Rhea County running back Chauncey Odom heads downfield vs Coffee County Central.(Photo:GaryBolden/RheaCountyMagazine)
Central Wins 35-0 Against Depleted Eagles; Face 5-5 Oak Ridge in Post-Season
10/28/22
Manchaster, TN -- Rhea County dropped its final regular season game of 2022 on the road vs Coffee Central, a very good 8-2 team out of Manchester, Tennessee. by a 35-0 score. Season continues this Friday, November 4, 2022 as the Eagles go on the road to begin the playoffs at Oak Ridge, with a 7 pm kickoff versus the 5-5 Wildcats. Coach Pemberton will be looking to get back several players off injury list, including Ethan Davis, who is averaging 154 yards-per-game, rushing the ball. Tickets are available on GoFan. No update at this time on whether tickets will be available at the gate. Oak Ridge is the 2nd place finisher in the 5A Region 3 behind the 8-2 Powell team that went unbeaten in region play, while the Wildcats finished 4-1. No common opponents for the two teams, as Wildcats had a mostly Knoxville area opponent field this year. They have played a very good schedule and though they are 5-5, they will bring offensive weapons into the game. In Eagles last action against Oak Ridge, Wildcats won 23-0 in the playoffs to end Eagles' season in 2020.
One of their most impressive wins was a 56-28 win over Karns(3-2 in region play), which gave them the 2nd seed in the region. Oak Ridge has scored 165 points, while giving up 91. Jai Hundley lead the Wildcats with 91.4 yards-per-game and De'jarius Dozier is close behind at 90.9 yards-per-game. Junior Ethan Garza took over quarterback duties in early September and put up very good numbers in the last 5 games, with 782 yards on 60 completions in 121 attempts, going over 200 yards in loss to Powell and win over Karns. Garza got his first start of season against Powell after a Sharpe hand injury sidelined him. Garza has been at the helm since. The have two good receivers with Brandon Heyward a junior being recruited by several big-time schools, including Tennessee.
Red Raiders 35 Eagles 0
The Eagles returned the opening kickoff to their 25 yard-line after the return by Aiden Wilkerson. Caleb Carr started at quarterback, Bryson Davis and Hunter Crowe started in the backfield as Ethan Davis, the leading rusher on the team, was not available, being rested for this game due to nagging injury. Kaleb Martin picked up a first-down for the Eagles with a run to the 37 yard-line on a run. Drew Massengill picked up another first-down at midfield on the pass from Carr. A big sack by Jayden Carter for the Red Raider defense put the Eagles in a third-and-long situation and forced a punt. Coffee Central began their first possession at their own 10. The Red Raiders survived a fumble that ended back with them on the second play of the drive. Coffee had big runs to both sides of the field as they moved downfield before quarterback Cole Pippenger, faked a handoff and found a seam up the middle for the 27 yard touchdown. Manny Gonzales tacked on a successful kick for 7-0 lead with 6:09 left in quarter.
The Eagles began their next possession at the 18 yard-line after the return by Wilkerson. After a couple of Cam Potts runs, Carr found Massengill over the middle for first down at the 36 yard-line of Rhea County. Eagles drive stalled at their own 41, and Cole Ruehling punted the ball and Red Raiders called fair catch at their 27. Konor Heaton outran Eagle defenders to sideline for a first down near midfield, but the penalty put Coffee Central back to their own 20 and another motion penalty put the ball at the 15. Pippenger found Rector leaking out of the backfield for a long gain down to the 32 of the Eagles. Eagle defense had 3 good plays to force a 4th and 2 by the Red Raiders, but Heaton found a crease and found 5 yards to give Coffee a first down at Eagle 19. The Red Raiders found the endzone on a 13 yard touchdown pass when Jahlin Osborne slipped behind his defender as all attention shifted to quarterback Pippenger, who appeared to be taking off on a run, but he lifted up and found Osborne for the touchdown pass. With 11;10 left on the 2nd-quarter clock, Eagles trailed 14-0.
