Graf’s Big Day

Alcoa QB lives the dream after 4 TD performance

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Threading the needle between three defenders to fit the ball to Jamir Dean for a 15-yard touchdown pass?

Six points.

Running for three additional scores in a 31-13 win over Greeneville on Thursday at Goddard Field?

Eighteen points.

Being interviewed by Rivalry Thursday sideline reporter, social media strategist and Instagram star Kasey Funderburg after being named the game’s most valuable player?

Priceless.

The latter best speaks to just how important Alcoa quarterback Eli Graf was in the Tornadoes (2-1) subduing the Greene Devils.

Carrying 17 times for 140 yards and touchdown runs of 13, 24 and 5 yards, Graf was easily Alcoa’s top ball carrier. An efficient 10-of-14 through the air for another 79 yards, the Harding University commitment, who also starts on defense for the Tornadoes, returned a kickoff 58 yards to set up one of his scores.

“The most impressive thing was easily our O-line,” Graf said.”They fought all night, especially the second half. They were pounding. We were breaking off big chunks. We had about six minutes left and we ran it all the way down to 1:30 (on the final scoring drive). Our coaches prepare us for that all week.”

Funny thing about these Tornadoes: There’s a lot more going on than immediately meets the eye. Take team star Eli Owens, for example.

The Michigan commitment finished with six catches for 40 yards, but his impact is far greater. First and foremost, the Tornado tight end routinely draws two and three defenders. You can try to mark the future Wolverine with one, but we wouldn’t recommend it.

Easily overlooked is what big No. 44 adds to the Alcoa running game.

Owens gashed open a huge hole over the left side to spring Graf for the latter’s third and clinching touchdown late in the fourth.

“We said we’re going to come out with a different mindset in the second half and really take it to them,” Owens said, “and that’s what we did.”

It’s on the defensive side of the ball the Tornadoes have come furthest on the young season. From Owens and Darius Sudderth at the linebackers, Carter Cowert and J.T. Turner up front and Thomas Manu and Amari DuBose at the corners, Alcoa shut out the Greene Devils (2-2) over the final two quarters.

“With a young secondary and the type of defense we’re playing, we need guys that will come up and tackle,” Alcoa coach Brian Nix said.

Sudderth, a sophomore, was pretty much everywhere.

“The calls didn’t change that much (in the second half),” he said, “but we changed our physicality. We got better on the line, every part. We didn’t have that good a first half, but we came out in the second half and played Alcoa ball.”

It’s that approach that won him the job, Nix said.

“He’s tough. He’s smart. He’s dependable. He’s everything you’d want,” he said. “The only guy in the 190-pound class as a freshman to be in the state tournament in wrestling? He’s just a great kid.”