Ooltewah Turns Back Gutty Soddy-Daisy, 30-21

Owls' Clutch 95-Yard Drive Provides Key 4-5A Victory

  • Friday, October 2, 2015
  • Larry Fleming

When Ooltewah needed a clutch drive, it got one.

And, brother, was it a long one.

Ooltewah, winning its fifth straight game, marched 95 yards in nine plays – Rashun Freeman gobbled up 78 right up the gut against Soddy-Daisy’s defense on the second snap – for a fourth quarter touchdown and the Owls held off the gutty Trojans, 30-21, Friday night at Robert Talaska Field for a big Region 4-5A high school football victory.

“We busted that big run when Rashun hit the seam and got loose,” Owls coach Mac Bryan said.

“That was a big momentum changer.”

The Trojans (4-2, 2-1) fell behind early, but eventually sliced the Ooltewah (5-1, 2-0) to 23-21 midway through the third period and stole the momentum from the Owls, who have won nine straight league games.

Ooltewah had given up just 26 points in its previous five games and only one team put up more than seven points, that being Riverdale in a season-opening 9-5 victory.

The Trojans began doing damage to Ooltewah’s vaunted defense after tackle Nick Putman left the game with a strained abdominal muscle. Putman did not return to action and watched the second half in street clothes.

“That hurt us,” linebacker Jeremiah Jackson said. “He’s a big contributor in the defensive line, but I’m really glad the young guys behind him stepped up and played good football.”

The Trojans certainly noticed Putman’s absence and their run game started piling up yards and the passing attack delivered some shots as well.

That didn’t surprise Bryan.

“Well, Nick’s hard to block,” he said. “He’s a dominant player. Soddy-Daisy did a nice job. We got some good negative-yardage plays against them, but their QB (Justin Cooke) does a great job buying time, scrambling around. It’s very hard to defend down field when he’s buying that much time. We were really concerned about that.”

Jackson was busy all night chasing Cooke, who was extremely effective making plays despite the harassment Ooltewah was dishing out. He completed 20-of-41 passes for 177 yards with one interception, Kendell Robinson making the play in the end zone. Cooke had 14 carries for minus-13 yards with several sacks.

“(Cooke) is a dynamic little guy,” Jackson said. “He reminds me of Johnny Manziel.”

Most of the game’s scoring came in a wild second quarter.

Ooltewah’s Rashun Freeman scored on a 2-yard run and quarterback London Elrod and Scottie Strickland teamed up on a 65-yard touchdown pass.

The Trojans countered with a pair of Christian Bell touchdowns, one on a routine 10-yard run and the other a spectacular 95-yard punt return immediately after the Elrod-to-Strickland score that gave the Owls a 23-7 advantage.

“That running back of there is a really good player,” Jackson said. “And the receiver (Tre Carter) is really good, too.”

Bryan agreed.

“(Carter) is dangerous, (Bell) is very good and (Cooke) is a problem because he can make plays with his arm and legs,” the Owls coach said. “We had to set a game plan to deal with three very good players. They have a bunch of good players in supporting roles, but those three guys make a lot of plays.”

Carter, who also handles the Trojans’ kicking duties, caught eight passes for 94 yards.

Ooltewah had taken a 9-0 first-quarter lead when Cameron Turner scored from 1-yard out and linebacker Tyler Reid tackled Cooke in the end zone for a safety.

“That’s probably the best pass rush I’ve seen all year,” Cooke said of the Owls’ up-front pressure. “I don’t mind scrambling, but I had to scramble more tonight than any other game.”

Freeman’s first touchdown pushed the Owls’ lead to 16-0 with 10:31 left in the second period. He wound up with 97 rushing yards on 10 carries.

Things got dicey for the Owls in the third quarter.

Bell’s long touchdown put the Trojans right back into the game and then Cooke and Carter hooked up for a score capping a 90-yard, seven-play drive, that pulled Soddy-Daisy, which has dropped five in a row to the Owls, to within two points.

On Ooltewah’s next possession, on a third-and-13 play, Elrod was sacked by Tyler Smith and fumbled. Two Ooltewah played fell on the loose ball to avoid a turnover, but junior offensive lineman Avery Black was injured on the play.

