CHATTANOOGA — Jay Saint-Hilaire And Whit Muschamp I recently drove together for two hours to visit the Vanderbilt football program.
They are friends whose Chattanooga private schools are nine miles apart.
But Thursday was an exception.
Vanderbilt’s 2024 quarterback commits combined for 567 passing yards and six touchdowns while playing against each other in the TSSAA Football Division II-AAA state championship game, with St. Hilaire’s McCallie team defeats Baylor 34-28 for the Blue Tornado’s fourth BlueCross Bowl championship in five years.
St. Hilaire completed 22 of 28 passes for 309 yards and four touchdowns with one interception. Muschamp, who is the son of Georgia defensive coordinator and former Florida coach Will Muschamp, finished 13 of 32 for 258 yards, two touchdowns and one interception.
“I see him every three or four weeks. He’s a nice guy, I like him a lot,” St-Hilaire said of Muschamp. “I don’t know what being teammates will be like, we’ll see what happens.” But he’s a great quarterback and he’s a great guy. I think we’ll get along.
They will compete for position on Vanderbilt’s depth chart. Commodore QBs AJ Swann and Ken Seals both announced their intentions to enter the NCAA transfer portal last week. No current quarterback on the Commodores roster has started a college game.
That was a topic when St. Hilaire spoke with Vanderbilt coaches Wednesday. Importantly, they reaffirmed his scholarship offer after coach Clark Lea fired offensive coordinator Joey Lynch earlier in the day.
“We’ll see what happens with who they hire,” St. Hilaire said, “but I believe in Coach Lea, I believe in what he’s doing.”
St. Hilaire threw touchdown passes on two consecutive drives late in the first half to give McCallie a 27-21 halftime lead. He recovered his Baylor fumble Nelson McKnight set a TSSAA football championship game record 98 yards for a touchdown in the first half.
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“He played phenomenal. This was probably one of, if not the best, matches of his time here. That (fumble) was really the only time I saw him mess up,” said McCallie senior defensive end and Tennessee commit Carson Gentle, who caught a seven-yard touchdown from St. Hilaire. “This guy works hard, he’s so smart. He has all the tools to be a great SEC quarterback.
St. Hilaire completed 14 of 15 passes for 167 yards and three touchdowns in the first half alone.
Muschamp also had his moments with his father Will watching from a suite at Finley Stadium, three days before Georgia faced Alabama in the SEC Championship.
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Whit Muschamp tried to lead Baylor to a game-tying game in the final minute, but a fourth-down play completed by Alabama wide receiver Amari Jefferson came within a yard of the first down. Muschamp said his shoulder was “displaced” during the play.
He looks forward to returning to Saint-Hilaire soon, this time with a black and gold jersey.
“We’re good friends. We’re excited to compete. We talk about it a lot,” Muschamp said. “We’re both good players. It’s going to be a lot of fun.
Contact sports writer Tyler Palmateer at [email protected] and on the X platform, formerly Twitter, @tpalmateer83.
