Baylor Blows Lead, Rallies To Upend Rhea County, 35-27

Quarterback Wil Austin Red Raiders Offensive Star

  • Thursday, August 20, 2015
  • Larry Fleming
Baylor Quarterback Wil Austin, right, gets away from Rhea County defender Tyler Pendleton on Friday. Austin had 245 yards of total offense -- 127 rushing and 128 passing and engineered a clutch 92-yard scoring drive to break a 21-21 tie in the Red Raiders, 35-27 victory in Evensville.
Baylor Quarterback Wil Austin, right, gets away from Rhea County defender Tyler Pendleton on Friday. Austin had 245 yards of total offense -- 127 rushing and 128 passing and engineered a clutch 92-yard scoring drive to break a 21-21 tie in the Red Raiders, 35-27 victory in Evensville.
photo by Dennis Norwood

EVENSVILLE, Tenn. – Baylor built a three-touchdown lead, frittered it away and then rallied to knock off Rhea County, 35-27, Thursday night at Bill Horton Field in a season-opening battle pitting two state-ranked prep football teams.

Red Raiders quarterback Wil Austin, who scored on a 1-yard run early and then engineered a 92-yard, fourth-quarter drive that put his team back out front, 28-21, was the offensive sparkplug with 127 yards rushing on 20 carries.

“That was a great way to start the season,” said Austin, a 6-foot-2-inch senior. “It showed our strength and that’s as a team. We’re one. I’ve got (at least) nine games left with these guys and I’m pumped. It’s going to be a good season.”

Baylor got a quick start when Ulysses Strawter intercepted a Daniel Dotson pass and rambled 27 yards for a touchdown less than 3 minutes into the game.

Austin then capped a 70-yard touchdown march with a 1-yard run to put the Red Raiders up 14-0. The highlight play was an Austin-to-Daniel Monroe pass that came on third-and-24 – Baylor was slapped with a 17-yard holding penalty on the previous play – and covered 68 yards.

Baylor forced a Rhea County punt and launched a methodical drive from its own 23 and marched to the Golden Eagles’ 3 where it faced a third-and-goal. Adrian Harris bulled toward the end zone, but fumbled and Rhea’s Noel Patterson scooped the ball up and returned it to the 11.

Again the Red Raiders’ defense gave Rhea’s offense nothing and the Eagles punted again. This time Baylor’s Adrian Harris rumbled 43 yards with the return to the Eagles’ 10.

Three players later Ryan Parker bulled in for the touchdown from 3 yards out to give Baylor a stunning 21-0 lead.

“When we were up 21-0 some of the young guys were a little hyped,” said Austin, a 6-foot-2-inch, 198-pound senior, who transferred from Haywood after throwing for 2,000 yards and 19 touchdowns as a junior. “With a team like Rhea County that’s coached well I knew they were going to play hard all night and wouldn’t lay down. I told the guys not to get too cocky.”

That was good advice, and coach Phil Massey agreed with his Murphy Fair Preseason All-State linebacker.

“Even with the big lead I knew they would keep coming at us,” said Massey, 68-39, in eight-plus seasons. “This was a great test for us and I’m proud of our seniors and the leadership they showed. It was a complete team victory.”

Rhea County’s offense, a key reason the Eagles reached the 2014 Class 5A semifinals where they lost to eventual state champion Knoxville West, came to life late in the second period.

The Eagles drove 80 yards in eight plays for their first score, a 1-yard run by Mason Stephenson. The big Rhea back rushed three times for 42 yards and caught a 39-yard pass from Dotson that took the Eagles to Baylor’s 2 and the clock ran down to 0:00.

However, the Red Raiders were flagged for 12 players on the field and were penalized half-the-distance to the 1. A half can’t end on a defensive penalty and Stephenson scored on the next play.

The score wiped away some of the disappointment of the first half for Eagles coach Mark Pemberton.

Asked what Baylor did to contain his offense in the half, Pemberton bluntly said, “They were whipping our tails.”

With its lead at 21-7, Baylor had the second half’s first possession, but it didn’t end well.

Austin gained 3 yards on first down.

On the second snap, Austin dropped back and fired a pass intended for Tate Prater, but Eagles defensive back Cody Bice stepped in front of the receiver, picked off the pass and raced 55 yards for a touchdown to pull Rhea within 21-14 with 10:31 left in the third quarter.

On Baylor’s next possession, it used a fake punt on fourth-and-one and Gage Upshaw gained 2 yards for the first down. Four players later the Red Raiders did punt.

Rhea County went 62 yards in seven plays – Stephenson had a 34-yard on the second play – and Dylan Smith capped the drive with a 7-yard scoring burst, tying the game at 21-all.

“It’s a game now,” Massey said.

Austin started the clutch go-ahead touchdown with a 42-yard pass play to Prater and a play later darted 31 yards to give Baylor possession on the Golden Eagles’ 29 yard-line. He carried three more times before Ryan Parker capped the march with an 8-yard touchdown run and Baylor regained the lead at 28-21 with 3:26 left in the game.

