CHATTANOOGA, TENN. - The Hebron Christian Academy football team lost 24-8 to MCallie School in an out-of-state battle between reigning state champions on Friday, Aug. 29.

The Lions, who rank No. 1 in the Georgia Class AA standings, forced a turnover on the Blue Tornado's opening drive – an interception by senior Georgia Southern commit Jarvis Mathurin, but the home team responded on defense with a 50-yard pick-six to set the tone with a 7-0 lead. 

"We spotted them seven [points] to start, when you spot a championship-caliber program seven points to begin with … every point matters," head coach Kenny Dallas said. 

From that point, McCallie carried the momentum deep into the fourth quarter, scoring three more times before an answer from Hebron. 

The Lions battled till the final snap, scoring a touchdown late in the fourth, off of a 33-yard connection between junior Jordan Greene and freshman wide receiver Austen Kitchings. 

After a successful two-point conversion to make the score 24-8, Hebron then recovered the ensuing onside kick to put pressure on McCallie. However, the Lions' final drive ended on a failed fourth-down conversion, allowing the Blue Tornado to run out the clock in victory formation. 

"I'm proud of the way that the guys responded," Dallas said of the Lions. "They gave themselves a shot, we're down there [near the end zone], and we're one play away from it being a one-score game and that's right where we want to be against a team that's ranked 55th in the nation." 

McCallie certainly played like a nationally-ranked team, and showed why many rankings have the Blue Storm within the nation's top-60 teams. However, the Lions held their own in the second half, and were only outscored by McCallie 8-3 in the final two frames. 

Greene came in as the new quarterback at the start of the half, replacing junior Michael Kyles Jr.. 

After not taking many reps at the quarterback position the last few weeks, Greene rallied the Lions to a successful touchdown drive, and put them in a position to score again. 

"Unbelievable, [I] couldn't be more proud of him," Dallas said of Greene. "[I'm] proud for any kid who, first of all, loved the team more than himself by moving to a different position [tight end] to help the team, and then having two quarterbacks who were down … it was an opportunity for him to go in there. He didn't just hand the ball off, he went in there and made plays, [I'm] just so happy for him." 

With little time remaining, Greene and the Lions were forced to punt from their own red zone, most likely ending the game there. However, senior Stroud Morris faked the punt and sprinted down the sideline for a long first down. 

That play put Hebron in position to score its first points. Stroud also recovered the onside kick, which made things interesting. 

That same fight filtered into the Hebron defense, which allowed just 17 points to one of Tennessee's top offenses that scored 56 in its first win last week. 

"It was physical and tough, [McCallie] has a good quarterback and a good passing game." Dallas said. "[Defensive coordinator Daniel Mejia] and the defensive staff did a really nice job. If coach Mejia was standing right here, he would say that it's not acceptable to allow 17 points, but listen, great teams are going to make great plays. We pride ourselves on being super physical, and it was a super physical night. That's one of the best offensive lines we will see." 

Hebron forced two McCallie turnovers, one from Mathurin and the other from senior linebacker Jack Mostiler, his second of the season. 

Unfortunately for the Lions, they didn't have the stellar performance on offense that they have had the last two games, earning less than 100 yards of offense, compared to McCallie's 255. 

With the loss, Hebron moves to 2-1 on the season, McCallie improves to 2-0. 

The Lions will be off for the next two weeks, and will get some much needed rest for its final non-region game against top AAAA program Blessed Trinity. The Titans defeated Prince Avenue Christian 28-13 in their most recent game, and now boast a 3-0 record with a top-30 ranking in Georgia. 

However, Dallas and the Lions have goals they need to accomplish before that next test. 

"First is to recover, you want kids to want to play into December, it's a long season when you consider what all these kids do throughout the summer. No. 1 is to simply recover and get your legs underneath you, the second is to get better. When you play great teams like this, you learn the truth about who you are … It's not overly complicated, but it's just learning from the lessons of these games, and then go get better."