| By MIKE HUTCHENS
Messenger Sports Editor
COOKEVILLE — Rural West Tennessee was 0-for-4 in its quest to bring home prep football state championships.
Huntingdon (Class 1A), Adamsville (2A), Milan (Triple-A) and Covington (4A) all settled for silver balls and runnerup honors in their respective BlueCross Bowl state title games over the weekend at Tennessee Tech’s Tucker Stadium.
Huntingdon came the closest to hoisting the ultimate prize, losing a narrow 21-20 decision to Gordonsville.
Milan experienced an unfortunate case of deja vu, beaten convincingly a second straight season by Christian Academy of Knoxville 48-14. CAK won in similar fashion last season, 49-14.
Covington couldn’t sustain a fast start and lost 39-14 to Knoxville Fulton, while Friendship Christian School was another repeat champion, whipping Adamsville 44-7 in the 2A game Saturday. FCS had beaten Dresden last season 34-0.
Beech (5A) and White-haven (6A) were crowned champions over the weekend, too.
CLASS 3A
CAK 48, Milan 14
Record-setting quarterback Charlie High set a state championship game record with 35 completions and threw six touchdown passes and for 461 yards to essentially duplicate last year’s sterling performance.
High had 476 yards and seven TD tosses in last season’s romp over the Bulldogs.
CAK racked up 608 total yards in all with receiver Davis Howell breaking a national record for most career receptions.
Milan, which has now finished as a state runnerup in four of the last five seasons and was denied a fifth title in its illustrious history, got 198 rushing yards from Arkel Coleman.
CLASS 4A
Knox. Fulton 39, Cov. 14
The Chargers started with a bang — racing to a 14-0 lead before Fulton scored 39 unanswered to win a rematch of the 2003 Class 3A title game — also won by the Falcons 36-9.
The loss spoiled Covington’s previously-unbeaten season and was the program’s fourth appearance in a championship final. The Chargers are still looking for their first title.
Head coach Marty Wheeler, an assistant on that ’03 runnerup club, saw his troops take a 14-7 halftime lead before Fulton put on a dominating display in the second half behind Penny Smith and Daryl Rollins, who combined for more than 300 rushing yards to lead the Falcons to their fourth title in the last 10 years.
CLASS 2A
FCS 44, Adamsville 7
Steven Hollis rushed for 161 yards and a TD while Austin Taylor found paydirt on three of his five carries as the Commanders rolled in the Double-A finals for the second straight season.
FCS (13-1) suffered its only loss to Gordonsville in Week 2.
John Reed Odom ran 73 yards for the Cardinals’ only touchdown.
Adamsville’s 12-game winning streak was stopped in its first-ever championship game appearance.
CLASS 5A
Beech 52, Columbia 35
Jalen Hurd set state title game records for rushing yards (394) and touchdowns (7) while also establishing a new single season rushing record for Tennessee preps with 3,357 yards to help the No. 1-ranked Bucs cap a perfect 15-0 campaign.
CLASS 6A
W’haven 36, M’ville 35
Mark Dodson’s two-point conversion ended Maryville’s 43-game winning streak and denied the Rebels a third consecutive 6A title.
Maryville had won state titles in nine of its previous 12 seasons.
Dodson, an Ole Miss commitment, ran for 318 yards and five TDs.
He finished his senior year with 3,295 yards, second only to Beech’s Jalen Hurd.
A potential game-winning two-point conversion by Maryville late in regulation was disallowed due to an ineligible player downfield on a trick play. Published in The Messenger 12.3.12 |
