By DRUW GIAMALVA, Sports Editor
CROSSVILLE — In their first varsity game back since 2022, the Crossville Lions celebrated their 100th anniversary as a football team with an incredible comeback story which saw them come away with a 24-13 victory over the Asbury Rams at Crossville Memorial Stadium on Friday night.
“Thinking back when I got hired, I didn’t realize that we were going to junior varsity because this is Crossville,” Crossville head coach Jason Walker said. “I am so happy for these guys but we got a long way to go. We made a lot of mistakes and we want to see how our kids handle victory. I am just so happy for them.”
The win for Crossville was their first since October 30, 2020, when the Lions defeated the Geraldine Bulldogs in the season finale of the 2020 regular season. The Lions would face winless years in 2021 and 2022 before playing a junior varsity schedule. Now with Walker at the helm, the Crossville varsity football program looks to be turning in the right direction.
“I am just happy to celebrate a win,” Walker said. “I was expecting more, I was expecting a full house but it feels good to celebrate a victory. We will let the kids celebrate it tonight but we have to get back to work for Scottsboro next week.”
The matchup between the Rams and the Lions started with Crossville on offense first. The Rams tried to surprise Crossville with an early onside kick but the Lions were able to recover at the 43-yard line. The Lions would focus on a heavy run offense that saw quarterback Joseph Lopez and running back Noah Tarvin pick up multiple first downs with their legs. The drive would end with a critical mistake with a fumble by Crossville that would be picked up by Asbury.
The Rams took no time to put up the first six points of the game as quarterback Blake Hillis tossed a 78-yard touchdown to Levi Jacoby. A good PAT by Asbury would make it a 7-0 lead for the Rams.
Crossville would answer back on their next drive as Joseph Lopez tossing an 8-yard pass to Fransico Lopez for their first score of the game. A missed PAT would keep the Rams in front at 7-6.
After a three-and-out by the Crossville defense, the Rams would try to punt away the ball but good pressure by the Lions would cause a bad punt attempt and would land the Lions inside the redzone to start their next drive. It took just three plays for the Lions to secure the lead with a 14-yard rushing touchdown by Noah Train to make it a 12-7 score.
The second quarter would see both offenses struggle as each team struggled to get into scoring position. With 3:29 left in the half, the Lions defense made an incredible play as Guillermo Moralez would run back a 25-yard interception for a score to make it a 18-7 lead at halftime.
Entering the second half, the Lions defense would produce another pick-six with Noah Causey running the interception back 16 yards for another Crossville score to make it a 24-7 lead.
After consecutive turnovers by the Rams, Asbury would answer back with a scoring drive that was led by Jacoby who would run in a 6-yard rushing touchdown to cut the Lions lead to 24-13 at the end of the third quarter.
With one quarter left, the Crossville defense would shut out the Rams in the fourth quarter to take home a 24-13 win.
“I am proud of our kids,” said Asbury head coach Matt Harris. “We tried to push through stuff and I thought we were more conditioned than the guys across the field but in the end, the ball didn’t bounce our way. We just have to get better all around.”
Coach Walker would like all of the 1986 Crossville state championship team to attend the Sept. 4 game when the Lions host Brewer at Crossville Memorial Stadium to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the only state title in Crossville football history.
“I want every member of the 86’ team that is still close by to be here in two weeks,” Walker said. “We’re going to get them on the field and introduce them. I’ll let them carry the state championship trophy out.”
With the 1-0 start, the Lions move on to Class 4A, Region 8 play when they travel to play Scottsboro on Aug. 28.
The Rams will look to rebound from the loss when they travel to face Brindlee Mountain on Aug. 28.
Crossville senior quarterback Joseph Lopez runs for a first down against Asbury. Lopez led the Lions to a 24-13 season opening victory over the Rams on Friday night. Photo by Druw Giamalva | The Leader
