photo by M. A. Locke
A lot will be made and should be made of the work Ooltewah’s Sincere Quinn and Kyrell Sanford did in Friday night’s 30-27 nail-biter of a win over Soddy-Daisy within the friendly confines of Ooltewah’s James Monroe Stadium.
But in a back-and-forth battle of star power with Soddy-Daisy’s Gavin Chambers and Hayden Maynor, and in a game that had all the ear marks of whichever team had the ball last would win three plays by three different Ooltewah players proved to be the difference.
And all three could be deemed redemption plays.
Quinn and Sanford teamed up for 331 yards of total offense whereas Maynor and Chambers had 304 between them and the dueling duets accounted for seven of the game’s eight touchdowns. But when crunch time presented itself, it was three made plays by the Owl trio which swayed this game’s final outcome.
The first one was a crucial catch by sophomore Fisher Perry, who had dropped a key pass earlier in the game, which converted a second-and-15 on the game’s winning drive. Four plays later, Quinn crashed in from the five-yard line and then caught a two-point conversion pass from Sanford to put Ooltewah up 30-27 with 2:27 left in the game.
And while that seemed like plenty of time for the Trojans offense which put up 404 yards on a bend-but-don’t-break Owl defense, the next two redemption plays sealed the deal. The first was a monster sack by defensive tackle Elijah Isaac. It was the lone Ooltewah sack on the night as Chambers was an absolute magician avoiding the rush and making plays. Isaac’s sack made it third down and 17 with 1:51 left at the SD 25.
“It was frustrating because we were close to getting him a bunch and next thing you know it was a big play for them. It was a big sack and I just looked upwards and said ‘thank God.’ We didn’t play our best, but we stepped up when we had to,” said Isaac afterwards.
The third play came on the next pass attempt when defensive back Jaylun Watkins broke up a pass at the last minute that would have extended the drive. Watkins and the rest of the owl secondary had a rough night containing Chambers, who completed 13-of-20 passes for 223 yards and three TDs.
“Our coaches preach every week: ‘go make the next play’ and that’s what it is all about. You have to have a short memory,” added Watkins, who had two other pass break ups on the night.
Soddy-Daisy had one last chance but Chambers’ short toss to Maynor came up two yards short and the Owls ended it in victory formation.
“That’s a really good football team and they are well coached by Coach (Justin) Barnes. We’ve been in some close ones so there was no panic from any of the guys or coaches. I think the two key stops on their long drives in the first half along with those two quick scores were really big. We didn’t play that well in the first half and to be up 16-7 at the break was a blessing, but we knew it would come down to plays at the end and we had some guys make them,” said Ooltewah coach Scott Chandler after the victory.
The Trojans, now 3-2 with both losses coming by three points, came out and dominated the first quarter. With Maynor gashing the Owl defense with runs and Chambers throwing dimes around the field, the Trojans marched 78 yards with opening kickoff on 15 plays, but turned it over on downs at the Owls 5. Tanner Rhodes blew up the play in the backfield before Allan McBryde tackled Maynor for a two-yard loss.
Ooltewah went 3-and-out and a short punt gave the Trojans just 19 yards to covers which they did in four plays with Chambers hitting Landen Reece for an 8-yard score and a 7-0 lead. Soddy-Daisy had 100 yards of offense to Ooltewah’s two at that point, but the Owls quickly adjusted.
“They had played a different defense in the film’s we had seen and it took us a couple of drives to adjust, but this team doesn’t get bothered by stuff. We did what we had to and the coaches did a great job of getting us pointed in the right direction,” said Sanford, who threw for 49 yards and rushed for another 73, including a monster 29-yard scoring run in the third quarter.
Quinn was the man in the second quarter, breaking off runs of 34 and 62 yards, scoring on the first one and setting up Tylan Cagle’s 18-yard scoring run with the second one. He finished the half with 153 rushing yards and a 27-yard catch and run to set up a field goal. Quinn’s first run tied it at the11:09 mark of the second quarter.
The Trojans responded with another long drive but once again failed to cash in when they turned it over on downs at the Ooltewah 7 with 2:01 left in the half. The Owls used Quinn’s 62-yard run to move it from the 20 to the Trojans’ 18 and Cagle scored on the next play with 1:34 left before halftime.