“I had multiple coaches tell me I had to step up big time,” Austin said. “I knew the stakes and it turned out to be the drive of the game.”

Following a brilliant defensive stand by Baylor on Rhea County’s ensuing possession – Tyree Toliver sacked quarterback Daniel Dotson for a 10-yard loss on fourth down – the Red Raiders pushed into a 14-point lead when Harris scored from 4 yards out.

In a weird finish, Baylor’s Brendan Harris intercepted a Dotson pass near the goal line but fumbled after taking a few steps and Rhea County’s Tyler Brown recovered it in the end zone for the Golden Eagles final score.

Baylor held Rhea County to 245 yards of total offense, a meager 74 in the first half.

“We brought down an extra tackle and moved a linebacker,” Parker said of the team’s opening defensive strategy. “We ran their offense for almost two weeks in practice and knew we had to play smash-mouth defense. We read our keys and hit them in the mouth to let them know what was coming.”

Then, Pemberton said the Eagles changed tactics to get some offensive going.

“We changed some things to try and throw them off,” he said.

Parker said Baylor’s defensive strategy switched gears during the game as well and it didn’t work well at all as Rhea County rallied to tie the game.

“I put that on us,” Parker said. “We decided to change what we had been doing the whole game and run a different formation. The coach said, ‘That was on me.’ We started running something we hadn’t run all week and we just broke down and they got some momentum going late in the second quarter.”

Baylor’s tie-breaking 92-yard touchdown drive provided the team with a collective sigh of relief.

“That felt amazing,” Parker said as jubilant fans and players walked off the field. “Being a senior leader and seeing our guys pull together and do what, there’s no better feeling in the world.”

Baylor                                14 7 0 14 – 35

Rhea County                     0 7 14 6 – 27  

First Quarter

BAY – Ulysses Strawter 27 interception return (Victor Ulmo kick), 11:13

BAY – Wil Austin 1 run (Ulmo kick), 5:25

Second Quarter

BAY – Ryan Parker 3 run (Ulmo kick), 1:28

RC – Mason Stephenson 1 run (Bodhi Buffenbarger kick), 0:00

Third Quarter

RC – Cody Bice 55 interception return (Buffenbarger kick), 10:31

RC – Dylan Smith 7 run (Buffenbarger kick), 1:37

Fourth Quarter

BAY – Parker 8 run (Ulmo kick), 3:26

BAY – Adrian Harris 4 run (Ulmo kick), 1:04

RC – Chase Suttles fumble recovery in end zone, 0:00

 

YARDSTICK

          BAY                      RC

First Downs                                18                         12

Rushes-Yards                             40-198                   33-109

Passing Yards                            128                        138

Total Yards                                  326                       245

Com.-Att.-Int.                              6-9-1                     9-18-2

Fumbles-Lost                              2-2                        0-0

Punts.-Avg.                                 2-25                      4-38.3

Penalties-Yds.                            7-78                      6-40

 

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

 

RUSHING — Baylor: Wil Austin 20-127, Ryan Ryan Parker 8-45, Adrian Harris 9-26, Mike Benning 1-2, Gage Upshaw 1-2, Kalvin Watson 1-minus 4; Rhea County: Mason Stephenson 7-85, Cody Bice 12-19, Dylan Smith 6-16, Daniel Dotson 8-minus 11.

 

PASSING — Baylor: 6-9-1 128; Rhea County: Daniel Dotson 9-18-2 136.

 

RECEIVING — Baylor: Daniel Monroe 1-68, Tate Prater 1-43, Harris 3-9, Upshaw 1-8; Rhea County: Noel Patterson 8-97, Stephenson 1-39.

 

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

Linebacker Ryan Parker (15) helped Baylor hold Rhea County's vaunted wing-T offense to 109 yards rushing on 30 attempts, just a 3.6-yard average as the Red Raiders dumped the Golden Eagles, 35-27, on Friday at Bill Horton Field.
Linebacker Ryan Parker (15) helped Baylor hold Rhea County's vaunted wing-T offense to 109 yards rushing on 30 attempts, just a 3.6-yard average as the Red Raiders dumped the Golden Eagles, 35-27, on Friday at Bill Horton Field.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Sports
Mocs Houk Named SoCon Golfer Of The Week
  • 3/27/2024

Chattanooga Mocs senior John Houk claimed this week’s Southern Conference Golfer of the Week honor with an impressive runner-up performance at the General Hackler Championships. The Athens, Tenn., ... more

UTC Homecoming Set For October 26
  • 3/27/2024

The Chattanooga Mocs completed spring drills prior to Spring Break and are now deep into strength and conditioning work ahead of the summer in preparation for the fall season. One highlight to ... more

Chapman's 5 RBIs Lead Vols To Run-Rule Win Over Tennessee Tech
  • 3/27/2024

A five-RBI game from Reese Chapman and impressive group effort from the pitching staff highlighted No. 5/5 Tennessee's 11-1 run-rule victory over in-state foe Tennessee Tech on Tuesday night ... more