Throughout the preseason new Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan preached to Brody Binder one repetitive sermon – be accurate with your throws and let our speedy receivers do their job.
The plan worked perfectly Friday night in the Owls’ 42-14 victory over Walker Valley, a game in which Binder threw for a near-record 379 yards and four touchdowns – two each to Anthony Turner and Mike Williams – and the school retired the jersey of former prep All-American Jacques Smith.
“This place is so special to my heart and I’m just glad to represent this school on Saturday by playing for the Big Orange,” said Smith, a starting defensive lineman for the Tennessee Vols in coach Butch Jones’ first season.
Smith then sat back and watched his beloved Owls carve up Walker Valley’s defense.
About that needed accuracy: Binder completed 19 of 29 passes.
And the desired yards-after-the-catch: Turner caught five passes and turned them into 168 yards and touchdowns of 77 and 59 yards. He almost outgained Walker Valley’s entire offense, which managed 193 total yards.
Williams snagged 10 passes and piled up 153 yards and touchdowns of 68 and 33 yards. Williams also scored on a 12-yard reverse run around left end. Williams came close to matching the Mustangs’ offense as well, putting up 165 total yards.
Most of Binder’s attempts were short-range throws that Turner and Williams caught and then found open space in the Mustangs’ secondary.
“Brody got the ball where he needed it to be to allow those receivers to run, and they made some big plays,” Bryan said.
Binder’s passing total of 379 yards fell short of the school record 420 yards set by Jeremy Woods in a 28-25 loss to Smyrna in the 2006 playoff semifinals.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do,” Binder said. “We wanted to get the ball in our faster guys’ hands and they made plays for us. They gave Mike man coverage all night and we took advantage of that.”
Indeed.
The second-ranked Owls, according to the latest murphyfair.com poll, amassed 512 yards of total offense and methodically pounded the Mustangs with aerials haymakers and an effective running attack (133 yards) as they won their sixth straight game after a 58-47 loss to Siegel on Aug. 30.
Brody’s passing yards surpassed Walker Valley’s offense by 186 yards.
Combine the Turner and Williams yardage and they outgained the Mustangs by 128 yards, and the Owls (7-1, 4-0) were playing without stud running back Desmond Pittman – a senior with almost 1,000 yards rushing – for the second straight week.
Amari Kendrick led Ooltewah’s rushing attack with 77 yards on 10 carries.
Edward Hayes scored the Owls’ other touchdown on a 2-yard run.
Following Ooltewah’s first touchdown, Binder’s 68-yard hook-up with Williams with 7:49 left in the first quarter, the Mustangs (3-4, 0-3) got a 96-yard kickoff return from Colton Morrow all the way to the Owls’ 2. Two plays later Morrow scored.
However, Binder struck right back with his 33-yard fade into the end zone that Williams leaped and caught over a Walker Valley defensive back just inside the sideline boundary to give the Owls a 14-7 lead.
Shortly before halftime, Binder was flagged for intentionally grounding the ball while under duress from the Mustangs’ defense, moving the ball back to the Owls’ 23. On third-and-a-country-mile, Binder found Turner on a slant and the speedy junior zipped past Walker Valley defenders and jetted into the end zone on a 77-yard strike.
The Owls led 21-7 at the break.
Ooltewah forced Walker Valley, backed up to its 13, to punt and Binder set up shop at the Mustangs’ 39. On a fourth-and-three, Binder threw to Hayes for a 20-yard gain. Three plays later Hayes scored from the 2, pushing the margin to 28-7.
The Mustangs’ faced a fourth-and-one from their 29 on the next possession, but Ooltewah’s Hayes knifed through blockers and tripped up Chandler Hunt for no gain.
“I thought our defense played great all night,” Bryan said. “(Defensive back) Rashaun Freeman was all over the place and did a great job. Jeremiah got a messed up ankle and had to come out, but John Morgan, a senior, came in and did a great job.”
Freeman had 15 tackles, 11 of them solo stops. Morgan had seven and six were solos.
“In practice coaches told me I should have a good game tonight and I just tried to play the best I can,” Freeman said. “They run the wing-T and with the defense we play, coach put me in position to make some plays. I thought the whole defense played great.”
After Hayes’ big defensive stop, Binder needed just two plays to put another score on the boards. Hayes took care of it on a reverse from 11 yards out and he got a great block in the backfield by David Nobles.
Walker Valley scored on Hunt’s 3-yard run and Ooltewah capped the game scoring when Binder found Turner on a third-and-10, a touchdown play of 59 yards with 5:33 left.
“The bottom line is that it was another district win against a quality opponent and we feel good about that,” Bryan said.
He wasn’t overly pleased with the team’s kicking game of special team play.
The Owls failed to recover a game-opening “Pooch” kickoff by the Mustangs. They had a roughing-the-punter penalty that kept a drive alive, at least momentarily. They gave up the 96-yard kickoff return.
