Red Bank, Baylor, Soddy Daisy Claim Jamboree Wins

Ooltewah Escapes Central While McMinn County Blanks East Hamilton

  • Sunday, August 14, 2016
  • John Hunt
Marquis Hinton of East Ridge dives on a loose ball as Soddy Daisy's Colton Smith (32) flies in to try and retain the ball for his Trojan teammates. Soddy Daisy manages to just sneak past the Pioneers, 8-6, by virtue of a two-point conversion in their Saturday night meeting at the high school football jamboree held at Finley Stadium.
Marquis Hinton of East Ridge dives on a loose ball as Soddy Daisy's Colton Smith (32) flies in to try and retain the ball for his Trojan teammates. Soddy Daisy manages to just sneak past the Pioneers, 8-6, by virtue of a two-point conversion in their Saturday night meeting at the high school football jamboree held at Finley Stadium.
photo by Dennis Norwood

The preliminary rounds are now over and it’s time to get serious about high school football in Tennessee.

The second and final day of the annual prep jamboree at Finley Stadium is now history and teams can turn their full attention to next Friday when the action begins for real and where the wins and losses actually mean something.

Saturday’s winners included Baylor, Red Bank, Soddy Daisy, Ooltewah and McMinn County.  Soddy Daisy had the closest battle as they had to hold off East Ridge in an 8-6 final while Red Bank scored the most points in a 21-0 win over Walker Valley.

Baylor and McMinn County posted similar 14-0 wins over Notre Dame and East Hamilton while the Owls looked less than impressive in a 7-0 victory over the Purple Pounders.

BAYLOR 14, NOTRE DAME 0: It probably didn’t help matters when Baylor starting quarterback Bryce Verble suffered a broken collarbone earlier in the week.

And there’s no doubt that Red Raider hearts sank a little further when sophomore backup Lorenzo White threw an interception on the first play against the Fighting Irish, but that was probably the low point as Baylor scored touchdowns on its final two possessions to claim the win.

The Red Raider defense wasn’t bad either as they forced three Notre Dame punts while ending another drive with a fumble recovery by Charlie Glascock.

Kalvin Watson was the man on offense for Baylor as he gained 69 yards on just four carries.  Tate Prater was the leading receiver with two catches totaling 44 yards, including a long of 39 on the play before Brendon Harris scored the second TD on a run from the 2.

White came back and played well following that first-play mistake and scored the first touchdown on a keeper from the 3 with 16:02 showing.

Akil Sledge gained 15 yards on four carries for the Irish while the longest play for Notre Dame was a 10-yard pass from Landon Allen to Justyn Baker.

“We’re getting better, but it’s just about us learning how to operate on offense.  I thought we played well after that first turnover and I was proud of our defense.  This was a great dress rehearsal for us, but now it’s time to get ready for Rhea County,” said Baylor coach Phil Massey.

Notre Dame coach Charles Fant didn’t seem to be overly dismayed with his team’s performance.

“That’s a good football team over there.  One thing is for sure.  You have to do things right against them or they’ll make you play, but I thought we came out and competed.  They have a huge offensive line and we had a little problem with that, but we’ll be okay,” he concluded.

RED BANK 21, WALKER VALLEY 0: The Mustangs don’t have much turnaround time as they play at Bradley on Thursday night, so Walker Valley coach Glen Ryan didn’t play a single starter.

Red Bank’s defense was salty as the Lions had two interceptions and they also got a key stop from Ivan Young on a short fourth-down play to stop another Mustang drive.

Mike Porter had the first pick for the Lions on Walker Valley’s fourth play after Jamel Davis had recorded two tackles for losses and had Walker Valley in a third-and-23 jam.

Sophomore quarterback Calvin Jackson scooted 32 yards on a keeper following Porter’s interception for Red Bank’s first score before Braulio Velezquez booted the first of three extra points.

Kedrick Richardson extended the lead with a TD from the one while Jackson added the third score on a 64-yard sprint down the left side following an interception by Cole Seeley.

Despite all of those big plays, Red Bank coach Chad Grabowski still didn’t like all of  what he saw.

“Sloppy,” is the way he began his comments.

“We made too many mistakes, were called for too many penalties and had way too many missed assignments.  I thought we got after it pretty good, but I wanted more.

“I liked part of what I saw and we have some guys who like to hit, but this really didn’t count for anything,” he added.

Walker Valley’s Ryan is more concerned about Bradley than he was against Red Bank.

“We’ve got to pick it up.  We didn’t use a single starter tonight, but we didn’t do very well with our younger guys.  It was a good experience for them, but we just didn’t do a very good job of competing as we were timid on both sides of the ball,” the veteran coach nodded.

