Brainerd, Grace, Tyner, McCallie, Baylor Jamboree Winners

Red Bank-Hixson Battle To Scoreless Draw At Finley Stadium Friday

  • Friday, August 14, 2015
  • John Hunt
Red Bank's Demarcus Rivers finds running room Friday night during their scrimmage against Hixson.
Red Bank's Demarcus Rivers finds running room Friday night during their scrimmage against Hixson.
photo by Greg Davick

It was a muggy evening at Finley Stadium on Friday, but that didn’t seem to curb the excitement as a dozen teams faced off in six, 20-minute quarters in the opening night of the Chick-fil-A Jamboree.

Seven of the 12 teams scored at least six points while there were three shutouts.  And only the clash between Red Bank and Hixson in the fifth battle did the segment end without a score.

Action continues on Saturday with five more quarters, including East Ridge and Walker Valley kicking things off at 7:30.  Following about every 30 minutes or so will be Central-Boyd-Buchanan, Franklin County-Ooltewah and East Hamilton-Rhea County while the evening will conclude with Soddy Daisy tangling with Signal Mountain.

Friday’s winners included Brainerd, Grace, Tyner, McCallie and Baylor while Red Bank and Hixson battled to a scoreless draw.

Brainerd beat Howard 6-0 while Grace held off Sale Creek, 7-0.  Tyner had too much for Chattanooga Christian in a 14-7 battle before McCallie scored late to upend Notre Dame, 7-0.  Baylor then sent McMinn County back to Athens on the short end of a 13-7 final.

BRAINERD 6, HOWARD 0: Tevin Walker hooked up with David Cosby on a long pass down the right side on the first play for a 70-yard touchdown and that was the difference in the game.

The Hustlin’ Tigers moved the ball well and even won the yardage battle with 98 yards on the ground, but that first play was too much for Mark Teague’s team to overcome.

“We just wanted to come out and have a little fun and that’s what we did,” said Brainerd coach Brian Gwyn after a midfield hug from his good buddy Teague.

“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board and get better in several areas, but we came out and competed and I’m happy about that,” he added.

Howard’s Teague saw a lot of progress from his team, not only in Friday’s action,  but from last year as whole.

“My kids have grown up since last year.  We still have some things to clean up, but I thought we took it to Brainerd tonight.  We did a good job of controlling the line of scrimmage and I felt like we sent a message,” the second-year coach added.

Brainerd finished with 121 yards with most coming on that first long pass.  Robert Evans led the ground game with 22 yards on three carries.

Niejel Billingsley and Quattarius Porter both had productive efforts for Howard.  Billingsley had 43 yards on two attempts, including a 36-yarder, while Porter added 40 yards on five trips.

GRACE 7, SALE CREEK 0: Neither team had much success moving the ball as a steady rain fell during most of this skirmish.

The Golden Eagles were able to score on their second possession.  A Sale Creek punt went almost straight up for a net of four yards, giving Grace a first down on the Sale Creek 39.

Jared Thompson hooked up with Austin Walls for a 20-yard gain on the first play before Thompson gained 10 on a keeper two plays later. 

Then on the fourth play of the drive, Thompson found Walls open across the middle for a TD pass covering nine yards with just over seven minutes remaining.  Ethan Bradley’s point-after kick made it 7-0 and that’s the way it ended.

“We did okay,” said Grace coach Bob Ateca when the final horn sounded.

“We didn’t play as well as we’re capable, but we came out and competed.  We were able to come back and score after a three-and-out to start and I’ve got to feel good about that, but we have to get ready for next Friday night now,” he added.

Sale Creek coach Ron Cox felt good for the most part, but that short punt was the straw that broke the camel’s back.

“The kicking game will kill you.  Our regular punter quit a few weeks ago and we’re still trying to find one, but we should have gone for it on that play.  I thought we moved the ball well at times, but we got down on ourselves after they scored.

“We’re headed in the right direction and I thought our run defense was good,” he added with a positive note.

TYNER 14, CHATTANOOGA CHRISTIAN 7: In the highest scoring contest of the evening, the Rams were just a little bit too athletic for the Chargers.

As has been the case as long as Wayne Turner has been coaching Tyner, the Rams used a host of running backs and they all did some good things.

Shannon Spralls scored the first touchdown on a 26-yard sprint off right tackle on Tyner’s fourth play from scrimmage and he finished with 29 yards on two carries.

Keiontae Halfacre only carried it once for three yards, but it was for a Tyner touchdown with about six minutes remaining and that was the difference.

Raekwon Caslin had a 35-yard gain in his only carry.

Junior quarterback Matthew Mercer finally got untracked in his team’s third possession as he completed three of five passes in that drive alone for the only touchdown, a 16-yarder to Justin Wheeler in the left corner of the end zone.

