Owls, Eagles Look Back Differently At 2014 Showdown

Teams Look Forward To This Year's Region 4-5A Game

  • Wednesday, July 29, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Clockwise from top left, Cleveland's Ben Wyrick, Ooltewah's Jeremiah Jackson and Rashun Freeman, Rhea County's Tyler Pendleton and Ooltewah's London Elrod and Nick Putman.
Clockwise from top left, Cleveland's Ben Wyrick, Ooltewah's Jeremiah Jackson and Rashun Freeman, Rhea County's Tyler Pendleton and Ooltewah's London Elrod and Nick Putman.
photo by Dennis Norwood

For the first time since they played in the second round of the 2014 Class AAA state football playoffs, a few Ooltewah and Rhea County players were together Wednesday at the Region 4-5A media day at The Bridge in Ooltewah.

The Owls and Eagles, obviously, have polar-opposite thoughts on last year’s second round game in Evensville on a brutally cold Friday night. That’s because Rhea County embarrassed the Owls, 47-14.

“Going into that game,” said wide receiver Noel Patterson, then a junior, “we knew Ooltewah was a really, really good team. We were a good and a confident team. But when we started blowing them out, it was kind of like we hit them once and kept hitting them again and again and again.”

Ooltewah’s outstanding defensive lineman Nick Putman, stunned to think the Eagles could amass 485 yards of total offense, including 441 rushing, said, “What I remember most is their running backs running up and down the field the whole game and we couldn’t do anything about it.”

At the time, both teams were undefeated and state-ranked and serious state championship contenders.

But the titanic battle fans from both schools anticipated never materialized.

Ooltewah’s rock-ribbed defense crumbled while the Eagles’ vaunted wing-T offense created a perfect storm and came up with exactly what the Owls wanted to prevent – seven big plays.

Jacob York broke runs of 41, 79, 21 and 24 yards, two of which resulted in touchdowns, finishing with 199 rushing yards. Zach Daoust scored twice on a 35-yard pass and 79-yard run. Cody Bice broke a 57-yard touchdown run.

Rhea County’s 47 points were the most Ooltewah’s defense allowed since Siegel put up 58 on Aug. 30, 2013. In the five games leading up to the Rhea County game, the Owls gave up 38 points and had two shutouts.

“To be honest, it was a surprise that Rhea County beat us like they did,” said wide receiver/defensive back Rashun Freeman, who currently is being recruited by Navy, Air Force, William & Mary, Richmond, Central Arkansas, Austin Peay and Tennessee-Chattanooga. “We didn’t underestimate them, but they came out and did a job on us.

“We knew their offense would be hard to stop. We didn’t execute what we were supposed to do and when we did that they gashed us.”

Freeman scored one of the Owls’ two touchdowns against the Eagles on an 84-yard interception return in the third quarter.

The Eagles went on to slap Oak Ridge, 35-21, in the quarterfinals and then lost to eventual state champion Knoxville West, 35-28, in the semifinals.

“Our loss to Knox West was tough,” Eagles linebacker Tyler Pendleton said. “They whupped us in the first half and we gave them a fight in the second half. They basically made one more play than we did.

“You get that taste (semifinals) in your mouth, getting that close to a state championship game, and it makes you hungry. You want to go back.”

After the bitter loss to Rhea County in 2014, Putman was selected as the District 5-AAA Defensive Lineman of the Year, Jeremiah Jackson the Linebacker of the Year and Freeman the Defensive Back of the Year.

Those postseason honors, however, didn’t erase the Owls’ disappointment.

“That loss was a heartbreaker,” Jackson said. “We didn’t have the right focus like we did in other games, but that was last year. This is a new season and we’ve cleared our minds of the Rhea County game.”

Until, that is, Sept. 18 when Rhea County plays at Ooltewah in the region opener for both teams.

While Owls quarterback London Elrod was a backup to starter Kelvin Leon last season, he witnessed the Eagles thrashing from start to finish.

