MARTIN – Graham Simpson was visibly in pain for the first time this season. Hands on hips, looked up and took a quick deep breath. He was limping, favoring his left leg for a moment.
Westview’s freshman quarterback had just taken hard hits on consecutive plays from Covington’s defensive line.
The first, he threw the ball away and received an intentional grounding penalty. The second, after his quick deep breath, Simpson found senior running back Cody Meeks for a 17-yard gain on a screen play.
Simpson ended the drive with a 10-yard touchdown pass to junior wide receiver Dontez Joy, who fumbled the ball at the goal line and had it recovered by junior offensive lineman Jamaal Barnett.
Westview went on to defeat Covington 28-14 Friday in a Class 3A state quarterfinal in the TSSAA football playoffs at UT Martin’s Hardy Graham Stadium. The Chargers (13-0) host East Nashville (10-2) for the school’s first semifinal appearance since 2021, when they won the state title with Simpson’s older brother Ty at quarterback. Ty is now a backup QB at Alabama.
Simpson had a vertical line of eye black across his right eye, similar to Detroit Lions’ star defensive end Aidan Hutchinson and Ole Miss quarterback Jaxon Dart. But the marking is representative of Anakin Skywalker, one of the main characters in the “Star Wars” franchise, of which Simpson is a big fan.
Skywalker, a protagonist who turns into the antagonist Darth Vader, has a scar near his right eye. Simpson said he channeled the villain and trotted back on the field to lead the team, throwing for 381 yards and four touchdowns on 22-of-32 passing
“I’ve got to have my inner Darth Vader inside me,” Simpson said. “You can’t show any weakness out there, you show them something’s wrong and they’re going to figure out ways to make it even worse. … Being the quarterback, I’m a leader on this team and I’ve got to tell my guys, ‘I’m good, y’all are good.’”
Joy caught 10 passes for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the win, which was the second against Covington this season.
“I always tell coach, when we have a big game, I’m always going to (play) my hardest,” Joy said. “(I’m) always going to try as hard as I can for 48 minutes. So I tell coach all that, and then play hard every day.”
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Joy added Simpson getting hit didn’t bother him; he knew Simpson was OK.
“Graham is a hard quarterback,” Joy said. “He knows how to get out of stuff, I knew he was going to get right back up after he got hit. I really wasn’t worried about it.”
Seeing Simpson have to deal with getting knocked around for the first time this season wasn’t ideal for Westview coach Matt McConnell.
McConnell did share excitement, pride and a hug with Simpson.
“That’s just what he does,” McConnell said. “What a super kid. He’s just competitive in everything he does. He’s a great teammate and everything you want in a player.”
Austin Chastain is a sports writer covering West Tennessee high schools. Reach him by email at achastain@gannett.com or on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @ChastainAJ.
This article originally appeared on Jackson Sun: TSSAA football playoffs: Graham Simpson leads Westview to semifinals
