Junior Varsity Wins Championship For Eagles; Varsity Wins on Saturday, Plays 3 Close Games
Gatlinburg, TN -- 3/22/25 -- Rhea County Eagles traveled to Gatlinburg for the Smoky Mountain Cup 2025 over spring break and entered both their JV and Varsity rosters into the pot of 66 teams ranging from all over Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama, South Carolina, and even Oklahoma. This is the first year that JV games have been included in this massive event as well, and it was a huge success with over 10 schools bringing their JV squads to play. Our JV games did not disappoint, with the boys dominating each of their games with a defensive wall that didn’t move, great footwork and passing through the midfield, and quick runs through the front to cut through any defensive pressure.
Thursday night saw continuous sleet and ice downpour in the mountains for the late night game for the JV Eagles vs. Oak Ridge HS, but the Eagles proved they were up to the challenge with a stellar win over Oak Ridge 3-1 with goals by Jack Bamber, Jeremy Perez (Penalty kick), and Jesus “Chuy” Hernandez (assist: Emiliano “Emi” Sanchez). The rest of the weekend saw sun and nice temperatures in the high 60’s, so the boys thawed out from Thursday and came back Friday to win the JV game vs. Westminster Schools of Augusta 1-0 with a goal by Geo Pacheco late in the second half to seal the win.
Saturday came the clutch performance to win the championship game, and the boys came out to finish with 2 goals in each half vs. Dobyns-Bennett HS to win the game 4-0 with goals from Jack Bamber off a curved corner kick, Jesus “Chuy” Hernandez, and 2 goals from PK’s by Jeremy Perez. For the first time in RCHS history, the JV squad took home the hardware of champions with 8 goals scored over 3 games and only 1 goal allowed in. The future is bright for the Eagles!
The Varsity squad faced off in cold temps as well Thursday evening vs. Albertville HS, and though they fought valiantly, they fell 2-1 at the end with the single goal by Jackson Arnold. Beautiful temps on Friday saw the Eagles come out seeking to redeem themselves the night before but unfortunately, the physicality of the game, some missed calls, yellow cards given, and a missed PK opportunity by the Eagles saw them fall 2-0 in the second half to Cane Ridge HS. The last game for the Eagles happened early Saturday afternoon with the boys battling from behind at halftime with a 0-1 deficit to Lexington HS. The boys came out firing in the second half with an early goal by Steven Henriquez (assist Jackson Arnold) to tie the score up 1-1. Halfway through saw a corner kick by Kevin Hernandez that was headed and finished solidly into the back of the net by Trey Eldridge to give the Eagles the 2-1 lead, which they maintained the rest of the game.
Coach Caron Ruehling had this to say following the weekend of games, “Overall it was a great showing from both teams. We had a couple of unlucky bounces in Varsity that cost us 2 games but still had a solid showing against some good teams. The JV boys did a great job controlling the tempo in all three games. They defended well and then finished when the opportunity arose. We are proud of both teams and are excited to build off of this weekend.”