Harris, Hardy Lead McCallie To 56-19 Win Over Catholic

Blue Tornado Racks Up 584 Total Yards With Fifth-Straight Win

  • Friday, September 20, 2019
  • John Hunt

The McCallie football team has been on a roll so far in the current football season, averaging 42 points per game while outscoring their opponents by a combined 169-30 entering Friday night’s game with region foe Knoxville Catholic.

Nothing changed much as the Blue Tornado remained unbeaten after five games after putting a 56-19 whipping on the Fighting Irish.

The Irish tried to keep up at the start as they trailed by 7-6 after one quarter and by 14-13 midway through the second. 

It was all McCallie from that point on as the Big Blue scored all five times they got in the Red Zone.

The biggest problem for the Irish was quarterback DeAngelo Hardy and running back B.J. Harris, who combined for 416 rushing yards.

Harris finished the game with four touchdowns on runs of 9, 14, 2 and 8 yards while amassing 236 yards on 29 carries while Hardy added a TD run of 5 yards while tossing a pair of touchdowns.  Hardy gained 180 yards on 18 carries and completed 11 of 14 passes for another 163 yards, including TD strikes of 13 yards to Gavin Cagle and 33 yards to Eric Rivers.

McCallie coach Ralph Potter never felt comfortable with the second-half lead and never replaced his two stars, even with time winding down and a four-touchdown lead.

“Not many teams will hold them to just 19 points, so I’m thrilled with our defensive effort,” Potter said following the game.

“I thought we controlled the ball on both sides of the line.  We were able to control the ball on offense and then score at the end of those drives, so I was happy about that.  We blocked well and we tackled well, but no lead is ever too big against those guys.  They can score from anywhere at any time and that’s what I was concerned about.

“But I’m also really happy for D.J. Mason, who is a two-year starter at defensive end and scored that last touchdown on the fumble return.  He’s really an outstanding football player, but he plays on the side opposite Jay Hardy and doesn’t always get much attention.  But I was happy to see him score,” Potter added with a smile.

Catholic coach Steve Matthews was just a little bit shell-shocked at the final score.

“Never in my wildest dreams did I expect them to score 56 points, but obviously, we have a long way to go,” he told his team following the game.

“McCallie is the best team in our league and I’d love to get another shot at them.  The only choice we have is to go back to work on Monday with the intention of getting better.  Things just didn’t go our way tonight.

“I thought we showed some spark offensively in the first half, but McCallie just beat us at every phase of the game.  We’re 0-2 in the league and have to win two of our final three region games to make the playoffs, so we’ll see what happens,” he added.

The Fighting Irish took the opening kickoff and marched downfield before getting stopped on downs at the McCallie 16.

The Blue Tornado responded with a nine-play, 84 yard drive that Harris finished with a run from the 9 with 5:19 left in the opening stanza.  Andrew Prescott then booted the first of eight straight extra points.

Catholic quarterback Jack Jancek then scored on a 72-yard run on their second play some 19 seconds later and the difference was 7-6 when the extra point was missed.

The hosts were able to widen the gap with three touchdowns in the second quarter, the first two on runs of 14 and 2 yards by Harris and the third on a 13-yard pass from Hardy to Cagle.

A two-yard run by Keondre Jarmon midway through the second stanza kept the Fighting Irish within 28-13 at the break.

McCallie’s offensive production continued in the second half while the Blue Tornado defense clamped down and made life a little tougher for the visitors.

The Irish had 191 yards offense in the first half, including 174 on the ground, but they only had 44 yards rushing and another 75 through the air in the second half.

McCallie finished with 584 total yards, including 421 on the ground and another 163 through the air.  The hosts also had a 25-19 advantage in first downs.

Harris was the McCallie rushing leader with his 236 yards on 29 carries while Hardy averaged 10 yards on 18 trips.

Thompson Byrd was McCallie’s leading receiver with 83 yards on four catches, including a long of 55 yards in the first half.  Rivers snagged six passes from Hardy for 67 yards.

The Fighting Irish finished with 310 total yards, including 218 on the ground and 92 through the air.

Jancek had 85 yards on 10 rushes while Jarmon had 60 yards on 11 attempts.  Samuel O’Leary had 35 yards on five carries while adding 23 more yards on two pass receptions. 

Chancellor Bright was Catholic’s leading receiver with 36 yards on three grabs.

McCallie will head to Georgia next Friday for a battle with West Forsythe before the game of the year with arch-rival Baylor on Oct. 4.

KNOX. CATHOLIC  6  7  0  6  --  19

McCALLIE  7  21  14  14 – 56

McC – B.J. Harris 9 run (Andrew Prescott kick), 5:19 left in first;

CATH – Jack Jancek 72 run (kick failed), 4:58 left in first;

McC – Harris 14 run (Prescott kick), 10:02 left in second;

CATH – Keondre Jarmon 2 run (Paxton Robertson kick), 6:09 left in second;

McC – Harris 2 run (Prescott kick), 4:49 left in second;

McC – Gavin Cagle 13 pass from DeAngelo Hardy (Prescott kick), 1:05 left in second;

McC – Harris 8 run (Prescott kick), 6:43 left in third;

McC – Hardy 5 run (Prescott kick), 3:16 left in third;

CATH – Chancellor Bright 17 pass from Kaden Martin (pass failed), 8:25 left in fourth;

McC – Eric Rivers 33 pass from Hardy (Prescott kick), 5:03 left in fourth;

McC – T.J. Mason 5 fumble return (Prescott kick), 1:35 left in fourth.

STATS CATHOLIC McCALLIE

First Downs                19                                  25

Rushes-Yards                                      32-218                          47-421

Passing Yards                                         92                                 163

Total Yards                                            310                                 584

Passes (Comp-Att-Int)                       10-23-2                            11-14-0

Penalties-Yards                                   6-60                                 10-94

Punts-Avg.                                           1-18.0                               2-38.0

Fumbles-Lost                                        3-1                                      0-0

INDIVIDUAL STATS:

CATHOLIC RUSHING: Jack Jancek 10 for 85; Keondre Jarmon 11 for 60; Samuel O"Leary 5 for 35; Kaden Martin 5 for 23.

CATHOLIC RECEIVING: Chancellor Bright 3 for 36; Samuel O'Leary 2 for 23; Luke Davenport 2 for 19.

CATHOLIC PASSING: Jack Jancek 4 for 7 with one interception for 17 yards; Kaden Martin 6 for 14 for 75 yards.

McCALLIE RUSHING: D.J. Harris 29 for 236 yards; DeAngelo Hardy 18 for 180 yards.

McCALLIE RECEIVING: Thompson Byrd 4 for 83 yards; Eric Rivers 6 for 67 yards; Gavin Cagle 1 for 13 yards.

McCALLIE PASSING: DeAngelo Hardy 11 of 14 for 163 yards.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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