TSSAA football championship: Griffin Swinea's career day gives Davidson Academy second straight title

Tom Kreager
The Tennessean

COOKEVILLE — Griffin Swinea's career day started quickly Thursday and ended with Davidson Academy lifting its second consecutive gold ball trophy.

Swinea ran for a career-high 285 yards on 24 carries in Davidson Academy's 31-21 win over University School of Jackson in the Division II-A BlueCross Bowl state championship game at Tennessee Tech.

Swinea scored four touchdowns, including a 64-yard run 16 seconds into the game. His previous best game on the ground came Oct. 18 against Trinity Christian when he ran for 151 yards on 26 carries.

"Going in, I was just going to do my thing," said Swinea, a junior. "I was going to follow my blockers and just try to make 10-yard gains every now and then and sprinkle in some big plays. 

"I didn't envision such a big game."

The Bears (11-2) have now won five state championships. USJ (10-4) has six runner-up finishes without a championship.

Swinea also had a 36-yard TD run. And it was his 3-yard TD run that put the game away for the Bears with 3:02 left. That came after Davidson Academy's defense stopped USJ inside the Davidson 10.

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"USJ's defense is outstanding and they play really well against the run and the pass," Davidson Academy coach Jonathan Quinn said. "I wasn't projecting that kind of game out of (Swinea). There are games we haven't ran for 285 yards all game."

Swinea finished the season with 172 carries for 1,151 yards and 15 rushing touchdowns. 

Davidson Academy finished the game with 437 total yards — 330 rushing and 107 passing. It was a stark contrast to last year's championship team that featured now Florida International freshman quarterback Stone Norton passing the ball all over the field for the Bears.

This year's quarterback is Bryce Rawls, who took over the starting duties in Week 3 because of an injury. He was 7-of-9 passing for 107 yards. Rawls also ran for 77 yards and had a TD.

"Coach Quinn taught me well," Rawls said. "I had never played quarterback in my life. 

"He taught me the reads all season. He told me to be patient and calm and just make plays. That's what I'm doing."

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Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.

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