Rhea County's Ace Roginson makes tackle on McMinn County's Taylon White.(Photo:BillynthiaHill)
Eagles Drop to 4th in 5A Region 4 after 35-7 loss to Cherokees
9/29/23 Evensville, TN
Rhea County hosted McMinn on Friday, 9/29/23. McMinn came in with 4-2 record and Rhea came into game with 3-3 record. Eagles were 2-1 in region play and Cherokees were 2-0. Eagles needed a win to remain in race for one of the two top spots in the region and a home playoff game.
Eagle received opening kickoff and Aiden Wilkerson brought kickoff up to 23-yard line. Carr picked up first down around 37. Eagles stayed on ground for second first down ner midfield. Drive stalled at 46 of the Eagles and punt setup Cherokees at their 35-yard line. On the first play, Taylon White weaved his way through defenders and raced down the sideline for 65-yard touchdown with 4:27 left on first-quarter clock. Spencer Sullins was successful on kick for 7-0 lead for McMinn.
Sullins kick was into endzone and Eagles began second possession at their 20-yard line. 2 motion penalties put the ball back to 10 and pass was intercepted by Landon Feggins and returned for touchdown but flag moved Cherokees out to the 23. Four plays later, quarterback Brady Mullins scored on the 2-yard run. Sullins' kick was good for 14-0 lead with 11:26 remaining in 2nd quarter.
Rhea began third possession around the 20 and Carr found Wilkerson for first down at the 32. Eagles were forced tp punt and McMinn began their drive at the 50-yard line. On second play of their drive, junior Zander Yeager came up with fumble recovery around the Eagle 43-yard line. Eagles moved the ball down to the 26-yard line before Carr found Ethan Mosley for 20-yard pass to give Eagles first-and-goal at the 6. Three plays later Carr had the short 1-yard run for the touchdown for the Eagles. Fugate was successful for Rhea County and they trailed 14-7 and that was the score at halftime.
McMinn received the second-half kickoff and began possession at their own 45. Taylor White had 9 carries for 152 yards and 3 touchdowns. Jacob Sharp had 5 carries for 66 yards and 1 touchdown. Quarterback Brady Mullins was 3 of 4 passing for 17 yards and had 6 carries for 28 yards and touchdown. Mason Ford had 22 carries for 76 yards. On defense, 4 Eagles were at the top of the tackles list with Hunter Crowe and Maurice Shirley each with 10 total tackles and Ace Robinson and Zander Yeager close behind with 9 tackles each. Yeager also had an interception after Dawson Mickel got a hand on the pass to deflect the ball over to Yeager, who returned the interception to the Eagle 27-yard line. Eagles moved up to the 40 before Cherokees came up with interception that they returned to the Eagle 27. McMinn used 3 runs to move ball to the 4-yard line, where Taylon White scored on a 4-yard run. Sullins kick gave McMinn the 21-7 lead with 5:01 left in third quarter.
Eagles received kickoff and Aiden Wilkerson had a nice 30-yard kickoff return to setup Eagles at the Eagle 37-yard line. Mason Ford had nice run for first down for Eagles at McMinn 46. Cherokee defense stiffened and Eagles turned ball over after unsuccessful 4th down attempt at their own 42. Taylon White moved out to the edge and tiptoed down the sideline for the 58-yard touchdown. Sullins kick with 2:20 left in the 3rd quarter gave McMinn the 28-7 lead.
With 23 seconds left in the 3rd-quarter, White had another long run, this time from 46 yards out to give McMinn their final margin 35-7. Eagles gave up 3 turnovers and four offensive touchdown plays of 40-plus yards in the game.
Eagles will travel to Ooltewah on Friday, 10/6/23 for game vs region foe Oolteah. Owls are tied for last in 5a Region 4 with 0-3 record, while Eagles will go into game with 1-2 record, good for 4th in the region.
Some good news for the Eagles is the availability of Ethan Davis, who has been practicing this week. Playing time for Davis will be a game-time decision.
| Scoring | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Total |
| McMinn County | 7 | 7 | 21 | 0 | 35 |
| Rhea County | 0 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 7 |
| Score | Team | Player(s) | Q | Time | Points | Xp |
| TD | McMinn | White 65-yard run | 1 | 4;27 | 6 | Spencer Sullins kick |
| TD | McMinn | Mullins 2-yard run | 2 | 11:26 | 6 | Spencer Sullins kick |
| TD | Rhea | Carr 1-yard run | 2 | 36.8 | 6 | Fugate kick |
| TD | McMinn | White 4-ydar run | 3 | 5:01 | 6 | Spencer Sullins kick |
| TD | McMinn | White 58-yard run | 3 | 2:20 | 6 | Spencer Sullins kick |
| TD | McMinn | White 42-yard run | 3 | 23.4 | 6 | Spencer Sullins kick |
| # | Player | Att/Carr | Yards |
| 5 | Mason Ford | 22 | 76 |
| 0 | Hunter Crowe | 12 | 29 |
| 4 | Caleb Carr | 6 | 7 |
| 35 | Mickel | 1 | 1 |
| 28 | 133 | ||
| Passing | |||
| 4 | Carr(passing) | 12 | 4 |
| Receiving | |||
| 2 | Aiden Wilkerson | 2 | 12 |
| 5 | Mason Ford | 1 | 0 |
| 38 | Ethan Mosley | 2 | 26 |
| Rushing Att | yards | ||
| Rhea | 41 | 113 | |
| Walker | 32 | 288 | |
| Pass Att. | Comp | yards/Int/TD | |
| Rhea | 12 | 4 | 35-3-0 |
| Walker | 4 | 3 | 17/1-0 |
| Penalties | Turnovers | Punts | |
| Rhea | 6/47 | 4 3 Int 1 Fum | 22 22 31 - 74 |
| Walker | 6/40 | 2 1 Int 1 Fum | |
| 1st Downs | 3rd Downs | 4th Down | |
| Rhea | 2/5/2/1 10 | 4/14 | 4/5 |
| Walker | 1/0/4/3 8 | 4/6 | 1/2 |
| Rushing | Passsing | Total yards | |
| Rhea | 113 | 35 | 177 |
| Walker | 288 | 17 | 305 |
| # | Athlete Name | Solo | Asst | Tot Tckls | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Hunter Crowe (Sr) | 6 | 4 | 10 | 1.0 |
| 10 | Kaiden Rector (So) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 19 | Ace Robinson (Jr) | 3 | 6 | 9 | |
| 35 | Dawson Mickel (Sr) | 4 | 4 | ||
| 38 | Ethan Mosley (Jr) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 45 | Eli Evans (So) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 46 | Carter Jolley (Jr) | 2 | 2 | ||
| 48 | Zander Yeager (Jr) | 5 | 4 | 9 | 1.0 |
| 50 | Maurice Shirley (Sr) | 7 | 3 | 10 | 1.0 |
| 52 | Ty Masters (Jr) | 4 | 4 | ||
| 62 | Andrew King (Jr) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 67 | Michael White (Sr) | 1 | 1 | ||
| Team Totals | 29 | 24 | 53 | 3.0 |