ALCOA – The Alcoa Tornadoes found a second wind in the second half on Thursday night and pulled away from Greeneville, 31-13, in a battle of two of the top teams in the state.
“We played really good in the first half, but we should have had a 13-7 lead at halftime,” Greeneville coach Eddie Spradlen said. “We came out in the second half and we couldn’t get back in rhythm on offense and we couldn’t get off the field on defense. We’re playing one of the best football teams in the state of Tennessee. We showed we could play with them in the first half, but you have to do it for four quarters.”
The Tornadoes stole the lead with seven seconds left in the first half, and found a new gear in the second half to control the contest to the finish. Quarterback Eli Graf led the effort for the Tornadoes, the No.1 team in Class 3A who are trying to win their 10th straight championship. Graf finished the night with 147 yards and three touchdowns on the ground, and through the air he was 12-of-16 passing for 86 yards and another score.
“He was my worry from the get go. He made them go, and he is the guy that beat us tonight,” Spradlen said.
Alcoa started the third quarter clinging to a 14-13 lead, but Graf sparked things by returning the second-half kickoff 58 yards to the 39-yard line. Five plays later Graf called his own number and went right up the middle for a 24-yard touchdown that put the Tornadoes on top 21-13.
After Greeneville went backward on a third and one, the Tornadoes got the ball back and marched 91 yards. The big play on the drive was a 39-yard run by Condis Cherry in which the Devils blitzed Hayden Moore to the left side of the center and that left a big hole for Cherry to run through to the right.
Micah Jones put the Tornadoes on the one-yard line, but then C.J. Reyes and Carson Quillen came up big stops. Alcoa settled for a 20-yard field goal from Kyrin Tyson and the lead grew to 24-13.
After another Greeneville three-and-out the Tornadoes put together a 15-play, 89-yard drive. Graf finished the drive with a five-yard touchdown run that put Alcoa on top 31-13 with 4:19 left to play.
In the 24-minute second half Alcoa had the ball for 16:41 compared to Greeneville’s 7:19. The Tornadoes also outgained Greeneville 196 yards to 31 yards in the second half.
“(Alcoa) didn’t change anything up, they stuck with what they had been doing. Our guys just haven’t been in situations like this. It’s been an easy first three games, we haven’t had to battle too much and when we got behind I think we showed our character,” Spradlen said.
Thursday’s night game started with both defenses taking the upper hand and that resulted in only four combined first downs and no points scored in the first quarter.
Alcoa got on the board first with 9:58 left in the second quarter. Graf went around the corner to the left and beat the Devils to the pylon from 12 yards out for a 7-0 lead.
Greeneville answered with a 75-yard scoring drive. Quillen picked up half of that when he ran through tackles at the line of scrimmage and then burst 37 yards into the endzone. Alcoa blocked the extra point to preserve a 7-6 lead.
On Alcoa’s ensuing possession the Devils stripped the ball from Graf and after it bounced through a few pairs of hands before Greeneville safety Isaac McGill jumped on it at the Tornadoes’ 35-yard line.
Greeneville got on the board five plays later when quarterback Caden Baugh ran around the right end on a power play. Quillen led the way as a blocker for the 14-yard touchdown, and with 1:59 left in the first half Greeneville led 13-7.
Alcoa moved down the field quickly to take the lead at the end of the first half. Graf covered 32 yards with his feet to put the Tornadoes on the 15-yard line, and from there he hit Jamir Dean on a slant with seven seconds remaining. Tyson’s extra point was true and Alcoa took a 14-13 lead into halftime.
Quillen and Baugh both ran for 95 yards and a touchdown on Thursday, but they only managed a combined 12 yards in the second half. Through the air Baugh was 4-of-7 for 20 yards with an interception. On the night Greeneville gained 210 total yards to Alcoa’s 346.
