The high school football season hasn’t started off exactly how teams from Hixson and Ooltewah would have preferred as both lost their first two games.
Things had to change on Friday night at Hixson’s Anthony S.Martino Field and that honor goes to the host Wildcats.
Hixson’s offense was clicking on all cylinders in the first half as they scored on five of their seven possessions for a commanding 37-0 lead at the break en route to a 43-12 victory over the Owls.
Both teams have been slowed by early-season injuries, but Hixson seemed to do a better job of making the best of the situation as they collected 285 of their 342 total yards in the first half, making the second half fly by as the mercy rule was used and there was a running clock the whole time.
Hixson coach Nick Rivers was just happy to see his kids put together a total performance and they were well-rewarded for their effort.
“I thought we came out ready to play as we were locked in from the opening snap,” Rivers began.
“I thought we had a good week of practice and the guys had a meeting among themselves, knowing that we hadn’t played well in the first two games. But I think we put it together tonight and I hope we’re over the hump. They’ve stayed upbeat from the start and they hold each other accountable, but we just keep getting better as the season progresses. The good news is that we got some younger kids a little playing time tonight,” he added.
Ooltewah coach Goose Manning has one of his youngest teams ever. He surely wasn’t happy with the way things started, but liked the way they finished as they scored two touchdowns in the second half.
“We came out as flat as any football team I’ve ever seen and we can’t afford to play like that against good teams like Hixson,” he began.
“We didn’t perform like we should as we have to play better, but I thought we made good progress in the final three minutes. We just have to keep working,” he nodded.
Hixson didn’t waste any time taking the lead as the Wildcats marched 56 yards in seven plays, taking three minutes off the clock before A.D. Stewart scored on a run from the 7. A pass from Chase Barnard to Ron Suttles had the Wildcats on their way before the Owls got settled in.
After an exchange of punts, Hixson doubled the lead when junior quarterback Luke Finch hooked up with Suttles for a TD from the 8 with Finch adding the conversion run.
And then on Hixson’s next possession early in the second quarter, Finch hooked up with Ryan Burney on a 35-yard TD, Finch’s conversion pass to Xavier Shepard making it 24-0.
Tanner Smith recovered a Hixson fumble to slow the Wildcat train for a minute, but they were back in business following another Ooltewah punt when Stewart scored on a run from the 8. The three-play drive used just 62 seconds with the big play being a 47-yard pass from Finch to Rikeyon Burney that moved the ball from the 42 down to the 11.
The Hixson defense again held the Ooltewah offense, but on fourth down Griffin Patterson elected to run instead of punt and that wasn’t such a good idea as he was nailed for a 10-yard loss, giving the ball back to the Wildcats at the 23 with just 3.3 seconds before halftime.
Finch took advantage as he connected with Tramell Davis Jr. on a 23-yard strike to make the lead 37-0 as the halftime horn sounded.
The second half was over in a hurry as there was a running clock the whole time, but that’s when the Owls had their most success on offense.
Sam Martin connected with Brock Smallen on a 30 yard pass to avoid the shutout and Jay Horne added a 10-yard scoring run with just over four minutes to play.
Zarmane Stoudmire took advantage of some playing time in the second half to score Hixson’s final TD on a two-yard run.
Hixson finished with 342 total yards, including 200 through the air and 142 on the ground.
Finch completed nine of 12 passes that included TDs of 8, 35 and 23 yards with Rikeyon Burney’s 78 yards on two catches leading the Hixson receivers. Davis had 45 yards on two grabs while Ryan Burney had 35 yards on one.
Santana Sharp was the leading rusher for Hixson with 35 yards on six attempts while Finch added 34 yards on five trips. Stewart also had 31 yards while Stoudmire had 28 on six attempts.
Ooltewah finished with 211 total yards, including 107 on the ground and 104 through the air.
Horne was the leading rusher with 59 yards on five trips while Patterson was the leading receiver with 64 yards on three catches. Martin ended the game with six completions in 13 attempts for 104 yards and the one TD.
Ooltewah will be at home next week to host Knoxville Central while Hixson will play at Signal Mountain.
SUMMARY
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OOLTEWAH
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0
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0
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6
|
6
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--12
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|
HIXSON
|
16
|
21
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0
|
6
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-- 43
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HIX – Ad Stewart 7 run (Chase Barnard pass to Ron Suttles), 8:54 left in first;
HIX – Suttles 8 pass from Luke Finch (Finch run), 3:21 left in first;
HIX – Ryan Burney 35 pass from Finch (Xavier Shepard pass from Lynch), 10:07 left in second;
HIX – Stewart 8 run (Zechariah Nash kick), 1:20 left in second;
HIX – Tramel Davis Jr. 23 pass from Finch (run failed); 0:00 left in second;
OOL – Brock Smallen 30 pass from Sam Martin (pass failed), 4:10 left in third;
HIX – Zarmane Stoudmire 2 run (kick failed), 9:38 left in fourth;
OOL – Jay Horne 10 run (pass failed), 4:15 left in fourth.
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STATS
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OOL
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HIX
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First Downs
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10
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15
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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29-107
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26-142
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|
Passing Yards
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104
|
200
|
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Total yards
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211
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342
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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6-13-0
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9-12-0
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Punts-Average
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4-34.0
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1-38.0
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Fumbles-Lost
|
1-0
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1-1
|
|
Penalties-Yards
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4-30
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2-15
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INDIVIDUAL STATS:
OOLTEWAH RUSHING: Jay Horne 5 for 59 yards and one TD; Asa McMillon 3 for 18; Kaiden Douglas 4 for 18.
OOLTEWAH RECEIVING: Griffin Patterson 3 for 64 yards and one TD; Brock Smallen 2 for 34 yards.
OOLTEWAH PASSING: Sam Martin 6 of 13 for 104 yards and one TD.
HIXSON RUSHING: Santana Sharp 6 for 35 yards; A.D. Stewart 5 for 31 yards and two TDs; Luke Finch 5 for 34 yards; Zarmane Stoudmire 6 for 28 yards and one TD.
HIXSON RECEIVING: Rikeyon Burney 2 for 78 yards; Tramell Davis Jr. 2 for 45 yards and one TD; Ryan Burney 1 for 35 and one TD; Ron Suttles 1 for 8 yards and one TD.
HIXSON PASSING: Luke Finch 9 of 12 for 200 yards with three TDs and no interceptions.
(Email John Hunt at nomarathonmoose@gmail.com)