East Hamilton Breaks Open Close Game in Second Half Run for win
Evensville, TN -- Rhea County hosted East Hamilton in a match of unbeaten teams on 9/27/25. Game was tied at halftime 14-14 and 35-33 after 3 quarters. East Hamilton outscored Eagles 21-0 in 4th to make this game look more lopsided than the final score of 56-33.
East Hamilton received the opening kickoff and began on their own 20 yard-line. Senior quarterback Wyatt Miller had an excellent game with a 15 for 19 passing performance for 260 yards passing and 3 touchdowns, while not turning the ball over. He managed the Hurricanes with combination of rushes and passes as they moved efficiently down the field into the end zone to draw first blood vs the Eagles. Hurricanes went primarily on ground early in drive and then Miller found wide receiver Maddox for nice pass to move past midfield. Miller then used his feet as he found an open lane up the right side to move the Hurricanes to the 36 yard -line. Miller found Maddox again over the middle to move to the 23. Another pass put East Hamilton inside the 15. After penalty moved the ball back to the 23, Miller found running back Haywood coming out of the backfield for the touchdown pass. Senior kicker Spencer Payne made the kick for 7-0 lead with 7:08 left on first quarter clock.
Aiden Wilkerson brought the kick back to 32 to setup Eagles for their first possession. Junior Quarterback Jaxton Schmitt hit Junior Christian Yearwood for a first down completion to start the Eagles' offensive series. Senior running back Mason Ford took the ball past midfield for the Eagles. Later in the drive Schmitt found some running room outside for another first down at the 29-yard line of the Hurricanes. Mason Ford gained down to the 9 yard-line via pass then run plays, then caught a pass at the 3 to setup Eagles first and goal. Senior Aiden Wilkerson found the end zone via direct snap run and Austun Fugate kicked the extra point for 7-7 ties with 1:12 left on first quarter clock.
Fugate's kick found end zone and Hurricanes began drive on the 20 yard-line. Haywood moved the Hurricanes past midfield with nice run as he found a narrow lane between two blockers and found running run in secondary on way to a 33-yard gain down to the 38 of the Eagles. Eagles' defense got the stop and Wilkerson brought the punt back to the 7 yard-line. Schmitt found Fugate at the 17 to get a little working room for the Eagles. Ford earned a first down at the 38 on a tough run. Drive stalled and Fugate's punt bounded out at the Hurricanes' 21 yard-line. Kobe Rivers made a nice one hand catch for an 18-yard gain up to the 45 yard-line. It was Miller on the ground on next play, a designed quarterback run that gained 25 yards down to the Eagles' 30 yard-line. Two plays later, it was Haywood with the 27-yard touchdown run over the right side for the 14-7 lead for Hurricanes after Payne's kick.
Rhea County began next series at their 22 yard-line. A couple runs each by Ford and Schmitt moved the ball just over midfield. Fugate's reception gave Eagles a first down at the Hurricanes' 35 yard-line. Schmitt found Devaney for another first down pass to move to the 20 yard-line. Schmitt made last second to Ford who ran the 20 yards for Eagles' second touchdown. Fugate's kick evened the score at 14-14 with 25 seconds remaining in the half.
East Hamilton moved the ball into Rhea County territory, but clock expired on the first half with 14-14 tie between Hurricanes and Eagles.
Eagles received the second-half kickoff and Aiden Wilkerson was close to going for 80 yard return, but tripped up around midfield. Jaxton Schmitt could not quite avoid the sidelines, but still had nice run to the Hurricanes' 35 yard-line. Schmitt had a nice run to gain another fist down for Rhea County at the Hurricanes' 22 yard-line. A couple of plays later, Schmitt took the high snap and ran 18 yards for go-a-head touchdown for the Eagles. Fugate's kick gave the Eagles the 21-14 lead with 6:52 left in 3rd quarter.
Fugate's kick found endzone and Hurricanes began first series of the half from the 20. Hurricanes moved the ball up to 33 and then it was Haywood running up middle and bouncing down the line and then down the sidelines for huge gain of 42 yards to Eagles' 25 yard-line. Maddox finished the drive with 25-yard touchdown reception from Miller. Payne's kick tied the game 21-21.
Wilkerson brought the kickoff back to the 32. Mason Ford went 68 yards on a one-play drive for Eagles. Fugate's kick veered right and Eagles had to settle for 27-21 lead with 4:43 left in 3rd quarter.
Hurricanes began next drive on their own 26 yard-line. Haywood turned a little flair screen into 23 yard gain up to 48. Miller then slid down the line till he found an opening for another first down. Sophomore Isaiah Ivey caught the looping Miller throw over defenders outstretched hands and stumbled into end zone for tying touchdown. Payne's kick was good for 28-27 lead for Hurricanes.
Eagles began their drive on their own 20 yard-line. Mason Ford had nice run over the left side and gained 35 yards up to the 45 yard-line of Hurricanes. Mason Ford found the end zone from 34 yards out to pull the Eagles closer, but Fugate's kick was off and Eagles settled for 33-28 lead with 1:50 left in 3rd quarter.
Hurricanes began their drive on their own 15 yard-line. Heathington took a short screen pass all the way back across field and then down the field for 25 yard gain. The next play was a 60 yard touchdown run by Haywood for the lead 34-33. Hurricanes were successful on kick for 35-33 lead with time running out in the 3rd quarter.
