Rhea County stands in their Endzone Before the National Anthem.. Eagles Won Their First Home Game vs Knoxville Central 35-14 on 9/6/24.(Photo:GaryBolden)
RCHS Eagles Outscore Bobcats 21-0 to Secure 2nd Win of Year
Evensville, TN -- Rhea County hosted Central on Friday, 9/6/24 for its first home game of the year. Eagles and Knox Central scored on the opening drive with a short 1:35 minute drive for a 17 yard touchdown run. Eagles came back with a touchdown of their own in 4 minutes and 35 seconds, completed by a Carr to Wilkerson pass of 26 yards.
Late in the second quarter, Central scored a go-ahead touchdown with 56 seconds remaining and much like the Red Bank game, a late touchdown looked to give the opponent the lead going into halftime. This time Rhea was up for the task as they efficiently moved down the field with a short time to score on a Carr to Keshawn Smith touchdown with double zeros on the clock.
In the first half, Knox Central was utilizing its team speed to cut down on the Eagles outside game and on offense they looked to isolate receivers in flats to utilize their speed. In the second half the Eagles adjusted and dominated the line of scrimmage as they outscored the Bobcats 21-0 for the 35-14 win.
Second half scores included two Ford runs, one of 8 yards and one of 15 yards. Last touchdown was a Chauncey Odum 39 yard touchdown run with 4:57 left in the game to lock up the win.
The first downs showed Rhea with a big edge 17-6 and the defense really stepped up on defense with 8 stops in 8 3rd down plays for Central.
Another excellent game from Caleb back under center, making good decisions and being efficient. Caleb with only 1 interception and his game has improved dramatically from last year. Throwing at 70% clip. Some of the stats are the change in offensive philosophy but a lot is the confidence of Caleb.
Keshawn and Aiden really stepped up at receiver this game. Chauncey continues to provide those tough up the middle yards and still has explosive potential outside. Mason Ford finds those seams and seems to have a real burst and gives us a two-pronged attack out there.
Coach Taylor added, "Offensive line is improving each week and we will continue to lean on them as we get into the stretch of our schedule."
On defense, here are a few observations from the game and the season.
Kaiden Knox and Ace Robinson have become leaders on the team, leading in tackles. Players were really flying to the ball. In the Central game there was more balance this game with 6 players with 4 or more total tackles. Six tackles for loss is great. Keshawn Smith really did a great job with 2 interceptions last game against Red Bank and is really active on defense.
I asked defensive coordinator Brandon Ashby if the improvement of the defensive backs has been the biggest leap this year?
"Yes sir, we took a step back at DB and really slowed it down for them and tried to get them to relax and just go play ball. It really has shown Coach Eli is doing a great job on the back end for us. Now if we just stop tipping the ball to the other team I’d be more happy. We were flying around and shut the last two opponents out in the 2nd half. If we can start fast it would really help us out."
| Team | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | Final |
| Central | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
| Rhea | 7 | 14 | 7 | 14 | 35 |
| Scoring | by | Quarter |
| Type | Team | Players | Qtr | Time | Pts | Ext Pts |
| TD | Central | 2 yard run # 17 | 1 | 10:25 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| TD | Rhea | Carr pass Wilkerson 26 yards | 2 | 5:49 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| TD | Central | 1 yd run 0 | 2 | 56 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| TD | Rhea | Carr pass Smith 8 yds | 2 | 0 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| TD | Rhea | Ford 8 yd run | 3 | 5:42 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| TD | Rhea | Ford 15 yard run | 4 | 10:08 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| TD | Rhea | Odum 39 yard run | 4 | 4:57 | 6 | Kick 1 |
| Austun Fugate - 5 for 5 Kicks for Extra Point # 1 KC 2 for 2 Extra Points |
| # | Passing | Com | Att | yds | % comp | TD | INT |
| 4 | Caleb Carr | 13 | 16 | 104 | 81 | 2 | 0 |
| # | Rushing | Carries | YDS | TD | |
| 13 | Chauncey Odum | 20 | 171 | 8.6 | 1 |
| 6 | Mason Ford | 16 | 74 | 4.6 | 2 |
| Team | 36 | 245 | 6.8 | 3 |
| # | Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
| 1 | K. Smith | 6 | 34 | 5.67 | 1 |
| 2 | A. Wilkerson | 6 | 61 | 10.1 | 1 |
| 13 | C. Odum | 1 | 9 | 9 | 0 |
| Team | 13 | 104 | 8 | 2 |
| No. | Athlete Name | Solo | Asst | Tot Tckls | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keshawn Smith (Sr) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| 2 | Aiden Wilkerson (Jr) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 3 | Kaden Knox (Sr) | 7 | 1 | 8 | 2.0 |
| 5 | Mason Ford (Jr) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 10 | Kaiden Rector (Jr) | 3 | 1 | 4 | 1.0 |
| 11 | Austun Fugate (So) | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 19 | Ace Robinson (Sr) | 6 | 3 | 9 | 2.0 |
| 22 | Ezekiel Romero (So) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 38 | Ethan Mosley (Sr) | 4 | 4 | 1.0 | |
| 48 | Zander Yeager (Sr) | 3 | 2 | 5 | |
| 55 | Max Daughtrey (Jr) | 2 | 3 | 5 | |
| 72 | Chace Wilkey (Jr) | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 75 | Haiden Futrell (Sr) | 1 | 1 | ||
| 79 | Mason Phillips (Sr) | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Team Totals | 32 | 17 | 49 | 6.0 |
| Sacks: Ace Robinson - 2 Interceptions - Austin Fugate 1 Pass Deflections |
| Kaiden Knox 1 Austun Fugate 1 |
| # | Athlete Name | TDs | TD Pts | Conv Pts | S | Kick Pts | Tot Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keshawn Smith (Sr) | 1 | 6 | 6 | |||
| 2 | Aiden Wilkerson (Jr) | 1 | 6 | 6 | |||
| 5 | Mason Ford (Jr) | 2 | 12 | 12 | |||
| 11 | Austun Fugate (So) | 5 | 5 | ||||
| 13 | Chauncey Odum (Sr) | 1 | 6 | 6 | |||
| Team Totals | 5 | 30 | 5 | 35 |
| Scoring - Fugate 5 for 5 FG - Fugate 0 for 1 |
| Punts - Rhea 0 Knox Central 26, 31, 43 for 100 yds 33.3 avg |
| 3rd Downs - Rhea 4/8 KC - 0/8 4th Downs - Rhea 2/4 Central 3/3 |
| Total Yards: Rhea 341 Central 228 |
| Turnovers - Rhea 1 Fumble Central 1 Intercept 1 Fumble |
| First Downs - Rhea 17 Central 6 |