Jurassic

Monster defense carries Alcoa Middle

By Stefan Cooper
Editor
Blount Press Row

Big guys, raptors, the Alcoa Middle School defense had a little bit of everything.

Ethan Beck kicked things off with an interception returned 73 yards for a touchdown, and the Tornadoes touched down with two additional takeaways that led to points in a 19-8 win over Maryville Junior High last week at Alcoa High’s Goddard Field.

“Going into it, we thought we could play well,” Alcoa coach Travis Felder said. “Offensively, we didn’t get going the way I wanted. It seemed like every time we got going we got a penalty to push us back into a bad spot. It’s hard to get out of a hole like that.”

The two sides traded blows for a couple series each before Beck jumped a Brady Blanding pass and raced up the sideline for an early Alcoa lead.

“I dropped back into coverage,” Beck said. “I saw the slant coming and I looked over at the quarterback and it was just there.

“It was pretty big for us. I think it set the momentum for the rest of the game.”

The Rebels soon found themselves at a two-score deficit. Defensive lineman Cam Richardson beat Blanding’s protection to force a fumble, the pigskin quickly scooped and returned 50 yards by fellow lineman James Koko to widen the gap.

“I felt (the ball) coming out,” Richardson said. “I’m just glad (Koko) got the touchdown.”

“As soon as he hit the ball I just took it and ran,” Koko said.

The start for the Tornadoes (6-0) defensively was just thing the Rebels (3-1) needed to avoid, Maryville coach Jay Malone said.

“We’re a better team than what people saw in the first half,” he said. “We spotted them two scores. My words before this game, and, it sounds cliche, but I said. ‘Guys, we cannot give them anything. We’ve got to take care of the football like we’ve done the last two weeks.’

“The last two weeks we didn’t have one turnover, not one fumble lost.”

Alcoa looked ready to run away with it when play resumed after the halftime break. Defensive back Keynan Dean rose on a Rebel pass to come away with an acrobatic pick. You don’t see many grabs as good at any level, and Tornado quarterback Jase Bailey and the Alcoa offense didn’t waste the opportunity.

Bailey first connected with wideout Da’Quan Casby on a crisply-delivered 22-yard strike to put the Tornadoes in scoring position. Soon after, Trey Dorsey powered in over the left side from 4 yards for a 19-0 bulge.

With time waning, Maryville finally hit back. Spraying the ball to several receivers — most notably playmakers Liam Winders, Ethan Ownby and Corbin Worsham — Blanding marched the Rebels downfield to the Tornado goal line. There, Hayden Ramsey punched through from a yard away to trim the ground to make up.

When Ramsey tacked on a conversion run for two after the score, Maryville had reason — and time – to contemplate a rally. The same defense that had fueled Alcoa throughout shut down the final Rebel drive at midfield to enable Bailey to take a knee to exhaust the remaining time.