Ryan Callahan

Senior tailback Jaron Toney once again stole the spotlight Thursday night at Goddard Field with 254 rushing yards and four touchdowns in Alcoa’s 49-7 rout of McMinn Central.

Still, others raved about junior quarterback Austin Tallant, who completed 5 of 11 passes for 96 yards and two touchdowns, including a 49-yard bomb to Steven Isom on the first play from scrimmage, in one of his best efforts of the season.

“Hey, Tallant’s come a long way in his first year (as a starting quarterback),” said senior tight end Tyler Robinson, who caught a 10-yard touchdown pass from Tallant in the final minute of the first half.

“I’m proud of him.”

Alcoa coach Gary Rankin said the Tornadoes (9-0) “threw it pretty well” in what appeared to be a concerted effort to fine-tune their passing game in preparation for next week’s long-anticipated visit to fifth-ranked Christian Academy of Knoxville (8-0) for the District 4-AAA championship.

“We can throw the football,” Rankin said. “We haven’t thrown it a lot in some games, but Austin’s got a great arm. He can throw the football. We’ve got people that can catch it.

“Missed a couple of chances deep there I wish we’d have hit, but we can be balanced a little bit with the throwing game.”

Staying focused: Alcoa players and coaches insisted they were not tempted to look ahead to next week’s game at CAK.

“I don’t think so,” Rankin said. “We didn’t talk about next week much. I mean, our kids are pretty smart, and they work and go about their business every day. You could tell, I think, by the way we played that we weren’t looking ahead or anything.”

But the Tornadoes are well aware of what’s on the line next week: an undefeated season and a district title.

“Oh, yeah,” Rankin said. “They know that, for sure.”

Long run: Toney admitted he was pleased with his 81-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter on his final carry of the game.

“Eighty-one yards,” he said with a smile, “you don’t get them every day.”

After breaking loose down the right sideline, Toney juked past the only remaining defender in his way just past midfield and sprinted into the end zone.

“I was just thinking, ‘It’s me and him, and he’s the only person in the way of a touchdown,’” Toney said. “That’s all I was thinking.”

Tyson OK: Rankin said junior fullback Taharin Tyson, who watched most of the final three quarters from the sideline after taking a big hit near the line of scrimmage on a first-quarter run up the middle, could have returned to the game if needed.

There was no concern, Rankin said, that Tyson had suffered a concussion.

“He could have gone back in, but there wasn’t any reason for it after we got control,” Rankin said. “He’s fine.”

Timely touchdown: Toney said McMinn Central’s first-quarter touchdown on a 40-yard pass from Zach Rayl to Josh Moss off a deflection by an Alcoa defender helped the Tornadoes regain their focus.

The Chargers (6-3) only picked up one first down in the final three quarters.

“I think (that play) did kind of wake up some people — our secondary and whatnot,” Toney said. “It just let them know that, hey, they’ve got speed. They’ve got hands. They can play.”

Senior salute: Rankin called a timeout in the final minute of the game to give Alcoa’s seniors a chance to take a bow on Senior Night.

The Tornadoes’ seniors all walked onto the field during the timeout and stood on maroon-painted numbers that corresponded with each player’s jersey number and stretched from one 30-yard line to the other near the home sideline.

It wasn’t the final home game for Alcoa’s seniors, of course. The Tornadoes could host up to four playoff games this year.