A lot of celebrating took place at Soddy Daisy’s Robert Talaska Field Friday night.
It all started with the newly-installed artificial turf field and it followed with recognition of the Trojan wrestling team that went undefeated last season and won both the duals and traditional state championships.
And last, but certainly not least, the Trojans won a shootout football game with the Rhea County Golden Eagles, Soddy Daisy hanging on by a thread to win 49-42 for first-year head coach Josh Owensby’s first win in a game that took almost three and a half hours to play.
Want to talk about the crowd getting their money’s worth?
There was an awful lot of offense and plenty of big plays on both sides while the defense for both teams seemed to take the evening off.
But when the last whistle had finally blown, it was a positive start for Owensby and his Trojans.
“We took over this program in early January and have worked their tails off ever since, but we just wanted them to trust the process and they have done that since the first day,” Owensby said following the game.
“We just beat a good football team, the same one that beat us 34-0 last year. But we got two big touchdowns off of turnovers in the second half and won by seven, so we didn’t quit. We still have a lot of work to do, but you have to feel good about this one,” he added.
While Owensby was a happy fellow afterward, the same couldn’t be said for Taylor Harvey, who suffered a tough loss in his first game ever as a head coach.
“Losing a game like this really stinks,” he said shortly after the last play had been run.
“I thought we ran the ball well and our quarterback hit some nice shots down the field, but we also gave up 49 points and had too many penalties. We have to grow up from a game like this.
“I feel like we have the chance to be a pretty good football team, but we have to put a better product on the field than what we did tonight,” he added.
After each team traded punts on the first two possessions, Soddy Daisy drew first blood when quarterback Tucker Ross scored on a keeper from the 7 with 3:29 left in the opening stanza. Calum Williams booted the extra point for a 7-0 lead, but that was only a glimpse of the offensive fireworks that were to follow.
The scrappy quarterback finished the game with 62 yards on 21 carries and TDs on runs of 7,5,1 and 2 yards in addition to a two-point conversion run.
Gage Welch was Soddy Daisy’s leading rusher with 82 yards on a dozen trips and TDs of 17 and 23 yards, including the first with 15.4 seconds left in the first half that allowed the Trojans to take a 21-14 lead into the dressing room at intermission.
While there was plenty of excitement in the first two quarters, the third quarter was like nothing anybody had ever witnessed before as each team scored two touchdowns in the first four minutes.
But in a game where the Trojans never trailed, the Golden Eagles kept the game close, despite losing a couple of fumbles in the second half that turned into two Soddy Daisy touchdowns that basically provided the difference in the game.
The third quarter was a disaster for Rhea as they fumbled the opening kickoff out of bounds at the 5. A lost fumble on the first play allowed Ross to score his second TD and the Golden Eagles were forced to play chase the rest of the game.
Senior Chauncey Odom, who led Rhea with 178 yards on 22 carries, took matters into his own hands following Soddy’s first score in the second half and had gains of 19 and 12 yards before scoring on a run from the 35.
The Golden Eagles stayed within striking distance the rest of the way, but they ran out of time before they could ever take the lead.
Soddy Daisy finished the game with 388 total yards, including 194 on the ground and another 194 through the air.
While Welch was the leading rusher with his 82 yards, he was also the leading receiver with three catches for 96 yards, including an 82-yarder from Ross that moved the ball from Soddy’s 15 to the Rhea 3 and setting up Ross’s third TD.
Rhea County finished with 432 total yards, including 300 on the ground and another 132 through the air.
While Odom had 178 yards rushing, Mason Ford added 136 yards on a dozen trips that included TDs of 5, 45 and 2 yards.
Soddy Daisy travels to Ooltewah next Friday for its next game while Rhea County will travel to Red Bank next week.
RHEA COUNTY 7 7 14 14 -- 42
SODDY DAISY 7 14 14 14 -- 49
SD – Tucker Ross 7 run (Callum Williams kick), 3:29 left in first;
RC – Mason Ford 5 run (Austun Fugate kick), :01.2 left in first;
SD – Aiden Hollis 56 pass from Bryce Yother (Williams kick), 11:49 left in second;
RC – Chauncey Odom 4 run (Fugate kick), 7:45 left in second;
SD – Gage Welch 17 run (Williams kick), :15.4 left in second;
SD – Ross 5 run (kick failed), 11:46 left in third;
RC – Odom 35 run (Fugate kick), 10:32 left in third;
SD – Ross 1 run (Ross run), 9:23 left in third;
RC – Ford 45 run (Fugate kick), 8:22 left in third;
SD – Welch 23 run (Williams kick), 11:52 left in fourth;
RC – Aiden Wilkerson 44 pass from Caleb Carr (Fugate kick), 9:53 left in fourth;
SD – Ross 2 run (Williams kick), 5:20 left in fourth;
RC – Ford 2 run (Fugate kick), 3:30 left in fourth.
TEAM STATS: RHEA CO. SODDY DAISY
FIRST DOWNS 17 19
RUSHES-YARDS 35-300 51-194
PASSING YARDS 132 194
PASSES (Comp-Att-Int) 9-16-0 7-8-0
TOTAL YARDS 432 388
PENALTIES-YARDS 7-70 8-85
FUMBLES-LOST 2-2 0-0
PUNTS-AVERAGE 1-20.O 3-30.0
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS:
RHEA CO. RUSHING: Chauncey Odom 22 for 178 yards and TDs of 4 and 35 yards; Mason Ford 12 for 136 yards and TDs of 5,45 and 2 yards.
RHEA CO. RECEIVING: Aiden Wilkerson 6 for 113 yards and one TD.
RHEA CO. PASSING: Caleb Carr 9 for 16 for 132 yards and one TD.
SODDY DAISY RUSHING: Gage Welch 12 for 82 yards and TDs of 17 and 23 yards; Tucker Ross 21 for 62 yards and TDs of 7, 5, 1 and 2 yards; Logan Alexander 7 for 24 yards; Sean Collison 3 for 18 yards.
SODDY DAISY RECEIVING: Gage Welch 3 for 96 yards; Aiden Hollis 2 for 67 yards and one TD of 56 yards; Coulter Johnson 1 for 33 yards.
SODDY DAISY PASSING: Tucker Ross 7 of 8 for 194 yards and one TD of 56 yards.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)