NASHVILLE — If there is a sequel, despite the fact it would come in the BlueCross Bowl state title game, it will be difficult to match Friday night's original.
In a showdown of the state's top-ranked Division II-AAA football teams at Tommy Owen Stadium, No. 1 Montgomery Bell Academy narrowly outlasted No. 2 Baylor 42-34, but only after Whit Muschamp's heave into the end zone fell incomplete as time expired.
The win, MBA's fifth straight in the series, wrapped up the DII-AAA East/Middle Region championship for the Big Red (9-0, 4-0) and prevented Baylor (7-2, 3-1) from earning its first region title since D-II was formed in 1997. The Red Raiders's most recent region championship came in 1993, when they still competed against public schools.
"We have a great group of kids with a lot of heart, and they don't quit," Red Raiders first-year coach Erik Kimrey said. "That was a fantastic football team that we played toe to toe with."
After next week's home game against Father Ryan, the Red Raiders will be the No. 2 seed in the west bracket and would not face MBA again until a potential rematch in the title game.
Big Red senior quarterback Marcel Reed, an Ole Miss commitment, accounted for the first five of his team's six touchdowns, running for three and throwing for a pair and finishing with 306 passing yards to go with 83 rushing.
The teams combined for 982 total yards, including 430 passing by Baylor junior Muschamp, who threw for four touchdowns.
Baylor led 21-7 in the first half, but Reed brought his team back to tie the game by halftime on back-to-back touchdown passes.
After a scoreless third quarter, Reed put MBA up for the first time on a 15-yard run early in the final quarter and followed with a 30-yard run for a 35-21 lead with 6:51 remaining.
Baylor answered with a 17-yard touchdown pass from Muschamp to Max Leblanc, followed by an onside kick recovered by Cooper Keown, which led to Caleb Hampton's 24-yard run to bring the Red Raiders within one. But the 2-point conversion attempt failed, and after MBA scored on a 54-yard run by Brooklen Davis, Baylor had one final chance to possibly tie the game, but two passes to the end zone fell incomplete.
Story By: Stephen Hargis
MBA holds off late Baylor rally for win, region championship | Chattanooga Times Free Press
