The Alcoa Tornadoes took on the Greeneville Greene Devils in a TSSAA Class 4A state semifinal at Burley Stadium on Friday, Nov. 28, 2025, in Greeneville, Tennessee. Alcoa advanced, 35-7. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
In today’s age of high school football, consider it commonplace for players to tote out a prop or two when their teams take the field for the traditional pregame runout.
Could be an American flag in hand.
Maybe they’re wearing masks.
You may even see a kid in the middle of the pack hoisting up some type of stick-mounted camera, just to help the content team film from a player’s perspective.
The Alcoa Tornadoes (13-1) have taken it to another level this postseason, though.
They have a lightning bolt.
And it’ll be at the forefront of the team’s charge onto the field around 11 a.m. Saturday for the Tornadoes’ Class 4A BlueCross Bowl championship game against Pearl-Cohn (10-4) at Chattanooga’s Finley Stadium.
Here’s what you need to know about the bolt, about Alcoa and about Pearl-Cohn heading into the matchup …