Ethan Davis heads up field with blockers leading the way on his way to 359 yards rushing vs Karns in the 63-48 win by Eagles in playoff football on November 12, 2021.(Photo:BillynthiaHill)
Ethan Davis Adds 359 Yards Rushing To Break School Record For Season
November 12, 2021
Evensvville, TN -- Rhea County played Karns in the second round of the TSSAA playoffs in Region 4A and this game was probably more exciting than the Eagle fans had hoped. Eagles came in with wins over Karns in dominating fashion over the last two years in 66-28 and 45-14 wins, but this team did not play like those teams. Star running back Desean Bishop came in first in state in rushing, while Eagles' Ethan Davis came in 4th in the state. Eagles used a dominating run game to outscore Karns 63-48. Eagles used a dominating run game to outscore Karns 63-48 and move on to the third round of the playoffs.
After the game, news fo Powell's win over McMinn 49-7 gave the Eagle's their opponent next week. Eagles travel to Knoxville to face another very good opponent in Powell who come into the game 10-2 with losses to Maryville and Knox Catholic. Powell had a very good quarterback, Jordyn Potts who averages 250 yards per game and several capable running backs who combine to average 6 yards per carry. Eagles and Powell have several common opponents besides McMinn. The Panthers have a 60-48 win over Anderson County and a 40-7 win over Campbell County.
First Half:
Karns won the toss and took the kickoff. Eagles' defense forced a three-and-out, but Eagles fumbled the punt and moved the ball almost to midfield for the Beavers by Trystan Duke. It was then Bishop with sideline catch to give Beavers their initial first down of the game and move the ball into Eagle territory. Quarterback Cassen Huffaker then found Taylor on another third down play to move the ball to the Eagle 9-yard line for first and goal. From the 7-yard line, Bishop took the snap and found a hole for the initial touchdown of the game with 6:47 left in first quarter after the extra point was good.
After a short kick, Rhea had to recover from holding penalty but O'Dell had a nice run to get the ball to the Beaver's 27- yard line for first down. Davis followed that run was a nice cut over the right side and took the ball inside the 10 and found the end zone on the next play on a 6-yard touchdown run. Ruehling kick was good and with 5:13 left in first quarter, score was tied 7-7.
Karns fair-caught the kickoff at their 19-yard line. Bishop had couple of nice third down runs to earn first downs for Karns on their drive. On the next third down opportunity. Huffaker found Bishop for a nice leaping catch and Bishop broke a couple of tackles on his way to the endzone for the go-a-head 61-yard touchdown with 26 tics left on first quarter clock. Kick of good and Beavers had 14-7 lead.
Eagles took short kick on their 36-yard line. Caleb O'Dell had nice run to take the ball into Karn' territory. Just a few seconds into second quarter, Davis went around right side and Justin Woody took out the Beaver defender to free Davis for a 45-yard touchdown run. Ruehling was successful on kick and score was tied 14-14. Beavers returned kick to their own 35-yard line. Bishop went right, bounced off a defender and raced down the sideline for the go-a-head touchdown run of 64 yards. Kick was good and Karnes led 21-14 with 11:02 left in 2nd quarter. Three touchdowns in less than 2 minutes for both teams.
Drew Massengill received the short kick to setup Eagles just past the 40. Davis's first 5 runs were good for 3 first downs and final setup the Eagles at the 4 yard line. Martin scored a couple of plays later on one yard keeper and Ruehling kick evened the score 21-21 with 8:54 left in 2nd quarter. Eagle defense dug in and forced punt that rolled dead on Eagle 47. O'Dell had a nice run of 19 yards down to the 34 yard line and Davis weaved his way to the endzone for a go-a-head touchdown with 6:37 left in half.
Bishop returned short kick to the 37 yard line. Beavers gambled on 4th and long and Bishop took handoff and threw jump pass that sailed long and out of bounds to turn the ball over the the Eagles with 4:11 left in half and ball on Beaver 41 yard line. Davis found a crease up the middle and took ball down to the 15. On seccond play of drive he found the endzone as he outraced defenders to the near-side endzone. With 3:34 left in half, Cooper Ruehling made the kick and Eagles had 14 point lead at 35-21.
Karns began their possession on the 20 after kickoff. Karns moved downt he field with three first downs and Karnes faced a 4th and 10 on the Eagle 35 yard line, but Huffaker found Lockhart at the 15 and he shed a couple of Eagle tacklers to move the ball to the 6 with 9 seconds remaining on clock. That was enough time for Karns as Bishop found Patton in the far corner of the endzone for the touchdown pass to move the Beavers within 7 as score going into halftime would be 35-28.
Second half:
In an unusual play the entire kicking team for Karns rushed the ball in mass for the onside kick, which Eagles recovered at nar midfield. Davis had just picked up the second Eagle first down before penalties negated the second first down and moved the ball back near midfield. Davis' next two runs were for first downs and a couple of plays later it was Martin with the fake to Davis that froze the defense long enough for Martin to gain an advantage and outrace the defense into endzone. Ruehling's kick put the Eagles back to two touchdown lead 42-28 with 9:15 left in third quarter.
Karns had a nice kickoff return to their 42-yard-line. This was a one-play drive as Bishop bounced off a defender and used a nice block by Tyson Taylor to free Bishop for an open path to the endzone and the 58 yard run once again Karns looked poised to cut the lead to 7, but kick failed and Eagles had 42-34 lead with 8:58 left in third quarter.
