East Ridge running back Traneil Moore (32) carries the ball in the Pioneers' win over Notre Dame earlier this season. Moore figures to once again play a major role in East Ridge's second round Class 3A playoff re-match with Chattanooga Christian School this Friday night at Raymond James Stadium. Earlier, the Pioneers beat the Chargers, 28-13.
photo by Dennis Norwood/File
The big question for East Ridge coach Tracy Malone as the 2015 high school football season approached centered around which player – or players – would replace graduated JoJo Tillery as the Pioneers’ primary offensive weapon.
Tillery took his considerable talents to Wofford College where, as a freshman, he has played in nine games as a defensive back and recorded 19 tackles, one interception and one pass broken up.
Running back Traneil Moore was not even on Malone’s radar to fill the role Tillery, a three-time All-District 6-2A pick, held down in 2014.
Moore, a junior who transferred from Tyner Academy, showed up at a parents’ meeting in June and let Malone know he and his brother wanted to join the football team. Over the coming weeks, the process to get the necessary TSSAA paperwork done on Moore’s transfer dragged on.
In the final days before the annual jamboree at Finley Stadium, Moore’s athletic status was still up in the air. Finally, on Thursday before the jamboree on Saturday, Malone got the thumbs up on Moore’s eligibility.
In a 20-minute jamboree quarter, Moore carried the ball one time and fumbled. In another six days, Moore rushed twice, fumbling once, in the Pioneers’ 20-7 season-opening victory at Polk County.
“I had never heard of Traneil Moore until June,” Malone said. “Later we thought Traneil might be a good football player, but we didn’t put any eggs in his basket. After that first game, it was Katy bar the door.”
As the undefeated and 10th-ranked Pioneers prepare to host Friday’s TSSAA Class 3A second round playoff game against Chattanooga Christian at 7 p.m., Moore remains one of the top storylines of the season, going from an unknown commodity to a back that ran 22 times for 239 yards in a 35-28 win over Smith County in round one.
For the season, the 6-foot-2-inch, 190-pound Moore has rushed 166 times, gained 1,766 yards and scored 23 touchdowns while being selected as a semifinalist for the Class 3A Mr. Football Back of the Year.
“If anybody has been around football when somebody comes around that’s special, you can tell,” Malone said. “Traneil is special. He’s got what every great back has – break-away speed, tremendous vision and for a big kid is really elusive. He’s solid in pass protection and can catch the ball, too. He’s a complete back.”
Moore has been an integral part of East Ridge’s school-record 11-0 season. A year ago, the Pioneers went 3-7 and missed the playoffs. This season, they’re undefeated, a No. 1 seed in the playoffs, and one win from a spot in the quarterfinals, which they would host on Nov. 20.
In the win over Smith County, Moore rushed 22 times for 239 yards.
Chattanooga Christian coach Rob Spence has seen Moore up close and personal on the field – the Pioneers beat the Chargers, 28-13, on Oct. 30 – and he’s watched other game tape of the talented youngster.
In the team’s first meeting, Moore rushed for 200-plus yards and on the drive that gave East Ridge a 14-10 lead it never relinquished he carried 20 straight times for 72 yards of the 80-yard march before suffering a hand injury. Lorenzo Stewart took care of the final 3 on the 11th play.
“East Ridge is a talented team and they have the best football player on the field in Traneil Moore,” Spence said. “He’s a very special player. He’s a horse and the guy can go; he was a huge factor in our first game because he helped them run time off the clock by moving the ball and keeping us off the field offensively.
“The guy puts a lot of pressure on your defense and that’s what you do when you have a great running back like that.”
Spence is hoping the Chargers can contain Moore, but that has proven to be a huge challenge for any team facing the Pioneers this season.
And, to have an opportunity to do so in a 13-day span is something of an oddity.
“It’s interesting,” said Spence, who has led the Chargers to their first winning season (8-3) in program history. It’s rare when you have an opportunity to almost play back-to-back in less than14 days at any level of football. It happens rarely in the NFL and every so often in college.
“They know us and we know them. It will come down to execution and a little thing here and there in a game if the teams are evenly matched.”
