MURFREESBORO – Heralded as two of the top offensive teams in Class 6A, it was actually the defenses for both the Ravenwood Raptors and Blackman Blaze that came up big on Friday night.
In a lower-scoring game than many anticipated, Ravenwood held off a late Blackman rally, benefitting from a miscommunication on the Blackman sideline and forcing a turnover-on-downs with 0.6 seconds left to take a 16-13 win.
“We ended up having to burn out last timeout, and the third-and-3 really hurt us,” Blackman coach Kit Hartsfield said. “We were trying to get the first down and clock it with two or three seconds left in the game, but we had trouble getting the call in there at the end. But we gave ourselves a chance, we stopped them and were able to drive from our own 4-yard line, but we just came up short.”
“At the end, it was just a matter of will,” Ravenwood coach Matt Daniels added. “The third quarter was a grind. Blackman had some long drives and it’s just one of those things where they had to dig deep and they did that.”
The late-game dramatics were set up by a second-half rally from Blackman. Trailing 13-3 at halftime, the Blaze chipped away in the second half, closing it to 13-6 midway through the third quarter, then scoring their only touchdown with 2:10 remaining on a 1-yard run by Keionte Newson.
The Blaze defense got the ball back for its offense, only to see the drive stall out in the waning seconds, sending Blackman to an 0-2 start.
“We’d drive it down the field but we weren’t able to punch it in,” Hartsfield stated. “Give the Ravenwood defense credit, they stood tall inside the 5-yard line and we weren’t able to punch it in. Whether we missed some blocks or didn’t see the hole, give Ravenwood credit for stopping us because we drove it down there on them a few times.”
Ravenwood started the game with a bang as Brian Garcia hit Rice commit Andrew mason on a 57-yard touchdown strike to open the game. Garcia also hit tight end Jake Briningstool for a 7-yard TD midway through the second quarter for Ravenwood’s second – and final – touchdown of the game.
“Going on the road in this type of environment, it’s a win is huge for our boys,” Daniels said. “There’s no days off on our schedule. But I think tonight is going to boost our confidence big time.”
Ravenwood pressured Blackman quarterback Drew Beam early and often, forcing the UT baseball commit to throw two interceptions. Ravenwood star defensive end Bryan Rice began to ratchet up the pressure in the second half, sacking Beam twice and terrorizing the Blaze backfield for another two tackles for loss.
“I felt like we were able to be fast and physical,” Rice said. “We were focused. I saw where they were weak and tried to key in on that. Those offensive linemen are really good and I was just doing my job (to try and beat them.)”
“He’s an emotional guy, he’s our emotional leader,” Daniels added of Rice. “When we can get him going, its huge for our defense because those other guys feed off his energy. Tonight was Bryan’s time to shine and he did just that.”
However, it wasn’t all about the Ravenwood defense, as Blackman forced Garcia out of the pocket a few times and even sacked him once. In addition, the Blaze’s quickness on special teams forced Raptor kicker Luke Akers into some difficult field goal attempts, missing two.
Despite the two misses, Akers stepped up when it mattered most, nailing a 28-yard field goal with five minutes left in the game, which stood as the eventual game-winner.
“Luke is about as mentally tough as they come,” Daniels said. “I think he gets that from his dad, being a Pro Bowl kicker. Luke has been working on his mental toughness as much as his kicking. We told him we were going to need him later on and he bounced back.”
Garcia finished with 131 yards passing and two touchdowns, while running back Tony Rice added 107 yards rushing.
Blackman’s Andrew Hudson-Jackson finished with 116 yards rushing, while Antonio Malone added another 98 yards on the ground.
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