SENATE RESOLUTION 10
By Watson
A RESOLUTION to honor Coach Ralph Potter and the McCallie School Blue Tornado football team on winning their second consecutive Division II-AAA state championship.
WHEREAS, Coach Ralph Potter and the young men of McCallie School's football team recently etched their names into the glorious annals of Tennessee sports history by claiming their second consecutive TSSAA Division II-AAA state football championship; and WHEREAS, these young warriors from Chattanooga's Missionary Ridge literally blew the competition away during a four-game stretch that ended with the Blue Tornado wielding the state title trophy; and WHEREAS, during his nineteenth season at the helm of his alma mater's football team,
Coach Potter led his charges to an 8-3 record that included an impressive nineteen-point victory over arch-rival Baylor in the regular season; and WHEREAS, the Blue Tornado subsequently stormed through the playoffs, thanks to a ferocious defense that held their opponents to an average of only 11.5 points per game and a high-powered offense that outscored their foes by an average of 23 points in three double-digit wins; and WHEREAS, in the state title game, the Potter-led defense demolished Memphis University School (MUS), a team that had scored an average of 45 points per game in the playoffs; the Blue Tornado blanked MUS 44-0 while giving up only 97 yards of total offense and forcing five turnovers by MUS who suffered their sole shut-out of the season at the hands of
McCallie; and WHEREAS, the McCallie offense was led by Mr. Football finalist B.J. Harris, a senior running back who rushed for three touchdowns and 173 yards and was named the title game's SR0010
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Most Valuable Player, and senior receiver Eric Rivers, who also accounted for three touchdowns, one passing and two rushing; and WHEREAS, in appreciation of their cohesive performance and overall excellence as a team, the Blue Tornado team members collected several individual honors, the first of these being the much-deserved selection of Ralph Potter as Coach of the Year; and WHEREAS, joining B.J. Harris and Eric Rivers on the Best of Preps All-Offensive First Team was senior lineman Austin Gentle; senior lineman Jack Gentle earned Second Team accolades; and WHEREAS, junior linebacker Aaron Crowder was named to the Best of Preps All-
Defensive First Team, while senior linebacker J.D. Tessman was selected to the Second Team,
and senior kicker/punter Jack Conklin received Third Team honors; and WHEREAS, the McCallie School Blue Tornado players truly distinguished themselves as
gridiron greats during this championship season, and they, along with coaching mastermind Coach Ralph Potter, are richly deserving of our approbation; now, therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED TWELFTH GENERAL
ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE, that we honor and congratulate Coach Ralph Potter and the McCallie School Blue Tornado football team on winning their second consecutive Division II-AAA state championship and extend to these gifted athletes our best wishes for much continued success next season.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that an appropriate copy of this resolution be prepared for presentation with this final clause omitted from such copy.
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