Maryville quarterback Cade Chambers (9) embraces A.J. Davis after the Maryville Rebels beat the Ravenwood Raptors 42-21 in the TSSAA Class 6A state championship on Overall Field at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tennessee, on Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
COOKEVILLE — With just a couple dozen seconds left in Saturday night’s Class 6A championship game, Maryville quarterback Cade Chambers trotted out for one final snap.
This victory formation would feature him in the shotgun. And what is supposed to be an easy play was anything but that for the 6-foot-4 starter.
His emotions were bubbling over such that he didn’t know if he could even utter one last “hut.”
His last game — his high school career — would conclude as soon as he said it.
“I was a little choked up, like I am right now, when I said ‘Ready. Set.’ on field. I didn’t know if (the players) were going to hear me or not,” said Chambers.
“But it worked out.”
That, it did. The play went off without a hitch, just like Maryville’s entire performance against Ravenwood.
Chambers accounted for 248 total yards and four scores and Tee Hodge ran for 112 yards and two touchdowns, as the Rebels won the Class 6A BlueCross Bowl over Ravenwood, 42-21, at Tennessee Tech’s Tucker Stadium.
Chambers won the game MVP honors, completing 13 of 18 passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns to go with 10 carries for 76 yards and two touchdowns. And his tears trickled into the postgame, as well.
“When I walked out on the field, I turned and looked up at the stands. I saw everybody for the last time,” said a choked-up Chambers. “There’s just so much emotion that went into this.
“I looked up and saw everybody for the last time. Just to soak it in.”
Maryville (15-0) notched its first unbeaten season since 2014, won its second state title in three seasons under head coach Derek Hunt and claimed its 17th title in program history — which ranks second all-time in TSSAA history behind Alcoa (18).
Ravenwood (13-2) added a couple late touchdowns once the game was out of hand. The Raptors fumbled away any legitimate chance of a comeback Saturday night, though, when it fumbled in the red zone with roughly 9 minutes left in the third.
The Raptors were looking to slice into Maryville’s 21-point halftime lead, but Maryville linebacker Mason Shelton had the wherewithal to fall on a fumble and preserve the advantage.
The Rebels clinched the win when Tennessee commitment Hodge darted through the left side of the line for a 26-yard touchdown with 5 minutes, 24 seconds left in the third.
Though the PAT failed, Maryville led 34-7.
Chambers added a 10-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Davis for good measure at the 2:50 mark of the third, capitalizing on Drew Crowder’s interception. Davis had six catches for 114 yards in his final game as a Rebel.
Chambers converted the two-point pass to Davis.
Maryville 42. Ravenwood 7. Running clock.
Complete dominance over a Ravenwood team that generated quite the media buzz given its bevy of FBS-caliber talent.
“Obviously, when you hear (the hype), you want to quiet it a little bit. But we came out and played them like they were any other team,” said Shelton, who led Maryville on Saturday with eight tackles, two sacks, two tackles for loss and a forced fumble. “We didn’t have any special treatment. We just wanted to win.”
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The Rebels couldn’t have asked for a better start in their first state-title-game appearance since winning it all in 2017. Chambers hit Davis on a 69-yard pass to the Raptors’ 6 on the third play from scrimmage, and then Hodge powered in from the 2 for an early 7-0 lead.
Ravenwood gave the ball right back to Maryville on the ensuring possession when Maryville star linebacker Shelton, a Coastal Carolina commitment, sacked Brian Garcia and dislodged the ball.
Lou Burchfield recovered the fumble for Maryville, and Chambers’ 2-yard touchdown run made it 14-0 Rebels with 5:15 left in the first quarter.
“A fast start is huge against a team like this,” said Hunt. “Because if they get a fast start, even if we get going on offense, it’s going to be a shootout. Then it’s anybody’s game.
“I thought that if we could get ahead and find a way to run the football — which wasn’t easy against them. They were doing so many things up front that made it difficult, and our offensive line has been great up front all year. But I knew that if we got off to a fast start, we’d have some success and maybe make them press a little bit and give our defense a chance to turn them over.”
Ravenwood got it together briefly. And on fourth-and-6 from the Maryville 29, Garcia hit 5-foot-11 Rice commitment Andrew Mason in the back of the end zone for a touchdown, trimming Maryville’s lead to 14-7 with 1:48 to go in the first.
Maryville cooked up some fourth-down success, too, as Hodge plowed through for nine yards on fourth-and-1 at the Ravenwood 45 at the 10:53 mark of the second quarter. That ultimately sustained a scoring drive that went 12 plays and 70 yards, culminating with Chambers’ 11-yard fade to Liberty commitment Ashton Maples for a 21-7 advantage.
The Rebels increased their win probability percentage when Chambers, the Indiana State commitment, raced untouched for a 33-yard touchdown run with 24 seconds left in the half.
That jaunt came on third-and-10, and Maryville took a 28-7 lead into the break.
The Rebels out-gained Ravenwood in first-half yards, 260-93.
“This group of seniors, we’ve worked so hard for it,” said Hodge. “At the beginning of the year and season, we set the standard on what we wanted to accomplish this season.
“And this group of seniors was so closely bonded. I love these guys. I love them.”