TSSAA football championship: CPA denied DII-AA repeat, falls to ECS

COOKEVILLE — For three-and-a-half quarters it looked like CPA's dream run through the second half of the season was going to have a fairy tale ending.

Then it crumbled.

Evangelical Christian ended CPA's chances at a repeat Division II-AA BlueCross Bowl state championship, winning 17-14 after getting the go-ahead score with six minutes remaining.

"This was a great high school football game between two great teams," CPA coach Ingle Martin said. "ECS is easily one of the best 10 teams in the state in any classification."

For anyone outside of the program, a run to the state championship game for the Lions (7-7) looked like a long shot two months ago. CPA started the season 0-4, including a 30-6 loss to ECS (13-1) in Week 1. Other losses included Brentwood, Ensworth, Independence and Ravenwood, which plays in the Class 6A BlueCross Bowl on Saturday night.

Then things started to click as the Lions entered region play. The Lions won five in a row heading into the championship game, all by double figures.

"We're a totally different team from Week 1," said CPA quarterback Cade Law, who rushed for 85 yards and threw for 135 yards with two total touchdowns. "We had a bunch of young guys who hadn't really played much before.

"When we played against BGA in Week 5 (28-0 win), I think that's when we really started to figure out who we were and hit our stride."

CPA led 14-10 with 6:05 left when ECS regained control.

Facing a fourth-and-6 on the CPA 10, ECS quarterback Jacob Hatcher threw a 9-yard pass to William Arthur. The pass was ruled a completion, but TV replays showed the ball appeared to hit the ground.

Hatcher scored on a 1-yard TD run the next play for what turned out to be the winning points.

"We're all human and I made some really bad calls tonight," Martin said. "I did a bad job coaching, so you're not going to pick on one instance and I certainly don't want our kids to think about that.

"Our kids did so much more this year than to let three or four plays in the fourth quarter define them."

CPA had an opportunity to take the lead twice over the final six minutes but was unable to get anything going.

The two teams combined for six turnovers. CPA lost three fumbles. ECS threw two interceptions and a lost fumble.

BlueCross Bowl:How to watch, stream all nine Tennessee high school football state championship games