BY JESSE SMITHEY
While much of the pregame hype around Alcoa’s season-opener at Blackman centered around coach Gary Rankin’s return to Murfreesboro, once the game started it was all about the players.
Specifically, guys like Alcoa’s J.R. Jones. And Caden Tollett. Even new quarterback Sam Vaulton.
In the end, they all contributed in a 23-14 win at Blackman on Saturday night.
Alcoa (1-0), the four-time defending state champions in Class 3A, ran their win streak to 27 games. Blackman (0-1), a Class 6A program, was hoping to spoil Rankin’s return to Murfreesboro, where he led Riverdale to four state titles before taking over at Alcoa in 2006.
All games stories presented to you by D1 – Hardin Valley.
Blackman jumped to a 14-3 lead with 19.4 seconds left in the second quarter. But Jones returned a kickoff 90 yards right before the first-half buzzer.
Vaulton, who passed for 154 yards on 9-for-14 passing, added a 5-yard touchdown run with 9:31 left in the third quarter to give Alcoa a 16-14 lead.
A 6-foot-3, 190-pound junior, Vaulton got his first touchdown pass of his season on a 15-yard pass to Tristen Blankenship with 8:35 to play.
All told, though, Alcoa only rang up 282 yards. But that was plenty. The Alcoa defense held Blackman to 228 yards and got two interceptions from Tollett, including one in the fourth quarter with 40.6 seconds left.
But Jones’ interception with 3:10 to go helped seal the win and keep any Blackman comeback at bay.
Alcoa hosts Austin-East (0-1) on Friday. The Tornadoes welcome rival Maryville (1-0) on Thursday, Sept. 12.