Ace Robinson had great second half for Rhea County with 9 carries for 108 yards vs Alcoa.(Photo:GaryBolden)
Early Tornado Scores Lead to Win for Alcoa
8/24/22
Evensville, TN -- Rhea County continues to play top notch competition in order to prepare team for post-season and on opening day, you got a look at what a # 1 ranked team can look like as Aloca scored two touchdowns on two touches and before you could warm your seat, the Eagles were down 14-0. Eagles complicated the effort with three turnovers on the night. On defense, the Eagles never were able to stop any drive for the Tornadoes in the first half until very late(29.3 seconds) in the half.
Alcoa returned the kickoff for 82 yards for a touchdown as Brennan Duggan found a crease and jetted past Rhea County defenders for the touchdown. Briley Mayberry returned the Alcoa kickoff to Eagles 25 yard-line. The Eagle offense went three-and-out and had to punt, Next Jordan Harris took the Eagle punt, and streaked downfield for a 72 yard score and with the extra point good, the Eagles were down 14-0 with only two and 1/2 minutes gone in the game. Eagles came back with some offense, centered around a 40 yard Kaleb Martin Run, but drive bogged down and a Cole Ruehling field goal sailed left, giving Alcoa their first shot at running their offense.
Alcoa showed they can run the offense well too. Gray Rankin, the winningest football coach in Tennessee history took his 467 wins plus 17 state championships to Boyd Buchanan, a private Christian school in Chattanooga to become their head coach. It was up to Brian Nix, longtime assistant to show his expertise at the head table. Nix was defensive coordinator the last 19 years for Alcoa, so he turned the offense over to David Sweetland and offensive line coach Brian Gossett. The offense ran well on first series as Alcoa went 80 yards in six plays. First play of drive saw Juwelz Scales run for 21 yards. Two plays later quarterback Zach Lunsford found Luke Cannon on a slant route and Cannon took the ball down to the 15 yard-line. Lunsford had scored the apparent third touchdown for Tornadoes but holding pushed Alcoa back to the 21 and from there Lunsford found Eli Owens for the 21 yard touchdown pass and Bacon Lauderback tacked on extra point kick for 21-0 lead with 3;36 showing on first quarter clock.
Mayberry brought the Alcoa kickoff back to the 18 yard line. A 15 yard personal foul penalty took ball to 33 yard line. A muffed exchange between center and quarterback gave the ball to Alcoa at the Eagle 42 yard-line. Lunsford found Kolby Barnett for a completion down to the 17 yard-line. Eagles defense stiffened and Alcoa settled for 20 yard field goal by Lauderback for 24-0 lead with 8 seconds left in first quarter. Eagles had been down big in the past, but coming back that far against a powerhouse like Alcoa would be too big a hill to climb. Alcoa would tack on two more touchdowns in the second quarter for a 38-0 lead against the Eagles. Zack Lunsford had a 13 yard pass to Eli Owens with 9:47 left in second and Eli Graf completed a 22 yard pass to Eli Owens with 4:48 left in half. Lauderback added both conversion kicks for the 38 point lead, that stood at halftime. At the half Eagles had 22 rushes for 102 yards and Alcoa had 11 rushes for 67 yards. Eagles had one pass for 39 yards on a pass to Briley Mayberry and Alcoa went 8 of 9 for 150 yards. Together the teams would only account for 12 yards passing on two completions by Eli Graf. Alcoa come up with interception to stop the Eagles on one drive and another interception on the next drive with 7:22 left in half at the Alcoa 45 yard-line. Eagles made their deepest intrusion into Alcoa territory on the last play of the half with the 39 yard pass from Martin to Mayberry as horn sounded.
Eagles received the second-half kickoff and returned to the Potts returned to the 32 yard-line. Eagles forced to punt on their first possession of the second half. Backup quarterback Wyatt Mcclure started the second half for the Tornadoes. Eagles forced a three-and-out and began next possession deep in their own territory on their own 14. On a second and one from the 23 yard line, Ace Robinson had nice 36 yard run into Alcoa territory at the 41 yard-line. Ace Robinson had another nice long run to put the Eagles at the 11 yard-line before bursting up the middle behind his blockers for the 11 yard touchdown to put the Eagles on the board. Ruehling extra-point kick made the score 38-7 with 52 seconds left in third quarter.
On next possession for Alcoa, Austin Doods came up with fumble recovery deep in Alcoa territory at the 20 yard-line. Ace Robinson had the 9 yard touchdown run and with 7:58 left in game, Eagles pulled within 38-14 after Ruehling kick. Eagles defense held again and the punt put the Eagles in business at the Alcoa 46 yard-line. Ace Robinson had a nice run for a Rhea County first down. A Mayberry 13 yard run put the Eagles deep in Alcoa territory at the 24 yard line. After an Alloway first-down run, Ace Robinson ahd another nice run to setup first-and-goal. Quarterback Kaleb Martin ran in for the 1-yard touchdown run and Rhea County had cut the lead to 38-21 with 2;99 left in game, and that would be the final score.
The Eagles came into the season with a totally revamped and young offensive and defensive line, but with most of their skill players back this year, except for Ethan Davis and Caleb Odell, who were out injured for this game. So it is no surprise this was going to be a tough game for the Eagles. Offensive statistics outside of turnovers and special teams play, actually did not look bad, but special teams and turnovers were the stat that stood out in first half with the two touchdowns via special teams and the three turnovers. In this game, Rhea County needed those stats to equalize the difference in talent and experience, especially in the line. Eagles played better in second half, with lots of subs for Alcoa. Rhea also used subs, and Ace Robinson stood out for the Eagles with 5 rushes for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Briley Mayberry had some good runs and a nice catch on the evening. Mayberry ended game with 9 carries for 94 yards and 1 catch for 39 yards. Due to the second half play of Eagles, they had 54 plays ran vs 37 for Alcoa and had 17 first downs vs 12 for Alcoa. Penalties were low for both teams with 4 for 26 yards for Alcoa and 3 for 27 yards for Rhea. On defense, Sophomore Austin Dodd had a sack and recovered fumble and six total tackles on the night.
Rhea County has open date for the 8/26/22 date before traveling to McMinn County for big Region game on 9/2/22, a 7;30 pm kickoff time for a week from Friday. That gives more time for healing injuries, more practice for this young team and plenty of preparation for the Cherokees. Last year Ethan Davis had 23 carries for 203 yards and Briley Mayberry had 11 carries for 102 yards to power the offense behind a very good offensive line. Two big time senior losses, Drew Fisher and Austin Brackett had 10 and 11 tackles to lead the defense. Ethan Davis has been cleared for return to practice and with proper progression and wearing a protective device, Eagle fans are hoping he and Caleb Odell are ready for the Cherokees.