Seven minutes into McCallie’s football game against visiting Saint Mary’s Ryken of Leonardtown, Maryland, there was no reason to believe this non-TSSAA Division II Class AAA contest would mirror earlier Blue Tornado victories against out-of-state foes in recent years.
(Or don’t you remember 57-0 over Stellar Prep, 62-27 over West Broward or 55-0 over West Toronto?)
At that moment, some 4:36 left in the opening quarter, the Knights were seamlessly driving for their second touchdown of the game, their NFL-sized offensive line grounding and pounding goalward atop Spears Stadium’s plastic grass. If this game figured to finish in McCallie’s favor, it might need a similar finish to last week’s overtime heartstopper against Lipscomb Academy.
But with the game tied at 7-all, and Saint Mary’s looking like it was about to go back in front, McCallie defensive back Theo Teague intercepted a pass near the goal line. Less than 90 seconds after that, junior quarterback Louis Fortier hit Mikey Bartlett on a 77-yard touchdown bomb, their second scoring connection of the hot and humid night. Seven seconds into the second quarter, Lance Roberts scored on a 24-yard reverse to put the Blue Tornado on top 20-7. The rout was on.
By halftime, McCallie led 41-17. When it scored in the opening minutes of the second half to hike the margin to 48-17, a running clock kicked in. Nevertheless, the Blues would score 19 more points and the Knights none to wrap up a stunning 67-17 McCallie victory, which is the third most points ever scored by a Blue Tornado team.
“We really started well offensively,” said Bradford, who saw his offense fail to punt all night in piling up 632 yards of total offense, 447 of that coming through the air, with Fortier finishing the night 19 of 23 for 441 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions.
“Really proud of Louis. He did a great job of staying in the pocket. As for Mikey, he’s had a couple of great weeks of practice, and it showed.”
Said Fortier of his performance: “We worked hard all week in practice. We were all on the same page tonight.”
Added Bartlett, who finished with 223 receiving yards and two scores: “We’ve got one of the best quarterbacks in the state. We always have a choice on every route, whether the corner(back) goes low or high. Louis did a great job of making the right read every time.”
And when Fortier wasn’t completing touchdowns to Bartlett, Kelby Barnett and Pat Meyers, last week’s rushing hero -- freshman running back Macc Chapin -- was turning in another boffo performance, rushing for 90 yards on just 12 carries and three TDs.
“He’s just got a special knack for making things happen,” said Bradford of Chapin, whom he compared a week ago to Keylan Syam, the MVP of the 2024 state championship win over Baylor. “He’s really fun to coach.”
It was fun to watch the reserves get their chance to shine on Friday. Sophomore Jabari Jennings ran for 58 total yards and a 19-yard touchdown. With less than two minutes to go, fellow sophomore Hollis Dobbs returned an interception 42 yards for the final points of the game.
Before last night, it was believed that no school from Maryland had ever faced a McCallie football team. After last night, it might be decades before any school from the Old Line State schedules the Blue Tornado again.
Still, Bradford also knows the schedule toughens from here, his now 2-0 team facing a non-region road game at Father Ryan next week in Nashville, then region games over the next five weeks against Ensworth and at Baylor, the top ranked team in the state.
“We’ll obviously take the win,” he said. “But we’re just trying to get better overall. We’ve got to play together more as a unit.”
But given where it looked like Friday night was going before Teague’s early interception, a 67-17 win in Week 2 isn’t a bad beginning.