Eagles began next drive at their own 38 yard-line. Eagles drive bogged down and Rhea went for fake punt that came up short, giving East Hamilton at Eagle's 48 yard-line. East Hamilton moved into Eagles' territory and a fumble gave the Eagles new life at their own 20 yard-line. A pick-six put the Hurricanes on the board again and kick increased their lead to 42-33 with 10:25 left in game.
Eagles began next drive on their 45 yard-line after nice return by Tristyan Odum kickoff return. Eagles moved the ball down to the 40 of East Hamilton, but turned ball over on downs there. Hurricanes kept the ball on the ground and it was Haywood with the 10 yard touchdown run and Payne with the kick for 49-33 lead.
Eagles began next possession on their won 35. Canes came up with interception at the Canes' 37 yard-line. East Hamilton kept the ball on the ground with a lot of Haywood and it was Haywood with the 3-yard touchdown run. Payne added kick and that gave the final 56-33 score.
Eagles began their possession at their 28 yard-line and ran a couple of plays before time expired.
L.T. Donegan led the Eagles with 11 solo and 2 assisted tackles. Zeke Romero had 6 solo and 4 assisted tackles for 10 total tackles. Mason Ford had 21 carries for 221 yards. Jaxton Schmitt had 14 carries for 103 yards.
| Player | Rec | Yds | Avg | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aiden Wilkerson | 1 | 1 | 1.0 | |
| Mason Ford | 2 | 5 | 2.5 | |
| L. Donegan | 2 | 22 | 11.0 | |
| Austun Fugate | 4 | 32 | 8.0 | |
| C. Yearwood | 1 | 13 | 13.0 | |
| Team Totals | 10 | 73 | 7.3 | . |
| Player | Car | Yds | Avg | TD |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaxton Schmitt | 14 | 103 | 7.4 | 1 |
| Aiden Wilkerson | 3 | 13 | 4.3 | 1 |
| Mason Ford | 19 | 221 | 11.6 | 3 |
| Caleb Chance | 2 | 2 | 1.0 | |
| Team Totals | 38 | 339 | 8.9 | 5 |
| Player | C | Att | Yds | TD | Int | Lng |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jaxton Schmitt (Jr) | 10 | 18 | 73 | 2 |
| Name | SOLO | ASST | TFL | FF | FR |
| LT Donegan | 11 | 2 | |||
| Zeke Romero | 6 | 4 | 1 | ||
| Austun Fugate | 8 | ||||
| Wyatt Mangefrida | 7 | 3 | |||
| Landon Hallman | 4 | ||||
| Gavin Miller | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||
| Max Daughtrey | 1 | 1 | |||
| Tyler Garrison | 2 | ||||
| Rett Robertson | 1 | 1 | |||
| Kaiden Rector | 2 | ||||
| Gage Devaney | 2 | ||||
| Eli Evans | 1 |
| Name | TOTAL | SOLO | ASST | TFL | SACK | FF | FR | PBU | Big Hit | INT | DEF TD |
| Austun Fugate | 30 | 28 | 4 | 4 | 4 | ||||||
| Zeke Romero | 40 | 31 | 18 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||
| Wyatt Mangefrida | 58.5 | 52 | 13 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| LT Donegan | 36.5 | 34 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | ||||
| Tyler Garrison | 14 | 12 | 4 | 3 | 1 | ||||||
| Max Daughtrey | 14 | 12 | 4 | 4 | |||||||
| Eli Evans | 36 | 32 | 8 | 2 | 2 | ||||||
| Tristyan Odum | 41 | 34 | 14 | 4 | 3 | ||||||
| Eagle Rose | 6 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Kaiden Rector | 22.5 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 6 | 2 | |||||
| Bentlee Fullam | 9 | 7 | 4 | 1 | |||||||
| Caleb Chance | 9 | 8 | 2 | ||||||||
| Gage Devaney | 22.5 | 20 | 5 | 1 | 2 | ||||||
| Colton Thurman | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Eli Kelly | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Jackson Skiles | 11.5 | 10 | 3 | 3 | |||||||
| Cooper Smith | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | ||||||
| Aiden Wilkerson | 1 | 1 | 1 | ||||||||
| Rett Robertson | 8.5 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 1 | ||||||
| Maddox Simpson | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Landon Hallman | 9 | 9 | 1 | ||||||||
| Zach Waller | 1 | 1 | |||||||||
| Rorak Moody | 6.5 | 6 | 1 | ||||||||
| Christian Yearwood | 2 | 2 | 1 | ||||||||
| Tegan Everett | 2 | 2 |
| PASSING | COMP | ATT | YDS | TD | INT |
| JAXTON SCHMITT | 41 | 65 | 427 | 3 | 2 |
| RUSHING | ATT | YARDS | TD | FUM | |
| FORD | 89 | 827 | 9 | ||
| WILKERSON | 24 | 186 | 9 | ||
| SCHMITT | 45 | 308 | 3 | 1 | |
| FUGATE | 3 | 11 | |||
| CHANCE | 11 | 29 | |||
| RECEIVING | CATCHES | YARDS | TD | FUM | |
| RECTOR | 1 | 36 | 1 | ||
| WILKERSON | 12 | 119 | 1 | ||
| FUGATE | 14 | 140 | |||
| DEVANEY | 4 | 35 | |||
| YEARWOOD | 3 | 25 | |||
| FORD | 6 | 26 | 1 |