East Ridge Beats Red Bank In Double OT Thriller

Jordan Harvey Gets Game-Winning TD On 10-Yard Pass Play

  • Friday, November 11, 2016
  • John Hunt

The second time was the charm for the East Ridge Pioneers.

They played at Red Bank on Sept. 16 and came out on the short end of a 22-10 final.

The results were different the second time around as the Pioneers headed back to East Ridge Friday night with a double-overtime victory in the second round of the Class 3-A football playoffs.

The final score was 35-28.

“This was just another typical Red Bank-East Ridge football game,” said an elated East Ridge coach Tim James moments after the outcome had been determined.

“We came up short in a playoff game here in 2003, so it feels good to come out on the winning side tonight.  We hung in there and fought for 48-plus minutes and we were able to come through at the end.

“It’s not always pretty, but these kids are fighters.  I guess we’ll be headed to Dunlap next week,” he said in reference to next week’s game at unbeaten Sequatchie County, who eliminated Notre Dame Friday night.

“I was hoping we could win this game in regulation.  I probably should have gone for it on fourth-and-one, but it was still anybody’s game at that point.  But big Tommy Stewart made the stop of the night,” James added.

Quarterback Eric Bennett gave East Ridge an early lead with a touchdown on a keeper from the 2 with 3:57 left in the first quarter.  Muhammid Hasan booted the extra point and the Pioneers were ahead 7-0.

Red Bank quarterback Calvin Jackson evened the score with a 22-yard run at the 2:32 mark of the second stanza and the score was tied at 7-7 following Braulio Velazquez’ extra point.

Red Bank received the second-half kickoff and promptly marched 66 yards in 11 plays, needing just 3:36 to take the lead when Jackson scored again on a keeper from the 9.

The Pioneers bounced right back to knot the score when Bennett hooked up with Jordan Lindsey on a 56-yard pass play across the middle before taking the lead for the second time on Bennett’s keeper from the 1 with 25.4 seconds left in the third quarter.

Jackson was hurt on the third play of the fourth quarter and never returned after suffering a hip pointer, but his teammates were able to knot the score at 21 after Kedric Richardson bulled into the end zone from the 1 with 8:46 to play.

After an exchange of punts, East Ridge took over at its own 41 with just under four minutes to play.  They moved down to the Red Bank 10 before a 27-yard field goal attempt by C.J. Bond came up a tad bit short with 28 seconds remaining.

Both teams scored touchdowns in the first overtime with Zay Brown getting in from the 1 for Red Bank while Traneil Moore scoring from the 4.

East Ridge got the ball first in the second overtime and got a 10-yard TD pass from Bennett to Jordan Harvey in the right corner of the end zone.

Brown gained a yard and lost a yard before backup quarterback Madox Wilkey had two straight incompletions to end the game.

“They beat us,” said Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski matter of factly after the game ended.

“They executed at the end and we didn’t, but this game doesn’t define our season.  We ended up winning our region after being picked fourth, so we reached a lot of goals that most folks didn’t expect us to reach.

“Calvin Jackson getting hurt certainly didn’t help us as that took us out of our rhythm and really took away a huge part of our offense.  But East Ridge is a much better team than when we first played them and I knew it would be a tough one.  I’ve been worrying about it all day,” he concluded.

East Ridge, now 7-5, finished with 309 total yards that included 224 on the ground and another 85 through the air.

Moore, who only had 35 yards on nine first-half carries, finished with 139 yards on 27 attempts.  Lorenzo Stewart followed with 51 yards on 10 trips while Bennett added 26 yards on eight carries.

Lindsey was the leading receiver with the one catch for 56 yards while Harvey’s only catch in the second half went for the 10-yard touchdown.  Kashawn Cosey was the only receiver with two catches for 14 yards, both in the first half.

Red Bank finished with 229 total yards, including 208 on the ground.

Brown finished the game with 129 yards on 29 carries while Jackson finished with 77 yards on 15 trips.

Both teams finished with 14 first downs.

While East Ridge is now 7-5 with a trip to unbeaten Sequatchie County next week, Red Bank’s season ends at 8-4.

EAST RIDGE  7  0  14  0  7  7  -- 35

RED BANK  0  7  7  7  7  0  -- 28

ER – Eric Bennett 2 run (Muhammid Hasan kick), 3:57 left in first;

RB – Calvin Jackson 22 run (Braulio Velazquez kick), 2:32 left in second;

RB – Jackson 9 run (Velazquez kick), 8:19 left in third;

ER – Jordan Lindsey 56 pass from Bennett (C.J. Bond kick), 6:01 left in third;

ER – Bennett 1 run (Bond kick), 0:25.4 left in third;

RB – Kedric Richardson 1 run (Velazquez kick), 8:46 left in fourth;

RB – Zay Brown 1 run (Velazquez kick), first overtime;

ER – Moore 4 run (Hasan kick), first overtime;

ER – Jordan Harvey 10 pass from Bennett (Hasan kick), second overtime.

(email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

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