18 teams will play in Chattanooga this weekend in The BlueCross Bowl. Only nine can leave as state champions.
The first game kicking off the great Tennessee weekend was CPA vs Boyd-Buchanan. These two teams are very different but equally impressive. CPA is a yearly participant in the state championship game. I would imagine the trip to Chattanooga has become a holiday season tradition in Head Coach, Ingle Martin’s household. Across the field from Coach Martin was Coach Gary Rankin, who is the all-time wins leader in TSSAA history. The Buccaneers however were a young team with multiple freshman playing big roles.
Crews Law who rushed for 121 yards and today, opened up the scoring with a run on fourth down that covered 73 of those 121 yards. It was the start of rushing success for both teams. It did not come for Boyd-Buchanan until the end of the first quarter on their third possession when they gained their first first down. They proceeded to rattle off three more and kicked a field goal at the end of a 13-play drive.
Not to be outdone by the run game, CPA Quarterback, Braden Streeter, found Owen Cabell on a beautiful rainbow of a pass and Jackson Matthews for back-to-back touchdowns to end the first half.
The Bucs came back in the third quarter with a touchdown of their own and tacked on an extra field goal, but the second half belonged to Crews Law and Rawls Patterson as Law set up Patterson for two rushing scores, one with a big punt return and another with a long run. The second score essentially iced the game for the Lions who won the Division II AA state title, their sixth, with a final score of 35-13 on the back of their veteran leaders on both sides, a disciplined, stingy defense, and a powerful offense.
When asked about CPA’s success after the game, Coach Martin’s response was, “Great families, great coaches, great kids.”
