Keshawn Smith had 2 interceptions in the recent Cleveland game to help keep the Eagles close.(Photo:GaryBolden/RCM)
RCHS Football Plays Tough Against Cleveland in 31-24 Loss
9/20/24 - Cleveland, TN -- Rhea County traveled to Cleveland to play the unbeaten Blue Raiders in football action on Friday, 9/20/24. # 5 Ranked Cleveland came in with wins over future Eagle opponents Walker Valley and McMinn. Both teams brought offense with both teams average around 37 points per game. Eagles were coming off an unscheduled off-week due to cancellation of the Howard game. Cleveland came off a 22-7 win over Farragut.
Before the game, Cleveland took time to honor families affected by cancer. The Cleveland High School JROTC presented colors and the National Anthem by Cleveland Alum Kalani Estrada. Captains for the game for Rhea County were Ace Robinson, Caleb Carr, Eli Kelly and Kaden Knox. Cleveland won the toss and elected to receive the opening kickoff.
Blue Raiders returned Fugate's opening pooch kick back to 34 to begin the initial drive of the night. Stephens to Hubard pass put the Blue Raiders across midfield, down to the Eagle 40 yard line, but the next pass was picked off by KeShawn Smith at the 29 yardline of the Eagles. Cleveland began the Eagle possession with one of their 7 first-quarter penalties. Carr to Wilkerson pushed the Eagles over midfield to the 48 yardline of Cleveland. Blue Raider facemask moved the Eagles down to the 30. Drive stalled and Fugate was successful on the field goal from the 20 yardline to take the 3-0 lead with 6:27 left in quarter. Cleveland was forced into a 4th down try, which wasn't necessary after the Eagles penalty. Fugate made a shoetop tackle to take down Carroll who had a long run down to the 17 yardline after a peanlty was tacked on. Cleveland lost an apparent touchdown on a penalty but did get in a couple of plays as big A.J. Westfield busted into the endzone with 3:17 left in the quarter. The kick was good for the 7-3 lead for the Blue Raiders.
The Eagles began their second drive on their 20 after a touchback on the kickoff. Eagle coughed up the ball but Eagles recovered, but Eagle drive stalled and the punt was covered well at the Cleveland 45. Raiders moved deep into Eagles' territory but defense stiffened and they settled for a field goal for the 10-3 lead with 11:52 left in the second quarter.
The kick by the Eagles was a short return to the 29 yardline. The Eagles moved the ball up to the 48 yard line on a nice screen pass from Carr to Odum. Later in the drive, Carr found Wilkerson for another nice gain off the screen down to the 34 of Cleveland. Odum was tripped up on just short of the goal on the screen pass and Carr snuck the ball in for the 10-10 tie after Fugate's kick with 6:43 left in the 2nd quarter.
The short kickoff was recovered at the Cleveland 40 to start the next Cleveland possession. The Eagles forced a 4th down and the Blue Raiders tried the fake, but the Eagles were up to the task and forced the turnover on downs at the Cleveland 44 yard line. The Eagles stayed on the ground and moved the ball downfield, mainly behind Odum before Carr took over with two nice runs inside the 10, the last one for the 6 yard touchdown. KeShawn Smith ended the half for the Raiders with the interception near the Eagle goal line.
Cleveland kicked the second half kickoff into the endzone and Eagles began possession at the 20 yard line. On the Eagles' second play they lost a fumble to Cleveland at the Eagle 22 yard line. It took 4 plays before Davis found the end zone from 1-yard out. Kick was good for a 17-17 tie with 9:35 left in the 3rd quarter. Bolanos put the kick into the endzone and the Eagles began the drive at 20. The Blue Raiders forced a Rhea punt by Fugate, which was downed at the Cleveland 22 yard line. Two plays later Davis broke through the line and motored down the sidelines for the 59-yard touchdown. Kick gave Cleveland the 24-17 lead with 5:47 left in the 3rd quarter.
Wilkerson brought the next kickoff from the Blue Raiders back to the 27 yard line. After a nice screen from Carr to Odum, the Eagles moved the ball to the Eagles' 40 yard line. The Cleveland defense stiffened and Rhea punted the ball. Cleveland returned the ball up to the Cleveland 48 yard line. A couple of Rhea penalties helped Cleveland move the ball deep into Rhea County territory as the quarter ended. Carroll had a long run to put the Raiders on the 4 yardline. From there defensive lineman/running back Westfield scored the touchdown and the point-after-touchdown kick put Cleevland up 31-17 with 11:21 left in game.
Another Cleveland kick made the endzone, putting Eagles at their 20 for the next drive and it was time for Eagles to regroup on the road against a top team down by 14 points. Eagles were forced into 4th down and 1 and succeeded at their own 30. Ford had a nice run across midfield down to the 40 of Cleveland, but came off field with an apparent injury. On the next play, Fugate made an athletic catch on the pass from Carr to give the Eagles a first down at the 10 yard line. Wilkerson found the end zone from 11 yards after some fantastic footwork on the defender and the Eagles had cut the gap to 7 after the Fugate kick with 8:10 left in the game.
