By David Wells
With the ball in its hands and a five-point lead with less than four minutes left Friday night, Father Ryan seemed to have the game in its hands.
But a Jay Alexander fumble on the Father Ryan 21 and a McCallie touchdown with 31.5 seconds ended the Irish’s season early as they fell 15-12 to the Blue Tornado in the first round of the Division II-AA playoffs.
Tyler Payne ran the fateful score in on 4th-and-goal from the 2-yard line, his second on a night where he filled in for injured quarterback JaVaughan Craig, who left in the first quarter with an apparent leg injury.
Father Ryan (6-5) led most of the game despite failing to score an offensive touchdown and despite kicker Luke Strebel missing three field goal attempts, including a 54-yard attempt on the last play of the game.
Payne’s 5-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter gave McCallie (4-7) its first lead of the game after Strebel made two earlier field goals.
However, Strebel’s 52-yard punt on the next series put the Blue Tornado on their own 5, and two plays later, Father Ryan’s defense recovered a bad snap in the end zone and took a 12-7 lead with 6:57 left in the game.
A subsequent 2-point conversion attempt failed.
Payne threw 32-yard pass to Myles Patton on the first play of McCallie’s next drive, but Father Ryan stopped the Blue Tornado rushing attack at the Irish 43 before Alexander’s fumble set up Payne’s game-winning touchdown.
Payne completed three passed for 46 yards, while he added 24 rushing yards on 11 carries. McCallie’s first backup quarterback Isaac Kay was 2-for-5 for -1 yards and an interception. He was pulled after the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Father Ryan quarterback Cameron Towns finished 6-for-13 for 47 yards. The team rushed for 112 yards.
Both teams had major problems offensive in the first half, but for different reasons. McCallie outrushed Father Ryan 110 yards to 50 but were unable to score.
Father Ryan, meanwhile, had only nine first-half rushing yards outside of a 42-yard run by Towns late in the second quarter (which was also Father Ryan’s only first down of the half).
It also could not take advantage of its two biggest opportunities—Towns’ big run and a Jack Shoulders 22-yard interception return deep in McCallie territory. Despite having 2nd-and-1 at the 18, it could not convert and turned the ball over on downs.
With the win, McCallie snaps a seven game losing streak that dated back to Week 2. Father Ryan and McCallie had met during that streak, with the Irish winning 34-18 in Chattanooga.
