Lipscomb Academy upsets undefeated McCallie after getting TSSAA football playoff ban

Lipscomb Academy football began Friday by learning of its two-year playoff ban by the TSSAA that will start this season, pending an appeal next week.

The Mustangs ended the day with a 21-point comeback to beat McCallie 34-28 at home in what could be their final game of the season.

McCallie took a 14-7 lead with a touchdown run by Javon McMahan, then scored two more touchdowns before halftime to lead 28-7. At that point, the Blue Tornado looked well on their way to a 10-0 regular-season record and an unblemished Division II-AAA East region record.

But Lipscomb Academy (5-5, 2-2) scored three touchdowns in the first nine minutes of the second half to tie the score. Jackson Kilburg threw two quick touchdown passes, one to Dillon Lorick and the other to Kamarion Ward, at the beginning of the quarter. Zekharyah Crockett plunged in from a yard out to tie the score with 3:15 left in the third.

Kliburg nudged his way into the end zone from a yard out on a quarterback sneak to take a 34-28 lead early in the fourth quarter. Lipscomb Academy's defense, with Tennessee football commit Edwin Spillman not dressed because of an undisclosed injury, stood tall in pitching a second-half shutout of McCallie (9-1) punctuated by a fourth-down sack that forced a turnover on downs with 1:25 to play.

TSSAA PLAYOFF PAIRINGS: TSSAA football brackets for 2023 playoffs. See the first-round pairings here

MORE ON THE POSTSEASON BAN: Lipscomb Academy given two-year TSSAA football playoff ban

Tennessee football commitment Kaleb Beasley said on the sideline after Lipscomb Academy's game-winning defensive stop that the TSSAA has "to put us back in (the playoffs).” TSSAA handed down a two-year postseason ban to Lipscomb Academy's football program for "what the TSSAA deems a recruiting violation," a letter to Lipscomb Academy football parents detailed on Friday.

Lipscomb Academy is planning to appeal the ban to the TSSAA Board of Control on Monday. If the Mustangs win the appeal, they will host Father Ryan in the first round of the Division II-AAA playoffs next week. If the appeal fails, Lipscomb Academy's season ended Friday with one of the program's best-ever comebacks.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: Lipscomb Academy beats McCallie ahead of TSSAA playoff ban appeal