Catoosa county football stars shine in 14th annual Tennessee-Georgia All-Star Football Showcase
The 14th annual Stump on Sports Tennessee-Georgia AllStar Football Showcase is in the books.
This year, though, there was a little variation, as for the first time since 2004 both teams had both Georgia and Tennessee players because there was only 22 active players for Georgia. Team Fighting Fitzgerald was able to outlast Team Fantastic 21-14 in an overtime game at Chattanooga Christian School on Saturday night.
The game winning play was a Colin Thurman touchdown pass to Alex King (Walker Valley), which cemented the score 21-14.
Rewinding back to the game’s first score, Thurman, who was a quarterback at Ooltewah High School, hooked up with a sevenyard touchdown pass to Skyler Davis, a former standout receiver at Cleveland High School, with 1:11 left in the first quarter.
Team Fantastic, however, was able to respond in dramatic fashion. With 54 seconds left in the first quarter, former Heritage standout quarterback Corbee Wilson—starting quarterback for Team Fantastic—was able to evade rushers, Johnny Football style. Following a botched snap, Wilson juked three Fitzgerald players before rolling out the pocket, and throwing a bit of touch pass over defenders for 81 yards.
Wilson said he was convivial about the play.
“It’s kind of on me from the beginning,” Wilson said. “I dropped the snap and I kind of got myself in a hole, but the offensive line helped me out. They ran a few picks. It was almost like basketball, running a few guys into some screens. From there he was wide open.”
This big play led to an eventual 13-yard touchdown pass to D.J. Baxter (Central) with 11:53 left in the second quarter. Wilson, who won Back of the Game, went 12-of-17 for 211 yards and two touchdowns.
Wilson’s second touchdown score was a 39-yard touchdown pass to Meigs County High School’s Logan Fowler with 5:41 left in the second quarter.
“It’s kind of a tough game because you come out here pretty rusty,” he said. “You just want to have a good time. A lot of my receivers made plays. It’s pretty special to be able to connect with these guys because you really don’t know them. You throw to them one week, and I was really only there for two practices. It was really just about allowing them to make plays and trusting in them.”
Team Fighting Fitzgerald’s second to last score was from a Drew Cobb (Gordon Lee) four-yard touchdown scamper with 8:02 left in the third quarter.
For the Fighting Fitzs, Davis had seven receptions for 50 yards and a score, while Zach Eslinger (Walker Valley) recorded three receptions for 47 yards and Jake Backer (Notre Dame) hauled in two receptions for 44 yards.
As for the Fantastics, Emmanuel Williams (Baylor), who won an outstanding receiver award, was able to hoist in 10 grabs for 123 yards, while Fowler caught a ball for 39 yards and a score, Jordan Harvey (East Ridge) nabbed four receptions for 72 yards, Baxter snatched five receptions for 34 yards and a touchdown and Tyler Nichols (Ringgold) snagged three receptions.
Nichols, who played running back in the Wildcat formation and receiver for Team Fantastic, said he was grateful for being in the game, but the game was lost from missed blocks on the perimeter.
“We had a lot of plays where if we make a block, it would have been a bust out play,” Nichols said. “They really killed us on the perimeter because we didn’t have some crack blocks or even just regular blocks. They just made plays on us.”