Soddy-Daisy punted it back with 31 seconds left, but Quinn got a 15-yard run and the 27-yard catch to give Braeden Haynes a shot at 34-yard field goal which he nailed as the final second ticked off the clock for the 16-7 lead.
The Trojans put up two quick scores within three minutes of each other in the third quarter to take the lead back at 21-16. Reece hauled in his second TD pass from Chambers at the 7:10 mark and Chambers followed it up with a beautiful fake keeper, pulling up at the line of scrimmage and hitting Kesean Eubanks in stride for a 55-yard score at the 4:17 mark. Eubanks was a thorn in the Owls’ side all night, catching six passes for 142 yards.
With the Trojans keying on Quinn in the final half, Sanford took control picking up 57 yards on the ground including the 29-yarder at the end of the third quarter to propel Ooltewah back on top heading into the final period 22-21.
The Trojan defense stepped up to stop Sanford with a big sack on the next possession inside the Owls’ 10 and got the ball back at the 42 where Maynor and Chambers took turns picking up chunk plays before Chambers kept it for the 8-yard score. A failed conversion attempt left it 27-22 Soddy-Daisy with6:45 left.
And once again the Owls were up for the challenge. A big roughing the passer call gave the Owls new life when it seemed like the Trojans might have stopped them and Sanford did what he does best. The big completion to Perry moved it across midfield and Sanford scrambled for a 24-yard gain to the Trojan 11. Two plays later Quinn had it in and the two-point conversion provided the final score.
It was Ooltewah’s third game this year in which it came down to the final possession and the owls are now 5-1 on the season headed into a bye week. It was also the 14th time in the last 17 outings against Soddy-Daisy in which Ooltewah claimed the victory.
Quinn wound up with 177 yards on 20 carries. Maynor had 103 on 24 totes for Soddy-Daisy.
SODDY-DAISY 7 0 14 6 – 27
OOLTEWAH 0 16 6 8 – 30
SD – Landon Reece 8 pass from Gavin Chambers (Cooper Hamilton kick) (2:12, 1st)
Oo – Sincere Quinn 34 run (Braeden Haynes kick) (11:09, 2nd)
Oo – Tylan Cagle 18 run (kick failed) (1:34, 2nd)
Oo – Braden Haynes 34 field goal (0:00, 2nd)
SD – Landon Reece 12 pass from Gavin Chambers (Cooper Hamilton kick) (7:10, 3rd)
SD – Kesean Eubanks 55 pass from Gavin Chambers Cooper Hamilton kick) (4:17, 3rd)
Oo – Kyrell Sanford 29 run (run failed) (0:54, 3rd)
SD – Gavin Chambers 7 run (pass failed) 96:45, 4th)
Oo – Sincere Quinn 5 run (Sincere Quinn pass from Kyrell Sanford) (2:27, 4th)
SD STATS OOL
20 1st Downs 17
41-171 Rush 36-279
233 Pass 49
404 Total 328
15-22-0 Passes 6-10-0
7-70 Penalties 6-45
3-31.6 Punts 3-34.3
1-0 Fumbles 0-0
Individual Stats
Rushing: Hayden Maynor 24-103, Gavin Chambers 11-51, Isaac Barnes 4-7, Kesean Eubanks 1-13 (SD); Sincere Quinn 20-177, Kyrell Sanford 12-73, Tylan Cargle 4-29 (O).
Passing: Gavin Chambers 13-20-0 223 yards, Isaac Barnes 2-2-0 10 yards (SD); Kyrell Sanford 6-10-0 49 yards (O).
Receiving: Kesean Eubanks 6-142, Landen Reece 5-31, Hayden Maynor 2-27, Landon Maynor 1-20, Isaac Barnes 1-8 (SD); Sincere Quinn 2-32, Fisher Perry 1-16, Hunter Moss 1-3 (O).(C).
Records: Soddy-Daisy (3-2), Ooltewah (5-1).
(Contact James Beach via email at 1134james@gmail.com or Twitter @beachnut1134)