Lipscomb Academy, Friendship Christian cap perfect seasons on first day of BlueCrossBowl

Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Lipscomb Academy's Maureice Sherrill Jr. stiff-arms a CPA defender on his way to a 41-yard touchdown catch during the TSSAA Division II-AA BlueCross Bowl on Thursday at Finley Stadium. Sherrill was named MVP of the game after leading the Mustangs to their second straight state title.
Staff photo by Matt Hamilton / Lipscomb Academy's Maureice Sherrill Jr. stiff-arms a CPA defender on his way to a 41-yard touchdown catch during the TSSAA Division II-AA BlueCross Bowl on Thursday at Finley Stadium. Sherrill was named MVP of the game after leading the Mustangs to their second straight state title.

Edwin Spillman said he and his Lipscomb Academy teammates knew what the result would be even before the TSSAA Division II-AA BlueCross Bowl got underway Thursday morning at Finley Stadium.

The junior linebacker led a suffocating defense as the Mustangs blanked Christ Presbyterian Academy in the state title game for the second straight season, winning 42-0 in an all-Nashville final that kicked off three days of prep football championship competition in Chattanooga.

It was also the finale for Trent Dilfer with Lipscomb after the University of Alabama at Birmingham announced Wednesday that it had hired him as head coach of the Blazers. Dilfer, who quarterbacked the 2000 Baltimore Ravens to a Super Bowl title, took over at Lipscomb in 2019 and led the team to the BlueCross Bowl in his second season before back-to-back titles to finish his tenure. Lipscomb beat CPA 21-0 a year ago at Finley.

"We all knew what was about to go down," said Spillman, who helped hold the Lions to 80 total yards. "We just wanted to make it a special one for Coach Dilfer in his last game. Everyone was bought in, loved one another and played hard for each other and coach."

(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Thursday's BlueCross Bowl state championship games in Chattanooga)

Even with Dilfer's exit and a move up in classification to DII-AAA next season, junior cornerback Kaleb Beasley believes his team will have no troubles. In Thursday's rout, Beasley got his seventh interception of the season, jumping a route and returning the ball 50 yards to the CPA 2, and he also had an electric 56-yard punt return.

The Mustangs (13-0) allowed only 38 passing yards on 22 attempts.

"We can celebrate this, but Edwin and I have to get back out there and lead this group to get ready for next year," said Beasley, who has committed to Tennessee. "We will be just fine in (DII-AAA). It will be the same result as this year.

"Our defensive dominance all starts with our defensive coordinator Sione (Taufoou). He dials everything up for us, and we just react and trigger. We were even more dominant this year, and we all worked hard to get this far."

The Lions (8-6) had no answer for Lipscomb senior Maureice Sherrill Jr., who has committed to Vanderbilt.

Sherrill stormed his way to a BlueCross Bowl MVP honor with 11 catches for 141 yards and three scores while adding 60 rushing yards and another touchdown on seven carries. His shiftiness and ability to create yards after contact carried an offense that totaled 436 yards.

"We executed our game plan to perfection," Sherrill said. "Hank (Brown) got me the ball in space, and I just did what I do best: Make plays in space and give defenders a hard time."

Brown was 23-of-28 passing for 268 yards.

Friendship Christian 34, Nashville Christian 27: A trio of takeaways in the second half helped the Commanders win the DII-A BlueCross Bowl and the program's fourth state championship overall.

Nashville Christian, the 2015 champion in Class 1A, was runner-up for the second straight year after losing to Donelson Christian Academy in 2021.

The Commanders (13-0), who never trailed, sealed the win by forcing a pair of decisive goal-line turnovers as Devin Lively ripped the ball away with three minutes left and fellow senior Tyler Smiley ended the game with his second interception on fourth-and-goal from the 2-yard line.

Smiley's 35-yard interception return with 5:49 left in the third quarter had built a 34-20 lead.

Senior quarterback Garrett Weekly was honored as the game's MVP after throwing three touchdown passes to junior Brady Montgomery. Weekly was 13-of-16 for 166 yards and rushed for 94 yards on 17 carries, and Montgomery finished with 111 yards on seven receptions.

"Last year after we lost in the second round of the playoffs to DCA, there was no way I thought we'd win state this year," said Weekly, who plans to be a preferred walk-on at Stanford next fall. "But we came back and had an outstanding offseason and believed in ourselves. Devin Lively is a great leader, too, for this team.

"It's funny. I lost to USJ as a freshman, lost to Nashville Christian as a sophomore and DCA my junior year. I was able to get all of them back in the playoffs this year. I would not be in this spot if it wasn't for my dad. He is my role model. Whenever I didn't feel like putting in work, he told me to get off my ass and do something. The feeling to win state is beyond words."

Nashville Christian (10-3) was led by senior James Warmbrod, who totaled more than 100 yards of offense and scored touchdowns rushing, receiving and on a 95-yard kickoff return.

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.

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