Tigers Sighted at Lookout Mountain – Macon County Advances to Class 4A State Championship

By Mark Darnell

Statewide fans have reported sightings of Tigers at historic Lookout Mountain in Chattanooga. Last Friday night the Macon County Tigers punched their tickets to ‘The Blue Cross Bowl’ and the Class 4A TSSAA state football championship.

State semi-final games are rotated each year. Winners of Regions 1 and 2 (East) play Regions 3 and 4 (Middle) and winners of 5 and 6 (Middle) play 7 and 8 (West). One year semifinal games go east and the next they all go west. This year it was to go west which meant the Anderson County would come to Macon County and Pearl Cohn would travel to Memphis Melrose.

In the history of the Tiger program there has never been a state semifinal game in Lafayette. The gravity of the moment wasn’t lost on any Tiger fan, as people were in line to get in the gates at noon for the 7 pm kick-off. In 2003 Macon hosted the quarterfinals against Smith County and many estimated an attendance of 8,000 to 10,000 saw Kittrell Smith kick the Tigers into their first semi-final appearance.

An estimated crowd of somewhere around 4,000 to 5,000 fans were packed into the stadium for the kickoff. Anderson County started the game but after one first down were forced to punt. However it took only two plays for Tiger Gabe Borders to score on a 70 yard touchdown run. Eli Gammon made the extra point and with 9:31 left in the first quarter Macon led 7-0.

Following punts by both teams, Anderson County would answer with a 10 play drive where Landon Hensley would score to tie the game 7-7 with 2:47 left in the first quarter. Following a three-and-out by the Tigers, Mav running back, and Mr. Football finalist Waylon Larue would scat 66 yards to give the Mavs a 14-7 lead with 0:09 left in the opening period.

Just like a heavyweight prize fight, the Tigers would come right back and score on a seven yard run by Gabe Borders. The extra point was no good and Anderson still led 14-13 with 9:40 left in the half. On the ensuing kick-off Eli Gammon hit a bullet right at the Mav front line which the Tigers recovered. Four plays later Quarterback Luke Gammon hit Kelan Hire for a 20 yard touchdown pass. Eli Gammon would convert the PAT and Macon led 20-14 with 7:27 left in the half.

Anderson would take four plays and score on a one yard run by Larue to take a lead of 21-20 to the locker room.

The Tigers would get the second half kick but turned the ball over near midfield. The Mavericks would score on a four yard run by Larue and take a 28-20 lead with 6:52 left in the third.

Macon would march right back down the field and Zach Borders scored on a 15 yard run. The Tigers immediately went for two to tie the game and Zach Borders would make that happen on the three yard conversion. Tie ballgame 28-28 with 4:16 left in the third.

Following an exchange of punts the Mavs would march down to the Tiger 15 yard line but instead of kicking the field goal would go for it on fourth down. The Tiger defense would turn them away and take over at the 15. One play later Gabe Borders showed fans why he was a two-time Mr. Football finalist himself. After three Mav defenders grabbed nothing but air Borders capped an 85 yard touchdown run. Eli Gammon would kick the PAT and with 10:14 left in the game Macon led 35-28.

Anderson would drive again on an eight play drive and score on an eight yard pass from Hensley to Larue to tie the game 35-35 with 7:01 to go.

Macon would take the ball on a nine play drive themselves. On fourth down at the six inch line Zach Borders would score on an end around. The Mavs would jump off-sides on the extra point try and Coach Kyle Shoulders made a decision. With a two point play they had in their bag of tricks all year, Zach Borders converted his second two point try to give the Tigers a 43-35 lead with 1:53 to go in the ball game.

Anderson County showed everyone that they were an excellent football team. They scored with 58 seconds to go and lined up for the two point conversion. Macon had seen the Mavs run what is called a ‘pick play’ against Greenville the previous week and readied for the try. Anderson tried to run that exact play, which was flagged by the officials, but Ty Young broke up the pass attempt anyway for good measure.

Anderson would attempt an on-sides kick but it was recovered by Ty Young. Final score Macon County 43 Anderson County 41 in what was the finest high school football team I have ever seen by two excellent teams playing at a very high level.

For the game Luke Gammon attempted three passes, completing two, for 67 yards and one touchdown and also ran seven times for 32 yards. Tight-end Kelan Hire caught both of those passes for 67 yards and a score.

The three starting backs for Macon put up 364 yards rushing on the Mavs. Gabe Borders ran 19 times for 265 yards and three touchdowns and twin brother Zach Borders ran 14 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns. Brennan Flowers added four carries for 14 yards on the night.

The Tiger defense did just enough. They forced the Mavs to convert only 5 of 13 on third down and 4 of 6 on fourth down in the game. Zach Borders, Ty Young and Braylon Flowers led the stat sheet with eight stops each. Isaac McClard had seven stops, Matthew Wheeley had five, and Bo Warner had three with each of these three interior players recording one tackle for a loss. Gabe Borders added an interception as well.

It takes a village to successfully pull of an event like this. However, some special recognition needs to be handed out. I do not know who has been nurturing the field the past six weeks but it looked fantastic! We have had three road games the past three weeks and the grass fields we have seen were crusty and brown. Not Pat Parker Field! It was still green and ready for a game like this.

Now parents, coaches (and their spouses too), players, fans and support personnel all deserve a big pat on the back but I would like to recognize two special ladies. The first is Athletic Director Beverly Shoulders. She had a lot of extra work, coordination, moving pieces, and many accommodations to make, for not only the home team and fans but a visiting entourage coming to town. She pulled it off without a hitch and deserves some well deserved recognition. I know she would do it all over again just for these kids.

Do you ever see the person behind the scenes who does all the little stuff that never gets noticed? Every successful team/business/event/club has this person or people. The next time you see Alecia Green please tell her you appreciate all she does for these kids and school. She has been working above and beyond for many, many years and I want to publicly tell her ‘Thank You.’

Game 15 will be ‘The Blue Cross Bowl’ played at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga and the Tigers will face Memphis Melrose. Fans are encouraged to buy their tickets at gofan.co online, as the team will receive a percentage of the tickets pre-sold for their school as part of their revenue share. Tickets will also be $5 more at the gate.

Kick-off in Chattanooga on Saturday Dec 7th will be at 11:00 AM EST. This is the first appearance for the Tigers at this level so let’s show up and show out and support these kids.

(Photo by Julie Collins)