Powell High School Football Team Wins 2021 TSSAA 5A State Championship

By: Savannah Young

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On November 26, 2021, the Panthers played West High in the semi-finals. They defeated the Rebels 35-7 sending them to the state championship at Finley Stadium in Chattanooga, TN on December 3. Friday morning the school and community got together to send off the players by cheering them on while they walked out to the buses and while they drove through the community all of Powell's supporters were flooding the streets with signs as the team headed off to Chattanooga.

The kick-off started at 7 pm and Powell took a quick lead as Jordyn Potts threw Jason Foust a 23-yard touchdown putting the Panthers up 7-0. Jarvis Stockton found the end zone from 11 yards out changing the score to 14-0. The Patriots failed to get the ball, setting up Walter Nolen to score another touchdown. Powell led 21-0 after finishing up the first quarter. Page High Schools came to life during the second quarter, scoring three touchdowns. The Patriots attempted to go for a two but failed to go into halftime with the score of 21-20 with Powell leading.

The Panthers got the ball at the beginning of the third quarter. Jordyn Potts threw a pass to Jayden Collins from 18 yards out giving Powell a 28-20 lead. By the end of the third quarter, Jordyn Potts threw another outstanding pass to Adarius Redmond for a 25-yard touchdown strike extending the score to 35-20. In the middle of the fourth quarter, Potts threw Ayden Greene a 33- yard touchdown pass taking Powell ahead 42-27. The Patriots attempted a hail-mary attempt but failed in the final seconds. The final score was 42-34 giving the Panthers their first state title championship in the school’s history.

Jordyn Potts was the MVP of the game after playing his best game of the season completing 24 of his 30 passes with 324 yards and four touchdowns. This was Coach Lowe’s third trip to the state championship; once as a player in 1991, as a coach in 2011, and once again as a coach this year. This he and the team brought home a TSSAA 5A State Championship title. Honorable mentions went to: Safety Cannon Lusby led the team with 14 tackles and Carson Whitehead had an interception.