It was Homecoming at East Ridge High School and Raymond James Stadium Friday night, and in a postgame gathering with players, cheerleaders, other students and fans, East Ridge head football coach Tracy Malone reminded his team of what lay before them.
“No East Ridge team has ever been a perfect 10-0 in regular season and you can do that next Friday with a win (against Chattanooga Christian), claim the region title and secure home field advantage for three rounds of the playoffs,” said Malone to the cheers of the orange, smoke gray and white clad fans and players surrounding him.
The Pioneers had just defeated Loudon (2-7), 27-8, in a non-region game to move to 9-0 and one step closer to 10-0.
Note: The 2001 East Ridge team also won 10 games ... was 10-2 and 9-1 in the regular season.
“Get lots of sleep the next few days and get ready for a big game next Friday.”
While Jonea Blair was crowned Homecoming Queen during halftime activities, running backs Lorenzo “Zo” Stewart (120 yards, 2 touchdowns) and Dominique Millener (one rushing score) took care of the game on the field either side of halftime and helped “Defend the Ridge” for the ninth time.
“We did not finish our drives tonight, we live and die too much on the big plays and we need to be more physical up front,” said coach Malone.
But all in all the smoky gray clad teenagers who have donned the helmet, pads and cleats for the Pioneers for nine Friday nights have carried coach Malone’s banner of “Defend the Ridge’ well and are 48 minutes from a perfect regular season.
While the offense produced three touchdowns and a pair of field goals (and three extra points) off the accurate foot of sophomore C.J Bond, the stout defense deserves plenty of credit for keeping the Redskin offense away from the Pioneer end zone with the exception of a 33 yard scoring drive in the third quarter.
The Pioneer defense forced Loudon to go three and out on four of its first five possessions of the game, and used an interception and a fourth down stop to end two other possessions to lead 21-0 at half.
Stewart scored on runs of 4 and 18 yards and Millener found the end zone from two yards out for the three first half scores. Leading rusher Traneil Moore did not dress due to some minor injuries, but will be in uniform next Friday.
Bond connected on his aforementioned pair of field goals in the final two quarters.
Region Title on the Line: Oct. 30 - Chattanooga Christian at East Ridge
CCS is 7-2 overall and 3-1 in region play has a high-powered offense scoring 50 or more points on three occasions (including a 76-17 victory against Grace Baptist Friday night) and has posted three shutouts.
The Pioneers have no shutouts, but have not allowed more than 14 points in any one game, and beat region foe Notre Dame (6-3, 3-1) on the road, while the Irish handed CCS its only region loss Sept.4.
Homecoming in Style: Thanks to the River City Corvette Club, the ladies in the Homecoming court entered the stadium in impressive looking Corvettes … and Chattanooga Florist on East Main Street provided the flowers for the ladies.
East Ridge 27, Loudon 8
Loudon 0 – 0 – 8 – 0 – 8
East Ridge 7 – 14 – 3 – 3 -- 27
contact B.B. Branton at william.branton@comcast.net