yards and two touchdown passes from junior quarterback Louis Fortier, who was a backup last season to Elliott Drapeau.
Having dropped 40 pounds in the offseason, Fortier’s slimmer, trimmer self held up just fine on the hot and humid evening. He said he’s reduced his 40-yard dash time from 5.2 to 4.9 and he rushed for 22 yards against the Mustangs.
The secret to his weight loss? “I gave up Dr. Peppers,” he said.
Before the next game, a doctor might order both teams to clean up their yellow laundry. Lipscomb was whistled for 96 yards in penalties, McCallie 92. That’s how a high school football game stretches past the three-hour mark.
Also key to this win was McCallie’s running game. Despite having star running back Xavier Fillion sidelined with an injury, the Blues saw his replacement, freshman running back Macc Chapin, run for 140 yards and score from eight yards out with 3:26 left in the fourth quarter to give the Blue Tornado its first lead of the night.
Afterward, Bradford told the Times Free Press, recalling former running back Keylan Syam, the MVP of the 2024 state championship game, “I’m very proud of Macc. The guy runs the ball with a lot of heart. Honestly, I compared him to Keylan Syam, because they both have that low center of gravity. He’s got a long way to go, but he knows that. He’s the most humble, hard-working kid.”
A few minutes later, Chapin told the newspaper, “I knew Xavier was out and I had some big shoes to fill. I’m a little sore, and I can’t wait to get to sleep. I don’t know if it’s going to be for eight hours or 10 hours, but it’s going to be a good bit.”
Despite the loss, opponents will sleep on Lipscomb at their own expense now that Trent Dilfer has returned to the Mustangs after a three-year head college coaching stint with Alabama-Birmingham. Dilfer oversaw back-to-back Division II Class AA state titles before moving on to college ball and in his first game back with Lipscomb on Friday night, he emptied his bag of offensive tricks in the opening half. Inside reverses. A deep option pass off an end-round. The hook-and-ladder play.
All were perfectly timed and all helped the Mustangs to a 17-7 lead midway through the second quarter.
“That’s one challenge of an opening game,” said Bradford. “You don’t have a lot of film on them. There are just so many unknowns.”
But in the end, McCallie returned to what it knows best -- running the ball and stopping the run -- to move into next week’s game against St. Mary’s Ryken of Maryland with a 1-0 record, thanks to that overtime goal line stand and Asher Kelley’s 27-yard OT field goal.
“We missed a lot of assignments and didn’t execute our best,” said Bradford afterward. “But we showed a lot of heart and fight and I hope that’s something we will carry with us. That last stop was a team tackle. Everybody contributed.”
McCallie will begin to find out next week how much one play, one heroic overtime stop 18 inches from disaster, can affect a young team’s season. But for one heartstopping opening night, the new kids were alright.