Keanu Johnson may have been dogged by a nagging injury, but a visibly-hobbled Johnson was still explosive enough to pull away from an eager Chattanooga Central defense. Operating as a wingback in East Ridge’s double-wing offense, the talented tailback torched Central all night long during East Ridge’s 48-34 win over the visiting Pounders.
Late in the third quarter, the Pioneer offense was faced with a rare third and long. Faced with this obstacle, East Ridge decided to give the ball to its best player. Keanu Johnson took the handoff following some elaborate faking and twirling from his quarterback Cameron Sanders. Johnson, and accelerated into the green grass ahead of him. Roaming to his right, the standout ball-carrier didn’t stop running until he settled down in the endzone, some 53 yards away.
Plays such as that were commonplace on the night. Benefiting from stellar blocking from stalwart left-tackle Shane Alford and the rest of his offensive line, Johnson ran with aplomb, gaining 256 yards and four scores using a mere 17 totes. His quarterback chipped in with 104 more, and the team as a whole gained over 500 yards on the ground.
East Ridge took a commanding 21 point lead in the first half by holding the Pounders scoreless. Two short Johnson scores and one Jaylen Boykins touchdown produced that score. While the Chattanooga Central offense failed to move the ball until Connor Tyler replaced regular starter Kevlin Mcghee. However, it took until the second half for Central’s spread attack to find it’s footing in East Ridge.
If the first half was the East Ridge show, then the second half gave both teams equal spotlight. After Boykin strutted in for another score, the Pounders pounced on a loose ball in the endzone for their first points of the game. They then recovered the ensuing kickoff when East Ridge mishandled the ball. After Johnson’s blistering run on third down, the Pioneers appeared to ice the game with a 37 yard whirly-bird special from Sanders.
Central refused to lay down and die though. Freshman revelation Donovan Smith took the proceeding kickoff nearly 100 yards for the score, and then tailback Michael Watson showed off some slippery moves of his own en-route to a 29 yard touchdown. On the score, he broke left, and seemingly coated with butter, slipped off of several tacklers with little effort.
Momentum was stopped soon after, when Pioneer cornerback Dejuan Morris jumped a route and picked off Tyler’s deep pass. Johnson put the proverbial nail in Central’s coffin on a 66 yard jaunt into the endzone, somehow outrunning the entire pioneer defense clearly being hobbled. Chattanooga Central added one final score via a Tyler to Donovan Smith touchdown pass, and that sequence essentially ended the game.
Scoring Summary
CHATT CENTRAL 0 0 14 20 -- 34
EAST RIDGE 14 7 14 14 -- 48
First Quarter
ER – Keanu Johnson 1 run ( Caleb Serrato kick)
ER – Jaylen Boykin 13 run ( Caleb Serrato kick)
Second Quarter
ER – Keanu Johnson 4 run ( Caleb Serrato kick)
Third Quarter
ER – Jaylen Boykin 13 run ( Caleb Serrato kick)
CC – Defense 1 Fumble Recovery ( Jameson Willard kick)
CC – Connor Tyler 4 pass to Michael Watson ( Jameson Willard kick)
ER – Keanu Johnson 53 run ( Caleb Serrato kick)
Fourth Quarter
ER – Cameron Sanders 37 run ( Caleb Serrato kick)
CC – Donovan Smith 100 Kick Off Return
CC – Michael Watson 29 run
ER – Keanu Johnson 66 run
CC – Connor Tyler 27 pass to Donovan Smith ( 2pt conversion good)
YARD STICK
CHATT CENTRAL EAST RIDGE
First Downs N/A N/A
Rushes/Yards 14-109 51-494
Passing 21-43-211 1-2-4
Total Yards 303 498
Fumbles/Lost 1-1 0-0
Punts N/A N/A
Penalties 11-115 14-140
INDIVIDUAL STATS
Rushing – ER: Keanu Johnson: 17-256-4, Jaylen Boykin: 12-84-2, Cameron Sanders: 11-104-1, Tyi Mosely: 9-47, Dejuan Morris: 2-3
Rushing – CC: Michael Watson: 5-32-1, Donovan Smith: 1-27, Noah Collins: 3-17, Hunter Jones: 3-17, Connor Tyler: 1-9, Kevlin Mcghee: 1-7
Passing – ER: Cameron Sanders: 1-2-4
Passing – CC: Tyler Connors: 15-29-129-2, Kevlin Mcghee: 6-14-82
Receiving – ER: Keanu Johnson: 1-4
Receiving – CC: Donovan Smith: 6-76-1, Michael Watson: 5-71-1, Chris Kouris: 2-28, Marquis Ray: 1-15, Noah Collins: 3-9, Hunter Jones 1-8, Jailon Jackson 1-4