For East Hamilton, Friday’s night 24-13 season-opening win over Signal Mountain at Larry Henry Stadium on a rainy night continued a trend that reverses the Eagles’ early dominance in the high school football rivalry that began in 2009.
After capturing the first three games, in which the Eagles outscored the Hurricanes by a combined 121-23, coach Ted Gatewood’s squad has claimed four of the last five meetings – two at home and a pair on the mountain.
In those four games, East Hamilton scored 146 points, compared to 85 for the Eagles.
So, getting past Signal Mountain, the Hurricanes’ opening opponent each year since 2009, was a nice hurdle to clear.
“Mentally, for sure,” Gatewood said. “We went through a tough scrimmage season, playing some really good football teams. It was good for our kids to gain some confidence.”
In the Hurricanes’ three previous opening wins over the Eagles, they eventually reached the state playoff quarterfinals.
Signal Mountain, which dressed 24 players, got off 101 offensive plays and put up 424 total yards, including 304 on the ground. But the Eagles wore down as the game went on. Coach Ty Wise said nine offensive players – all but his quarterback and center – also played on defense.
“We’ve got a good football team, but this was our first full four quarters in competition with the lights and fans and everything,” he said. “I kind of expected our guys playing so many reps would be a factor. We had guys cramping up, so that always alters your plan.”
East Hamilton quarterback Nick Woods, a Tennessee baseball commitment, threw two touchdown passes, a 34-yarder to Blake Aldredge in the second quarter and a 10-yard strike to Jaylen Martin in the third period for the Hurricanes’ final score.
The strike to Martin gave the Hurricanes their final score of the game with 4:14 on the clock.
Considering the Eagles marched 80 yards in 15 plays on their opening possession while using all but 3 minutes, 11 seconds of the first quarter, the ‘Canes showed a lot of spunk by answering with a Jake McClure field goal and Woods’ touchdown throw to Aldredge in the second period.
That play was set up with Woods’ 52-yard bomb to senior wide receiver Burton Bell, who also starts in the secondary.
“Burton was playing both sides of the ball tonight and anything he could give us on offense was huge,” said Woods, who completed 8-of-11 passes for 147 yards. “Him making a great play like that was great. We game-planned that at halftime because we saw how they were lining up, and we all thought it would work.”
Said Bell, whose father, Galen, coaches wide receivers and older brother, Gentry, serves as the team’s game-day statistician, “I was thinking I had to catch the ball. I wanted to make something happen and it felt really good to make the catch.”
Bell, who caught two passes for 65 yards, was looking over his left shoulder with a Signal Mountain defender on his left hip when he grabbed the pigskin before being tackled.
“Nick did a great job on that throw,” Gatewood said. “He put it exactly where it was supposed to be. The first TD he threw made us look good up front when he side-stepped a rusher and put that one where it needed to be.”
Andrew Sturdivant scored on the next play, just 62 seconds into the third period, to give East Hamilton a 17-7 advantage.
The Eagles responded with a 69-yard, 10-play scoring drive. Quarterback Tom Vatter connected with Collin Farr on a 6-yard touchdown pass at the 7:28 mark of the third period. The extra point kick failed and Signal Mountain trailed, 17-13.
Vatter went 13-of-32 for 120 yards.
On their first drive, the Eagles had three runs for double-digit yardage. Gauthier had two for 13 and 15 yards and Collin Farr went for 11. Farr led the Eagles with 80 rushing yards on 11 carries.
The Eagles overcame two delay-of-game penalties on the drive and were flagged 17 times for 135 yards in a game that took 3 hours, 9 minutes to complete. The Hurricanes were hit 10 times for 100 yards in penalties.
“We had some struggles tonight with the conditions, the ball being wet and I think that affected our game plan. I thought we were in the ballgame for the most part and had some opportunities to win.”
The Eagles haven’t had a lot of wins lately. They have lost 11 of their last 12 games, dating to the tail end of the 2014 season.
East Hamilton’s special team play figured prominently in its final touchdown of the night.
After Signal Mountain closed its deficit to four points, the Eagles’ defense forced a punt near midfield.
Hurricanes punter Jake McClure, a college kicking prospect, boomed a sky-high punt deep into Eagles territory. Charlie Gauthier, who capped the Eagles opening drive with a 2-yard touchdown run, was fighting hang time and falling rain trying to reel in the punt.
Unfortunately, Gauthier muffed the punt and East Hamilton’s Kevin Siniard, a senior linebacker, pounced on the ball at the Eagles’ 12. On third-and-8 from the 10, Woods found Martin in the end zone for the score. McClure’s PAT provided the final 11-point margin.
“My first read is to make a block and then try to go down and make a play on the guy that’s got the ball,” Siniard said. “That play put us in a position to score again, push the lead out and win the game.
“It was awesome. A lot of our guys put their hearts, tears, sweat and blood into this. Me being able to help the team means a lot.”
Said Gatewood of McClure's punt: “That ball goes a mile high and it’s tough on a return guy when the guys, especially when guys are bearing down on him. That ball was in the stratosphere, above the lights. You can’t see that thing, so that’s a great weapon for us to have.”
SCORING
Signal Mountain 7 0 6 0 – 13
East Hamilton 0 10 14 0 – 24
First Quarter
SM – Charlie Gauthier 2 run (Scott Payne kick), 3:11
Second Quarter
EH – FG Jake McClure 25, 11:49
EH – Blake Aldredge 34 pass from Nick Woods (McClure kick), 5:53
Third Quarter
EH – Andrew Sturdivant 3 run (McClure kick), 10:58
SM – Collin Farr 6 pass from Tom Vatter (kick failed), 7:28
EH – Jaylen Martin 10 pass from Woods (McClure kick), 4:14
YARDSTICK
SM EH
First Downs
Rushes-Yds 69-304 46-284
Passing Yards 120 147
Comp-Att-Int 13-32-0 8-11-0
Total Yards 101-424 57-431
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 1-1
Punts-Avg 3-19.7 2-36.5
Penalties-Yds 17-135 10-100
INDIVIDUALS
RUSHING – Signal Mountain: Collin Farr 11-80, Charlie Gauthier 19-76, Collin Weigert 5-38, Travion Williams 2-minus 10; East Hamilton: Andrew Sturdivant 15-52, Jhaeden Smith 10-47, Drako Wise 8-29, Blake Aldredge 1-5, Nick Woods 1-4.
PASSING – Signal Mountain: Vatter 13-31-0 120; East Hamilton Woods 8-11-0 147.
RECEIVING – Signal Mountain: Williams 2-38, Farr 6-29, Gauthier 1-20, Sam Gault 2-17, Terrance Russell 1-13, TaDarrell Hodge 1-3; East Hamilton: Burton Bell 2-65, Aldredge 1-35, Graham Ford 1-30, Jaylen Martin 1-10, Tyler Blum 1-4, Sturdivant 2-3.
(Reach Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)