Shaking off three lost fumbles and an interception in the first half, Ooltewah settled down and rallied from a 10-point deficit to pull away late and defeat Cleveland, 37-24, in a Region 4-5A football showdown at James N. Monroe Stadium on a chilly Friday night.
The visiting Blue Raiders took full advantage of the Owls’ early mistakes and built a 24-14 halftime lead.
However, with the miscues for the most part tucked away Ooltewah’s defense kept Cleveland out of the end zone after halftime and the Collin Thurman-led offense punished the Blue Raiders with 23 second-half points for the key victory that also clinched a spot in the state playoffs.
“The turnovers were frustrating, but we just had to keep playing,” Thurman said. “I never doubted us even though we beat ourselves in the first half. In the huddle, we kept talking about the next play; you’re only as good as your next play. In the second half, we executed our plays. That was the difference.”
The Owls finished with five turnovers – four lost fumbles and an interception.
Thurman threw two touchdown passes, both to wide receiver Andrew Manning covering 31 and 30 yards, and completed 14 of 23 passes for 159 yards.
Manning’s second TD reception gave Ooltewah (7-2, 4-1) its first lead of the game at 27-24 with 4:02 left in the third quarter. He had six receptions for 105 yards.
Manning’s interception in the fourth period led to an Aleksander Toser field goal (30 yards) pushed the Owls’ advantage to 30-24 with 8:14 remaining. He also picked off a Joseph Osterland pass late in the second period.
“I’m very proud of my play tonight and I’m proud the way our team rallied around each other at halftime,” the junior wide receiver/safety said. “We came together and got a good win.”
The first interception had Manning thinking pick-six.
“I thought I was going to break it,” he said. “I had one man to beat, but just couldn’t get by him.”
Kendell Robinson and Corey Morgan also had interceptions for the Owls.
Said Thurman of his favorite passing target these days, “He’s fun to throw to and he was our player of the game, no doubt. We were going to bait them with the run and hit them with the pass and Andrew was doing a great job catching the ball.”
Despite a rash of injuries that resulted in 17 players missing on-field action, the stout-hearted Blue Raiders, who played region-leading Rhea County tough in a 25-28 loss last week, out as if they were ready to snap a two-game losing streak.
Thurman completed a 25-yard pass to Cam Chambers, but Cleveland’s strong safety Logan Stutzman stripped Chambers and the Blue Raiders took over on their own 36. On third-and-four, Keegan Jones zipped 39 yards to the Owls’ 19. Two plays later Micaleous Elder scored from the 6.
The Owls, who have outscored opponents 168-37 in a four-game winning streak, answered with the first Thurman-to-Manning TD pass, capping a 60-yard, six-play drive.
Ooltewah forced a punt and Jake Sullivan rambled 73 yards for an apparent touchdown, but the play was nullified by a block-in-the-back penalty. Remarkably, Sullivan returned another punt 70 yards for a score that counted midway through the second period.
The Owls’ third lost fumble, coming on an exchange between Thurman and tailback Cameron Turner, gave Cleveland a possession at the Ooltewah 16.
Six plays later Osterland connected with Mel Obadiah on an 8-yard TD pass.
Safety Romeo Wykle intercepted a Thurman pass and returned it 30 yards to stretch Cleveland’s lead to 21-14.
After a Toser punt, Osterland hit Wykle on a 56-yard pass play to the Owls’ 10. With 5.2 seconds on the clock Toren Beck kicked a field goal, giving the Blue Raiders a 24-14 halftime advantage.
“The turnovers in the first half, one that went for a touchdown, you can’t do that,” Owls coach Mac Bryan said. “We haven’t had that much trouble with that and all of a sudden we did. Against a good team like Cleveland that’s hard to overcome. You can’t do that, so I knew we had to protect the ball better.
“The kids were resilient and just kept playing. We’re used to being in big ballgames and we’ve overcome adversity before. We talked about that and the kids played real well in the second half.”
The Owls’ defense did a much better job containing the cat-quick Cleveland running backs and constantly pressured Osterland when he dropped back to throw.
Elder finished with 137 yards rushing on 19 carries while Jones rushed for 112 yards on 10 tries.
Defensive lineman Will Whitson sacked Osterland for a 12-yard loss on the game’s final play. The two had met several times earlier in the Blue Raiders’ backfield.
“We started out slow, but turned it around in the second half,” Whitson said. “We moved some people around that worked out well. Their backs are really shifty, but if you keep your eyes right and feet moving, it’ll work out. Pressure on their quarterback was big.”
And what did Whitson think about the two-way performance turned in by Manning?
“My boy Manning is a baller,” Whitson said. “He’s amazing.”
Elder returned the kickoff after Toser’s field goal to the Owls’ 48 where he was tackled out of bounds by Elijah Wigfall. The Ooltewah defender was slapped with a 15-yard personal foul penalty and the Blue Raiders (4-5, 1-3) started from the 33.
On first down Osterland hit Robert Anderson on a 25-yard gain to the Ooltewah 8.
The Owls’ defense wouldn’t budge and Osterland overthrew a receiver in the end zone on fourth down. Ooltewah’s six-point lead remained intact.
Ooltewah ended its next series with a punt.
Cleveland gained 3 yards on three plays to near midfield. Gambling on fourth down, Osterland’s pass was off the mark and Ooltewah took over at the Cleveland 49 with 2:36 on the clock.
Content to run the ball with hopes of running out the clock, Cameron Turner gained 13 yards on third-and-four to the Cleveland 30. On the next play, Turner skirted left end, broke past two defenders and outran the rest to the end zone.
The hard-charging senior back carried 16 times for 111 yards.
Ooltewah wraps up its regular season schedule next week at Walker Valley, which suffered a hard-fought 35-34 loss at Rhea County on Friday.
“I’m excited about that game,” Thurman said of the upcoming date with the Mustangs. “We want to win; that’s our next game and it’s the biggest yet.”
SCORING
Cleveland 7 17 0 0 – 24
Ooltewah 7 7 13 10 – 37
First Quarter
CLE – Micaleous Elder 6 run (Toren Beck kick), 8:48
OOL – Andrew Manning 31 pass from Collin Thurman (Aleksander Toser kick), 5:57
Second Quarter
CLE – Mel Obadiah 8 pass from Joseph Osterland (Beck kick), 10:07
OOL – Jake Sullivan 70 punt return (Toser kick), 6:51
CLE – Romeo Wykle 38 interception return (Beck kick), 1:31
CLE – FG Beck 27, 0:00
Third Quarter
OOL – Sincere Quinn 8 run (Toser kick), 4:02
OOL – Manning 20 pass from Thurman (kick failed), 2:28
Fourth Quarter
OOL – FG Toser 30, 8:14
OOL – Cameron Turner 30 run (Toser kick), 54.2
Region 4-5A Standings (Through Oct. 21)
Overall Region
Rhea County 7-2 5-0
Ooltewah 7-2 4-1
McMinn County 7-2 4-1
Walker Valley 6-3 3-2
Cleveland 4-5 1-4
Soddy-Daisy 2-6 1-4
White County 3-6 0-5
Friday’s Results
Rhea County 35, Walker Valley 34
Ooltewah 37, Cleveland 24
McMinn County 33, Soddy-Daisy 24
White County, idle
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)