Friendship Christian football unleashes Jajuan Foutch to win Division II-A championship

The Tennessean

Friendship's Jajuan Foutch (3) scores a touchdown against DCA during the second half of the Division II-A state championship game at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tenn., Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017.

COOKEVILLE — Friendship Christian coach John McNeal managed Jajuan Foutch's carries this season in an attempt to keep his legs fresh.

McNeal saw no need to pad his senior running back's statistics.

On Saturday, McNeal turned him loose in Friendship Christian's 34-10 win over Donelson Christian Academy in the Division II-A BlueCross Bowl.

Foutch, the DII-A BlueCross Bowl Offensive MVP, rushed for 292 yards on 25 carries, scoring four touchdowns. It's the most carries and yards the senior has had in a game this season.

"Everybody on our side knows what he can do," McNeal said. "We just haven't unleashed him in games when we didn't need to.

"We've kind of kept him fresh throughout the whole year. I told him, 'Saturday is your day. You are going to get the ball. You get to show what you can do. He was averaging over 12 yards (a carry). He could have had over 2,000 yards if we wanted it like some do."

Foutch, who picked up the nickname "Speedy" as a sixth-grader because he was faster than all the eighth-graders on his junior high team, finished the season with 145 carries for 1,669 yards and 30 total touchdowns.

Friendship players receive their trophy after their Division II-A state championship victory against DCA at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tenn., Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017.

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"I was ready for this," Foutch said. "I had a feeling I was going to do well."

Foutch's 87-yard touchdown run with 3:54 left in the first half gave Friendship Christian (13-0) a 21-3 halftime lead.

DCA (9-4) countered after halftime when Jamison Greenway raced to the left pylon for a 9-yard TD run with 5:49 left in the third quarter.

Friendship coach John McNeal reacts after his players showered him in water after their Division II-A state championship victory against DCA at Tucker Stadium in Cookeville, Tenn., Saturday, Dec. 2, 2017.

But Friendship's Braden Reece put the game away with a 1-yard TD score with 9:02 left, and Foutch added a 22-yard TD run to cap his day.

"We just have to play fundamentally sound and be in the right spots and make tackles," DCA coach Dennis Goodwin said. "We didn't tackle very well, but he makes you miss a lot of tackles.

"They did what we were afraid they could do, which was just line up and manhandle us because we aren't very big. They just overwhelmed us up front."

Reach Tom Kreager at tkreager@tennessean.com or 615-259-8089 and on Twitter @Kreager.