Post-season pretty good to the Allen family

By AL PICKETT / Sports Editor

Can it get any better than this?

The Allen family enjoyed a most amazing day Saturday. While Randy Allen was coaching Cooper to a 37-19 win over Flower Mound Marcus in the Class 5A quarterfinals at Texas Stadium, some 1,000 miles to the east in Jefferson City, Tenn., son Zac Allen was leading Carson-Newman College to a dramatic come-from-behind win over California-Davis, 29-26, in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II football playoffs.

"That happens once in a lifetime," Allen said. "This is the farthest I've been in the playoffs as a coach, and my son is in the national semifinals."

He was more than "in" the national semifinals, however. He was the story of the national semifinals.

Zac, who was a starting quarterback for his dad for two years in high school at Cooper, is a sophomore backup quarterback at Carson-Newman. Senior starter Matt Penland went down with a knee injury in the second quarter Saturday, so Zac entered the game with his team trailing 20-7.

Zac scored on a 1-yard quarterback sneak in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 20-14, but Cal-Davis connected on a long touchdown pass with 10 minutes remaining to increase its lead to 26-14.

Carson-Newman countered with a scoring drive, capped by Allen's 23-yard scramble for a touchdown to trim the margin to 26-21.

Cal-Davis kept the ball until the 2:35 mark, however, when it punted, downing the ball at the 3-yard line.

With Allen completing 4 of 7 passes on the drive, Carson-Newman marched 97 yards down the field, scoring on Allen's 11-yard TD pass with 51 seconds to go to claim the dramatic 29-26 win.

"It was a neat feeling," Zac said. "I would have like to been a fan in the stands to experience it. Our fans tore down the goalposts after the game."

Zac finished the game with eight carries for 47 yards rushing and two touchdowns and 8 of 15 passing for 96 yards and the game-winning score.

But wife/mother Carolyn was probably the busiest family member of all, trying to keep track of both games. She used a pay phone at Texas Stadium to call the Jefferson City radio station and hear the final seconds of the Carson-Newman game, and then called Zac in his dorm room late in the Cooper game to tell him the Cougars were winning and moving on the state semifinals for just the second time in school history.

Zac will make just his third collegiate start (he started twice last year as a freshman when Penland was hurt) on Saturday when Carson-Newman meets Northern Colorado in the NCAA Division II national championship game in Florence, Ala.

The game will be televised live, although we won't be able to see it in Abilene since it's on ESPN2. But the game will be replayed at 1 p.m. Monday on ESPN.

Carson-Newman had lost to defending national champion North Alabama the last three years in a row in Florence, Ala., in either the first or the second round of the playoffs.

"Our slogan all year has been 'going back to Florence,' " Zac said.

And Carson-Newman is - only it won't have to play North Alabama.

Randy and Carolyn will leave Dallas early Saturday morning after the Cougars' semifinal game Friday night with Richardson Lake Highlands to fly to Memphis and then drive to Florence to see Zac play.

So can it get any better than this?

"Yeah," Zac said. "Dad's going to win Friday and then fly here Saturday to watch us win the national championship. Then I'll come home next week to see the Cougars win the state championship."