# 2 Aiden Wilkerson was one of the leading receivers for Eagles and put in work as returner in special teams game.(Photo:GaryBolden/RCM)
Eagles on Road At Ooltewah for October 11th Game
Athens, TN -- Rhea County traveled to McMinn County for a pivotal region game on Thursday, 10/4/24. Rhea came in 1-0 in region play and McMinn's record stood at 1-1. Both teams were looking up at East Hamilton, who came into the weekend with a 2-0 record in Region 5-4A with one of those wins against McMinn 29-28. The Eagles were hoping to get a little revenge for the 35-7 loss in 2023 to McMinn. The Eagles came in off a big 16-0 win over Walker Valley.
Rhea County kicked off to McMinn and recovered the kickoff at the 41 of McMinn, but could not move the ball and Rhea County managed to put the Cherokees in the shadow of their own goal at the 9 yard line. Dakota Thompson moved the Cherokees out past the McMinn 30 yard line. McMinn stalled around the 45 and punted and flipped the field position battle with the ball rolling inside the 5 yard line with 7:59 left in quarter. Eagles received a reprieve on a running-into-kicker penalty to keep their drive alive. With 5:43 Eagles punted, and it rolled dead at midfield. The Cherokees used a reverse by Thompson to give them great field position at the 31. Sharp followed with a nice run down to the 12 and another run and penalty put the ball at the 4. With 3:23 left, Josiah Dyer found the end zone from 1 yard out. Drew Trapp added the kick for 7-0 lead for McMinn. Wilkerson had a nice return from deep in Rhea territory to the 32 yard line. Ford had a couple of first downs to put the Eagles at McMinn 44 yard line. Busted coverage gave Carr a wide open Wilkerson and he hit for a reception to move the ball to the 25 yard line. Quarter ended with McMinn up 7-0.
Carr hit Wilkerson for first down at the 12 of McMinn. Eagles dodged a bullet as the ball rolled back to Carr, who ran the ball to the 5 yard line. The Eagles went for it on 4th and 3 and Carr found Fugate for 1st down at the 1 yard line. From the 1, Carr scored on quarterback sneak. Bad snap erased any chance of a successful kick and the score remained 7-5 with 8:25 left in the 2nd quarter. Kick put the Cherokees at the 27 yard line. Robinson had a nice tackle for loss on the opening play. Goodner found a seam on the sidelines for the catch, and moved up t\o the 44 yard line of McMinn. Dyer had a nice run down to the 36 yard line of Rhea. Lawson found Miller for the 21 yard touchdown pass to put McMinn up 13-6. Trapp added the kick for 14-6 lead with 4:43 left until halftime
Austun Fugate appeared to have pulled the Eagles close with an 80 yard kickoff return for touchdown, until the yellow hanky spoiled the day and the hold brought the ball back to Eagles' 33 yard line. Eagles were moving the ball until an ineligible receiver cost Rhea a nice gain and Eagles punted from 43 to McMinn 27 yard line. A quartet of long gains brought McMinn down to the 6 yard line. Dyer scored the 4-yard touchdown run and the kick gave Mcminn to 21-6. Rhea began the drive at their 20. Odum sandwiched a couple of runs around a Smith catch to move to midfield. A Smith catch gave the Eagles a chance for a field goal try. Austun Fugate hit the 40-yard field goal as time expired.
Fugate returned the second half kickoff to 25 to begin the second half. Holding nullified Ford 1st down. Eagles received a gift on an illegal participation penalty for Mcmin playing without a helmet. Carr ran quarterback draw down inside the 5 yard line. Facemask added 2 yards to the drive and the Eagles scored a touchdown by Carr with 9:20 left on 3rd quarter clock. The Fugate kick was good for a 21-15 Cherokee lead. Kickoff was returned 8 yard to the 28 yard line. Sharp had a big run for McMinn to move the ball to the Eagle 25 yard line and followed with a first down run to the 13. McMinn went to air for Frazier catch to 1st and goal at 5 and Dyer scored on touchdown run(his 3rd of the night) with 5:44 left in 3rd. Kick set score at 28-16.
With penalty on kick applied, McMinn kicked from Rhea 45 and the onside kick was recovered by Eagles at the 31 yard line. On 3rd and 15 Carr had to throw the ball away under intense pressure. Eagles' punt by Schmidt and downed at Cherokee 49 yard line with 4:42 left in 3rd. Rhea's defense forced a punt from 45 that rolled to the 7 yard line. A 3-and-out forced a punt that set up McMinn at midfield after a Fugate punt. Sharp had another nice run for a 1st at Eagle's 40. Dyer had another first down earning run to 26 of the Eagles. Thompson had a nice catch from Lawson to the 7 yard line. Quarter ended on false start to move the ball back to 12. Another Ace Robinson tackle stopped McMinn, and Cherokee's penalties moved the ball back to the 27 yard line. Knox had an apparent interception negated by Eagles' pass interference penalty on the McMin receiver causing the deflection to move the ball to 14 and Dakota Thompson pulled in the touchdown pass from Lawson. Kick put McMinn's lead at 35-16 with 9:03 left in the game.