Black lay motionless on his stomach, except when Hamilton County EMT personnel rolled him over on his back, for further examination. Eighteen minutes after play was stopped Black was placed in an ambulance, taken to a local hospital and the game resumed.

“Avery has a concussion and maybe a pinched nerve in the neck area,” Bryan said. “They’re going to take a look at him just to make sure. We may miss him a while.”

The Owls punted and their defense forced the Trojans to punt as well. Carter’s punt backed the Owls up to their own 5.

Elrod was errant on a throw to Strickland, but on second-and-10, Freeman bolted up the middle, danced around two defenders and then pranced 78 yards to the Trojans’ 17. For the game, Freeman carried 10 times for 97 yards and Strickland caught eight passes for 89 yards.

“We felt with the way our defense had been playing we might get a stop and get the ball around the 50-yard line,” Trojans coach Justin Barnes said. “They break the long run and when we’re in position to make a tackle we don’t wrap up.”

Later in the drove, the Owls were faced with a fourth-and-11 from the 17. Elrod dropped back, threw over the middle and Joseph Norwood, despite good coverage, came up with a key catch for a 16-yard gainer to the 1.

Freeman lost a yard.

On second down, he bulled into the end zone to put the Owls in a two-score advantage at 30-21.

“On fourth-down play, we know what’s coming and we don’t make the play,” Barnes said. “They made a couple more plays down the stretch than we did and that’s what it came down to.”

Jackson was glad to see the offense come back to life with the late-game drive that gave the Owls a little breathing room.

“We preach that in the locker room,” he said. “We have to trust each other. If the offense is struggling, the defense has to step up. If the defense is giving up some plays, the offense has to have our backs.”

Soddy-Daisy had three more possessions, but punted once, turned the ball over on downs and Cooke was sacked for a 6-yard loss by Jackson on fourth-and-6.

The Owls then ran the final 1:09 off the clock for a hard-fought win.

SCORING

Ooltewah                          9 14 0 7 – 30

Soddy-Daisy                     0 14 7 0 – 21

First Quarter

OOL – Cameron Turner 1 run (Alek Toser kick), 9:42

OOL – Safety, Tyler Reid tackled Justin Cooke in end zone, 6:27

Second Quarter

OOL – Rashun Freeman 2 run (Toser kick), 10:31

SD – Christian Bell 10 run (Tre Carter kick), 3:59

OOL – Scottie Strickland 65 pass from London Elrod (Toser kick), 20.3

SD – Bell 95 kickoff return (Carter kick), 2.4

Third Quarter

SD – Carter 22 pass from Cooke (Carter kick), 6:55

Fourth Quarter

OOL – Freeman 2 run (Toser kick), 11:53

YARDSTICK    

                                                                OOL                       SD

First Downs                                         15                          15

Rushes-Yards                                    35-163                  25-75

Passing Yards                                    277                       179

Comp-Att-Int                                        20-35-1               21-43-1

Plays-Total Yds                                  70-440                 69-254

Fumbles-Lost                                    1-0                        1-1

Punts-Avg                                           7-34.9                   4-29.0

Penalties-Yards                                7-61                      1-10

INDIVIDUALS

RUSHING – Ooltewah: Rashun Freeman 10-97, Cameron Turner 16-46, Swan Parker 2-3, Team -2-minus 3London Elrod 5-minus 21; Soddy-Daisy: Christian Bell 8-66, Tre Carter 3-22, Justin Cooke 14-minus13.

PASSING – Ooltewah; London Elrod 14-33-0 213, Ethan Wall 1-1-0 64, Collin Thurman 0-1-0 0: Soddy-Daisy: Cooke 20-41-1 177, Carter 1-1-0 2, Bell 0-1-0 0.

RECEIVING – Ooltewah: Scottie Strickland 8-89, Blake Smith 3-75, Kobe Jones 1-47, Joseph Norwood 5-45, Turner 2-13, Parker 1-8; Soddy-Daisy: Carter 8-94, Bell 7-50, Ty Boeck 1-21, Jacob Lemons 2-13, Cooke 1-2, Jaden Holcombe 2-1.

(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)

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