'I proved why I need to be Mr. Football:' Eric Hazzard leads Page to third straight TSSAA championship game

RUDDERVILLE — For Eric Hazzard, taking things personally is standard operating procedure.

So if the Page football star had any more motivation than normal going into Friday night's TSSAA Class 5A semifinal against Southwind, his coach didn't notice.

"He takes every game personal," Charles Rathbone said. "That's how you gotta play this game. He takes this game personal, he wants to win and get after it."

Hazzard, a finalist for Tennessee Titans Mr. Football, led the Patriots to a 14-7 win over Centennial and the Cougars' own Mr. Football finalist, all-purpose weapon Dominic Reed, last week. Friday's foe, the Jaguars, came in led by another finalist, sophomore quarterback Kelvin Perkins.

After the game, Hazzard made sure to show his respect for Perkins. There was little time for that during the two-and-a-half hours prior, however. The junior linebacker sacked Perkins twice to propel a stifling defensive effort as Page handed Southwind its first loss, 10-7, and advanced to its third state championship game in as many years.

"He's a great player, and for him to be a sophomore, he's got a very bright future ahead of him," Hazzard said of Perkins. "I went out there to prove a point. I proved why I need to be Mr. Football."

The Patriots (13-1) will face Knoxville West (13-1) at Chattanooga's Finley Stadium Friday, Dec. 1 at 7 p.m. in a rematch of last season's Class 5A title game, which West won 47-13. Page is looking for its first-ever state title.

Hazzard entered Friday's game with 57 tackles, 21 tackles for loss, 11.5 sacks, 26 quarterback pressures and six pass deflections for a Page defense that allows 11.6 points per game on average. He can now add wins over the other two finalists to his Mr. Football resume.

"Definitely, I think that he deserves it," said junior linebacker Brenden Anes.

A 6-foot-3, 226-pound edge rusher whose father, Brandon, played football at Mississippi State, Hazzard has offers from Austin Peay, Charlotte, Eastern Kentucky, Miami of Ohio, UAB and Western Kentucky.

With Hazzard and Anes, who has offers from Tennessee and Vanderbilt and has totaled 74 tackles, 17 TFLs and 4.5 sacks this season, on one side of each other, it's been almost impossible to keep a clean pocket against the Patriots this season.

"They’re hard to block off the edge," Rathbone said. "You use two on Eric, it’s just gonna free up (Omarion Anderson, Jacob Rathbone and Eli Whitson) inside. Then you got Anes usually on the wide side of the field."

After last Friday's win over Centennial, Rathbone said he didn't know much about Southwind (13-1) and hadn't seen the Jaguars on film. But the Patriots not only devised, but executed, a successful game plan to slow Perkins, who had accounted for 3,250 yards of total offense and 56 touchdowns through 13 games. The goal was to keep the elusive signal-caller in the pocket and force him to throw from the pocket while bringing plenty of pressure.

"I watched film every day this week, just getting in there, learning what they do, picking up on little stuff," Hazzard said. "I had (James Wolff), our offensive line coach, helping me. He had some key things for me to pick up on."

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Anes and Hazzard both had sacks on the Jaguars' first drive, and from there, the tone was set. Perkins completed 13 of 28 passes for 164 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but ran for minus-17 yards due to the sacks he took.

The last sack came on Southwind's last offensive play, at the hands of — who else — Hazzard. At the Page 20-yard line, Perkins rolled right, came back left and tried to twist away, but Hazzard grabbed his shoulder and spun him into the turf.

Seconds later, the Patriots were celebrating another trip to Chattanooga.

Jacob Shames can be reached by email at jshames@gannett.com and on Twitter @Jacob_Shames.