Aiden Wilkerson, Mason Ford, Chauncey Odum and Caleb Carr, Rhea County Football 2024.(Photo:GaryBolden/RCM)
Eagles Lose to Trojans on the Road to Open 2024 Season
Soddy Daisy, TN -- Rhea County began their season on the road at Soddy Daisy on a night when Trojans held a ceremony for their new turf field and both teams entered the game with first year coaches. For most of the game both teams were running up and down that same turf. Game was tied twice in the first half, with Rhea matching Soddy's touchdowns with one of their own in the first half. Key plays for Soddy were the touchdown by Soddy with just 15.4 left on the first half clock to take the 21-14 halftime lead and the touchdown off an Eagle fumble on first play of 2nd half. The second half saw team play even on points so the touchdown just before halftime was virtually the difference in the game.
In the second half, the teams traded touchdowns with Soddy scoring first and Rhea answering. For Eagles this scenario left them 7 points down at games end 49-42. Rhea won the overall yardage battle 441 to 383 with two backs going over 100 yards(Odum 188, Mason Ford 122). Quarterbacks Carr for Rhea and Ross for Soddy were almost even on yards passing 132-134 with Ross being more efficient with 6 for 6 vs Carr's 9/16. Rhea had only 1 punt to 3 punts for Soddy. Penalty yardage was very close with each team picking up 8 penalties and yards was similar at 71-65 split for Eagles. Teams were even on first downs at 16.
Game came down to 2 possessions by Eagles beginning inside their 5 yard-line and 2 turnovers by Eagles to none for Trojans. In the second half, the Eagles could not get the stop they needed to give them the opportunity for the tying score. Soddy Daisy was very efficient with their offense and used a couple of big plays and very efficient running inside the 10 to take the win for new head coach Josh Owensby, a graduate of Rhea County High School back in 2004 and former member of the Rhea County coaching staff back in 2012-2014 as offensive coordinator and as assistant earlier under Jason Fitzgerald.
Coach Taylor Harvey, first year coach at Rhea County spoke about the loss with Rhea County Magazine.
"It was a sloppy game, we fumbled right out of the half. Any time you give up half-a-hundred it makes it tough. We got a lot to clean up. Turnovers, penalties and special teams killed us. It does get any easier with Red Bank coming up next week."
Red Bank won over Tyner 24-8, to open their season and Eagles own a 28-21 win over Red Bank in 2023-24 season
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Rhea | 7 | 7 | 14 | 14 | 42 |
| Soddy | 7 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 49 |
| # | Player | Att | Comp | Yds | TD | Int |
| 4 | Caleb Carr | 16 | 9 | 132 | 1 | 0 |
| # | Player | Catches | Yards | TD |
| 2 | Aiden Wilkerson | 6 | 113 | 1 |
| 13 | Chauncey Odum | 1 | 3 | 0 |
| 1 | KeShawn Smith | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 11 | Austin Fugate | 1 | 9 | 0 |
| Team | 9 | 132 | 1 |
| # | Player | Carries | Yards | TD |
| 13 | Chauncey Odum | 21 | 188 | 2 |
| 5 | Mason Ford | 10 | 122 | 3 |
| 4 | Caleb Carr | 1 | -9 | 0 |
| Team | 32 | 301 | 5 |
| Score Type | Qtr | Time | Team | Ext Pts | Score |
| TD | 1 | 3:29 | Soddy | Williams 1 | 0-7 |
| TD | 1 | 1.2 | Rhea | Fugate 1 | 7-7 |
| TD | 2 | 11:49 | Soddy | Williams 1 | 7-14 |
| TD | 2 | 7:45 | Rhea | Fugatae 1 | 14-14 |
| TD | 2 | 15.4 | Soddy | Williams 1 | 14-21 |
| TD | 3 | 11:46 | Soddy | Williams 0 | 14-27 |
| TD | 2 | 10:32 | Rhea | Fugate 1 | 21-27 |
| TD | 3 | 9:23 | Soddy | Ross 2 | 21-35 |
| TD | 3 | 8:22 | Rhea | Fugate 1 | 28-35 |
| TD | 4 | 11:52 | Soddy | Williams 1 | 28-42 |
| TD | 4 | 9:53 | Rhea | Fugate 1 | 35-42 |
| TD | 4 | 5:20 | Soddy | Williams 1 | 35-49 |
| TD | 4 | 3:30 | Rhea | Fugate 1 | 42-49 |
| Punts | 1 | 2 | 3 | Total | Avg |
| Rhea | 20 | 20 | 20 | ||
| Soddy | 21 | 39 | 52 | 111 | 39.6 |
| 1st Downs | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
| Rhea | 4 | 5 | 5 | 2 | 16 |
| Soddy | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 16 |
| Penalty | 1 | yds | 2nd | yds | 3rd | yds | 4th | yds | Total | yds |
| Rhea | 1 | 5 | 3 | 40 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 25 | 8 | 71 |
| Soddy | 1 | 5 | 2 | 20 | 3 | 25 | 2 | 15 | 8 | 65 |
| TOP | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
| Rhea | 4:49 | 6:30 | 4:38 | 3:49 | 19:46 |
| Soddy | 7:11 | 5:30 | 7:22 | 8:11 | 28:14 |
| Downs | 3rd in 1st | 3rd in 2nd | 4th in 1st | 4th in 2nd | Total Yds | |
| Rhea | 3/5 | 0/3 | 0/1 | 1/1 | Rhea | 441 |
| Soddy | 5/7 | 2/3 | 0 | 1/1 | Soddy | 383 |
| Rush | Run | Yards | Runs | Yds | Runs | Yds | Runs | Yds | Total | Total |
| Rhea | 8 | 53 | 11 | 72 | 12 | 168 | 6 | 16 | 37 | 309 |
| Soddy | 14 | 38 | 12 | 62 | 11 | 24 | 15 | 69 | 52 | 193 |
| Pass | Pass | Yds | Pass | Yds | Pass | Yds | Pass | Yds | Pass | Yds |
| Rhea | 1/3 | 12 | 3/5 | 16 | 1/2 | 3 | 4/6 | 101 | 9/16 | 132 |
| Soddy | 2/2 | 14 | 1/2 | 56 | 3/3 | 87 | 1/1 | 33 | 7/8 | 190 |
Turnovers: Rhea 2 fumbles lost
Soddy scoring highlights:
Tucker Ross of Soddy went 6 for 6 for 134 yards, and carried ball 18 times for 34 yards and 4 TDs.
Sean collison had 14 carries for 64 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Aiden Hollis had 2 catches for 62 yards and 1 touchdown.
Gage Welch had 4 catches for 95 yards