The Eagles began their third possession on the 20. On 3 straight runs, Potts gained enough yards for a first at the Eagle 31. Carr came up with short throw and Tristin Galy pulled the ball just off the ground for the interception at the Eagle 48 yard-line. The Red Raiders moved down to the 8 yard-line and quarterback Pippenger once again used a good fake handoff to freeze the defender and the wide receiver drug the other defender toward the middle of the field, leaving the field open for the 10-yard touchdown run for Pippenger. The successful kick moved the margin to 21-0 for Coffee with 6;33 left in the half.
Cam Potts gave the Eagles excellent field position with a 30 yard kickoff return up to the 35. The Red Raider defense got penetration on a 3rd-and-5 play to force the Carr fumble and the Red Raiders received great field position at the 35 of Rhea County. Pippenger broke a couple of tackles to take the ball down to the 15 for first down for the Red Raiders. From there, running-back Konor Heaton needed 2 runs to find the endzone. With the 9-yard touchdown run and the ensuing kick, Coffee Central enjoyed a 28-0 lead with 3:14 left in the half.
On the next drive, Potts had a nice run to take the ball into Red Raider territory at the 37, on a twisting, turning 26 yard run. Chauncey Odom had a nice run to end the half as he took the ball 20 yards on a 4th down play as the first half expired.
The Red Raiders received the second-half kickoff and Heaton brought the kick back to the 30. and then moved the ball to midfield on first play from scrimmage. Eagle defense stiffened around the Eagle 40 and Aiden Wilkerson had a nice stop on 4th down to give the ball over to the Eagles at their own 40. The Eagles went for it on a 4th-and-3 play near midfield and the defensive penetration foiled the attempt and the Red Raiders ended up with the ball at midfield. The Red Raiders went mainly by air down to the 1-yardline, where Konor Heaton scored the last touchdown of the game. With the extra point kick, the Raiders took a 35-0 lead with 6:12 left in the 3rd quarter.
The Eagles next possession ended with a punt down to the Red Raider 10 yard-line. The Red Raiders turned the ball over on downs around the 32 of the Eagles. The Eagles drive stalled and they punted down to the 20 of Coffee Central about midway through the 4th quarter. Coffee punted from their 18 and the Eagles got the ball with 2:27 left in the game. Odum had a nice run with a good second effort.
Looking at the stats, the Red Raiders out-rushed Eagles 174-114 with senior Konor Heaton leading the way with 124 yards on 22 carries. Sophomores Chauncey Odpm and Cam Potts lead the Eagles with 56 and 41 yards on 7 and 14 carries respectively. Sophomore Cole Pippenger was a perfect 15 for 15 for 208 yards and 1 touchdown. Caleb Carr was 5 for 9 for 29 yards and 1 interception. Drew Masengill had 29 receiving yards on 3 catches. Senior Jahlin Osborne had 6 catches for 107 yards and 1 touchdown for the Red Raiders.
On defense, the Eagles were led by Latron Alloway, who had 17 tackles and 2 of those were for a loss and sophomore Austin Dodd had 8 tackles, 3 of which were for a loss. Trent Edwards and Hunter Crowe had 5 and 5 tackles respectively. Junior Mo Shirley for Eagles and Jayden Carter for Red Raiders had sacks in the game. Senior Tristin Galy had an interception for Coffee County Central. Red Raiders' Sahez Fernandez recovered the lone fumble in the game. Both punters, Cole Ruehling and Ian Welden had essentially the same punting average of 40 yards-per-punt with Ruehling punting 4 times and Welden punting 3 times. Manny Gonzales was 5 for 5 for 5 points in the game.
Taking positives from the loss was the play of some of the younger players, as several got significant playing time in the game. Chauncey Odom and Cam Potts had some nice runs and Kaiden Rector got some reps at quarterback. Even with the encouraging performances, coach Pemberton will be looking for some players to hopefully be available off the injury list.