Rhea County's Ethan Davis cuts during his run vs Bradley. Davis had 25 carries for 154 yards for the Eagles in the first half on Friday night.(Photo:GaryBolden/RheaCountyMagazine)
Bradley Uses Big Plays to Win 30-10 Over Eagles
10/21/22
Evensville, TN -- Rhea County hosted Bradley Central for senior night for 2022. Looking to built momentum for the post-season, the Eagles were looking to continue the positive energy from their 45-7 win over Howard. On this night, four turnovers and a blocked punt, returned for a touchdown was too much for the Eagles to overcome and they now look to rebound on the road at a good 7-2 Coffee Central team on 10/28/22. It is hard to make comparisons as Rhea and Coffee Central have no common opponents, but they have taken care of business against their schedule, with some impressive wins over Warren County and Cookeville, teams that Rhea used to have on their schedule regularly.
Bradley 30 Rhea 10
Eagles received the opening kickoff and began first drive at their own 25 yard-line. Eagles made one first-down before punting down to the Bradley 18 yard-line. Eagle defense forced a 3-and-out and Eagles took over on their own 49 after nice stop by Hunter Crowe and third down. On first play, Caleb Carr found Kaleb Martin for the 49 yard touchdown. Ruehling kick made the margin 7-0 with 7:50 left in first quarter.
Bradley began their drive on own 20 and Eagles forced another 3-and-out to give Eagles ball on their own 37 with 6:20 left in quarter. Carr found Martin for nice 11 yard gain for a first down at the 42 yard-line. A nice Ethan Davis run put the Eagles at the 32 of Bradley. Drive stalled at the Bradley 22 and Bradley got the ball on turnover-on-downs. Martin broke up third-down pass, forcing Bradley to punt and Eagles began their next drive on their own 8 yard-line with 9:59 left in second quarter. Two plays into the drive, Kaleb Martin took the handoff from reciver spot and threw pass that looked to be going out-of-bounds, but defensive back had enough room to come down with the interception at the Eagles; 27. On the second play of the drive, Bradley quarterback Alex Walker found Damarius Ballard for the 16-yard touchdown to tie the game 7-7 with 8;33 left in 2nd quarter.
Kickoff was fair-caught at the Eagle 30. Eagles began a nice drive that took them down to the 9-yardline, but drive stalled and Rhea went for what looked to be a 20 yard field goal attempt to take the lead, but Bradley got the block and then returned the blocked kick 99 yards for a go-a-head touchdown by Finn Mertens. The extra-point kick was good and Bradley led 14-7 with 4;17 left in 2nd quarter. Ethan Davis's nice kicoff return to near midfield was nullified by a penalty. Eagles began drive on the 22 and moved the ball to midfield. Bradley came up with interception and returned it for a touchdown to take the 20-7 lead with 1;37 left in the half, as the extra-point kick was wide left. Eagles salvaged a field goal with .4 seconds to pull within 20-10 at the half.
The kickoff to begin second half was nice return, that appeared to give Bradley a first and goal at the one, but penalty put ball all the way back to their 21. Bears moved the ball upfield, but drive stalled at 47 of Eagles and Bradley punted and pinned the Eagles inside their 5. On the secocnd play of the possession, Ealges put the ball on the ground and Bears took possession at the 3. Two plays later, Bradley punched the ball in and took a 27-10 lead after the successful kick.
Eagles returned kick to the 22 and moved the ball to the 27 of Bradley, but field goal was short and Bradley took over possession. Bradley moved the ball with mix of passing and running deeo unti Eagle territory, but had to settle for Grant Haney 30-yard field goal to take a 30-10 lead with 8;05 left in game. Eagles had a 7 play drive that stalled at the 46 of Bradley and Eagles punted to put Bradley at their 13. Bradley was able to move the ball enough to run out the clock and give them the 30-10 win.
Rhea County won the from-line-of-scrimmage stats with 324 yards vs 191 for Bradley. Eagles had 16 first downs vs 9 for Bradley. Eagles only punted twice and Bradley 4 times. Penalties were not significant, with 4/25 for Eagles and 2/25 for Bradley. The big stat that did matter was the 4 turnovers and the 99 yard blocked field goal return.
Caleb Carr and Kaleb Martin accounted for 6 completions for 93 yards and one interception each. Ethan Davis, who left the game at the half, had 25 carries for 154 yards on the night. Bryson Davis and Hunter Crowe filled in most of the other carries with 7 and 12 carries for 33 and 36 yeards respectively. Kaleb Martin had the majority of the receptions for the Eagles with 79 yards on 4 receptions. Cole Ruehling had 2 punts for 77 yards, one extra point and a field goal on the night. On the defensive side of the ball, Hunter Crowe led the Eagles with 8 total tackles. Bryson Davis was second on team with 6 tackles and Kaleb Martin was close behind with 4 tackles. Maurice Shirley had the one Rhea County sack.
After the game, Coach Pemberton said, "We had not really turned the ball over all year. I think we are every bit as good a team as they are. They got the breaks and the turnovers cost us. We have a very thin margin for error. Our kids kept battling. We had some guys out and had a couple go out tonight. I am very proud of the team."
"We had several Region Champions on our schedule. We are battle tested. When we start the playoffs, you can forget the regular season and we all begin even."