Rights Reserved-Hillsboro Globe, member Associated Press Abbey Cutrer
Preview of Blue Cross Bowl
BlueCross Bowl to be held Dec. 5-7 in Cookeville
December 2, 2019
The stage is set for the 2019 BlueCross Bowl in Cookeville. Eighteen teams will meet over Dec. 5-7 at Tennessee Tech’s Tucker Stadium to decide state championships in each for nine classes.
Visit TSSAAsports.com for a full schedule, advanced tickets, spectator information and more. For those unable to attend in person, complete live coverage will be available via live television and online streaming.
Championship Notes
Postseason History on TSSAAsports.com
This is Summit High School’s first appearance in the state football finals. The team has been to the playoffs each of the last four years but the furthest the team has advanced previously was the quarterfinal round in 2017.
Elizabethton will play for its first state championships since the TSSAA playoffs began in 1969. The school has had six seasons end in the semifinal round of the playoffs since 1997 (1997, 1998, 1999, 2009, 2010, 2012).
Both Meigs County (1995) and Lake County (1994) are making their first state finals appearance in more than 20 years.
Among this year’s finalists, two teams have prior state final appearances without earning a championship. This is the third appearance for Meigs County (1980, 1995, 2019).
Alcoa has only lost two state championship games in 19 total appearances (1988, 2014).
The last time that the BlueCross Bowl championship games did not include either Maryville or Alcoa was 2003. Including 2019, the two schools have a combined 73 playoff appearances. In those 73 appearances, the teams have advanced to the championship game 44 times.
Pearl-Cohn will attempt to end Alcoa’s streak of four consecutive Class 3A titles. Pearl-Cohn won back-to-back state titles in 1996 and 1997.
The Division II-A Championship will be a rematch of a game earlier this season. Davidson Academy defeated USJ (21-12) on Oct. 11, 2019 in Nashville. The only other meeting between the two teams since 1993 was in the 2009 playoffs when USJ eliminated DA from the postseason, 16-13.
The Division II-AA Championship will be a rematch of a game earlier this season. ECS defeated CPA 30-6 in the first week of the 2019 season. This is the fourth gridiron meeting between the schools since 1993. ECS leads the series 3-0.
Maryville and Ravenwood met in the 2014 and 2015 Class 6A Championships. Maryville won the 2014 meeting in overtime (35-34) and Ravenwood won in 2015 (26-17).
Previous Playoff Meetings
Matchup | Meetings | Years |
---|---|---|
McCallie/MBA | 4 | 1999, 2003, 2014, 2015 |
Davidson Academy/USJ | 3 | 2009, 2013, 2014 |
Maryville/Ravenwood | 2 | 2014, 2015 |
The 18 teams playing in the 2019 BlueCross Bowl have won a combined 65 state titles.
Previous State Titles
School | # of Titles | Years |
---|---|---|
Alcoa | 17 | 1977, 1978, 1979, 1989, 2000, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018 |
Maryville | 16 | 1970, 1976, 1978, 1998, 2000, 2001, 2002, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2017 |
MBA | 7 | 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2007, 2014 |
ECS | 4 | 1983, 1999, 2000, 2005 |
Davidson Academy | 4 | 2005, 2006, 2008, 2018 |
CPA | 4 | 2000, 2002, 2014, 2018 |
Ravenwood | 2 | 2005, 2015 |
Pearl Cohn | 2 | 1996, 1997 |
Peabody | 2 | 2014, 2018 |
Lake Co. | 2 | 1980, 1985 |
Greenback | 2 | 1987, 2017 |
Springfield | 1 | 1993 |
McCallie | 1 | 2001 |
Knoxville Central | 1 | 2018 |