1-1 Eagles take on 1-1 Owls in Ooltewah

Ooltewah, Tn -- Rhea County looks to rebound from their non-district loss to Notre Dame last Week(8/28/26) 22-21. Rhea played a strong first half, scoring on a long pass from Schmitt to Donegan. Eagles added to the lead with long punt return by Troy Brown. The second half began rather peculiarly as the kickoff from Notre Dame looked to be rolling into end zone when return man kicked the ball into the end zone. Rhea jumped on the ball and all kinds of confusion by players, fans, coaches and referees. For a short minute, it looked like a safety might be called. After several minutes on talking among the officials, an illegal touching penalty was called. Late in the third quarter, it was Schmitt going to the air again with Fugate making an acrobatic catch between two defenders. Elation changed to deflation for the Eagle faithful when Fugate came to the sideline holding his shoulder and never reentered the game. Eagles kicked the extra point kick by Rasnake gave the Eagles the 21-0 lead with 7:44 left in the third quarter.

Notre Dame would dominate the next 19 minutes of action and score 3 touchdowns and then made huge decision to go-for-two after their third touchdown. The decision followed a successful kick and an apparent 21-21 tie until penalty flag gave Notre Dame the opportunity for the decision. The successful 2-point conversion gave Notre Dame the lead with 3:02 left in the game. The Irish defense held Rhea County and Irish ran out the clock and Eagles had lost a game and also several players during the game. With eight games left in the season, Rhea would walk into dressing room with much to think about. Later in the week, the injury news was some good and some bad. Schmitt and Fugate were cleared to play on Friday vs Ooltewah and Miller and Donegan were not cleared and future is unclear at present.

Friday's game time at Ooltewah has been moved to 7:30 pm and Eagles will look to put Irish loss behind them and find the magic of the first half of the Notre Dame game. Ooltewah will look to springboard off their momentum gained in the 46-0 win over Chattanooga Central. This will be the first region game for both teams, so a lot will be on the line. The owls ran for 312 yards against Central with Kimmon Harrison leading the way with 82 yards. Sophomore quarterback Rhylon Hinton hit for 4 touchdowns, while going 6 for 6 for 116 yards. Senior Elijah Trejo had 2 touchdown catches, while senior leader Griffin Patterson and sophomore Ryler Boyd each hauled in a td catch.

Coach Taylor Harvey provided some feedback on the Notre Dame loss and the upcoming Ooltewah game.

What did you tell the team after the loss?

• mistakes killed us , turnovers killed us. Injuries played a big factor down the stretch. Overall no excuses to beat ourselves .

How is your health going into Ooltewah game?

• Schmitt and Fugate are back. Going to be without LT and Miller for a while.

What should we expect for the Ooltewah team who come in 1-1, but have not faced caliber of competition that Rhea has?

• They are going to be well coached and at their best. They fixed a lot of week one problems last week vs Central.

Any players who will be ones to watch for Ooltewah?

• #11(Senior Griffin Patterson) for them is one of the best players in our region. He is a solid WR and plays the game the right way. 

Highlighs from Notre Dame game:

Schmitt 7/16 for 119 yards 2 TD - 13 carries 133 yards

Eli Kelly 20 car - 79 yards

LT Donegan 3 rec 62 yards and 1TD

Fugate 3 rec 44 yards 1 TD