3A championship: Liberty falls to Alcoa

COOKEVILLE – Liberty is a good football team. Alcoa was better Friday night.

After a close first half, Alcoa dominated the second half and pulled away to a 45-12 victory in the Class 3A state championship in the BlueCross Bowl, ending Liberty’s bid at its first state championship in football with a runner-up finish.

“Alcoa is a very good team,” said Liberty head coach Tyler Turner. “They didn’t change anything schematically at halftime.

“They didn’t do anything different. They just made the plays, and we didn’t.”

Liberty quarterback Corey Newble ran for 24 yards, and he was 7-of-16 for 86 yards passing.

Alcoa finished with 480 yards of offense, while Liberty had 218.

Alcoa running back Malik Salter started the scoring with a two-yard run less than three minutes into the game. After a short punt set Alcoa up on the Liberty 19-yard line, the Tornadoes went up 14-0 after Colton Wright ran 21 yards for a score.

“This is Alcoa,” Turner said. “You can’t give them a short field if you want to beat them. They’re too good.”

Christian Ballard scored all the points for Liberty with two touchdown runs — a 32-yarder in the first quarter and a one-yard run just before halftime that cut Alcoa’s lead at intermission to five at 17-12.

“The line did a good job blocking and worked hard all night and gave me a couple opportunities,” Ballard said. “But Alcoa’s defense is fast and did a good job closing up a lot of our running lanes that are usually there.”

Ballard finished with 87 yards on 12 carries with the two scores.

His two scoring runs flanked a field goal by Alcoa for the halftime score.

Liberty had the ball first in the third quarter and appeared to be close to taking the lead.

Deep in Alcoa territory, Liberty had the ball on fourth-and-12. The Crusaders called a pass play, and Newble pulled the ball down and ran with it and was tackled just short of the first-down marker.

“When I got to my phone after the game, I had 14 text messages telling me that was a first down,” Turner said. “It looked like a first down to me, but I don’t know.

“And if it had been called a first down, they could’ve stopped us on three-and-out or caused a turnover. You never know, but we were playing well up to that point.”

Newble had a different perspective but the same conclusion as Turner.

“I thought I got enough for the first, but the officials made the call the way they saw it,” Newble said. “But Alcoa was tough. They were fast, and I give them credit for being as good as they are. They’re state champions for a reason.”

Things went downhill for Liberty after that.

Wright broke through Liberty’s front seven for a 72-yard run for a score a few plays after that. Alcoa quarterback Jaylen Myers scored on a six-yard run just before the end of the third quarter.

Alcoa receiver and Mr. Football winner Tykee Ogle-Kellogg caught a 70-yard pass from Myers early in the fourth quarter, and Taylen McNear ran for a two-yard score four minutes later to finish the scoring.

“You can’t argue with Alcoa’s record and (Alcoa head coach Gary Rankin’s) record,” Turner said. “They’re in Cookeville almost every year for a reason, and because they know what they’re doing and do it the right way.

“But I told my guys they have nothing to hang their heads about. How many teams are there in 3A? Only two of them played this week, and we lost to a great team. But we made history tonight.”

The loss ends Liberty’s season with a record of 12-3. They were the first Jackson public school to make it to the football state championship game since 1979 and first Jackson team overall to make it to Cookeville in five years.

“Obviously we wanted to win state, but making that kind of history is pretty good too,” Turner said.

Brandon Shields, 425-9751

THIRD QUARTER UPDATE

Alcoa’s defense worked well in the third quarter in keeping Liberty from doing much as the Tornadoes scored a pair of touchdowns to pull ahead to a 31-12 lead going into the fourth quarter.

Colton Wright broke through for a 72-yard touchdown run, and the Tornadoes added to the lead with a short run just before the end of the period.

Liberty came close to scoring one time in the third, but a 12-yard run on fourth down by quarterback Corey Newble was just short. Because of a penalty, the Crusaders got a second chance, and that ended in an incomplete pass.

HALFTIME UPDATE

The second quarter went better for Liberty as the Crusaders kept Alcoa from scoring a touchdown.

The Tornadoes lead the Crusaders 17-12 after Alcoa kicked a 37-yard field goal and Christian Ballard ran for another touchdown for Liberty.

FIRST QUARTER UPDATE

Liberty is holding its own against state power Alcoa in the first quarter of the Class 3A championship.

The Tornadoes went up 14-0 quickly, but the Crusaders responded when Christian Ballard ran 33 yards for a touchdown to cut the lead to 14-6.

That’s where the score stands as Alcoa has the ball to start a series deep in their own territory.