Jones, Steele, Roden, Francisco Help Martin Get First Win
by John Hunt
posted August 23, 2008
Mike Martin was hoping that Friday night would last forever.
Martin made his debut as the newest head football coach for the East Ridge Pioneers and the results were impressive as they rolled to a 31-0 shutout over the Lookout Valley Yellow Jackets at Raymond James Stadium.
Martin was quick to admit that his team did make more than their share of mistakes.
Fortunately, the things they did right far overshadowed what they did wrong as they piled up 401 yards of total offense to capture the season-opening victory.
“We were sloppy at times and we made more than our share of mistakes, but I’m really happy with the effort.
"We aren’t very big up front on defense and we’re going to give up a lot of yards, but there are times when we just have to bow our backs and that’s what we did tonight,” Martin said after the game.
East Ridge took the opening kickoff and marched right down the field, covering 72 yards in nine plays with C.J. Jones punching it into the end zone from the 2 with 7:31 left in the opening quarter.
Following a three-and-out by the Yellow Jackets, East Ridge went right back to work and scored again, this time on a five-yard run by Chase Steele with 2:36 still to play in the first period.
Sophomore kicker Josh Francisco, who booted a field goal on the final play of last week’s jamboree to beat Soddy Daisy, kicked all four extra points and added a 29-yard field goal in the closing minutes to conclude the scoring.
He also made a touchdown-saving tackle on the opening kickoff of the second half.
Lookout Valley had a tough time getting its offense in gear.
The Yellow Jackets had three sustained drives, including one down to the Pioneer 5 on the first drive of the second half, but the Pioneers got a big defensive play each time to keep the Yellow Jackets out of the end zone.
Derrick Pullom gave Lookout Valley a badly-needed shot in the arm with an impressive 61-yard kickoff return to start the second half to give the Yellow Jackets a first down on the East Ridge 29.
They moved down to the 5, but Tay Vaughn Wynn’s fourth-down pass was incomplete.
Perhaps the biggest play of the game followed when Jones took the handoff from quarterback Adam Long, slammed into the middle of the line before bouncing outside and racing quickly down the right sideline.
With 6:44 to play in the third stanza, what may have been a 21-7 score was suddenly 28-0 and the wind was basically taken out of Lookout Valley’s sails.
The Yellow Jackets moved down the field again on their next possession.
After getting a first down on the East Ridge 12, quarterback Scott Gordon – who had come on to replace an injured Wynn – threw three straight incomplete passes and the ball went back to the Pioneers on downs.
Lookout Valley never threatened again.
Yellow Jacket coach Tony Webb certainly doesn’t enjoy getting blanked by 31-0 in any game, but he saw some bright spots despite the lopsided score.
“I thought we got better as the game progressed and I can promise you we’re much better than we were last Friday in the Sequatchie County Jamboree. Our goal is to get better every week.
“We settled down after that first quarter and we moved the ball on our final three possessions.
"Unfortunately, there were three or four plays during that span where we didn’t execute very well and we came up empty, but we’ll keep plugging,” he promised.
While Jones scored two TDs and Steele another, senior receiver Austin Roden helped the Pioneers extend that 14-0 first-quarter lead to 21-0 right before intermission.
He hooked up with Long on a 62-yard scoring play that was executed to perfection.
“Adam and I practice that route every day and I told him I was sure I could beat my man on that side. He did a great job of getting the ball out there,” Roden expressed when the game ended.
Martin was quick to give credit to his players for picking up on stuff the coaches couldn’t see.
“We coaches think we know just about everything, but the players on the field can see things we can’t see from the sideline. We just have to trust their judgement. That was the case on both of those long scoring plays.
“That 95-yard run was icing on the cake for us. I was hoping we could get the shutout tonight as they guys have worked to hard.
"We wanted to establish control early and I thought we did that, but we’ll have to be a lot better next week,” he concluded, referring to the next game at Central.
East Ridge finished the evening with 401 total yards, including 273 on the ground and 128 through the air.
Jones was the leading rusher with 126 yards on just five carries while Steele finished with 49 yards on seven trips. Gunner Miller added 36 yards on six tries.
Roden was the leading receiver for East Ridge with four catches for 97 yards.
Lookout Valley, limited to just 69 yards and four first downs in the first half, finished with 165 total yards and 13 first downs.
The running game produced 123 yards, including 51 from Pullom on 15 trips.
Wynn was running for his life most of the game and added 36 yards on a dozen attempts.
Gordon had two receptions for 20 yards.
Lookout Valley 0 0 0 0 -- 0
East Ridge 14 7 7 3 -- 31
ER – C.J. Jones 2 run (Josh Francisco kick), 7:31, first;
ER – Chase Steele 5 run (Francisco kick), 2:36, first;
ER – Austin Roden 62 pass from Adam Long (Francisco kick), 1:12. second;
ER – Jones 95 run (Francisco kick), 6:44, third;
ER – Francisco 29 field goal, 3:28, fourth.
(Email John Hunt at tnmoose2002@aol.com)
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