Rhea County Offensive Line Doing Work vs Elizabethton.(Photo:BillynthiaHill)

Eagles Drop Game to Elizabethton 41-21 With 3 Games Before Post-Season

October 8, 2021

Elizabethton, TN -- Rhea County dropped a road game to Elizabethton on Friday night to drop season record to 5-2 and Cyclones' record goes to 6-1. Elizabethton is ranked 4th in Division 4A and trail Greenville in their district. Rhea County has already wrapped up 5A Region 4 title with a 3-0 record and now look to finish strong in the last three games of the season. Eagles have games left against Howard Tech at home on Friday, October 15 at 7:30. That night, the school will honor the 1981 Football team that 40 years ago, was first to make it to State Championship. They go on the road against very good 6A Bradley Central Team that is 7-0, but has misfortune of being in Maryville region, so they are second in region. Bradley goes on road against Maryville on October 29. Eagles finish the season at home vs Coffee County.

Rhea County had to wait until 8:20 to start their game vs Elizabethton on the road. Starting for the Eagles for the game on offense were, Woody, Lemons, Cartright, Elsea and Sales up front. Martin, Davis and Mayberry, Crowe, Massengill and Pankey. On defense starting were, Woody, Edwards and Sales on line, Alloway, Brackett, Edwards, Fisher and Ramsey. Corners Roddy and Pankey and Bryce Dupre at Safety.

Cyclones received the opening kickoff and returned ball to 32 yard line after short pooch kick. Rollins had a short gain on first run and then almost scored on second run that ended at the 13 yard line. Two carries later Rollins found the end-zone for the early lead. After Smithdeal kick, Cyclones led 7-0 with 10:35 left in first quarter.

Eagles began their night on their own 20 after kickoff into end zone. Eagles ended up going for it on a fourth and one gamble on their own 29 and Briley Mayberry gained six for the initial first down for the Eagles. Eagles did punt on fourth and five. Cole Ruehling had a short kick that setup Cyclones in good field position. Austin Bracket had the tip on first play on Rollins pass and Pankey come away with the interception.

Eagles were finding running tough in early parts of game. Martin gave the ball back to Cyclones on their possession with an interception at their 42 yard line. This was only second interception of the year for Martin. Russell had the first carry and brought the ball to midfield. Rollings found Roberts for a first down to the 40 yard line. Rollins next pass was incomplete, but pass interference gave the Cyclones a first down at Rhea County 30. Cade Russell took the next carry into the end zone for a 13-0 lead and Eagles blocked the kick to keep the score at 13-0.

Pankey returned kickoff to the 30 from the 4 yard line to setup Eagles for their second possession. Eagles picked up chop block penalty on first play. Eagles were not able to move the ball and with the penalty found themselves punting from their own goal line. Cyclone took fair catch on the 45 yard line.

Quarterback Rollins had nice 7 yard gain on first carry and then Cyclone picked up first down with Russell carrying ball down to 31 yard line. Ramsey had nice tackle-for-loss on next play to setup third and fifteen for Cyclones. Bryce Dupre then ended the drive with a nice interception at the Eagle 35. Eagles lost ground on a personal foul penalty with third and nineteen. Ruehling got a nice bounce on the 44 yard punt that rolled dead at the 30 yard line of Cyclones. Penalties for hold and personal foul against Eagles added on to the field position to setup Cyclones at the 46 yard line of Rhea County.

On next drive Rollins finished the drive with a 3 yard touchdown run to give Cyclones a 20-0 lead with 9:13 left in first half. On next drive Kaleb Martin found a hole through the Cyclone defense and scooted 32 yards for the Eagles first touchdown and Cole Ruehling added the kick for 20-7 score. Cyclone came right back with touchdown of their own as Rollins earned his third touchdown of the half with short touchdown run of five yards with 38 seconds left in half and that was first half.

Eagles got the ball first in second half and came out determined to make a game of it. The Eagles ground out a 19 play, 87 yard drive that ended with Ethan Davis 2-yard touchdown run. This drive took the clock down to 1:30 for a 10 minute 30 second drive. Ruehling's kick brought the Eagles to within 27-14.

Cyclones did not take long to respond as Rollins found Jake Roberts for 43 yard touchdown pass with 11:51 left in 4th quarter. Eagles came back with an 80 yard drive that ended with Mayberry scoring on 2 yard run with 7:18 left in quarter.

Elizabethton finished the scoring with 1:15 left in the game when Rollins scored his 4th touchdown on the ground to add to his touchdown pass. Rollins's 2 yard run and following Smithdeal kick made the final score 41-21.

Eagles had two long drives in second half to show their strength and this should serve as encouragement going forth. Defense came up with two interceptions on the night to highlight the defense. The Eagles also put up more points than any other team except Greenville this year with their 21 points. Eagles actually won the time of possession battle 28 to 19 minutes and only trailed in first downs 13 to 12. Penalties was something to work on for next game as Eagles had 10 penalties for 97 yards and Cyclones only had 3 penalties for 15 yards.

Ethan Davis led the way on the ground with 144 yards on 29 carries and 1 touchdown. Briley Mayberry added 79 yards on 11 carries. Bryson Rollins had 157 yards on 21 carries and 4 touchdowns on the ground and running back Cade Russell had 99 yards on 11 carries. Jacke Roberts was the only receiver with catches with 2 for 53 yards. Pankey and Dupre each had interceptions for Eagles and Mitchell had the Cyclone interception.

Full Stats by Brian Kamer:

Kaleb Martin 3 Attempts 0 comp 1 interception 0 yards
Rollins 5 attempts 2 completion 2 interceptions 53 yards

Time of Possession by Quarter/Total
Rhea County 6:22 5:25 10:30 5:48 = 28:05
Elizabethton 5:38 6:35 1:30 6:12 = 19:55

Rushing:
Ethan Davis 29 carries 144 yards, 1 TD
Briley Mayberry 11 carries 79 yards 1 TD
Hunter Crowe 3 carries 5 yards
Kaleb Martin 7 carries 30 yards

Bryson Rollins 21 carries 157 yards, 4 TD
Cade Russell 11 carries 99 yards 1 TD
Nate Stephens 4 carries 26 yards

Receiving:

Elizabethton

Jake Roberts 2 catches 53 yards 1 TD

Tackles Elizabethton:

Blake Stewart 3 Solo 19 assists for 22 tackles total
Eli Williams 0 solo 12 assists for 12 total
Trenton Taylor 2 solo 8 assists for 10 total

Interceptions:

Elizabethton

Dalton Mitchell

Rhea County:

Bryce Dupre
Jadden Pankey

First Downs by Quarter:

Rhea County 1 3 5 3 = 12
Elizabethton 5 5 0 3 = 13