E. J. Casteneda, who was the Player of the Game, holds the "Ridge to River" Trophy after the 16-8 win over Rhea Middle on 8/29/24.(Photo:GaryBolden)

Bulldogs win the "Ridge to River Classic" Between County Rivals.

Spring City, TN -- Spring City hosted Rhea Middle School in the "Ridge to River Classic" game with a trophy involved as well as pride and bragging rights for the winner of this game between two schools, just 10 miles apart. Spring City is on a run against Rhea Middle as they have kept the trophy since 2019. This game would be one of the classics in the series.

Spring City kicked off to begin the game. Rhea Middle fell on the onside kick at their 45 yard line. Big Lavoris Donegan, # 42 was running hard early and helped move the ball down the field for a couple of first downs to 35 of Spring City. Bulldogs defense stiffened and a 5-yard penalty pushed the Eagles to a 4th down go-for-it, which they were able to convert on a 15 yard pass from Carson McVay to Macarthy Evans around the 26 yard line. McVay then passed to Ean Sherrill inside the 20. Evans caught another pass to move inside the 10 as quarter ended. Bulldogs stiffened and forced a turnover on downs. The Bulldogs began possession deep in their own 10. The Bulldogs did a good job of pushing the ball upfield on the ground with Thomas and Campbell with some nice runs, but a holding call erased a nice run and pushed the Bulldogs back inside the 30. Spencer Campbell got those yards and more back up to midfield on a nice run. E. J. Casteneda took the ball down to the Rhea Middle School 42. Another Casteneda run was wiped out by a holding penalty, pushing Bulldogs back to 45 of RMS. Bulldogs moved down to around the 10 on a 30-yard hookup with Spencer Campbell from Casteneda. The yellow hanky came out again to erase a nice Castenda run for a touchdown to move the ball back to the 18 yard line. Time ended the drive as halftime buzzer sounded.

The Bulldogs received the second half kickoff and began possession at their own 31 yard line. The Bulldogs again lost a big penalty. This time Campbell had run 65 yards for the touchdown before the flag took it away and more as they were pushed back to their 30. Thomas earned a 1st down with a run to the 42. Finally a penalty worked in the Bulldogs favor, taking the ball down to the Eagle's 40. Thomas ran for 7, and a 5 yard offsides gave the Bulldogs a first down at the 27 yard line. After another penalty it was Casteneda from the 32 running the ball in for the first touchdown of the game. Casteneda found Campbell for the 2-point conversion and the 8-0 lead with a couple of minutes remaining in the 3rd quarter.

Eagles began to drive on their 47 after the Jolley onside kick. From the 44, Drake Schuler received the toss back from the quarterback and found Evans wide open and he outran the Bulldog defense for the touchdown. McVay completed the pass for the 2-point conversion and the game was tied 8-8.

Bulldogs caught the onside kick at their 45 to start the next possession. 3rd quarter ended after a Campbell run. Thomas drug several defenders to a first down at the 35 yard line of Rhea Middle. From the 35, E. J. Casteneda rolled to the left but decided to travel along the line and outrun the defense with a couple of good moves and a last few yard burst but fell short of the endzone at the 3 yard line. Castenada ran for the touchdown. for the 14-8 lead early in the fourth quarter. Casteneda then followed his line up middle for the 2-point conversion and the 16-8 lead.

Short kic was caught at the 38 yard line by Eagles. McVay caught the pass to move the ball past midfield to the 48. The Eagle drive bogged down and on a 4th and 7, Casteneda knocked away the pass to give the Bulldogs the ball at the Spring City 32 yard line. Casteneda ran for 12 and a first down at 45. From there the Bulldogs ran out the clock with a couple of runs and Bulldogs had won 16-8.