Lions' Gustus Starts Redemption With Jamboree "Pick"

Long touchdown Catch Makes Up For Boecks' Drops

  • Saturday, August 13, 2016
  • Larry Fleming
Red Bank defensive back Delwin Gustus, left, reacts to a deflected pass by Soddy-Daisy's Nathan Rusbridge in their jamboree matchup Saturday night. Gustus made the interception in the Lions' 21-0 win..
Red Bank defensive back Delwin Gustus, left, reacts to a deflected pass by Soddy-Daisy's Nathan Rusbridge in their jamboree matchup Saturday night. Gustus made the interception in the Lions' 21-0 win..
photo by Dennis Norwood

Red Bank’s defense turned in a sterling display of thievery Saturday night.

Mike Porter, Cole Seeley and Delwin Gustus each had interceptions that kept Walker Valley out of the end zone and the Lions posted a 21-0 win in the annual high school football jamboree at Finley Stadium before a crowd that was only slightly better than Friday’s sparse turnout.

A junior safety, Gustus' pick near the goal line stopped Walker Valley’s most serious scoring threat with 6:00 left in the 30-minute quarter.

“I thought the defense played great and it looked like we made all our assignments,” Gustu said. “The interception was a simple cover-4. Their receiver got a hand on the ball, but it bounced up and I was able to make the play.”

That is likely to have given Gustus a huge dose of confidence with the Lions getting in their final game-type action before opening the season on Aug. 19 against rival Soddy-Daisy.

“I started about half the games – the first half of the season – last year, but didn’t start after that,” he said.

Was he injured?

“No,” Gustus said.

What happened?

“I didn’t play well,” he said. “It was tough. This year I’m going to redeem myself.”

The Lions’ secondary larceny overshadowed Calvin Jackson’s two touchdown runs, including a 64-yard gallop for the team’s third score of the contest.

McMinn County 14, East Hamilton 0 – Senior running back Xavier Abernathy scored one of the Cherokees’ two touchdowns on a 23-yard run and within seconds after the jamboree quarter ended he was talking about next week’s season opener against bitter rival McMinn Central.

“Tonight gave us a good look at an opponent other than ourselves and we got out there and got after it,” Abernathy said. “Now we can look forward to playing our sister school, McMinn Central and give them a taste of real McMinn County football.”

Abernathy said the Cherokees have won 29 of the last 30 meetings with their cross-county foes.

Abernathy then took a moment to talk about his touchdown run.

“It was a sweep play,” he said. “Up field I saw my pulling guard (senior Jacob Watson) blocking, I put my foot in the ground and overpowered the defensive back.”

Ooltewah 7, Central 0 – It’s a good thing running back Cameron Turner scored on a 1-yard touchdown barely six minutes into the action.

The sloppy Owls failed to do any more damage to the Pounders’ defense.

Ooltewah, however, didn’t do much to add to Cameron’s lone TD. The Owls dropped two passes, had penalties, missed a 37-yard field goal and a number of other miscues against a team they whipped handily in a scrimmage two days earlier.

“It felt good to have game-type atmosphere,” said senior Collin Thurman, who has waited patiently to take the reins of the Owls’ offense. “We’ve got to clean some things up, though. The coaches were calling the right plays, but we weren’t executing them.

“We’ve got to get that cleaned up to be ready for Riverdale next week in our opening game. If we don’t play better, Riverdale’s going to beat us.”

Coach Mac Bryan agreed with his quarterback: “We’re young. They turned the lights on us and we didn’t play well. These young guys have to grow up in a hurry.”

Soddy-Daisy 8, East Ridge 6 – Ty Boeck uncharacteristically dropped a couple passes against the Pioneers, but the Trojans senior made up for it.

Boeck, who played tight end last year but has taken over at wide receiver for departed Tre Carter, caught a 73-yard bomb from strong-armed quarterback Justin Cooke for the Trojans’ lone score.

Soddy-Daisy had taken an early 2-0 lead on a safety.

“It was kind of embarrassing to drop the passes, but catching the touchdown pass felt good,” Boeck said. “It’s a play we call ‘Oregon.’ I’m supposed to get behind the cornerback any way I can and Justin said as soon as I made my move he threw the ball.”

Boeck said he’s been battling a couple injuries – a hip problem and sprained right ankle – but believes he’s about 95 percent for next week’s season opener against Red Bank.

“I feel like I’m finally healthy,” he said.

Baylor 14, Notre Dame 0 – Baylor’s Lorenzo White and Trusten McArtor are taking their battle for the starting quarterback job right into the final week of preseason practice.

White, a 6-foot-3, 175-pound sophomore, ran two straight times from the Irish 13 for a touchdown with 16:04 showing on the running clock for Baylor’s first score.

The 6-2, 295-pound McArtor, a junior, hit senior wide receiver Tate Prater for a 39-yard gain to Notre Dame’s 7 and Brendon Harris, a 6-2, 192-pound junior back scored on the next play.

“Trusten and I have been fighting all during preseason to be the starter, but it’s still not set,” White said. “Either will be fine because both of us are capable to doing the job. What we need to do is keeping improving and that will give us a lot to look forward to this season.”

(Reach Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)

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