To call what the Soddy Daisy football team did to visiting Central Thursday night in a rousing 31-14 victory a death by a thousand cuts would be accurate, but it wouldn't do the dominance justice.
This was stick versus piñata. The last time someone crossed a river and came away bludgeoned this bad, someone penned our national anthem.
The Trojans ran 66 offensive plays to the Pounders 35. Of those plays, 59 of them came behind a senior-laden offensive line and produced 437 rushing yards with three different Soddy Daisy backs topping the 100-yard mark on the night.
The men of Troy had 37 rushes for five yards or more behind that line and faced only seven third downs all night and never once punted the ball. Five of the third downs were converted, one saw the chains moved on fourth down and the final one would have moved the sticks but resulted in one of four Trojan fumbles.
"That was the game plan. We were going to win this game behind our offensive line. Talked about it all week. That's a really good Central football team and we knew we had to keep the ball out of their hands to have a chance," said first-year Trojan boss Josh Owensby, his team now 4-1 and off to its best start in nine seasons.
"There hasn't been a defensive line we haven't dominated so far this year. That's what we do," added senior lineman Jonathan Davis, one of five senior starters on the front.
After an opening fumble on an eight-play drive which Central's Amarion Jenkins recovered, Soddy Daisy forced a punt and went to work again, previewing what was to come for the rest of the night. The Trojans went 70 yards on 13 plays with Gage Welch finishing the drive with an eight-yard burst on the first play of the second quarter for a 7-0 lead. The Pounders (2-3) and fresh off their big win against Tyner, started slow on offense with just 18 rushing yards in the first half , punting twice and throwing an interception in the end zone in three of their four first half possessions.
The one productive possession, though, was exactly what had kept Owensby awake at night this week as Caden Jones found Mr. Everything Ronye Watson on a 46-yard bomb on the first play after a Trojan fumble. The PAT was blocked by Keagen Hickman to make it 7-6.
"Central can score from everywhere with those guys, so we knew we had to limit those opportunities. I thought it was great we honored (former coach) Bill Price tonight and he was here because this was his kind of football," added Owensby.
And Price had to be impressed with how Soddy Daisy responded to the Pounder score, driving it 60 yards on eight straight runs up the middle with Alex Pinson keeping it from 10 yards away for the score. The Pounders only ran six plays in the second quarter, but the first play after the Trojans score was another big one, with Jones finding Houston Boykin on a 43-yard pass to take inside the Trojan 10. Welch made an acrobatic interception on the next play in the back of the end zone to thwart the opportunity and Soddy Daisy used every second of the final 3:15 to move it 55 yards which was just close enough for kicker Calum Williams to bang home a 42-yard field goal at the halftime buzzer for a 17-6 lead.
"That was a big swing for us. Calum was our unsung hero tonight with that field goal and then the onside kick in the second half. We had a lot of folks step up tonight. I hated that we fumbled it away four times, but you know what, we'll be handing it to those guys again next week. They lost balls fighting for every yard out the there, so I can live with that," said Owensby.
Both squads exchanged fumbles right out of the second half gate, but Central's Tredarius Stweart bailed the Pounders out inside the red zone when he fell on a fumble at the 18, and the Pounders responded with a 82-yard march in eight plays and Watson walked in untouched from the 5. A two-point conversion later and the Pounders were back in it at 17-14 with 6:13 left in the third.
But from that point on, Soddy Daisy imposed its will on every run it seemed. A 65-yard, 12-run play ended up with Tucker Ross in the end zone on the final play of the quarter on a two-yard score. On the first play of the final period, Aiden Hollis alertly pounced on a surprise onside kick and it took just three plays to cover the 48 yards. Welch bulldozed a defender into the end zone and just like that it was 31-14.
"I think we wore on them late in the game. That's what we do, and we're dedicated to it," said senior lineman Lake Renfroe.
The Trojans did not attempt a pass in the second half and wound up with 189 rushing yards in the final two periods. Gage finished with 155 yards on 12 carries, while Pinson added 121 on 18 and Ross another 113 on 19 totes behind a line of Davis, Renfroe, Chase Wilson, Jordy Dodd, JP Hancock and tight ends Karson McCoin and Anthony Lott as it looked like seven against five on the line of scrimmage battle.
Watson had 154 of Central's 284 total yards, rushing for 62 and catching six passes for 92. Boykin added five catches for a game-high 114 yards and Jones was 13 of 21 for 214 passing yards, but had two picks in the end zone.
Soddy Daisy will travel to rival Hixson next week with a chance to post a fifth win this early in the season for the first time since the 2008 team won seven of its first eight games.
"This week was all about Central. We have a big board and the region games are weighed heavily, but you are only guaranteed 10 games, so our focus was on Central and not the region game next week," admitted Owensby.
Central will try to rebound with a trip to Meigs County in another big region affair for them.
GAME SUMMARY
|
CENTRAL
|
0
|
6
|
8
|
0
|
--14
|
|
SODDY DAISY
|
0
|
17
|
7
|
7
|
-- 31
|
SD -- Gage Welch 8 run (Calum Williams kick) (11:53, 2nd)
C -- Ronye Watson 46 pass from Caden Jones (kick blocked ) (8:27, 2nd)
SD -- Alex Pinson 5 run (Calum Williams kick) (4:01, 2nd)
SD -- Calum Williams 42 field goal (0:00, 2nd)
C -- Ronye Watson 5 run (Houston Boykin pass from Caden Jones) (6:13, 3rd)
SD -- Tucker Ross 2 run (Calum Williams kick) (0:00, 3rd)
SD -- Gage Welch 18 run (Calum Williams kick) (10:50, 4th)
|
STATS
|
C
|
SD
|
|
First Downs
|
14
|
31
|
|
Rushes-Yards
|
15-53
|
59-437
|
|
Passing Yards
|
214
|
38
|
|
Total yards
|
2267
|
475
|
|
Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
|
13-21-2
|
3-7-0
|
|
Punts-Average
|
2-32.0
|
0-0.00
|
|
Fumbles-Lost
|
2-2
|
4-4
|
|
Penalties-Yards
|
6-38
|
8-90
|
Individual Stats
RUSHING: Ronye 11-62, Darron Kelly 1-4, Tevin Jackosn 1-0, Joseph Jefferson 1-4, Caden Jones 1(-17) (C); Gage Welch 12-155, Alex Pinson 18-121, Tucker Ross 19-113, Logan Alexander 6-36, Sean Collision 4-10 (SD).
PASSING: Caden Jones 13-21-2 214 yards (C); Alex Pinson 3-5-0 38 yards, Tucker Ross 0-2-0 0 yards (SD)
RECEIVING: Ronye Watson 6-82, Houston Boykin 5-114, Joseph Jefferson 2-8 (C); Tucker Gibson 2-25, Gage Welch 1-13 (SD).
RECORDS: Central (2-3), Soddy Daisy (4-1).
UP NEXT: Central at Meigs County and Soddy Daisy at Hixson.
(Contact James Beach at 1134james@gmail.com)