Ethan Davis makes a cut against a Howard defender during the 46-0 win by Rhea Ccounty on October 15, 2021.(Photo:BillynthiaHill)
Eagles Cruise to 46-0 Halftime Lead On Way to Win Over Howard Tech to Go 4-0 in Region Play.
Evensville, Tn -- Rhea County hosted Howard Tech and scored often and early on their way to 46-0 lead at halftime. The were able to gain valuable experience in second half in their 46-0 win. The win completes their 5A Region 4 slate with 4-0 record. Eagles wrapped up the championship after their Walker Valley win earlier in season. Eagles are presently ranked # 3 in Division 5A behind first place Powell and West, who sport identical 7-1 records.
Howard Tech came into the game 0-8 on the season. The Hustlin Tigers received the Cooper Ruehling kickoff and had serious problems with center quarterback exchange and then things got worse on the punt attempt which went out of end zone for the safety. Jadden Pankey had a very nice punt return erased on the previous punt, on a dead ball penalty before the punt. Eagles got the ball back after the safety in good position and quarterback Kaleb Martin found the end zone as he outraced defenders to the end zone for 8-0 lead that went to 9-0 after Ruehling kick with 9:18 left in 1st quarter. Bryce Dupre came up with fumble recovery less than a minute later and Eagles quickly moved downfield for an Ethan Davis touchdown and extra point kick for 16-0 lead. Jadden Pankey who had 86 return yards on the night, had nice punt return inside the 20 after Howard had another 3 and out punt. Eagles did not take long to find the end zone with Ethan Davis scoring his second touchdown of the night.
Eagles again forced a three and out and Pankey had nice return down to 20. Martin found Fisher for the touchdown reception, but lost the touchdown on inelligible receiver penalty. Next play, Ethan Davis found the end zone from 25 yards out and Ruehling added successful kick for 30-0 lead with 9:59 left in 2nd quarter. Kaleb Martin had nice run of 35 yards to score his second touchdown of the night. Ruehling kick made the score 37-0 and less than one minute later the Eagles benefited from bad snap on punt for second safety of the night and 39-0 with 5:17 left in half. Eagles had one more score with Davis scoring his fourth touchdown of the night. Ruehling kick put the margin at 46-0 with 2:56 left in half and that was the halftime and final score. Eagles got lots of playing time for reserves in second half on their way to a 6-2 record.
On defense the Eagles only had 45 tackles due to the number of plays run by Howard. Austin Brackett and Rex Pendergrass had 7 and 5 total tackles to lead the defense. Braden Edwards and Rahul Patel each had a tackle for loss. Sophomores Bryce Dupre and Dawson Mickel each had fumble recoveries on the night. Freshman Zander Yeager had an interception for the Eagles and Braden Edwards had a sack.
Eagles Meet Bradley on Friday
Eagles have two games left in the season with impossing road battle at Bradley Central on Thursday, October 22, 2021 with 7:00 pm kickoff. Bradley is 8-0 on the season with couple of common opponent scores to consider. Bears won 44-28 over McMinn and 35-7 over Ooltewah. Their biggest test of season was lst Friday in a road game at Farragut(3-5 on season). The won that game 31-28, with a field goad by kicker Era Rojas from 41 yards, with under a minute remaining to win the game. Bradley did dominate possession in the game with almost twice the possession time. Bears did stop the Farragut rushing attack, only allowing 65 yards rushing on 25 carries.(Quarterback Moore lost 26 yards to affect those numbers.). Bears still have important last game with 18 time state champ Maryville next week. This is first time since 1976 that Bears have began season 8-0. That team went on to win state championship. Bradley has a sophomore running back, Bradley Wilson who came into Farragut game averaging 200 yards per game, and he added 137 yards on 30 carries against Farragut. Quarterback Quarterback McClary also played well with 108 yards rushing and 214 yards passing. Looking forward to another challenging game for the Eagles as they have a schedule that will prepare them for post-season with three very good teams this year. The # 3 ranked Eagles in 5A have played the # 1 ranked Alcoa in 3A and the # 4 ranked Elizabethtown in 4A. Both teams only have one loss for the season and several state championships over the years.
Eagles finish their season against Coffee County Central, out of Manchester, Tennessee. The Red Raiders have a 4-4 reocrd overall going into this Friday's game vs Rockvale and are presently on a 3 game win streak with their 27-7 win over 1-7 Cookeville last Friday.