Perfect fourm: MHS garners latest 4A state title

By Alan Yarbrough
of The Daily Times Staff

MURFREESBORO — Making its first championship game appearance since 1975, Maplewood proved its improbable run through the playoffs wasn’t a fluke.

But as usual, Maryville proved it’s the best in Class 4A. With a 28-13 victory at MTSU in the BlueCross Bowl Saturday, the Rebels took their fourth consecutive state title and a Tennessee record 11th overall.

It also marked the 60th straight game that Maryville (15-0) has been on the winning side of the scoreboard.

“It’s just unbelievable, really,” said quarterback Brent Burnette, who was named Offensive MVP after throwing for 222 yards and two scores on 15 of 22 passing. “You really don’t hear about any high school team going 60-0. It’s just a great accomplishment.

“It’s been our goal since freshman year, and here we are making that goal a reality. It’s just an awesome feeling.”

The awesome feeling, however, wasn’t a sure thing throughout. Despite gaining 382 yards, compared to Maplewood’s 229, the Rebels weren’t able to obtain a two-score lead until late in the third quarter.

Clinging to a 21-13 advantage, Maryville brought out a trick play it used against Alcoa to open the season. Burnette tossed behind the line to Stephen Shiver, who then found Thomas Shuler for a 30-yard TD.

“We almost called it the play before,” Rebel coach George Quarles said. “Shuler had just broken off a big run and I was talking to the coaches. I said ‘I’m thinking about trying it here.’

“…We’ve been fortunate. We’ve called those at the right time, and they’ve worked for us. They’re huge momentum gainers for us.”

Maplewood did have a long drive later in the fourth but stalled at the Maryville 32-yard line. Then behind a running attack that produced 130 yards, the Rebels melted the remaining six minutes, 45 seconds to take the title.

“Maplewood is a great team, and they deserved to be here,” Burnette said. “It showed with how they played out here.”

From the onset, the Panthers (12-3) quickly earned Maryville’s respect. After Burnette hit Chris Jordan for a 17-yard TD, Maplewood answered. About four minutes later, running back Markus Cantrell tied the game on a 5-yard jaunt.

“They’ve done that,” Quarles said. “They’ve given up scores pretty much in every tape we saw in the first series, but they would come back and score touchdowns.”

After each team punted, Shuler put the Rebels on top for good with a 3-yard run in the second period. But in just 24 ticks off the clock, Cantrell’s 4-yard run and a missed extra point gave Maplewood its final total.

Burnette ended the half on another TD strike to Jordan, this time for 34 yards.
“We didn’t play our best offensively,” Burnette said. “But we got the job done. We made some big plays when we had to.”

Down by eight at the half, Maplewood struggled to get much going in the second half, producing only 88 yards in the final 24 minutes.

“We just came out and we wanted it,” Shiver said. “We really didn’t do that bad in the first half. They just made some good plays. The second half we came back strong.”

Offensively, Maryville wasn’t much better. But the Rebels did kill some clock on the backs of Tim Rodrigues and Shuler. Rodrigues finished the game with 46 yards on the ground and another 61 receiving. Shuler supplied a game-high 116 yards rushing.

“It was very important to come out and run the ball,” Rodrigues said. “Through the regular season, we did the best that we could, but in the playoffs we started running better.”