Diivonta Phillips rushed for 234 yards and three touchdowns Friday night, leading Davidson Academy to a wild 55-35 win over host Boyd Buchanan.
The victory was the 27th straight for the Nashville program, which moved up to Division II-AA due to TSSAA reclassification in the offseason after winning the past three DII-A state championships. The host Buccaneers, 63-0 winners at Greenback a week earlier, dropped to 1-1.
In a game loaded with big-yardage scoring plays, the two teams traded haymakers until the Bears finally pulled away late.
"The biggest thing we're taking away from this game is that we didn't blink," Boyd Buchanan coach Jeremy Boskin said. "We kept fighting. We didn't lose faith in each other. We looked for solutions and didn't point fingers."
Davidson Academy's first scoring drive was short, and all Phillips. Starting from the Bucs' 31, he got five straight carries, the last of which resulted in a 4-yard run with 4:05 left in the opening period.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games)
The hosts responded when freshman quarterback Houston Hicks drove his mates 80 yards, covering the last 75 of those with four straight completions. He hit Jaylon Sanderfer for the tying score 25 seconds into the second quarter.
Hicks was less fortunate on his next turn, as he was picked off by Davidson Academy's Courtlan Simmons. The Bears once again called on Phillips, who carried three straight times from his own 15. On his next try, he sprinted 62 yards for a touchdown, giving his club a 14-7 lead with 6:38 left before halftime.
Davidson Academy's Simmons scored on a 37-yard interception return, but Boyd Buchanan rallied, driving 69 yards in the dying minutes of the first half. With 48 seconds left, Hicks hit Caden Johnson from a yard out, pulling the Bucs to within 20-14.
With 6:09 left in the third quarter, Phillips scored from a yard - and then threw for the 2-point conversion - to give the Bears a 28-14 lead. The Bears were driving again when Phillips fumbled. The Bucs' David Dixon scooped up the ball and ran it back 40 yards, cutting his team's deficit to 28-21 with 2:50 left in the third quarter.
Bear quarterback Knox Roberts threw a 36-yard touchdown pass to Simmons barely a minute later, but the Bucs answered just 29 seconds after that as Matthew Stone went in from 2 yards. His score was set up by a 58-yard toss from Hicks to Carter Wamack.
Boyd Buchanan was down just 35-28 and driving midway through the fourth quarter when Simmons intercepted Hicks at the goal line. Six plays later, Roberts hit Kendyle Ball from 26 yards to put Davidson Academy back on top by 14.
Caleb Castle and Will Breece added two more touchdowns for the Bears, and Caden Johnson sprinted 75 yards with 2:56 left for the game's final score.
Contact Bob Gary at sports@timesfreepress.com.