“I don’t know where that came from,” Bryan said. “It’s something we’ve got to work on.”
In addition to not having Pittman, standout linebacker Jeremiah Jackson suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and left the field on crutches. In the fourth quarter, David Strickland, another defensive sparkplug, was flagged for a personal foul and ejected.
After an open date next week, the Owls travel to Cleveland (5-3, 3-1) for a game that district title implications. The Blue Raiders defeated rival Bradley Central, 21-20.
Clearly, the Owls had to share the stage with Smith’s jersey retirement ceremony at halftime.
The 6-foot-2-inch, 243-pounder got plenty of pats on the back, hugs from old friends and coaches, and took a lot of time prior to the halftime ceremony starting to autographs shirts and other items for adoring fans.
“I’ve been reminiscing about good times I had on this field,” said Smith, a Tennessee Mr. Football finalist in 2008 and 2009, something that played a big role in his being selected to Parade and USA Today All-America teams.
“It’s crazy how fast time goes by, but I’ve got a lot of great memories about my time here,” he said. “I remember always going in the locker room on Thursday after our last practice of game weeks and coach (Benny) Monroe always saying, ‘Fellas, this is the time of your life and you’re making memories.’ Now those memories are made and I’ll have them forever.”
Smith recalled that when he was “a kid,” a group of boys would play tackle football while keeping an eye on the Owls’ game being played on Jim Jarvis Field.
“I remember the Owls were playing Dobyns-Bennett in the playoffs, and they lost that game, I knew I wanted to do something special here and it was one of my goals that I had to play for the Owls,” he said. “Sure enough my dream came true and here after a lot of blood, sweat and tears I’m running through the ‘T’ at Tennessee. It’s a real blessing.
“Tonight, I’m glad to be home.”
The Jacques Smith File
At Ooltewah High School
2008 Region 2-5A Most Valuable Player
2009 District 5-AAA Player of the Year
Two-time all-state player
2008 and 2009 Mr. Football Award finalist
2009 U.S. Army All-American game
2009 – First Team USA Today All-American
2009 – First Team Parade All-American
No. 1 prospect in state by Knoxville News-Sentinel; No. 1 prospect, No. 6 weakside defensive end in state by Rivals.com; member of PrepStar Top 150 Dream Team; had 159 tackles, 49 tackles for loss, 22.5 sacks, four forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries his junior and senior years.
Smith was also a state champion in track and field, wrestled and played basketball at Ooltewah
At the University of Tennessee
2010 All-SEC Freshman team
Played in all 37 games – starting 14 – for Tennessee from 2010-12 before missing two games this season with a broken thumb. He’s now played in 41 games in his college career, with 16 starts.
SUMMARY
Walker Valley 7 0 0 7 – 14
Ooltewah 14 7 14 7 – 42
First Quarter
OL – Mike Williams 68 pass from Brody Binder (Laslo Toser kick), 7:49
WV – Colton Morrow 1 run (Skyler Swafford kick), 7:18
OL – Williams 33 pass from Binder (Toser kick), 4:49
Second Quarter
OOL – Anthony Turner 77 pass from Binder (Toser kick), 1:41
Third Quarter
OL – Edward Hayes 2 run (Toser kick), 7:28
OL – Williams 12 run (Toser kick), 4:34
Fourth Quarter
WV – Chandler Hunter 3 run (Kevin Sebany kick), 10:59
OL – Turner 59 pass from Binder (Toser kick), 5:33
YARDSTICK
WAL OOL
First Downs 12 18
Rushes-Yards 49-163 30-133
Passing Yards 30 379
Total Yards 62-193 59-512
Com.-Att.-Int. 2-13-1 19-29-0
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-1
Punts.-Avg. 5-30.6 3-31.3
Penalties-Yds. 3-32 11-108
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING — Walker Valley: Colton Morrow 19-69, Holt Spencer 5-39, Alex King 10-31, Johnathan Davis 1-28, Chandler Hunter 7-18, Tanner Dillard 1-3, Cory Cook 6-minus 25; Ooltewah: Amari Kendrick 10-77, Edward Hayes 10-49, Mike Williams 1-12, Brandon Byrd 4-8, Travis Williams 1-minus 2.
PASSING — Walker Valley: Cook 2-13-1-30; Ooltewah: Binder 19-29-0-379.
RECEIVING — Walker Valley: Cooper Melton 1-27, Hunt 1-3; Ooltewah: Anthony Turner 5-168, Williams 10-153, Hayes 3-53, Hayden Bradley 1-5.
TACKLES (UA-A) – Walker Valley: Brice Gibson 4-1 5, Dillard 4-0 4, Hunter Newport 4-0 4; Ooltewah – Sashaun Freeman 11-4 15, John Morgan 6-1 7, Nick Putman 5-1 6, David Strickland 5-1 6, Adrian Hall 5-1 6, Alonzo Blackwell 4-2 6.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com)