Boyd Buchanan’s undefeated season ends with BlueCross Bowl loss to CPA.

BY JEFF CATE (TEAM FYN SPORTS CONTRIBUTOR) – Gary Rankin and BlueCross Bowl championship game appearances, two things you think of when you think of high school football in Tennessee during the month of November. The second year Boyd Buchanan head coach owned property during championship weekend when he was at Alcoa, and now he’s bringing that to Chattanooga as the Buccaneers made their first title game appearance since 2009. A special 13-0 season ended 13-1 however on Thursday afternoon as Boyd Buchanan fell to Christ Presbyterian Academy in the Division II-AA championship game at Finley Stadium.

Crews Law got BlueCross Bowl weekend started with a bang about 3 minutes into the game when he raced 73 yards on CPA’s first possession to take the early 7-0 lead, which would be the only scoring in the opening 12 minutes. Both teams would punt three total times and the Buccaneers would force a turnover on downs with 3:53 left to end the quarter after the Law touchdown.

Boyd Buchanan’s offense would capitalize on their defense’s effort by getting a 32-yard Ethan Lane field goal to cut CPA’s lead to 7-3 with 8:56 remaining in the first half. CPA would answer on the next possession with a 12-play drive, mostly on the ground, but got points when Braden Streeter and Owen Cabell connected on a 35-yard touchdown to the Lions a 14-3 advantage with 6:56 left in the quarter. Streeter and the CPA offense would run the 2-minute offense to near perfection at the end of the half and getting another score, when Streeter found Jackson Matthews over the middle and a 21-3 lead that the Lions would take to the locker room.

@jacksonmathews0’s TD with 19 seconds left in the 2Q extends the @CPAFootball lead over @BBSfootball to 21-3 #OTB423 #BlueCrossBowl @OffTheBenchCHA @TeamFYNSports @jlsimsy @97_sports @CorePower

Jeff Cate (@TheJeffCate) on X x.com

Boyd Buchanan would give CPA great field position on the Lions’ first possession of the second half after the Bucs went three and out, had about a 20-yard punt, and giving up a return to the Boyd 18-yard line. CPA would take advantage of the gift when Rawls Patterson rushed in from 14 yards out and the Lions extended their lead to 28-3 with 8:19 left in the third quarter. The Buccaneers would get a Brodie Lowe 1 yard touchdown run near the end of the third quarter and get more points on a 33-yard Lane field goal to slice the CPA lead down 28-13 with 8:20 left in the game. The Lions would roar to the BlueCross Bowl gold ball trophy when Patterson added his second rushing touchdown to the box score with a 20-yard run with 3:14 remaining to end the scoring. The win gave CPA their 6-state championship overall and the second in the last 3 years. Crews Law was named the game’s MVP with 9 carriers for 121 yards and the 73-yard score in the first quarter along with 5.5 total tackles on defense.

Boyd Buchanan and CPA both end their seasons with a record of 13-1.

Follow Jeff Cate on “X” at @TheJeffCate