Five big plays that led to Lipscomb Academy's TSSAA football state championship

CHATTANOOGA – Lipscomb Academy won the school's first TSSAA football state championship since 2007 on Thursday, beating CPA 27-0 in the Division II-AA BlueCross Bowl.

Here are five big plays that led the Mustangs to the win.

Kaleb Beasley intercepts Cade Law

Lipscomb Academy sophomore Kaleb Beasley helped CPA's best drive when he picked off Cade Law's pass with 8:08 left in the first half.

Beasley returned it to the Lipscomb 21.

Beasley, a cornerback, has offers from Florida, Kentucky, Michigan, Tennessee and North Carolina State. It was his fourth interception of the season.

The Mustangs (12-1) didn't score on the change of possession. Delay of game and holding penalties moved the ball back to the Lipscomb 11 and the Mustangs later had to punt. But it was a key forced turnover to maintain a shutout.

Fumbled snap stops CPA opportunity

Bryan Longwell recovered a CPA fumble from a mishandled snap. The turnover was another key missed opportunity for the Lions, who had driven to the Lipscomb 31 and had it second-and-5. Longwell also had six total tackles.

The turnover came two plays after Langston Patterson had broken a 55-yard run.

The fumble recovery gave the Mustangs the ball on their own 39 with 55 seconds left.

Luther Richesson responds quickly

Cincinnati commitment Luther Richesson, a three-year starter at quarterback for the Mustangs, responded quickly after Longwell's fumble recovery.

Three plays after the turnover, Richesson hit Nathan Spillman for a 55-yard TD pass down the CPA sideline with six seconds left in the first half. The PAT failed, but the score gave Lipscomb a 13-0 lead at halftime.

Holding penalty negates big CPA pass play

Lipscomb Academy dodged a big CPA offensive play in the opening drive of the second half.

Facing third-and-five at the Lipscomb 31, Law found Bo Burklow for a 27-yard completion to move the ball to the 4. However, a holding penalty negated the play and moved it back to the CPA 41.

Sam Fisher sacked Law two plays later to give the ball back to the Mustangs.

Alex Broome puts game away

Boston College commitment Alex Broome sealed the win in the next series. Broome ran the ball five times during a nine-play, 50-yard drive. Broome capped the drive with a 4-yard TD run.

Broome finished the game with 20 carries for 137 yards and two TDs. He also had five catches for 23 yards.

Reach Tom Kreager at 615-259-8089 or tkreager@tennessean.com and on Twitter @Kreager.

This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: TSSAA football: Five Lipscomb Academy plays that led to state title