So, just go play.
A year ago, Chattanooga Christian limped into the playoffs at 4-6, lost to Notre Dame, 55-14, in the first round and finished the season on a four-game losing skid.
The team felt bummed out.
This week, the Chargers head into round two having won six of the last seven games, the only blemish the 15-point loss to East Ridge.
That gives the Chargers a good feeling this time around.
“When you’re 4-6 you’re praying to turn it around and thinking you have to have a Cinderella moment to keep going in the playoffs,” Spence said. “At 7-3, you’ve probably been able to win some close games and believe you’re a competitive team. We’re looking for that moment when we can capture lightning in a bottle.”
Spence said the Chargers’ season was molded in August at a two-day summer camp at Camp Skyline in Mentone, Ala.
The Chargers opened with victories over Brainerd and Lookout Valley by a combined score of 74-21 – most of the point spread came in the 50-0 rout of the Yellow Jackets – before dropping two in a row to Notre Dame and Davidson Academy.
Chattanooga Christian then gained steady momentum with a five-game winning streak.
“That camp was the most impactful part of our season,” Spence said. “But you can’t really take credit for what only God can take credit for. What I saw on that mountain was a miraculous transformation in team and people in the way they trusted each other and in God. We grew very close in those 48 hours.”
With the season hanging in the balance, the Chargers escaped Smith County with a 23-22 victory behind the 160 yards passing from quarterback Matthew Mercer, 57 rushing by Will Patton and 83 receiving by Brandon Mason.
Mercer has thrown for 1,118 yards and 15 touchdowns.
Running back T.J. Smith is the Chargers’ leading scorer and put up a season-high 133 rushing yards in a 76-17 blowout of Grace Baptist three weeks ago.
“We’ve played really well and had some peak moments during the season,” Spence said, “but I think we’re looking for another peak experience right now.”
The Chargers’ attention has clearly now shifted back to East Ridge, which fields an offense averaging 30 points and a defense yielding 10.9 points per game.
“We have to find a way to slow down a really proficient offense,” the Chargers coach said. “We can’t turn the ball over. We had done like six weeks without a turnover and turned it over twice against East Ridge in the first game.
“Tracy has a great program. Not only do they have outstanding players, but they’re well-coached. We’re going to be playing one of the best teams in the state of Tennessee.”
Malone, in his fourth year at East Ridge, has proven to be a “shot in the arm” for the Pioneers, whose last winning season was a 7-4 mark in 2009. Over the next four seasons, East Ridge went 20-32 before exploding for the team’s best record in history.
The 2001 and 1997 Pioneers, both of which had 10-2 records, are the only other teams to notch double-digit wins in school history.
“The mark of a great team is when the playoffs roll around it’s still improving,” Malone said. “That’s the thing I see in this team. The kids hit the field every day with the mind-set to get better. They’ve taken that to heart and that’s been really nice to see this year.”
But, don’t think Malone is worry-free going into the game against Chattanooga Christian.
He’s a coach, right?
“The thing Chattanooga Christian does is force you to defend the entire field,” he said. “They have the skill kids and triggerman (Mercer) to do that. They can hurt you in many ways offensively. Defensively, they load up the box and make you earn every stinking yard you get.”
TSSAA Football Playoff Schedule
Second Round
Chattanooga Area Schools
All Games Start at 7 p.m. Local Time
Class 1A
Fayetteville (9-2) at South Pittsburg (8-3)
Class 2A
Tyner (8-3) at Boyd-Buchanan (11-0)
Marion County (10-1) at Forrest (10-1)
Class 3A
Chattanooga Christian (8-3) at East Ridge (11-0)
Notre Dame (8-3) at Upperman (9-2)
Class 4A
East Hamilton (7-4) at Stone Memorial (11-0)
Class 5A
Rhea County (8-3) at Farragut (10-1)
Oak Ridge (10-1) at Ooltewah (9-2)
Division II-AA
Baylor (8-2) at Memphis University School (7-3)
McCallie (5-5) at Montgomery Bell Academy (9-1)
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)