CLEVELAND, Tenn. — Rallying from a halftime deficit, fifth-ranked Cleveland continued its best start in 18 seasons with a hard-fought state-ranked battle with No. 12 (5A) Rhea County Friday evening.
After a trio of lead changes in the opening 24 minutes Coach Chandler Tygard's second Blue raider squad trailed 17-10 at the Homecoming halftime festivities, but turned things around quickly in the third quarter with a pair of scores in just over six minutes.
After both teams found the end zone in the final frame, Cleveland moved to 5-0 on the season with a 31-24 victory.
The Raiders will try to ties Coach Danny Wilson's second squad's 6-0 start in 2006 when they travel to Red Bank Friday this week.
The Lions, who are tied for 18th in this week's Class 4A poll, upset previously unbeaten and eighth-ranked Signal Mountain 24-13 Friday.
Now 2-2 on the campaign, Rhea County will travel to No.
7 Walker Valley (4-1, 1-0) for a key Region 4-5A tangle this week.
Coach Taylor Harvey's first Golden Eagle squad got off to a strong start Friday, forcing a Cleveland turnover when Keshawn Smith picked off a pass on the game's fourth play from scrimmage.
Taking over on their own 29, Rhea made it to the edge of the Red Zone in eight plays, but had to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Austun Fugate to open the game's scoring.
After the ensuing kickoff, the Raiders were able to answer by overcoming a trio of penalties that back them up 25 yards on the following possession with big defensive lineman AJ Westfield pounding the ball into the end zone on the 10th play from two yards out.
Sloan Bolaños booted the first of his four extra points on the night with 3:17 left in the opening quarter.
Bolaños added a 25-yard field on the next Cleveland possession, but the boys from Evensville responded with a pair of second quarter scores by QB Caleb Carr on short runs to regain the advantage before the halftime horn blew.
Although Rhea County received the second half kickoff, it was Cleveland's time for a key takeaway, stripping the ball free on the third play with Jay'un Smith pouncing on it at the Eagle 28.
Five plays later Isaiah Davis scored from a yard out and then just over four minutes later capped the following Raider possession with a 59-yard dash to paydirt.
Forcing a pair of Eagle punts, the hosts capped their scoring with their third TD in as many second half series when Westfield bulled in from four yards out on the third play of the final frame and Bolaños' kick made it a 31-17 difference.
Not willing to surrender, Rhea County needed just eight plays to go 80 yards after the ensuing kickoff, with Carr connecting with Aiden Wilkerson on an 11-yard scoring strike. Fugate was split the uprights with 8:09 left to pull the visitors within striking distance.
After the Eagle defense got a big sack from Kaden Knox on a fourth-down play to regain possession, the Rhea offense went back to work.
Taking over on their own 36 and once again drove to the edge of the Red Zone, where Cleveland defenders Brayden Carroll and Smith combined to throw a swing pass receiver for a four-yard loss on a fourth-and-4 play to end the threat with two minutes remaining.
Davis lead the Raider offense with 157 yards on 27 carries, plus he caught a five-yard pass.
Running several "Wildcat" plays, Carroll put up 73 yards on just seven rushed, while Reggie Hubbard III broke off a key 32-yard run.
Smith finished with a pair of runs for 14 yards, a 19-yard catch, plus a 21-yard completion to Trent Collins on a flea-flicker pass.
Averaging 7.7 yards a carry, Cleveland gained 277 of their 385 offensive yards on the ground.
Carr paced the Rhea offense, completing 13-of-19 passes for 184 yards, plus carrying the ball five times for 14 yards, including a pair of TDs.
Both Chauncey Odum and Mason Ford carried the ball 15 times for 59 and 52 yards respectively.
Wilkerson pulled in seven receptions for 69 yards and a score, while Odum snatched a trio of aerials for 56 yards.
GAME SUMMARY
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RHEA COUNTY
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3
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14
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0
|
7
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--24
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|
CLEVELAND
|
7
|
3
|
14
|
7
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-- 31
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First Quarter
RC — Austun Fugate 37-yd field goal, 6:27
C — AJ Westfield 2-yd run (Sloan Bolaños kick), 3:17
Second Quarter
C — Bolaños 25-yd field goal, 11:51
RC — Caleb Carr 1-yd run (Fugate kick), 6:49
RC — Carr 5-yd run (Fugate kick), :16.7
Third Quarter
C — Isiah Davis 1-yd run (Bolaños kick), 9:42
C — Davis 59-yd run (Bolaños kick), 5:53
Fourth Quarter
C — Westfield 4-yd run (Bolaños kick), 11:49
RC — Aiden Wilkerson 11-yd pass from Carr (Fuguate kick), 8:09
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STATS
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RC
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C
|
|
First Downs
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19
|
18
|
|
Rushes-Yards
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39-134
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36-277
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|
Passing Yards
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184
|
108
|
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Total yards
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318
|
385
|
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Passing (Comp-Att-Int)
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13-19-0
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3-16-2
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|
Punts-Average
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3-35.3
|
0-0.00
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|
Fumbles-Lost
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3-1
|
1-0
|
|
Penalties-Yards
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5-30
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13-90
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Individual stats
Rushing: Chauncey Odum 15-59, Mason Ford 15-52, Caleb Carr 5-14 2 TDs, Ace Robinson 2-6, Aiden Wilkerson 2-4, Kaden Knox 1- -1 (RC); Isaiah Davis 21-157 2 TDs, Brayden Carroll 7-73, Reggie Hubbard III 1-32, Jay'un Smith 2-14 TD, AJ Westfield 3-5 2 TDs, Trent Collins 1-1, Chase Stephens 1- -8 (C).
Passing: Caleb Carr 13-19-0 184 TD (RC); Chase Stephens 5-9-1 58, Kason McGowan 3-6-1 28, Jay'un Smith 1-1-0 21 (C).
Receiving: Aiden Wilkerson 7-69 TD, Chauncey Odum 3-56, Tristen Odum 1-34, Mason Ford 1-21, Keshawn Smith 1-4 (RC); Reggie Hubbard III 2-25, Trent Collins 1-21, Jay'un Smith 1-19, Brayden Carroll 2-15, Sam Sartin 1-17,Isaiah Davis 1-5 (C).
Records: No. 12 (5A) Rhea County 2-2; No. 5 (6A) Cleveland 5-0.