4/29/25 Red Bank, TN
Rhea County Eagles traveled to Red Bank on a muggy evening to end their last away game during the regular season. The JV squad started off the festivities and dominated the entire game, despite only finding the back of the net once by Sam Rasnake, who collected a goalie deflection off of Sawyer Campbell’s blast and put it in the back of the net. The Lions had only a handful of shots on our goalie and managed to slip only 1 of them by to tie the score at 1-1. Despite our Eagles controlling the passing, shots, and tempo of the game, they weren’t able to find the back of the net, so a final score of 1-1. JV record now stands at 9-0-2 for the season.
The Varsity game followed after the Lions had their senior night recognition, and the Eagles came out fierce! Within the first 20 seconds of the game, Geo Pacheco fed a ball to Jackson Arnold, who blasted a curve shot to the far corner of the net, up 1-0. Eagles again drove down 20 seconds later, with Christian Martinez feeding a cross ball into Pacheco who placed it firmly into the back of the net. Eagles up 2-0 within the first minute of the game! The Lions continued to battle back and got their first goal off a questionable diving save by Wes Robinson, where the ref said he crossed over the line to dive on it, so the Lions were on the board, 2-1. Jack Bamber added a 3rd goal to the Eagles score in the first half by collecting a deflected shot from Koelar Smith and blasting it back past the keeper. A foul within the box on Anderson Cathey saw an Eagle’s PK attempt, but their goalie had a great diving save, so the score was kept at 3-1 at halftime. The Lions came out the second half trying to equalize, but the Eagles had a great passing game and upped their physical bodies to win more balls, so it was an exciting game to watch. The Lions were issued a yellow card during play, but the Eagles kept their composure, despite a hand ball being called against them and the Lions managed to bury the PK, getting them close to evening the score. The Eagles played smart and tough, ending the match with the win of 3-2. Levi Toliver had this to say following the game, “ Hard fought game by our whole team. We worked really well together, our effort being the highest it’s ever been. We fought for every ball, won every tackle, and showed up for our brothers on the field.” Eagle’s record now stands at 6-10. The last home game of the regular season is Friday, May 2nd, JV at 5:30pm and Varsity at 7pm. The Eagle’s playoff game will be next Tuesday, May 6th, at Cleveland High School at 7pm; it is a win-or-go-home game!
Article by Audrey Norman
