For as long as he can remember, from the time he barely could grip a football at age 5, Jaylen Bowens has heard stories about Tyner's 1997 state championship team.
Playing youth league with the Brainerd Bills for seven years, Bowens was coached by Rory Hinton, who just happened to be the quarterback on that '97 Rams team that made Tyner the first Hamilton County public school to earn a state football title in the playoff system.
"Every day after practice Rory or one of the other guys who played on that team and helped coach us would talk to us about what it meant to win a state championship," said Bowen, whose father Jeff was a Rams basketball star in the early 1990s. "They would teach us all the same plays we would run once we got to Tyner and then end it by telling us how many people still talked to them about what they had accomplished.
"Before I even knew what they were talking about, I could tell it was a big deal. Now I want to experience it for myself."
Tonight Tyner has the opportunity to return to the state championship game for the first time since winning it all 20 years ago. The Rams (11-2) play at Rockwood (10-3) in a Class 2A semifinal, and Bowens, following in his mentor's footsteps, is a key reason for the resurgence.
"He's a lot bigger and stronger than I was when I played, so we don't resemble each other as players," said Hinton, who threw the winning touchdown pass late in Tyner's title-game win and has coached youth teams for more than a decade. "But where I do see similarities is our will to win. JB doesn't accept losing. He's all-out effort on every play, and he's always trying to make a big play to help his team win.
"He separated himself early on from other kids we coached because of his willingness to work hard. You'll see some kids have all the talent in the world but they stop working to improve. We saw JB get better every year, even after he got to high school, because he has a drive inside him to be the best. This team would not be on the roll it's on if it wasn't for JB becoming the leader he is. The rest of the team feeds off his excitement and hustle."
Bowens was locked in a battle for the Rams' quarterback job before becoming the full-time starter just after the midway point of this season. In its last eight games Tyner has beaten opponents by an average of more than 31 points, with the 6-foot-2, 195-pound Bowens accounting for more than 1,500 yards and 20 touchdowns. He's also a tone-setter on defense, where he has 71 tackles and six interceptions from his safety position.
"He gets overlooked a little bit on defense because of all the things he's done offensively. But he's an enforcer at safety," Rams coach Wayne Turner said. "We've got a lot of offensive weapons around him, but Jaylen has really stepped up in the second half of the season for us and given us balance. People can't load the box to stop our running game because of the way he can throw the ball."
In last week's 35-point win over Marion County, a rematch of a regular-season meeting in which the Rams needed three fourth-quarter scores to win, Bowens threw three of his four TD passes in the first half to help put the game away by halftime. He finished with 161 passing yards, which also kept running lanes open for Tyner backs to gain 208 yards on the ground.
"There was one play where he made two or three of ours miss and then throws a 45-yard touchdown pass," Marion coach Joey Mathis said. "You just kind of shake your head when that happens. He makes it very hard to get them off the field on third down, because if you take away the pass option, he's good enough to hurt you with his legs.
"He's just a real tough competitor, and that's what you have to respect as a coach."
For all the talent Tyner has had in the 20 years since its last appearance in a title game, it's the skill combined with his desire and leadership traits that could make Bowens the missing piece of the puzzle needed for Tyner to return.
"I've started to see some similarities between this bunch and that '97 team and especially between the two quarterbacks," Turner said. "Both are extremely gifted and real quiet leaders who kind of set the tone by how they prepare and play the game, and the other guys follow that lead.
"We're playing with a confidence now that we haven't had here in a long time. These kids are on a mission."
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.