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Daniel Boone hangs on to dump M-East, 38-28

By Jeff Birchfield
Press Sports Writer
jbirchfield@johnsoncitypress.com

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“Football is a game where players can dominate, but a dominant team can beat dominant players.”

It was the message Daniel Boone head coach Jeremy Jenkins gave to his team at halftime of their Class 5A playoff game against Morristown East.

Although his Trailblazers led their old IMAC league rivals 28-21 at that point, the Hurricanes’ Tee Howell had lit up the Boone defense with 160 rushing yards on just five carries and four catches for 109 yards.

In the second half, Boone limited Howell to just a single yard rushing on two carries and 31 receiving yards to take a 38-28 win. Still, Howell left quite an impression after finishing with seven rushes for 161 yards and seven catches for 140 yards.

“That’s the best player that we played all year,” Boone safety Hayden Chandley said. “He’s so quick, and he’s got some moves that I’ve never seen before. He was killing us with the long runs. But, we came together as a team in the second half.”

The teamwork helped Boone (9-2) earn its first playoff victory since a 2005 win over Elizabethton. Although East (5-6) finished with 501 yards of total offense, including 233 passing yards by quarterback Cody Ricker, the ‘Blazers won the turnover battle 4-2 and had six more first downs than the Hurricanes.

All that mattered to Jenkins was his players made the big plays when they needed to.

“Offensively, we played well all night,” Jenkins said. “Defensively, we made enough plays at the end to get the job done. We got a big fumble recovery and a big interception, and our kids just played hard.”

There were plenty of big performances for the ‘Blazers, particularly Blake Shropshire with 16 carries for 123 yards and two touchdowns. On the final scoring drive, he carried the ball four straight times out of the power set, leading to a game-clinching, 24-yard field goal by Brandon Burkey.

“It was win or go home, and I wanted to play some more football,” said Shropshire, a senior tailback. “I gave it all because you never know if you’ll have another chance to play.”

It was ironic the game turned Boone’s way on defensive plays and a grind-it-out running game after the scoring had come fast and furious in the first half.

Howell took a toss sweep and went 71 yards for the game’s first touchdown just 57 seconds into the game. Boone immediately answered with a 48-yard kickoff return by Christian Studer. Three plays later, Shropshire charged in from a yard out for a 7-7 tie.

Later in the first quarter, Terrell Warren took an option pitch and raced 38 yards for a 14-7 East lead. A fumble recovery early in the second quarter led to a five-yard run by Boone’s Tyler Shepherd and a 14-14 tie.

Boone took its first lead at 6:30 in the second quarter, as a dump pass over the middle from Austin Reppart to Chandley went 16 yards for a score. Only two plays later, however, Howell broke free again on a 68-yard run and a 21-21 tie.

Boone took the lead for good with 1:56 left in the first half when Shropshire scored his second touchdown on a five-yard run.

With 3:16 left in the third quarter, the ‘Blazers finally had a two-possession lead as Reppart hit Dakota Whitson with a pass down the left sideline, which turned into a 25-yard touchdown. However, East stormed back and less than two minutes later was down just 35-28 after an 11-run by Dee Dee Johnson.

The game nearly saw its fourth tie midway through the final quarter. Burkey missed a 41-yard field goal attempt, and the next play Howell hit a wide-open Dee Clark in the hands as he was racing down the sidelines. However, Clark dropped the sure touchdown, and Chandley came up with a key interception two plays later.

“The atmosphere was unbelievable,” Chandley said. “It was unlike any experience I’ve ever had. It’s always said that big players step up with big opportunities. That’s what I believe we did.”

With the score and the clock in their favor, the ‘Blazers turned to its running game for seven straight running plays before Burkey’s boot with 2:22 left.

“Hats off to the offensive line,” Shropshire said. “Issac Bowman and Sean Kirvin, I ran behind them all night. They did a great job.”

Next up for Boone is a rematch with Tennessee High, which ended the regular season as the No. 1 ranked team in the state. The ‘Blazers lost at Tennessee High 51-26 three weeks ago after trailing just five points midway through the third quarter.

“We took their best shot last time,” Jenkins said. “We had it 31-26 with four minutes left in the third quarter, and then the wheels fell off. We hope we can go up there, make some noise and get after that bunch.”