Two fourth-quarter picks bury Alcoa against Knoxville West

Alcoa had one last shot to pull out a win.

The Tornadoes were inside the 10-yard line with 14 seconds left on the clock. On third-and-goal, Alcoa heaved up a prayer to the back corner of the end zone. Knoxville West came down with the ball to secure a slim 29-26 win over Alcoa on Thursday at Goddard Field.

With the victory, West became the first Knox County school to beat Alcoa since Austin-East in 2011.

“When you turn the ball over three times against a good football team, it’s going to be hard to win,” Alcoa coach Brian Nix told The Daily Times. “You’re talking about a three-point game after two turnovers in regulation, and you’ve still got a chance to win it right there.”

The pick was one of two fourth-quarter interceptions that West (6-0, 2-0 Region 2-6A) hauled in as it outscored the Tornadoes, 15-6, in the final quarter to overcome an early first-half deficit. Alcoa (5-1, 3-0 Region 2-3A) took a 14-7 lead into halftime and led by six after three quarters until its first of two deciding turnovers.

West linebacker John Carlevato picked off Zach Lunsford four minutes into the fourth quarter and took it 53 yards to the end zone to give West its first lead of the night.

Alcoa responded with a touchdown of its own — a Lunsford rushing score on the goal line — but the Rebels shredded Alcoa’s defense on the final drive when it mattered most.

West drove 70 yards and running back Brayden Latham punched in the go-ahead touchdown from a yard out. Alcoa had no answer for Latham on the drive as 30 of his 75 yards on the night came in that sequence alone. West also used a 40-yard, third-down completion from Carson Jessie to Ja’qurrius Wrenn to set up the score.

It was the second time Jessie connected with Wrenn for a long gain that moved the ball into the red zone.

“We always talk about answering the bell,” Nix said. “They made a play, we would make a play, they made a play. It was a back-and-forth game. I have no problem with our kids’ effort. They created some matchup problems in coverage, (Wrenn) twice.

“That’s a coaching problem with me, putting that kid in man-to-man coverage in a third-down situation. We should’ve double covered him. That hurt us. But I was proud of our kids, they just made one more play than we did.”

Nix took one positive away from the loss: getting Zach Lunsford back.

The senior quarterback missed last week’s win with a “nagging knee injury,” and though some of the effects still lingered, Nix did not hesitate to start Lunsford given the high stakes.

The late pick-six overshadowed what was otherwise a solid night from Lunsford, who went 14-of-19 for 183 yards. He made an impact on the ground as well, where he ran for two touchdowns.

His biggest carry of the night was a 20-yard gain on third down of the final drive that, paired with two West penalties, put Alcoa on the goal line with a chance to win. However on the run, Lunsford re-aggravated his knee and came out, leading to sophomore Eli Graf taking the field and throwing the game-sealing interception.

“I think all our kids battled, we just made a few too many mistakes,” Nix said. That’s what we have to go back and clean up. We’ve got another 6A opponent in Cookeville next week. It doesn’t slow down. This can’t derail what our goals are for the year.”