CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. – Thousands of fans wearing red and blue, former players from multiple sports for Baylor and McCallie, Peyton Manning, and Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello were among the many jammed into Spears Stadium for the 95th all-time meeting between the Blue Tornado and the Red Raiders on the gridiron. No matter which side you were on or which color you were wearing Friday nighth, all were expecting another classic in this heated rivalry and that was what happened… again. Baylor scored in the final minutes to rally and stun McCallie 38-35.

Orange, red, and blue set the scene for the 95th meeting between Baylor and McCallie

Both teams traded punts on their first offensive possessions of the matchup, and a third punt in a row was coming up with McCallie giving the ball back to Baylor. Malakai Jacob’s punt bounced near the 25 yard line and looked to hit Baylor’s Max Minninger in the leg, which was recovered by the Blue Tornado at the Red Raiders’ 20 yard line. It took only one snap for the first points to hit the scoreboard when Xavier Fillion broke a tackle at the line of scrimmage, hit the edge, and raced in for a 20 yard touchdown run to give the Big Blue a 7-0 lead with 7:08 to go in the opening quarter. That would be the only scoring both teams had in the first twelve minutes of play.

Keeyshawn Tabuteau, a Vanderbilt commit, slipped behind the Baylor secondary less than three minutes into the second quarter and Louis Fortier found him in stride for an 89 yard bomb and a 14-0 McCallie lead. One of the biggest storylines coming into the game was the health status of Baylor running back David Gabriel Georges.

Baylor running back David Gabriel Georges (0) gets loose before the Red Raiders take on McCallie

The junior was held out of last week’s victory at Montgomery Bell Academy as a precaution after getting injured on September 19th in the Red Raiders’ victory at CPA. The ankle seemed just fine on the next drive for Baylor that went 73 yards, with the final 51 coming on a Georges’ touchdown run. That would cut the Blue Tornado lead back down to one possession, 14-7, with 7:45 left until halftime. Georges had another 50 plus yard on the next Baylor possession, adding a 53 yard scamper with 4:51 left in the second quarter to tie the game at 14-14. After McCallie for the fourth consecutive time in the first half, the Red Raiders drove down the field, getting within field goal range late in the half. Jake Shutters connected on a 27 yard field goal as the buzzer sounded to give the Red Raiders a 17-14 halftime lead.

Both teams got points on the first possessions of the second half, with Baylor doing so forty seconds into the third quarter when Louisville commit Briggs Cherry connected found Tennessee commit Jamyan Theodore on a 72 yard touchdown to give the Red Raiders a 24-14 advantage. McCallie’s score came on the legs of quarterback Elliott Drapeau on a 2 yard run to cut the Baylor lead to 24-21 with 7:44 left in the quarter.

Tennessee baseball coach Tony Vitello and Pro Football Hall of Famer Peyton Manning

The Blue Tornado would storm 94 yards and get points with 8:39 left in the game when Kris Lloyd rumbled in from a yard out give McCallie the lead back with a 28-24 advantage. That lead was short lived, just over a minute to be exact, when Georges turn on the jets in a SportsCenter Top Ten styled run, breaking several tackles and racing in from 60 yards out which gave Baylor a 31-28 lead. Georges’ 3 touchdown runs netted 164 yards alone in a 282 yard performance on the ground on 25 carries. Drapeau and the Blue Tornado offense would answer right away when the senior quarterback faked a handoff to Llyod on 4th and 2 and raced into the endzone from 42 yards out to retake the lead, 35-31, with 5:51 to go in the game. How about an 80 yard drive to beat your rival on the road? Cherry, Georges, and company would do just that. The Red Raiders marched in the red zone, getting down to the 5 yard line with 1:13 left on the clock. Georges looked to have his fourth rushing touchdown but a holding penalty on the Red Raiders wiped that off the board and backed Baylor back outside the 10 yard line. That didn’t bother Cherry too long as he rolled out to the near sideline on the next play and found Kaiden Dewey in the corner of the end zone on a 15 yard strike, giving Baylor the lead 38-35 with 1:02 remaining. McCallie was unable to answer, turning the ball over on downs, and the start of the celebration that will likely last beyond the weekend.

Baylor moves to 6-0 overall and 3-0 in region play while McCallie falls to 5-2 overall and 0-2 in the region. Both teams have a bye week this coming Friday.