Baylor exorcised the Knoxville Catholic spirit Friday night by halting the Fighting Irish's high-powered offense and taking advantage of game-changing plays from junior Elijah Howard and senior Noah Martin.
The 34-20 win by the Red Raiders was the first for coach Phil Massey over Knoxville Catholic, and it solidified his team's No. 2 position in the Division II-AAA East Region standings behind crosstown rival McCallie.
"This team has been an obstacle for us the past two years. They've embarrassed us two straight years including right here in our own yard, so it's great for our guys to be in a situation like this and make things go our way," Massey said.
Baylor (7-1, 3-1) wasted no time making a big play on defense to set up its dynamic running back. On the second play from scrimmage, Irish quarterback Kaden Martin dropped back and hit Baylor senior linebacker Martin in the chest for an interception. On the next play, from Catholic's 30-yard line, Baylor's Howard broke off a touchdown run to give the Red Raiders a 6-0 lead after a blocked extra point.
After the Irish (5-3, 1-3) answered to take a 7-6 lead late in the first quarter, Baylor manufactured a 15-play drive that ended with Martin plowing in from a yard out to put Baylor in front.
Catholic added a field goal midway through the second quarter to close its deficit, but on the ensuing kickoff Martin returned the ball to the Irish 3-yard line to set up a Howard somersault touchdown on the next play for a 10-point lead.
However, Catholic would come back to make the game interesting.
After adding a 42-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, the Irish tied the game midway in the third quarter on a 10-play, 71-yard drive that ended in a 7-yard touchdown run for Keondre Jarmon.
Staying resilient, Baylor went on a long drive in the fourth quarter and relied on signal-caller Neyland Jean to push in a 1-yard touchdown run to give Baylor a lead that would be sealed about five minutes later.
With a little more than two minutes remaining in the fourth quarter, the Irish called their final timeout after putting Baylor in fourth-and-1. Instead of choosing to punt to put the game in his defense's hands, Massey put the ball in Jean's hands - and the junior quarterback delivered with a 6-yard run for a first down. The next play, Howard broke a 44-yard run for a touchdown.
"In the past we haven't finished when we really needed to, but tonight we did a great job of finishing on offense on our last drive and of course on defense the whole night," Massey said. "As we continue prepping for the playoffs, being in this atmosphere and performing well only makes us stronger."
Contact John Mitchell at sports@timesfreepress.com.