I remember almost every big play from the football games I played and coached in. But I have none of them on tape. They’re only there in my mind to tell over and over again for those who will listen.
There’s a local television station employee in Chattanooga who will tell everybody who will listen that she doesn’t like to hear me talk about the old days.But we didn’t have the luxury of computers and video to record all of the big plays and therefore we have to depend on old brains to pull us through.In the past few years I have been blessed to see some fantastic finishes in High School football.Many of them I now have recorded on DVD. On Sept. 3, 2004 it was the "Miracle on the Banks of the Tennessee River."
Just when it appeared Boyd-Buchanan had stolen a win from heavily-favored Baylor on the Red Raiders' campus the unexpected happened. Baylor quarterback Cody Romans (now a Chattanooga Mocs QB) hurried to get a pass to sophomore Brandon Joynes as precious seconds of the game ticked away. But, instead of Joynes catching the clock-killing pass and running out of bounds to stop the clock he made a now-you-see-me, now-you-don't move on the Bucs’ Drew Akins (now a QB at Carson-Newman) and sprinted in front of the Baylor sideline 72 yards for the winning score.
I will never forget how the Boyd-Buchanan fans looked on in amazement as the Baylor faithful celebrated a 28-25 win.
On August 27, 2005, just short of 10 p.m., the Boyd-Buchanan fans watched sure victory stolen away at Finley Stadium. Gordon Lee quarterback Patrick Mattos found a way to win.
Trailing by seven points on the last play of regulation, Mattos threw a pass more than 50 yards in the air to junior Rob Crowder, who fell into the endzone for a touchdown. Mattos then tied the game with the point-after and forced overtime. He later raced 15 yards for the winning touchdown in OT.
Mattos' summer baseball teammate, B.J. Coleman, helped pull off another football miracle on Friday Aug. 25, 2006 at Finley Stadium.
The players and coaches of Class 5A Tennessee state power Mufreesboro Riverdale never knew what hit them. They were prepared for a Blue Tornado when McCallie quarterback B.J. Coleman hit them with a tsunami.
Coleman connected on a Hail Mary touchdown pass to Walter Dozier on the game's final play. He rifled the pass high into the night air more than 50 yards away from the endzone. The pass was tipped four times to Dozier, who had slipped behind a group of defenders.
The play was miraculous.
But McCallie having the opportunity to win the game was foolish. The Blue Tornado was two touchdowns behind with 2:40 left on the scoreboard clock. Coleman took his team 90 yards and found Dozier for an 11-yard strike to bring McCallie to within a touchdown with 1:35 left in the game. The Blue Tornado was out of timeouts, according to the scoreboard.
Instead of kneeling, Riverdale took a bow.
The Warriors fumbled a quarterback sneak and McCallie had another opportunity. Coleman took his team to the glory land and found Johnny Newman on a 2-yard touchdown pass with 21 seconds left in the game. Joel Bradford hit the PAT and the game was tied.
With overtime looming for both teams, Riverdale elected to attempt the Warriors' third pass of the game. And finally somebody caught a Riverdale pass. Unfortunately for the Warriors it was McCallie's Thomas Green who picked off the stray aerial.
After a shot to get Bradford in field goal range fell incomplete, Coleman and Dozier hooked up on the play that shocked the state of Tennessee. Dozier was already known in the Chattanooga area for his big play ability. In 2005, Dozier picked off a tipped pass against Baylor and dashed down the sideline 101-yards for a touchdown that turned the rivalry game around.
The 2007 season will again have fantastic finishes we will all remember forever.
Do you have your favorite fantastic finishes?
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