Quarterback Jaxton Schmitt hands ball to Eli Kelly in Soddy Game. Schmitt accounted for over 200 yards vis air 165 and ground 44 yds and Kelly ran for 77 yards to pace the Eagles offense in the win over Soddy.(Photo:GaryBolden)
Eagles On the Road At Lakeway Christian on Friday 9/18/26
Evensville, Tennessee - 9/11/26 -- Rhea County hosted Soddy Diasy on Friday, 9/11/26 and came out with 22-point first quarter on their way to a 42-0 win over Soddy Daisy to run their region record to 2-0 and their overall record to 3-1. With the win Rhea County sits atop Region 5A3 with 2-0 record, followed by Walker Valley with 1-0 Region record. Eagles now travel to White Pine for game with Lakeway Christian Academy, who come into the game with 4-0 record, while averaging just over 50 point per game, while giving up just over a touchdown per game.
Rhea County won the coin flip and elected to defer to the second half. Kickoff was returned to the 42, but penalty took ball back to 28. Soddy began the game in a hybrid winged-T with tight formation. Eagles' defense forced a 4th and 13 situation. Trystan Odum brought the punt back to around midfield.
Quarterback Jaxton Schmitt led the Eagles out onto the field for their first possession. Eli Kelley took a couple of snaps early before Schmitt found Austun Fugate for nice gain. A couple of plays later Schmitt rolled around the right side of the line and into the endzone for 17-yard touchdown. Sam Rasnake was successful on kick for the 7-0 lead for Eagles. Eagles began their second possession after Quinto Massengale came up with sideline interception at the Soddy Daisy 39 yard-line. Quinton Davis made the nice catch in the endzone for Eagles' second touchdown. Schmitt ran for the two-point conversion and a 15-0 lead for Eagles. Soddy began next series at their 21 after penalty on kickoff and then turned the ball over on first play with Davis coming up with the loose ball for Rhea County.
Kelly had a couple of nice runs to begin the series and Schmitt finished the drive with a 2-yard run and Rasnake added the kick for 22-0 lead for Rhea County with 1:19 showing on the first quarter clock and quarter ended with Eagles up 22-0. Rhea comes up with their 3rd turnover of the game as Austun Fugate picked up a fumble and ran 50 yards for the 4th touchdown of the game for Rhea County and then he added the kick for a 29-0 lead with 11:46 left on second quarter clock. Soddy showed some life with 4 first downs, one via penalty and and two via the run, and one by pass before Eagles' defense stiffened up around the 9-yard line of the Eagles to force a 4th and 2. Eagles' defense came up with the stop and gave Rhea the ball deep in their own territory at the 5-yard line with 4:49 left in the first half.
Freshman Collyn Brock picked up a first down with pass reception. Fugate picked up the next first down and Kerley took a pass down into Soddy territory. Half ended with Schmitt running out of bound inside Soddy territory and Eagles up 29-0.
Rhea County Band gave a nice performance with Elton John themed halftime show and recently retired and longtime coach Steffan Holder was honored by Rhea County Administration and the crowd.
Rhea County received second-half kickoff, but coughed up the ball, giving Soddy the ball inside Rhea County territory. Soddy gave the ball back in the series and then Eagles put together a long drive finished with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Schmitt to Fugate with 7:36 left in the 3rd quarter. Rasnake made the kick for a 36-0 lead. Eli Kelly added the final touchdown for the Eagles for the 42-0 final score.
Eagles came up with five turnovers in the game. Jaxton Schmitt was very efficient in the game with 165 yards on 10-12 passing. Fugate caught 4 of those passes for 75 yards. Eli Kelly added 77 yards on 12 carries. Zeke Romero and Wyatt Mangefrida led the team with 14 and 13 tackles respectively.
Senior Jaxton Schmitt continues his stellar 26-27 season. In 4 games, Jaxton has completed 24 of 41 passes for 321 yards and 5 touchdowns in the air. Schmitt has accumulated 370 yards on the ground in 47 carries and added 5 touchdowns.
Senior Austun Fugate has done basically everything for the Eagles, kicking field goals, extra points, returning kicks, making big plays on defense, receiving and running the ball.
Eli Kelly with his 77 yards moved his season total to 324 yards in 4 games with 2 touchdowns. Tristyan Odum has made the most of his limited chances with 92 yards on 12 carries for the year.
Wyatt Magnefreta in 4 games has 32 solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles for 45 total for the year.
Ezekiel Romero has similar stats with 33 solo tackles and 13 assisted tackles for 46 yards on the year in 4 games.
Head coach Taylor Harvey was nice enough to answer a few questions as Eagles approach the halfway point of the season.
What has been the most surprising accomplishment of this team?
- I do not know that anything has been surprising yet. I think we have some guys that can make plays all over the field and so far they have on both sides of the ball. We played a really bad 2nd half vs Notre Dame and have responded well since then.
What area does this team need to improve on to make the next step up in performance?
- We just have to continue to work on us. We have to start games fast on both sides and continue to win turnover battles and limit turnovers/ penalties.
How would you rank this performance in context of Rhea County team in your tenure at Rhea County?
- Anytime you can hold people to zero its a big deal, espcecially when it is a region opponent and a rival. I am proud of our guys for attacking them from the jump and playing with controlled emotion all night.
How is team health going into next week?
- We are still trying to get guys back from week 1 and week 2. It will take time, but we did not lose anyone new from this past game.
Couple of very good defensive players on Lakeway, including Bell, who is headed to Chattanooga University next year. Anyone else that stands out?
- #84(PK Hodari) is their best player. Thier DL is going to generate issues if we allow them to. They are a good football team.
Starting Lineup for Lakeway game:
Soddy Game Stats:
| PASSING | COMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
| J.SCHMITT | 10 | 12 | 165 | 2 | 0 |
| M.PHILLIPS | 0 | 1 | |||
| RUSHING | ATT | YARDS | TD | FUM | |
| KELLY | 12 | 77 | 1 | ||
| TO | 1 | 31 | |||
| TROY | |||||
| CHANCE | 4 | 11 | |||
| SCHMITT | 7 | 44 | 2 | ||
| 24 | 163 | 3 | |||
| RECEIVING | CATCHES | YARDS | TD | ||
| KERLEY | 3 | 45 | |||
| COLLYN | 1 | 16 | |||
| FUGATE | 4 | 75 | 1 | ||
| QD | 1 | 24 | 1 | ||
| KELLY | 1 | 5 | |||
| 10 | 165 | ||||
| Name | SOLO | ASST | TFL | SACK | FF | FR | PBU | Big Hit | INT | EFFORT | DEF TD |
| Tristyan Odum | 4 | 2 | |||||||||
| Wyatt Mangefrida | 9 | 4 | |||||||||
| LT | |||||||||||
| Sam Rasnake | 4 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| Quinten Massengill | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||
| Austun Fugate | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |||||||
| Zeke Romero | 9 | 5 | 1 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Sam Walton | 4 | 2 | |||||||||
| Teagan Everett | 4 | 1 | |||||||||
| Tyre Brown | 5 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| Carson Mcvay | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Rett Robinson | |||||||||||
| Tyler Garrison | 3 | 2 | |||||||||
| Collyn Brock | 2 | 1 | |||||||||
| Bentlee Fullam | 7 | 2 | |||||||||
| Colton Thurman | 4 | 1 | |||||||||
| Drake Schuler | 1 | ||||||||||