Bryson Headrick (0) returns a blocked field goal — that he blocked — on the final play of the first half for a Sevier County touchdown against Page on Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, in the Class 5A BlueCross Bowl. (Photo by Danny Parker/5Star Preps)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
CHATTANOOGA — Late in the first half of Friday night’s Class 5A BlueCross Bowl, the Page Patriots zeroed in on 5-foot-6 Sevier County defensive back Bryson Headrick.
Whether they knew that Headrick was the Smoky Bears’ all-time leader in career interceptions or not, Page and quarterback William Wiebush threw three or four consecutive passes Headrick’s way.
The Patriots clearly were picking on him — and having some success in that possession.
“They were picking on me because I’d gotten hurt,” said Headrick, who has been nursing a sub-par ankle for a few weeks. “They’d seen me limping.
“But I got them back.”
Headrick got the last laugh, indeed.
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Sevier County’s defense buckled down just enough to force Page to try a 46-yard field goal on the final play of the half. That’s when Headrick raced in from the edge, blocked the kick, corralled the football off the turf and raced 62 yards for a touchdown.
That gave the Smoky Bears a 10-point halftime lead, and Sevier County rode that momentum to a state championship, 27-20, over the Patriots at Finley Stadium in downtown Chattanooga.
Sevier County completed its first-ever 15-0 season — in its 100th year as a program — and won its first championship since 1999.
“It happened for us. It couldn’t have happened to a better bunch of guys,” Sevier County coach Todd Loveday said.
“I’m just glad to be a part of it.”
As for Page (14-1), it claimed the runner-up trophy in 5A for a fourth consecutive season, falling to Powell in 2021 and then in back-to-back years against West in 2022-23.
The Patriots entered Friday’s game with the state’s most talked-about defensive unit, which allowed just 2.2 points per game in its previous 14 outings and boasted Tennessee LB signee Brenden Anes, Louisville LB signee Eric Hazzard and Wake Forest DB signee William Wiebush.
But Sevier County had one of the state’s most prolific offenses. And though its run game produced 31 yards on 28 carries, the pass game came through. Sophomore quarterback Cooper Newman seemed to solve Page’s schematics just fine. He passed for 153 yards on 15-for-26 passing and two touchdowns to earn game MVP honors.
He survived countless hard hits, only to bounce back up and continue leading the charge.
“He’s got a dang warrior’s heart, man,” Loveday said of Newman.
“He’s stone cold. We trust the kid. First thing he told me after I hugged him was, ‘Coach, let’s come back next year.’ That’s the kind of kid he is.”
THE EBB AND FLOW
Page led 7-0 early, cashing in on a short-field that Sevier County gifted it thanks to a botched punt snap. Wiebush scored on a 10-yard run.
But Sevier County, with 2 minutes left in the first half, became the first team in Tennessee this season to score more than 7 points on Page when Newman hit Jude Costner on a 3-yard touchdown pass. That put the Smoky Bears ahead 10-7, capitalizing on the Page fumble that gave them the ball at the Page 14 with 4:21 left in the second quarter.
After taking a 17-7 lead into the break thanks to Headrick’s return TD, Sevier County pushed its advantage to 24-7 when Newman punctuated an 11-play, 82-yard scoring drive with a 4-yard touchdown to Costner in the back of the end zone.
Newman scrambled like mad on the play until Costner found a gap in coverage under the goal post. After the throw, Newman took a brutally late hit from a Page defender to the chest. After a brief pause on the turf, Newman dusted himself off and ran off the field under his own power.
“When he got hit late and then came back to the sidelines,” Loveday said, “our guys got fired up.”
And though Page later cut Sevier County’s lead to 24-13 late in the third, Sevier County’s Jaxson Perry recovered a Page fumble on the final play of the quarter to send the Smoky Bears into the final stanza with some momentum.
A fourth-down conversion pass by Cooper Newman led to a 28-yard field goal by Taylor Madison and 27-13 lead.
Sevier County’s Sladon Hickman intercepted a tipped pass mid-fourth quarter to preserve the 14-point advantage.
Page scored on a 1-yard run by Wiebush with 1:28 to go.
Costner secured the onside kickoff by Page — and secured the title.
“That defense was as advertised. They’re one of the best defenses in the state. They showed that tonight” Newman said of Page. “We faced some adversity early on. We (handled) that well. I’m usually the guy saying, ‘The job’s not finished. Moving on to next week.’
“But this is the end of the road. We’re state champions.”