It was a wild, sometimes weird 2023 high school football season in and around Middle Tennessee and we just wrapped up three days of championship games in Chattanooga.
It’s roughly a two-hour drive for me back to Nashville from the BlueCross Bowl venue, which is more than enough time to think about what I’m taking away from the weekend.
So, with that, here are my five biggest takeaways from BlueCross Bowl championship weekend.
Best moment of the weekend belongs to Pearl-Cohn
Watching the emotion of the Firebirds’ comeback victory over Upperman was special for multiple reasons, but the biggest for me was the adversity they had to overcome early on in that game. Pearl-Cohn’s second half was the team we had seen all year. They set out on that mission after last year’s loss and it came to a satisfying conclusion on Saturday afternoon. That finish tops Thursday’s Baylor-McCallie atmosphere, which was incredible, but that’s likely not getting replicated anytime soon and it especially won’t after the championship games leave Chattanooga after next year (yes, that’s going to happen, in my opinion).
Page had the same look that Pearl-Cohn did last year
The Patriots know how close they came to bringing back gold and as heart-shattering as it was, there was almost a look of defiance in their eyes watching Knox West celebrate again. With both Eric Hazzard and Brenden Anes coming back to anchor a destructive defense, they might just write their own redemption arc in 2024.
CPA was inevitable
Way back in Week 2, when Pearl-Cohn went into the Lions’ den and escaped with a 15-11 victory, I made two mental notes – there was no way I could pick against Pearl-Cohn again and that both teams were winning state titles this year. While the Firebirds had to fight like crazy in their title game, CPA felt like a victory march. Boyd Buchanan put up a good fight but was simply overwhelmed. But it’s a Gary Rankin-coached team, and those don’t stay down for long.
Eli Wilson vs. Tyson Wolcott was as expected, but MTCS was the worthy champion
Wolcott carried the Commanders as far as he possibly could during his record-setting season, but Wilson found another gear in the championship game. It was quite symbolic that Wolcott’s fumble bounced straight to Wilson – it felt like that was the changing of the guard. Wilson should have been a Mr. Football finalist – we don’t get to vote on that, unfortunately – and played like he was Mr. Football on Thursday.
Chattanooga’s a nice venue, but it’s now a placeholder
Saturday’s awful weather just further drove home the point that the championship games should be indoors once the new Nissan Stadium gets built. The crowds beyond Thursday’s epic McCallie-Baylor tilt were quite disappointing, too, though the weather didn’t help. It sounds like the Titans are going to push to get the title games back to Music City before then and now that they have the turf, 2024 should be the last year the BlueCross Bowl games should be held anywhere other than Nashville. The players – and fans – deserve a better experience.