CLEVELAND, Tenn. – After battling to knock off state-ranked Kingsport Dobyns-Bennett last week, Ooltewah’s No. 4-rated Owls returned to District 5-AAA play Friday night and used a strong performance by quarterback Kelvin Leon and a record-setting field goal from Laszlo Toser to crush Bradley Central, 38-0, at Bear Stadium.
Leon completed 18-of-28 passes for 313 yards and hit Anthony Turner on touchdown bombs of 72 and 71 yards in the second and third quarters. Leon also scored touchdowns on runs of 5 and 9 yards, finishing with 44 yards on 10 tries in a well-rounded game.
“I thought we did a really good job after getting off to a slow start,” said Leon, who now has thrown for 1,495 yards and 16 touchdowns. “We picked it up in the second quarter and kept going.”
Said Owls coach Mac Bryan, “I thought Kelvin ran well and smartly. He had some nice throws overall did an excellent job.”
The Owls broke the game open with a 24-point second period, an onslaught capped by Toser’s monster 52-yard field goal.
“That was amazing,” said Toser, who missed a 42-yarder early in the final period.
When told his 52-yarder was a school record, Toser said, “That’s awesome. I was just focused on hitting a clean ball and going through it. I’ve kicked a 62-yard field goal in practice.”
Turner caught four passes for 165 yards and Hayes had five receptions for 73 yards.
With Leon handling most of the offensive load, the Owls (7-0, 3-0) piled up 455 yards of total offense while the hard-hitting defense recorded its third shutout of the season.
Ooltewah held the Bears’ offense to 238 yards, all through the air, as sophomore quarterback Cole Copeland completed 36-of-53 attempts. Christian Hamilton had 11 catches for 111 yards. Swan Parker also caught 11 passes, good for 25 yards.
“I thought our defense played really well,” Bryan said. “We gave up some ground, but were good in the red zone.”
The Owls also stopped Bradley at their 14 in the second quarter.
“It feels good to get our seventh win,” linebacker Jeremiah Jackson said. “My man (linebacker) Tyler Reed played a really good game and I’m proud of him.”
Reed recovered a Bradley fumble in the third period. Jackson said he stripped the ball from the Bears runner. That was one of two turnovers forced by the Owls. Defensive back Tyson Sylvester intercepted a pass in the end zone to stop a scoring threat on the Bears’ first possession.
Ooltewah also stopped a Bears drive at the Owls’ 14 just before halftime.
Two plays later, Leon hit Turner with a 3-yard pass in the left flat and the Owls’ speed merchant turned it into a 72-yard touchdown play that produced a 14-0 lead.
On the Owls’ previous drive Leon capped a 63-yard, 13-play drive with a 5-yard scamper into paydirt.
One minute and 53 seconds after the 72-yard TD from Leon to Turner, Leon scored from 9 yards out to end a quick 47-yard, two-play drive. The Owls then led 21-0.
A third straight Bradley Central punt, Leon hit Rashun Freeman on a 30-yard pass play and Leon rambled 15 yards to the Bears’ 35 with 4.4 seconds left in the opening half.
Toser then delivered his record-smashing field goal as time ran out.
Toser, whose superlative senior season is attracting interest from several college teams, also put all six kickoffs through the end zone for touchbacks.
“I’m hearing from Tennessee Tech, Mercer, Samford, Rutgers, Cincinnati and Florida has shown some interest,” Toser said. “I’d love to go to Florida. That’s been my favorite team since I was little. I was born in Gainesville and lived in Lakeland until my dad (Laszlo Toser Jr.) got a job up here with TVA when I was in the eighth grade.”
The Owls padded their lead when Leon and Turner teamed up on the 71-yard scoring play with 6:21 left in the third period.
Leon capped the offensive output by finding Edward Hayes on a 5-yard strike that resulted in the 38-point lead. At that point the TSSAA’s mercy rule was invoked and the rest of the game was played with a running clock.
Ooltewah’s 7-0 start is the team’s best since 2009 when the Owls went 9-0 before losing and eventually lost in the first round of the state playoffs. They went 13-0 in 2006, losing in the state semifinals and rang up eight straight wins to start the 2004 campaign.
“Being 7-0 feels great,” Leon said, “but we have to keep working hard.
NOTE: The Owls’ home game against McMinn County, originally scheduled for Oct. 31, has been moved up to Oct. 30. Kickoff remains at 7:30 p.m.
Scoring Summary
Ooltewah 0 24 14 0 – 38
Bradley Central 0 0 0 0 – 0
Second Quarter
OOL – Kelvin Leon 5 run (Laszlo Toser kick), 10:15
OOL – Anthony Turner 72 pass from Leon (Toser kick), 5:03
OOL – Leon 9 run (Toser kick), 3:22
OOL – FG Toser 52, 0:00
Third Quarter
OOL – Turner 71 pass from Leon (Toser kick), 6:21
OOL – Edward Hayes 5 pass from Leon (Toser kick), 3:41
YARDSTICK
OOL BRD
First Downs 16 16
Rushes-Yards 22-136 14-0
Passing Yards 319 238
Com.-Atts.-Int 20-31-0 36-53-1
Total Yards 67-238 53-455
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 0-0
Punts.-Avg. 4-26 8-26
Penalties-Yds. 6-60 2-15
Individual Statistics
Rushing – Ooltewah: Kelvin Leon 10-44, Rashun Freeman 1-30, Brandon Byrd 4-23, Edward Hayes 2-22, London Elrod 2-12, Frunsez Kendricks 2-3, Daizon Taylor 1-2; Bradley Central: Christian Hamilton 1-4, Courtland Bradley 1-1, Cole Copeland 12-minus 5.
Passing – Ooltewah: Leon 18-28-0 313, Elrod 2-3-0 6; Bradley Central: Copeland 36-53-1 238.
Receiving— Ooltewah: Anthony Turner 4-165, Hayes 5-73, Kendricks 1-37, Freeman 3-15, Peyton Oliver 1-15, Blake Smith 2-7, Taylor 2-3, Ethan Walls 1-3; Bradley Central: Hamilton 11-111, Tyler Carpenter 8-52, Tanner Cox 4-36, Swan Parker 11-25, Bryan Adams 2-14.
District 5-AAA Standings – Check this and update it
School District Overall
Ooltewah 3-0 7-0
Cleveland 2-1 3-4
Walker Valley 1-1 4-2
McMinn County 1-1 1-5
Soddy-Daisy 1-2 4-2
East Hamilton 1-2 1-5
Bradley Central 0-2 2-4
Friday’s Results
Ooltewah 38, Bradley Central 0
Cleveland 16, East Hamilton 14
McMinn County 37, Soddy-Daisy 34
Walker Valley open
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)