Two personal foul penalties vs one by McMinn allowed the Cherokees to kick from Rhea's 45 yard line. The Eagles began the possession at the 20. Fugate had a nice catch and run to move the ball to 41. Penalties cost the Eagles 10 yards and Montgomery made a big tackle for loss to put the Eagles back to 20. The Eagles were forced to punt from the 28 yard line and McMinn began the next possession at their own 43 yard line. McMinn went 3 and out and Wilkerson had a nice punt return all the way to McMinn's 35 as he fielded the ball on the bounce. Penalties on McMinn moved the ball to the 10 yard line. Carr found KeShawn Smith for the 11-yard touchdown catch. The 2-point conversion pass was short and the score stood at 35-22 with 4:31 left in the game.
Onside kick was short of a 10-yard necessity and McMinn took possession at Eagles' 49 yard line. Thompson had a nice run to push the Cherokees at the 28 yard line. Game ended with McMinn at the 4 yard line.
McMinn County outgained the Eagles 299 to 132 on the ground and led Eagles 406 to 229 in total offense. Cherokees had 23 first downs vs 15 for Rhea. McMinn lost one fumble for the only turnover of the game. Rhea had 11 penalties for 89 yards and Mcminn had 10 penalties for 111 yards. In punting, Rhea county had 6 punts for 167 yards and McMinn had 3 punts for 116 yards. Caleb Carr had an efficient night with 13 for 21 for 97 yards and 1 touchdown in the air and 5 carries for 54 yards and 2 touchdowns on the ground. Aiden Wilkerson had 5 catches for 58 yards and KeShawn Smith had 4 catches for 30 yards and 1 touchdown. Austun Fugate had a 40 yard field goal and 2 catches for 25 yards.
Luke Lawson went 12 for 21 for 157 yards and 2 touchdowns in the air and had 5 carries for 36 yards. Jacob Sharp had 19 carries for 116 yards. Josiah Dyer had 10 carriers for 48 yards and 3 touchdowns. Dakoka Thompson had 5 carries for 63 yards and 1 touchdown and he had 6 carries for 49 yards.
Rhea County was 3 of 11 in 3rd down situations and 2 for 2 in 4th down situations. McMinn went 8 for 11 in 3rd down situations and did not attempt a 4th down play.
Rhea County began a 3-game home stand with an October 11th game at Ooltewah at 7:00 pm after the 50 YHear Reunion and Celebration running from 4 pm until 6:45 pm . Ooltewah is having a rough year with a record of 0-7, while scoring 2 touchdowns over the last 4 games. Rhea will be looking to get a much needed district win before returning home for Tyner and East Hamilton to finish the season. East Hamilton presently leads 5A Region 4 with 3-0 record and overall record of 5-1.
Passing
| No. | Player | Comp | Att. | Yards | % | Yd/Car | TD | Int |
| 4 | Caleb Carr (Sr) | 13 | 21 | 97 | .619 | 7.5 | 1 |
| No | Player | Car | Yds | Avg | 100+ | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | Caleb Carr (Sr) | 5 | 54 | 10.8 | 0 | 2 |
| 5 | Mason Ford (Jr) | 12 | 33 | 2.8 | 0 | |
| 13 | Chauncey Odum (Sr) | 11 | 44 | 4.0 | 0 | |
| Team Totals | 28 | 131 | 4.7 | 0 | 2 |
| No. | Athlete Name | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keshawn Smith (Sr) | 4 | 30 | 7.5 | |
| 2 | Aiden Wilkerson (Jr) | 5 | 58 | 11.6 | 1 |
| 5 | Mason Ford (Jr) | 1 | -8 | -8.0 | |
| 11 | Austun Fugate (So) | 2 | 25 | 12.5 | |
| 32 | Kyzin Shelfer (Sr) | 1 | 2 | 2.0 | |
| Team Totals | 13 | 107 | 8.2 | 1 |
| No. | Player | Solo | Asst | Tot Tckls | TFL |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Keshawn Smith (Sr) | 5 | 1 | 6 | |
| 3 | Kaden Knox (Sr) | 5 | 2 | 7 | |
| 8 | L. Donegan (So) | 2 | 2 | ||
| 10 | Kaiden Rector (Jr) | 2 | 2 | ||
| 11 | Austun Fugate (So) | 8 | 2 | 10 | |
| 19 | Ace Robinson (Sr) | 8 | 3 | 11 | 2.0 |
| 22 | Ezekiel Romero (So) | 3 | 3 | ||
| 38 | Ethan Mosley (Sr) | 5 | 2 | 7 | 1.0 |
| 48 | Zander Yeager (Sr) | 4 | 3 | 7 | 2.0 |
| 55 | Max Daughtrey (Jr) | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1.0 |
| 59 | Tyler Garrison (So) | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 72 | Chace Wilkey (Jr) | 2 | 2 | ||
| 75 | Haiden Futrell (Sr) | 2 | 2 | ||
| Team Totals | 49 | 16 | 65 | 6.0 |