East Ridge’s Matthew Yarbrough gets past Signal Mountain’s Charlie Gauthier on a punt return.
photo by M.A. Locke
At least for one Friday night, it was shades of great East Ridge runners Charles White and Rodney Ballard.
Current East Ridge junior Traneil Moore rushed for 132 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns to help the Pioneers rally for a 35-10 win against Signal Mountain in a high school football game Friday night at Baylor.
Playing this home game off campus due to the home side stands at Raymond James Stadium/Shanks Field closed because of permanent structural damage, the victorious Pioneers improved to 3-0 overall and 1-0 in Region 3-3A, while Signal Mountain feel to 0-3,0-1. East Ridge is 3-0 for the first time since White and the Pioneers started 6-0 in 2001.
Signal Mountain controlled the first 16 minutes of the game, scoring on a 42-yard field goal by Ben Brown at 8:06 of the first quarter and added a 6-yard touchdown pass from Tom Vatter to Collin Weigert (and a Brown extra point) at 7:29 before halftime for a 10-0 lead.
With the East Ridge offense going three and out twice, Pioneer coach Tracy Malone changed quarterbacks and switched to the Power I and the offense began to click.
Sophomore Eric Bennett took over the controls from Matt Yarbrough and moved the Smoking Grey-clad Pioneers to a pair of scores in the final five minutes for a 14-10 halftime lead.
The first drive was 55 yards as Moore ran the final 10 to pay dirt and C.J. Bond was perfect on the first of five extra points to trail 10-7.
The East Ridge defense then stopped a fake punt run on fourth down by the Eagles and turned that key stop into a halftime lead as Lorenzo Stewart ran one yard for a 14-10 lead to cap a 7-play, 36-yard drive.
“We ran three plays in the first quarter and when we were down 10-0, I had to make a change at quarterback,” said Malone. “Eric responded and the guys in the Power I moved the ball, ate up time on the clock and we were on a roll.”
Bennett teamed with Jesse Jones on big pitch-and-catch plays (20 and 34 yard plays) to set up the touchdown runs.
“Actually I borrowed a page from the old Riverdale play book (the Power I) in 200+1 when I was an assistant to Gary Rankin and the guys responded,’’ stated Malone who was an assistant under Rankin for five years.
Second Half: The third quarter was much the same for East Ridge as the Pioneers took the second half kickoff and marched 78 yards in 14 plays with Moore out running Eagle defenders down the left sideline for a 30-yard score and a 21-10 advantage at the 4:30 mark.
“The offensive line blocked great for me and gave me time to get outside or find running room up the middle,” said Moore.
East Ridge put the game away in the first five minutes of the fourth with a pair of interceptions turned touchdowns by Stewart (35 yards) and Dominque Millener (61 yards) for the 35-10 lead.
“Our defense played well, but we didn’t take care of the football (interceptions) and we gave them too many opportunities to score,” said Signal Mountain coach Ty Wise.
“Overall, Tom (Vatter) did a good job at running the offense and he is getting better.”
Vatter was 11- of 14 for 80 yards and the one score in the first half, and was 17-22 for 158 with the two interceptions on the night. His favorite target was senior Leyton Teal with eight catches for 113 yards.
“I am so proud of our guys as we had to make changes in the second quarter and they responded to the challenge,” Malone stated.
“The offensive line opened holes for Lorenzo and Traneil and Eric Hubbard did a great job blocking as the up back in the Power I.”
Kudos to Baylor: “I am very appreciative to Baylor for letting us hold our home game here this week on such short notice,” said coach Malone. “They have been great.”
East Ridge 35, Signal Mountain 10
Signal Mtn 3 – 7 – 0 – 0 – 10
ER 0 – 14 – 7 – 14 -- 35
1st Q
SM – Ben Brown 42 field goal; 3-0
SM – Collin Weigert 6 pass from Tom Vatter (Brown kick); 10-0
2nd Q
ER – Traneil Moore 10 run (C.J. Bond kick), 10-7
ER – Lorenzo Stewart 1 run (Bond kick), 14-10
3rd Q
ER – Moore 30 run (Bond kick), 21-10
4th Q
ER – Stewart 35 interception return (Bond kick), 28-10
ER – Dominque Millener 61 interception return (Bond kick); 35-10
Records: East Ridge (3-0, 1-0) Signal Mtn. (0-3, 0-1)
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net
Signal Mountain defenders put pressure on East Ridge quarterback Eric Bennett.
photo by M.A. Locke