Nakelin Mcafee (1) and The King’s Academy Lions defeated the Seymour Eagles 28-21 on Householder Field in Seymour, Tennessee, on Saturday, Aug. 22, 2020. (Photo by Danny Parker)
By DAN FLESER
The King’s Academy rescheduled its football home opener against Gatlinburg-Pittman for Thursday to avoid any chance of being swamped by the remnants of Hurricane Laura.
After falling behind by 13 points, the Lions poured it on the Highlanders, winning 39-13.
“It’s a big one for our school,” TKA coach Jonathan Sellers said. “It’s big for our community.”
Junior running back Nakelin McAfee led the surge with 236 total yards and four consecutive touchdowns.
The Lions (2-0) have opened with two consecutive victories over larger Sevier County schools that beat them last season. They were routed a year ago by G-P, 55-20.
They beat Seymour 28-21 last Saturday. Despite the short turnaround, Sellers thought it was prudent to move the G-P game up a day and not risk dealing with inclement weather
“We don’t have a turf field yet,” Sellers said. “We have a grass surface. That plays into it.”
Aside from his touchdowns, McAfee had a hand in a fourth-down conversion that got TKA going. Quarterback Zak Acuff turned a busted play into a big second-quarter play, avoiding G-P’s pass rush and connecting with McAfee on a 25-yard completion.
“From the sideline, it didn’t look that promising at first,” Sellers said. “It turned into a great play. It was one of those times where the kids make you look like a great coach.”
The play helped set up TKA’s first touchdown, Acuff’s 11-yard pass to Jachim Williams.
McAfee, who rushed for 212 yards, scored on runs of 5, 80, 17 and 41 yards.
“I’ve bragged on Nakelin a lot,” Sellers said. “He’s always been extremely talented. This summer something else clicked for him. … To have that sort of night was great for him and great for our team.”
Gibbs 49, Seymour 25: Colton Qualls and Patrick Spears each had a hand in two touchdowns for the Eagles.
Qualls threw a 39-yard TD pass to Bryson Shown and ran 32 yards for a score.
Spears scored on runs of 9 and 10 yards for Gibbs (1-1), which rushed for 322 yards.
Brendon Harris had two touchdown runs for Seymour (0-2) and Eli Funck threw two TD pass to Liam Luttrell.
Carter 24, Campbell Co. 13: Anthony Stocker scored a pair of touchdowns for Carter.
His 5-yard run and Boone Felts extra-point kick were the decisive scores, and the Green Hornets gave new coach Justin Pressley his first win.
Jaquan Daniels added 109 yards rushing on 20 carries. Carter used its ground game this week after throwing 52 passes in a Week 1 narrow loss to Rhea County.
Carter quarterback Chandler Wilson completed 9 of 14 passes Friday for 76 yards and a touchdown.
Daniel Boone 35, Greeneville 34: Jackson Jenkins’ third touchdown pass to Phillip Page, an 8-yarder, and Ben Shrewsbury’s extra-point kick in the final minute were the difference for Daniel Boone.
The other two scoring passes from Jenkins to Page covered 28 and 32 yards.
Drew Gregg threw three TD passes for Greeneville. Two were to Jaden Stevenson (2 catches, 103 yards).
Greeneville, which was seeking a win for new head coach Eddie Spradlen, got 102 yards rushing and 106 yards receiving from junior running back Mason Gudger.
Gregg threw for 255 yards but his Hail Mary at the end of the game was denied.
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