Football Playoffs: Pioneers, Irish To Get It On Again

One thing is for sure.

Notre Dame’s two-way lineman Robert Murphy doesn’t care where Friday’s TSSAA Class 4A quarterfinal playoff game against undefeated East Ridge is played.

Just play, baby.

“It doesn’t matter if we play at their place or at Finley Stadium or on concrete at Coolidge Park,” Murphy said prior to Tuesday’s practice session. “We’re ready to play football.”

The Irish (9-3) are just happy to still be playing, knowing full well they have a chance to avenge a 14-9 regular-season loss at East Ridge and earn a berth in the semifinals for the third time in school history.

Unfortunately, each time Notre Dame played in the semifinals it came up short against Livingston Academy (2005), Memphis Briarcrest (2004) and Maryville (1978).

“I’m excited,” Murphy said.

“In the first game, we had 17 penalties for about 185 yards, so that’s been on my mind the whole time. I don’t think we’ll make mistakes in this game. We’ll be well-prepared and have things we did wrong earlier fixed this time.”

And it’s not like East Ridge won’t be fired up for the rematch. The Pioneers are 12-0, posted the school’s first 10-0 regular season and with a win would reach the semifinals for the first time since 1970 when they lost to Memphis Melrose, 26-6.  

Since then, East Ridge has made the postseason 13 times and this season marks the first time it has played past the second round.

Coach Tracy Malone’s squad wants to keep its spectacular season going into December.

And he’s not concerned about playing a rematch game for the second straight week. The Pioneers thumped Chattanooga Christian, 28-0, last week after beating the Chargers, 28-13, on Oct. 30.

“It’s something we’re accustomed to,” said Malone, referring to the rematches. “As a coaching staff, you try and fight the urge to over-think things. We are here because we do certain things well and in my opinion at this time of the year it’s focus on your strengths and manage your team so they’re peaking by Friday.”

The 14 points East Ridge managed against the Irish is the team’s lowest point total of the season. The same scoring statistic holds true for the nine points Notre Dame scored in a game – the next lowest was 17 in a loss to Knoxville Catholic.

“I don’t think we played very well in the first game,” Malone said. “We were sloppy up front (offensively) and didn’t capitalize on some tremendous field position at defense gave us, especially in the second half, and had a bad snap that gave Notre Dame a safety.

“I don’t think we have to do anything spectacular to win the game Friday, neither does Notre Dame. It’s two evenly matched teams going at it for a shot at a semifinal berth.”

It’s not surprise to Malone the two teams are about to square off in the postseason. In fact, he was thinking after the first game played out he was thinking a second meeting was a distinct possibility.

“Yes, honestly I was,” he said. “I thought we both have good football teams and if we can stay healthy there’s a real chance we could play again.”

The Irish have played numerous times at Finley Stadium and East Ridge’s experience there has been limited mostly to 20-minute quarters in the annual preseason jamboree. The Pioneers did, however, host Chattanooga Christian – the Irish, Pioneers and Chargers all competed in Region 3-3A – at the downtown stadium a week ago.

There will be one slight difference this week.

“This will be the first time we’ve played at Finley Stadium as the visiting team,” Murphy said.

Since the team’s regular-season game, East Ridge has scored 35 points per game and the Irish are slightly higher at 40.6. Defensively, Notre Dame has held its previous five opponents to 7.2 points and the Pioneers’ defense has yielded 12.2 points per game.

“The only reason we were there at the end the first East Ridge game was our defense played so well against Traneil,” Irish coach Charles Fant said. “They scored on their first and third series and after that didn’t score again. But, boy, that kid has gotten a whole lot better since then. It was 14-9 with less than two minutes on the clock and we had a chance. That’s all you can ask for after you battle like that.

“The key for us in this game is we have to stop Traneil again. You expect big-time players to make big plays in games, especially the big games. This is one of the biggest. It’s going to be at Finley Stadium, we’ll have a nice crowd and our kids love playing in that place and I know the East Ridge kids will love playing there also.”

If the outcome hinges on the running games deciding Friday’s winner, Moore might have the edge over Notre Dame’s Ricky Ballard.

But the way the Notre Dame offense has performed recently, one can’t Ballard or the Irish out.

Ballard has come on strong and goes into Friday's game having gained 1,028 yards on 130 carries, translating into a 7.9-yard per rush.

“I’ve stepped up my game to a level it wasn’t at in my previous years here,” Ballard said. “I wasn’t getting the ball as much back then, but I’m doing more for my team now and that’s what I’ve wanted to do.”

Both backs can thank strong offensive line play for their success in 2015.

“Traneil’s success truly is a direct reflection of our offensive line,” Malone said. “He is a special player, but he’s got 10 guys around him doing their job, and our defense has played so well this year he’s gotten lot more chances to shine.”

Moore exploded on the local football scene this year and has 2,000-plus rushing yards and nearly 30 touchdowns, all but one coming on the ground and is a threat to break a touchdown run from anywhere on the field. 

Ballard said, “I think our offensive linemen don’t get as much credit as they should. They’re out there busting their tails for me just so I can find the hole, make a cut and gain some yards. It’s on them. They’re doing all the work and I’m just finding the creases.”

Ballard’s numbers are not in the range of Moore’s, but he’s an extremely valuable asset to the Irish offense.

“He touches the ball and gains positive yards,” Fant said. “He averages 7.9 yards per carry and that’s incredible. I believe he’s had two runs the entire year that were negative-gaining plays. It’s a luxury that we have Ricky. When you’re able to throw it on second-and-short and third-and-short, and our quarterback (Alex Darras) can spin it, the defense comes up because they’re worried about us running for the first down and we throw it for the first down. Having Ricky is big for our passing game.”

Clearly, both teams go into the quarterfinal game knowing what to expect from the other.

New looks and tweaked plays and schemes are always a possibility. At this stage of the season, it’s tough to get too far away from game plans that carried a team 12 games deep into the season.

“I think we try and add a wrinkle here and there,” Malone said, “go back and look at the first game plan and see if there was something we didn’t use that still might work, but honestly I think when you get to this point in the playoffs everybody is good so games like this come down to turnovers, blocking and tackling.”

In rematches, the loser from the previous meeting is more likely than not considered having an edge, simply from the revenge factor.

On Thursday, Fant matter-of-factly said the Irish’s loss to East Ridge made something click in his players, spurring the late-season surge.

“We not only lost the game, but we lost a region championship,” Fant said. “The difference is this game, to me, is the fact East Ridge is undefeated. Being a part of some teams that had a run like that, you stay pretty hungry, too. You don’t want to give up that first loss. I don’t think us playing for the second time is going to be much of a factor this week because we’ve got two teams that are incredibly hungry to take the next step.”

TSSAA Football Playoff Schedule

Third Round, Nov. 20

Chattanooga Area Schools

All Games Start at 7 p.m. Local Time

Class 1A

Columbia Academy (11-1) at South Pittsburg (9-3)

Class 2A

Tyner (9-3) at Marion County (11-1)

Class 3A

Notre Dame (9-3) vs. East Ridge (12-0), Finley Stadium

Class 4A

Marshall County (11-1) at East Hamilton (8-4)

Class 5A

Rhea County (9-3) at Ooltewah (10-2)

Division II-AA

Baylor (9-2) at Brentwood Academy (10-1)

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