TSSAA football championship: Cade Chambers goes from 'noodle arm' to Maryville's title-winning QB

COOKEVILLE — Cade Chambers wanted one more play, one more time to touch the football while he wore a Maryville jersey, one final moment at Tennessee Tech's Tucker Stadium on Saturday night. 

Even though Maryville's non-starters were in the game, Chambers asked coach Derek Hunt if he could take the final kneeldown in Maryville's 42-21 win over Ravenwood in the Class 6A BlueCross Bowl. 

He did. 

Maryville won its 17th football title, which is the second-most in the state behind rival Alcoa, which won its 18th on Friday. The Rebels completed their first undefeated season since 2014 and their ninth since 2000. 

Chambers, an Indiana State commitment and Mr. Football semifinalist, was named the BlueCross Bowl MVP. He finished with 172 passing yards and two passing touchdowns, and 76 rushing yards and two rushing touchdowns.

He spent the final two minutes of the game, when the outcome was already decided, walking up and down the sideline, with tears streaming down his face. He hugged as many teammates as he could: wide receiver AJ Davis, running back Tee Hodge, wide receiver Ashton Maples and tight end Brody Sloan. 

He thought back to after his freshman season. Chambers was a safety but Hunt asked him to move to quarterback. Hunt liked his size — 6-foot-4, 195 pounds — and thought Chambers could be a quarterback. 

"For him to reach his max potential, I just felt like I needed him at quarterback," said Hunt, who won his second state championship in his three seasons as head coach. "But he did not have a good motion at all." 

So Hunt, who played quarterback at Maryville and then at Maryville College, worked with Chambers every day after practice to improve his throwing motion.

"Oh it was awful," said Davis, who caught six passes for 114 yards and also scored Maryville's final touchdown — a 9-yard pass from Chambers with under three minutes left in the third quarter. "It was like a noodle arm." 

Chambers couldn't yet sling the ball like he did against Ravenwood (14-1), completing 13-of-18 passes with no interceptions. But that's where Hunt came in. 

"I was a little hesitant because I didn't know if I could play quarterback," Chambers said. "Everyday after school (Hunt and I) would throw and just work on mechanics." 

Chambers split time last season with Braden Carnes. Both led Maryville to the Class 6A semifinals, where the Rebels lost to Oakland. But then Carnes transferred to Greenback over the summer, which meant Chambers would be the sole starting quarterback.

He helped Maryville score at least 40 points nine times heading into the state championship game, as he scored 29 touchdowns himself. And Saturday, he led Maryville to its 10th game of at least 40 points. 

MOBILE USERS: Click here if you cannot see the live game updates