Ooltewah running back Cameron Turner puts a move on a Riverdale defender Friday night in a non-region high school game at Ooltewah High. Turner rushed for a game-high 128 yards on 32 carries, but the Owls lost the game, 9-5.
photo by Dennis Norwood
Riverdale and Ooltewah, both state-ranked teams, brought equally impressive defenses to James N. Monroe Stadium on Friday.
The difference was Riverdale scored the game’s only touchdown on a 34-yard pass from quarterback Brandon Bea to Gentry Bonds in the second quarter.
Bea, a transfer from Washington State was as impressed with his team’s defense as anyone in the visiting stands.
“God bless ‘em,” he said.
The Owls had the ball inside Riverdale’s 5 four times and could muster only a 20-yard field goal from place-kicker Aleksander Toser, the younger brother of former Ooltewah kicker Laszlo Toser, the 2014 Mr. Football Kicker of the Year and now at Tennessee.
The field goal drive stalled at the Warriors 3 in the second quarter. Two other Owls scoring chances died at the 3 and the real heartbreaker late in the fourth quarter fizzled at the 1. All four drives came down to a fourth-and-goal play, with the final three coming up short.
Ooltewah’s highly-touted defense played just as tenaciously as Riverdale’s.
The Owls held the Warriors to 29 rushing yards and sacked Bea four times for minus-22 yards. He was harassed on several other pass plays.
“Ooltewah’s defense really stacked the box against the run,” Bea said. “By throwing the ball I thought we were able to spread them out. It was a good defense to throw against. There were a couple of balls I’d like to have back, but I made the one that counted. I’m happy for the win tonight.”
The Warriors’ only real offensive success came through the air as Bea completed 15-of-24 passes for 154 yards and the scoring strike to Bonds.
“It was a fun defensive game to play in,” Owls middle linebacker Jeremiah Jackson said. “They’re physical and fast and tried to beat us outside. (The loss) hurts, but it’s not a region game. It’s not that important, so we have to drop this one and get ready for Signal Mountain next week.”
Aside from the touchdown, the Warriors managed only a safety when a fourth-down snap sailed over Owls punter Tyler Robertson’s head. Robertson fell on the ball in the end zone just before on-rushing Riverdale players got to him.
In addition to Toser’s field goal, which was set up by Scottie Strickland’s 73-yard kickoff return following the Warriors touchdown, the Owls got a late fourth-quarter safety when Warriors punter Canaan Owens took the snap and scampered out of the end zone.
On the ensuing free kick, Owens, needing a big one, boomed a 65-yard bomb and the Owls took over on their own 15. They had 1 minute, 40 seconds to drive 85 yards to win the game.
It didn’t happen.
“In my mind I wanted to get the kick as deep as I could,” Owens said. “I couldn’t afford a short punt in that situation. It was the longest kick of my life and it was great.”
Riverdale coach Ron Aydelott couldn’t say enough about Owens, who may have played his best game ever in a Warriors uniform.
Owens averaged 32.8 yards on eight punts, intercepted a London Elrod pass to kill the Owls’ final drive and end the game and recorded a team-high nine tackles, including 3 ½ tackles for loss.
“That kid played his fanny off,” Aydelott said. “By himself in certain situations he almost single-handedly won the game. He hustled all night and played almost every snap on both sides of the ball.
“He was worn out, but he had one big leg left (on the long punt).”
The Owls had a lot of positive play in the game, too, none more impressive than junior running back Cameron Turner. Making his first start, Turner gained 128 yards on 32 carries. Riverdale needed two or three tacklers to bring down Turner, whose two older brothers play at Ooltewah.
“I thought I did well,” Turner said. “The O-line and receivers were blocking well for me and I can’t run well without them doing that.”
Said Owls coach Mac Bryan, “Cameron is very hard to bring down.”
Turner, however, was the pivotal player in two of the fourth-down plays inside the Warriors’ 5 in the fourth quarter. He’d like to have both back, especially, the last one with less than 3 minutes on the clock.
“Riverdale was good and fast and their D-line was strong,” he said. “On that last play, when it closed on me, I was thinking I should have scored. I feel like it was my fault.”
Elrod, making his first start under center, completed 21-of-40 passes for 160 yards and the 21 catches were spread among five different players and he was sacked once.
He spread to wealth around between five different receivers. Blake Smith had the best night among the receivers with six receptions for 63 yards. Scottie Strickland’s seven grabs went for 20 yards. – Scottie Strickland had seven receptions and Blake. He was sacked once.
“I thought he made some good decisions,” Bryan said.
Rashun Freeman caught four balls for 44 yards and was brilliant while returning three punts for 101 yards, the longest a 38-yarder. He also had an interception and broke up two other passes.
Ooltewah, now 0-4 against Riverdale all time and the Warriors won the first three by a combined score of 92-19. The Owls have yet to score more than seven points in a game against Riverdale.
Riverdale 0 9 0 0 – 9
Ooltewah 0 3 0 2 – 5
Second Quarter
RIV – Safety, ball snapped out of end zone, 10:32
RIV – Gentry Bonds 34 pass from Brandon Bea (Clay Scothem kick), 9:05
OOL – FG Aleksander Toser 20, 7:05
Fourth Quarter
OOL – Riverdale punter Canaan Owens ran out of end zone, 1:48
YARDSTICK
RIV OOL
First Downs 7 18
Rushes-Yards 27-29 43-10
Passing Yards 154 160
Total Yards 51-183 83-260
Com-Att-Int 15-24-1 21-40-1
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-0
Punts-Avg 11-30 8-27
Penalties-Yds 13-109 12-97
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Riverdale: Artavious Collier 6-20, Austin Bryant 8-19, Marqwell Odom 1-2, Brandon Somerville 1-1, Jarek Campbell 1-0, Team 1-0, Canaan Owens 1-minus 4; Ooltewah: Cameron Turner 32-128, Scottie Strickland 1-4, Rashun Freeman 4-4, London Elrod 5-minus 12, Team 1-24.
PASSING – Riverdale: Bea 15-24-1 154; Ooltewah: Elrod 21-40-1 160.
RECEIVING – Riverdale: Somerville 2-50, Gentry Bonds 1-34, Odom 4-23, Collier 3-22, Marquise Cantrell 3-19, Bryant 2-6; Ooltewah: Blake Smith 6-63, Freeman 4-44, Kobe Jones 2-23, Strickland 7-20, Turner 2-10.
(E-mail Larry Fleming and larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Linebacker Jeremiah Jackson (5) of Ooltewah hauls down a Riverdale player during their game Friday night. It was one of seven tackles by Jackson in a game that saw the two teams display a quality brand of defense.
photo by Dennis Norwood