Cleveland began the next drive at their own 25 yardline. Cleveland moved the ball down the field on the run before a halfback pass put Cleveland at the Eagle's 32 yard line. Eagle's defense was given an opportunity when Cleveland decided to go for it on 4th and 5. Kaden Knox split defenders and had a clear path to the quarterback for the sack and the turnover on downs gave the Eagles new life at their own 36 with 5:21 left in the game. Odum began the drive with another of his signature hard runs to just short of midfield. Carr went back to the air and Wilkerson got behind the defender for the perfectly thrown ball from Carr, who was under tremendous pressure on the pass. The Eagles had the ball at the 26 of Cleveland. Ace Robinson made his first carry of the night to move the ball down to the 22. Rhea had a chance with Carr passing into the endzone but Fugate could not get to the pass as the defender was close to pass interference on the play. With 2:04 Eagles went with a screen pass on 4th down and Cleveland was there for the stop, which gave Cleveland the ball with 1:55 left in the game. Cleveland was able to run out the clock giving the Blue Raiders a tough 31-24 win over Rhea County.
Rhea County may not have felt it, but this was a great performance in a loss. Against a top 10 team on the road, down by 14, they did not wilt and were one play away from a score that would have set up an opportunity for a 2-point play to go ahead late in the game and possibly pull out the win. With the win, Cleveland goes to 5-0 and with loss, Rhea County falls to 2-2, with a big homecoming game scheduled on Friday, 9/26/24 at 7 pm. Walker Valley will be the first Region opponent for the Eagles and the former employment of head coach Taylor Harvey.
Caleb Carr enjoyed another good game with 12 of 19 passing for 1 touchdown and he also scored on the ground twice. Aiden Wilkerson had 7 catches for 69 yards and a touchdown. Chauncey Odum had 3 catches for 56 yards and 15 carries for 57 yards. Mason Ford had 15 carries for 49 yards. On defense, it was Robinson, Knox and Fugate leading the way with 11, 9 and 7 total tackles.
| Player | Att | Comp | Yards | TD | Inter |
| Carr | 19 | 12 | 165 | 1 | 1 |
| Cleveland | 15 | 8 | 111 | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Rec | Yards | TD |
| Wilkerson | 7 | 69 | 1 |
| Odum | 3 | 56 | 0 |
| Smith | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| Fugate | 1 | 34 | 0 |
| Player | Carries | Yards | TD |
| Odum | 15 | 57 | |
| Wilkerson | 2 | 4 | |
| Ford | 15 | 49 | |
| Carr | 4 | 13 | 2 |
| Robinson | 2 | 6 | |
| Rhea County | 29 | 123 | 2 |
| Cleveland | 37 | 268 | 4 |
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | TOTAL |
| RCHS | 3/15 | 1/15 | 3/18 | 0 | 7/48 |
| CHS | 7/55 | 3/15 | 3/20 | 0 | 13/90 |
| Team 1st DN | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Total |
| Rhea | 4 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 18 |
| Cleveland | 5 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 11 |
| RCHS PUNTS | 31 | 41 | 39 | 3/111/37 | |
| CHS PUNTS | 0 | 0 |
| Team | 1Q | 2Q | 3Q | 4Q | Game |
| Rhea | Lost Fumble | 1 Fumble Lost | |||
| Cleveland | |||||
| Rhea | |||||
| Cleveland | Interception | Interception |
| TEAM | QTR | TIME | PTS | SCORER | DETAILS |
| RCHS | 1 | 6:27 | 3 | FUGATE | 37 YARD FG |
| CHS | 1 | 3:17 | 6 | WESTFIELD | 2 YD RUN |
| CHS | 2 | 11:51 | 3 | BOLANOS | 25 YD FG |
| RCHS | 2 | 6:49 | 6 | CARR | 1 YD RUN |
| RCHS | 2 | 0:16 | 6 | CARR | 6 YD RUN |
| CHS | 3 | 9:42 | 6 | DAVIS | 1 YD RUN |
| CHS | 3 | 5:53 | 6 | DAVIS | 59 YD RUN |
| CHS | 4 | 11:21 | 6 | WESTFIELD | 4 YD RUN |
| RCHS | 4 | 8:09 | 6 | CARR TO WILKERSON | 11 YD PASS |
| No. | Class | Player | Solo | Assist | Total |
| 1 | SR | Keshawn Smith | 5 | 1 | 6 |
| 3 | SR | Kaden Knox | 9 | 2 | 11 |
| 10 | JR | Kaiden Rector | 2 | 2 | |
| 11 | SO | Austun Fugate | 7 | 1 | 8 |
| 19 | SR | Ace Robinson | 11 | 4 | 15 |
| 22 | SO | Ezekiel Romero | 2 | 2 | |
| 38 | SR | Ethan Mosley | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 48 | SR | Zander Yeager | 5 | 2 | 7 |
| 55 | JR | Max Daughtrey | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 59 | SO | Tyler Garrison (So) | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 72 | JR | Chace Wilkey (Jr) | 1 | 1 | |
| 75 | SR | Haiden Futrell | 3 | 1 | 4 |