When asked what he remembered most about it, Elrod said, “I try to forget that game. It was a devastating loss, something we definitely didn’t think would happen. But Rhea County was a great team and they’re going to be a great team this year.

“We had high expectations for that game and I’m sure Rhea County did. We’ve tried to forget it and move on.”

This year’s game will pit the Nos. 1 and 2 teams in the new region, according to coaches and media balloting at Wednesday’s event. Ooltewah was picked as the favorite and the Eagles No. 2 in both polls.

The Owls open the season at home against Riverdale and follow up with games at Signal Mountain, at C.A. Erwin (North Carolina) and a home showdown with rival East Hamilton before taking on the Eagles.

Rhea County opens at home versus Baylor, goes to McMinn Central and then has home games against White County (another newcomer to Region 4-5A) and Clinton prior to playing at Ooltewah.

A week later the Eagles travel to Indianapolis, Ind., to play Cathedral High at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the Colts. Cathedral has won five consecutive state championships, 12 overall and the Fighting Irish have won 30 consecutive state playoff games.

The Eagles’ defense held the Owls to 296 yards of offense, with Leon completing 26-of-42 passes for 239 yards.

This year Elrod will handle the signal calling duties for coach Mac Bryan. While Leon threw for 2,985 yards and 29 touchdowns last season, Elrod went for 319 yards and five scores in limited action.

The senior, also a standout player for coach Brian Hitchcox’s baseball team, has been working hard this summer to prepare himself.

Elrod attended the New England Elite exposure camp in Boston and two others at Berry College and Tennessee-Chattanooga.

“Up at Boston,” Elrod said, “they had the Ivy League schools there and a lot of Division III schools because I’m interested in going to a very strong academic institution. It was a huge camp at Bentley University with about 300 coaches there and a lot of athletes.”

With a 3.93 grade-point average and an ACT sum score of 99, Elrod is more than ready for the grind of college academics.

So, taking charge of the Owls’ spread offense should be a snap.

“That’s not something I’m concerned about,” he said.

** Cleveland linebacker Ben Wyrick said it has been fun getting to know new coach Scott Cummings, who led Knox West to last year’s state title.

“He brings a whole new level of intensity,” Wyrick said of Cummings. “He has a mind-set of if you don’t do the small things right, you can’t be as good as you can be. He makes us clean up the weight room and if we don’t we have to run. We would leave it messed up sometimes last year. We can’t take food in there either.

“On the field, it’s the same way. Do the little things.”

However, the Blue Raiders, who have made two straight playoff appearances, have had to make adjustments to summer and preseason workouts after the TSSAA slapped the team with a two-year probation for recruiting violations by Cummings due to a conversation the coach had with a Cleveland Middle School student.

The Blue Raiders were also fined $1,000, $500 for each of the probation years. Also, they could take part in either scrimmages or 7-on-7 competitions nor play in a preseason jamboree this year. Spring practice will be reduced from 10 days in a 15-day period to five days in a 10-day period and the Raiders will have no scrimmages next spring. Also, preseason scrimmages will be cut from four to two and the jamboree ban remains in place for 2016.

“At first, we thought it was a disadvantage,” Wyrick said. “We’d hear guys talking about scrimmages coming up and 7-on-7s this week or next week and we’re sitting over here scrimmaging each other trying to get better.

“And then we thought about last year when we lost three players to injuries in the first two scrimmages we had and we started thinking that we can get through this. As for jamborees, all you’re talking about is 20 minutes. So what.”

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

In 2014, Rhea County thumped Ooltewah, 47-14. Zach Daoust (24) and the Eagles ran roughshod over A.J. Diggs (29) and the Owls by piling up 485 yards of total offense, including 441 on the ground.
In 2014, Rhea County thumped Ooltewah, 47-14. Zach Daoust (24) and the Eagles ran roughshod over A.J. Diggs (29) and the Owls by piling up 485 yards of total offense, including 441 on the ground.
photo by File/Dennis Norwood
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