Mercer had a 28-yarder to Kade Oglesby to start the drive while Nick Fulmer caught a tipped ball for a 13-yard gainer, setting up the play to Wheeler in the final minute of play.

“It was okay,” said Turner, a veteran coach who never gets too excited about a contest like this.

“We did pretty good in spots, but we have to keep ‘em hungry.  I thought we executed extremely well on offense and I liked our first two possessions on defense, but we stunk it up on that last one.  Our secondary got beat on that last one,” he added.

“I liked the way our team protected Matthew against a pretty good defense,” said CCS coach Rob Spence after it ended.

“Matthew has a strong arm and I like the way he threw it.  He had a couple of other well-thrown balls, but we just didn’t make the plays on them,” he added.

McCALLIE 7, NOTRE DAME 0: The Fighting Irish won the battle, but the Blue Tornado won the war.

McCallie’s offense was all but non-existent as three plays netted nine yards, but a punt following a false start gave the ball right back to Notre Dame, which had run a dozen straight plays before a 38-yard field goal by Alex Darras was wide with just under 10 minutes showing.

The Blue Tornado defense did a lot of bending as Notre Dame finished with 90 yards on the ground, but McCallie got the last laugh when Shawn McColley snatched a fumble in midair and raced 62 yards in the final minute for the only score of the game.

Alec Earp booted the extra point and that was that as McCallie made the most of its opportunities.

Ricky Ballard carried the ball on the first eight plays for Notre Dame and 10 of the first 11 and finished with 79 yards on 13 carries.  Tyler Enos added eight yards on one pass reception.

“We ran three offensive plays, but it’s a jamboree and a 20-minute running clock doesn’t allow time for a whole lot.  I’m just glad we won,” said McCallie coach Ralph Potter.

“Notre Dame was trying to slow it down and control the clock.  We didn’t adjust on defense as quickly as I would have liked,” he added.

“We’re just trying to get better with each passing day,” said Notre Dame coach Charles Fant.

“We were able to run the ball against a pretty good defense and I’m excited about what we did tonight.  We just had the one bad play,” he added.

RED BANK 0, HIXSON 0: The Lions controlled the ball most of the way and quarterback Caleb Tate completed all five of his passes for 78 yards, but neither team scored.

Tate had throws of 21 and 13 yards to Robert Perry in Red Bank’s opening drive, but they had nothing to show for it after Sandy Beganovic was a little short on a 58-yard field goal attempt.

Tate had throws of four and three yards to Perry before a big 37-yarder across the middle to Blake Cagle moved the ball from the 46 to the 17, but the horn sounded before Beganovic was able to attempt another field goal.

Quarterback Justin Nicholson gained 17 yards on a keeper and finished with 18 yards on two trips while Myles Ratliff had 10 yards on two carries in Hixson’s only possession.

“My kids did a great job tonight and we just have to keep doing the same thing,” said an excited Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski.

“We made some plays on offense as we’re starting to come together, but I loved our enthusiasm.  And I didn’t hesitate on that long field goal as that kid has made some from 60 yards in practice.  I was just trying to get him used to a game situation,” the second-year coach added.

“We played hard and I felt like we got after it,” said Hixson coach Dan Duff.

“We had a good effort and we made a few mistakes, but we can fix that,” he added.

BAYLOR 13, McMINN CO.

7:
The Red Raiders had three possessions and they used three different quarterbacks.  Two of them had TD passes while time ran out on the third.

Will Austin, a senior transfer from Haywood County, proved he can play as he picked up 24 yards on a keeper for Baylor’s first play before hooking up with Ulysses Strawter on a 39-yard play down the right sideline as the Red Raiders grabbed the lead with just over six minutes elapsed following a McMinn Co. punt.

Then on Baylor’s second possession, Bryce Verble found Daniel Monroe on a crossing pattern for a 42-yard TD on a fourth-and-4.

The Cherokees refused to be denied as D.J. Kimpson scooted into the end zone from the 6 with just under three minutes to play. Kirk Lockmiller’s kick made it 13-7.

Kimpson was the workhorse for McMinn as he gained 65 yards on six carries.

“The best news is that nobody got hurt,” said Baylor coach Phil Massey.

“We executed on offense, didn’t turn it over and everybody got to play.  But the pre-season is now behind us and we have to get ready for Rhea County,” the veteran coach added.

“I thought we had a few jitters tonight, but we’ll get better,” said McMinn coach Bo Cagle.

“I thought our offense moved the ball well.  We have a young quarterback and he made a few mistakes, but he’ll learn.  We got exposed a little bit on defense, but our corner tripped and fell on that first touchdown.

“Except for that long pass, it’s a 7-7 game,” Cagle added.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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