Saying a player “did it all” is sportswiting cliché at this point and a tired phrase given to just about any player who takes a few carries and doesn’t have hands of stone. But saying Ethan Davis “did it all” for Rhea County almost undersells his performance at Bear Stadium. Against an undefeated Bradley Central team, Davis piled up 463 total yards and five touchdowns in a wild 48-42 road win.
The first half of the game was a point-bonanza, with two epic scoring runs happening in each quarter.
During the first quarter, Ethan Davis took the ball 62 yards to the house on the first play from scrimmage. After almost eight minutes of scoreless football, four touchdowns were scored in the span of two minutes. Wayne Drayton capped off this spectacular sequence with a 74 yard kickoff return to answer Davis’ 71 yard score.
Hunter Crowe took to the end zone from 25 yards out and Davis had another 24 yarder to give Rhea County a sizable 35-14 lead. But after Jackson Wilson punched in a pair of scores and Gage Anderson nailed Rhea quarterback Kaleb Martin in the endzone, the score read 35-30 at halftime.
The scoring slowed down considerably in the second half, with the Bears taking a 42-35 lead in the fourth quarter after quarterback Aiden McCleary ran for 38 and three yard scores. Davis saved the best for last though, as the halfback with 284 rushing yards ran for a 17 yard touchdown to tie the game.
Then with 1:23 left on the clock, the run-heavy Eagles took to the sky. They may have completed only three passes all day, but the visitors saved one of their three completions for when it really counted. Martin lofted a pass to his superstar Ethan Davis, and the running back did the rest and gave his team a 48-42 lead it would not relinquish.
Rhea County improves to 7-2, while Bradley Central goes to 8-1.
GAME SUMMARY/STATISTICS
RHEA: 21 14 00 13 - 48
BRADLEY: 14 16 06 06 - 42
SCORING SUMMARY:
First Quarter:
RC Davis 62yd run (11:46)
RC Mayberry 9yd run (4:04)
BC McCleary 55yd pass to Terry (3:03)
RC Davis 71yd run (2:15)
BC W. Drayton 74yd K/O return (2:06)
Second Quarter:
RC Crowe 25yd run (10:37)
RC Davis 24yd run (5:47)
BC Wilson 20yd run (2:32)
BC G. Anderson safety (1:38)
BC Wilson 1yd run (0:07)
Third Quarter:
BC McCleary 38yd run (4:27)
Fourth Quarter:
BC McCleary 3yd run (9:52)
RC Davis 17yd run (5:44)
RC Martin 66yd pass to Davis (1:23)
STATISTICS:
RHEA BRADLEY
FIRST DOWNS: 24 23
RUSHING YARDS: 406 216
PASSING YARDS: 120 268
PASSING: 3-6-0 15-26-2
TOTAL YARDS: 526 484
INDIVIDUAL STATS:
RUSHING:
RHEA RUSHING: Ethan Davis 29-284-4, Briley Mayberry 12-65-1, Hunter Crowe 3-29, Caleb Odell 2-16, Kaleb Martin 5-15, Team 1-(-3)
BRADLEY RUSHING: Jackson Wilson 21-98-2, Aiden McCleary 14-92-2, J’Alan Terry 3-26
PASSING:
RHEA PASSING: Kaleb Martin 3-6-120yds-1td
BRADLEY PASSING: Aiden McCleary 15-25-268yds-1td-2ints
RECEIVING:
RHEA RECEIVING: Ethan Davis 2-95-1, Briley Mayberry 1-25
BRADLEY RECEIVING: Jackson Wilson 5-71, Marcus Goree Jr. 4-96, Tyler Duggan 3-29, J’Alan Terry 2-64-1, Karter Howard 1-8, Finn Mertens 1-0