SODDY DAISY 8, EAST RIDGE 6: The Trojans took a 2-0 lead when East Ridge’s Marquis Hinton was tackled by Colton Smith in the end zone.

Soddy Daisy then scored on the second play following the safety when Justin Cooke hooked up with Ty Boeck on a beautiful pattern down the left side where Cooke hit the talented junior in stride for the 73-yard strike.

The difference was 8-0 when the extra point kick was missed.

Tre Alexander helped the Pioneer cause with a fumble recovery at the 37.  Two plays later Lorenzo Stewart raced 61 yards up the middle, but the two-point conversion attempt failed when Eric Bennett was tackled by Javon Hines as he was rolling left and looking to pass.

Boeck also had other catches of 6 and 9 yards before the 73-yard bomb to lead the Soddy Daisy offense.

“It was good, but we were a little rusty in places,” said Soddy Daisy coach Justin Barnes after the action ended.

“We still have some things to clean up and we gave up that one long run, but it’s always a learning process.  We showed that we can bow our back when we need to, but it’s still just a jamboree,” he smiled.

East Ridge coach Tim James wasn’t too crazy about his team’s pass defense.

“It seemed like we had formation issues, but our defensive backs didn’t do a good job at all as they got beat deep every time they threw it downfield.  That’s why we have a jamboree and it was a fun night overall, but that’s just not acceptable,” he concluded on a serious note.

OOLTEWAH 7, CENTRAL 0: The Purple Pounders came out on the short end of the score, but first-year coach Cortney Braswell was happy as a kid at Christmas and dripped wet with sweat when this one ended.

“They beat us 31-0 on Thursday night at our place in a similar scrimmage, so for us to hold them to just seven points tonight is a big step for us as we improved significantly,” the former Baylor All-State running back smiled.

“I couldn’t be any more proud as we didn’t back down one bit, but we still made a lot of mistakes on offense and we’re not good enough to be able to get away with stuff like that,” Braswell added.

Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan was equally as unhappy with the way his Owls performed.

“We just didn’t execute very well as we had two holding calls, several dropped passes and a missed field goal among other things.  We did what we were supposed to do by winning, but if we play like this from here on out, we’ll get beat,” Bryan told his team afterward.

“We’ve still have much work to do, but we have to do the little things a whole lot better.  If we don’t get things turned around in a hurry, it could be a long afternoon in Murfreesboro next Saturday,” he said when referring to Ooltewah’s season opener against Riverdale at MTSU.

Cameron Turner scored the only touchdown on a run from the 1 on Ooltewah’s first possession.  Quarterback Collin Thurman had passes of 25 yards to Tahj Cargle and 20 yards to Kasaud Featherstone while Turner had runs of nine and 11 yards prior to the touchdown.

Central’s longest play was a 10-yard pass from Jaheim Jones to Davey Vagts.

McMINN CO. 14, EAST HAMILTON 0: Cherokee coach Bo Cagle is working overtime to get his team back to respectability after a couple of less-than-average seasons in Athens, so he was pretty pleased with the forward steps his team took against the Hurricanes.

Zane Byas scored the first touchdown for the Cherokees on a three-yard run that concluded an eight-play, 33-yard drive that was set up by an interception by Byas on East Hamilton’s first play.

Xavier Abernathy added the second TD when he scored on a 23-yard run with just over five minutes to play and finished as McMinn’s leading rusher with 38 yards on five carries.

The Hurricanes did virtually nothing on offense as all three drives ended with punts.  They also only had one first down and it came on their longest play, a 10-yard run by Jhaeden Smith.

“I thought we played with a lot of energy, but this means absolutely nothing,” said Cagle afterward.

“We got a little bit better tonight and we did alright in places.  I was proud of our defense with that early pick as that always helps your confidence, but we have to get ready for McMinn Central as the last time we played at their place, they whipped our tails,” Cagle laughed.

Hurricane coach Ted Gatewood is never super critical of his team, but he didn’t have much positive to say when it ended.

“I’ll have to watch the film to find something, but I thought we got on an off the field without much difficulty.  We made a lot of mistakes we can’t afford to make.  We have to be able to block and tackle and we didn’t do that very well.

“We didn’t run the ball very well, so to be real honest with you, I wasn’t very impressed with us.  We have to get it right,” he concluded.

The Hurricanes open their season at home on Friday against Signal Mountain.

(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)

 

 

 

 

Ooltewah receiver Cam Chambers (87) has a sure catch knocked away at the last moment by Central defensive back Gavin Spotts (23). The Owls slid by the Pounders, 7-0.
Ooltewah receiver Cam Chambers (87) has a sure catch knocked away at the last moment by Central defensive back Gavin Spotts (23). The Owls slid by the Pounders, 7-0.
photo by Dennis Norwood
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