The West Rebels defeated the Page Patriots, 47-13, in the TSSAA Class 5A state championship game on Davenport Field at Finley Stadium on Friday, Dec. 2, 2022, in Chattanooga, Tennessee. (Photo by Danny Parker)
BY JESSE SMITHEY
On paper, and even judging by film, this 2023 Class 5A BlueCross Bowl looks like a defensive battle in the making.
Shoot, maybe even a defensive battle for the ages.
As West High School football coach Lamar Brown put this Page team under the microscope to try and find a weakness he could exploit, all he could do was behold and laud a Page defense that was much more cohesive and uniform in its efforts this fall — perhaps more so than the Page defensive unit that shredded n in last year’s 34-point championship win.
Factor in Page’s improved defense along with an oft-praised West defense, and the 5A title game rematch just may be a little tighter this time.
Kickoff is slated for 7 p.m. Friday at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga.
“Two unbelievable defenses playing each other,” Brown said Monday during a press conference. “Offensively, you can’t make big mistakes. There are going to be times Friday night where a punt is good play offensively with these two defenses. I think it’ll come down to the line of scrimmage and who makes the fewest mistakes.”
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Friday marks the third consecutive season that Page has reached the 5A BlueCross Bowl, the Patriots having lost to Powell in the 2021 finale. They enter Friday’s tilt with West on a 12-game win streak. The Patriots allowed 34 points in Week 1 and 30 in Week 2. Since then, though, no team has scored more than 17 points.
And last week, Page all but muted an unbeaten Southwind team with an offense that featured a quarterback with 45 touchdown passes. Page won that game 10-7 and its quarterfinal the week before by a 14-7 mark. Head coach Charles Rathbone hasn’t been pleased with his team’s offensive execution the past two outings, but his defense remained constant.
Getting a majority of the praise seems to be two Page junior linebackers: the 6-foot-3, 230-pound Eric Hazzard and the 6-2, 220-pound Brenden Anes. The two have a combined 41 tackles for loss and 18 sacks.
Tennessee, Wisconsin, Duke, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest are the latest teams to offer Anes,. And Hazzard is a finalist for the Tennessee Titans/TSSAA Mr. Football award in Class 5A.
“Those two linebackers allow everything to funnel back inside for our interior three (defensive) linemen and linebackers to make plays,” Page coach Rathbone said. “Our secondary has held up this year better than they did last year. So really, it’s a true group of 11 who are solid football players. … They play hard. As a coach, that’s the ultimately compliment, when you can tell your kids that you’re proud of them because they play hard every single play.”
“As far as what we’ve had at Page,” Rathbone added, “this is one of the best — if not the best — complete defense we’ve been around.”
West is no slouch, either.
Defensive linemen C.J. Smith (24.5 tackles for loss, 12.5 sacks) and Wyatt Deroche (19.5 tackles for loss, 9.5 sacks) have been highly productive. And standout linebackers Ryan Scott (157 tackles, 18 tackles for loss, 3 INTs, 2 sacks) and Anderson Smith (88 tackles, 12.5 tackles for loss, 8 sacks) have carried over their stellar play from 2022 into their final prep campaigns.
West has forced 32 turnovers and allows just 9.8 points per game.
“We’ve got some great football players back, Ryan (Scott) and C.J. (Smith) on defense. They’re really great football players. They’ve helped lead some young guys, inexperienced guys and teach them what we believe in and what it takes to win,” Brown said. “Just throughout the season, we’ve been in all different kinds of football games. Our kids find a way to win. We won a shootout against Farragut. About a month later, us and Anderson County set football back about 30 years with an 8-7 final score. But we found a way to win.
“These kids believe they’re going to win. They have a lot of confidence. And that starts with the way they prepare Monday through Thursday. They come in every week on Monday wanting to get better, wanting to learn. They take that to the practice field and get better. I told them a couple of weeks ago that we’ve nowhere near played our best football game. I thought that means a lot going into a quarterfinal game. And we got better in the quarterfinal game (against Powell) and played one of our most complete game in the semifinals. Just our work ethic has impressed me more than anything.”
Offensively, Page will counter West’s defense with senior running back Ethan Cunningham, who has rushed 222 times for 1,279 yards and 17 touchdowns. Senior quarterback Jonathan Palmer is a 59.7 percent passer with 1,844 yards, 17 TDs and four interceptions. But keep an eye on his running ability.
Palmer is a senior, who has waited his turn to start. He did not play against West last year.
The same could be said for West senior quarterback Hunter Dance, who was an understudy last year to eventual Class 5A BlueCross Bowl game MVP Carson Jessie. Dance is a 53.6 percent passer with 1,780 yards, 18 TDs and nine interceptions. He’s had his big-game moments, namely a game-winning touchdown pass for the Rebels against Bearden.
The Rebels’ offense, though, is more run-based, and it hit a rough patch for a 3-4 week spell, as senior tailback Marshaun Bowers (1,064 yards, 17) and senior Devin Jamison (575 yards, five TDs) battled injury. Their return got the offense pumping out points again and sent it on this playoff march.
“Marshaun and Devin, our backup tailback, those two guys make us go offensively,” Brown said. “They’re good in the run game. They’re good in the pass game, whether it’s running routes or in pass protection.
“And those two guys, I think our whole team feeds off them. I think they give our offensive line confidence when they’re lined up back there.”
5STAR PREPS GAME PREDICTION
West 20, Page 14
This season: 388-87 (.817)