Karns' onside kick went out-of-bounds and Eagles began their possession near midfield. O'Dell ran for first down on first play of drive. Davis and Martin added three more first downs to setup Eagles at the 11. Davis ran left and O'Dell had a nice block before Davis made on of his patented cutbacks and crusied to the endzone for his 5th touchdown of the night. Ruehling's kick put the total at 49-34 with 7:29 left in the third quarter. Karns made fair catch at their 30 to setup next Karns possession. Karns earned initial first down of possession on pass interference penalty, but gave that back with holding penalty. On big thrid down play Patel chase Huffaker deep and managed to punch the ball loose. Karns player fell on ball back on their 25 to setup 4th and long. Beavers used a nice punt to put the Eagles around their 30 yard line. Davis and O'Dell had nice runs to move the ball into Karn's territory and at the end of the thrid, the Eagles took time to honor Landry Jolley, a teammate who passed back in June of 2020, with their number 6 salute. Caleb O'Dell found the endzone with 11:25 left in game for another touchdown for Eagles. The successful kick pushed the lead to 56 to 34, the largest lead of the night(22 points).
The Eagle lead dropped back to 15, after Bishop ran for 71-yard touchdown of first play of possession after fair-catching the kickoff. Kick was good and score went to 56-41 with 11:25 left in game. Eagles began next possession at near midfield after short kick. After Davis and O'Dell had some nice runs to move the ball downfield, it was Kaleb Martin around the left end for his third touchdown of the night to give the Eagle's their final points of the night and a 63-41 lead with 6:35 left in game.
Beavers had decent kickoff return to the 35. Eagles kept Bishop under control on this possession, but Huffaker had a couple of nice pass completions, the last one for 25 yards to a wide open Patton for the final score of the evening. Karns with 5:02 left in the game. Karns extra-point kick was good for 63-48 score.
On the onside kick, the Beavers got a good bounce and they came up with loose ball around midfield. Brackett had nice tackle for loss on Bishop, but next play saw Bishop get out on the edge on short pass. Fisher and Elsea came up with tackle for loss on next play to force third and long. Beavers decided to go deep and Roddy was one of three Eagles back on defense. Roddy went up and deflected the ball and then hauled the deflection in as he fell to the ground in the endzone, for the game securing interception with 2:41 left in the game.
Eagles continued to pound the rock and Davis had nice spin move on his way to first down near midfield and that was the ballgame.
Eagles had 52 carries for 542 yards on the night and never had to attempt a pass. Karns had 246 yards rushing on 35 carries and added 245 yards passing on 12 of 21 passing. Ethan Davis had 33 carries for 359 yards and 5 touchdowns. Caleb O'Dell had 11 carries for 129 yards and 1 touchdown and quarterback Kaleb Martin had 4 carries for 34 yards and 3 touchdowns. For Karns, Desean Bishop had 255 yards on 30 carries and scored 4 touchdowns. He also threw a touchdown pass and caught 5 passes for 116 yards and 1 touchdown. Adarion Patton scored the other 2 touchdowns as he had 4 catches for 52 yards. The teams totaled 1032 yards in offense on the night and scored 16 touchdowns.
Ruehling was perfect 9 for 9 in extra-point kicks. Each team had 1 turnover and penalty yardage was low for each team: Eagles(5 for 42 yards and Beavers 8 for 42 yards). Ruehling had the night off with no punts and Karns had 3 punts for 108 yards total.
After the game, coach Pemberton said, "Third round, How about them Eagles."
During his interview with Rhea County Magazine Pemberton said about Desean Bishop, "He is an extremely talented running back. We knew going in we were going to have to score some points. We did what we had to do to win. In playoff football, you just have to win and advance, whether it is by 1 or 50. It should be fun."
"I bet it was a good game to watch, but it got a little harry down on the sidelines."
After the game, 1979 Rhea County graduate and holder of several football rushing and scoring records from the 1977 season, Alonzo Banks was in attendance and meet to Ethan Davis on field to congradulate Ethan on breaking his records.
Banks said, "Someone asked me "Are your records being broke" and I said "Yes they are." "We talked and I can tell he is a humble young man."
Ethan Davis said, "It was pretty coool to have Alonzo here. His records stood for a long time. It was amazing to break em. I head he was a pretty good ballplayer."
Davis broke the rushing touchdowns for a season record, the overall touchdowns for a season, the carries for a season and the rushing yards for a season. Davis also broke the single game rushing record of 310 yards(previously held by Jamie Pankey with his 359 yard game. Alonzo's records, set back in 1977 were the following:
Most rushing attempts 256, most yards rushing 1741, most touchdowns 22, most touchdowns rushing 21 and most points scored 140. Ethans presently has 265 attempts, for 2097 yards and 30 touchdowns rushing. He has 2 touchdowns receiving for 32 touchdowns total.
Ethan moved up to second in Tennessee with his 2097 yards rushing and his 30 rushing touchdowns ranks his third in state in rushing touchdowns.
A win over Powell would move Eagles into Semifinals game against winner of Knoxville West vs Knoxville Central on Firday, November 26, 2021. A win in that and championship game would give the Eagles a chance to play in Finely Stadium as TSSAA football championships have been moved to Chattanooga this year and next.
