East Hamilton's Jeffrey Coleman (6) scoots around Cleveland's Matt Hattabaugh (56) on a punt return Friday night. Coleman had a superb game with 7.5 tackles, five assists and an interception. He also returned four kickoffs for 119 yards and one punt for 29 yards in the Hurricanes' 18-15 loss.
photo by M.A. Locke
Cleveland built an 18-0 lead – the third score came on Skyler Davis’ 91-yard interception return in the third quarter – and then had to hold on as East Hamilton mounted a comeback that fell just short in the Blue Raiders’ 18-15 victory Friday night at East Hamilton.
Davis’ big defensive play gave the Blue Raiders the needed points to pull out the victory.
“That was great,” he said. “I read the keys, did everything I was supposed to do and all I had to do was do my thing. It was clear sailing to the end zone.”
The non-region triumph gave new Cleveland coach Scott Cummings his first win at the school. He coached Knoxville West to the 2014 Class 5A state championship before succeeding Ron Crawford as the Blue Raiders’ coach.
The Blue Raiders (1-1) were coming off a 26-6 loss to Sevier County in the season opener and now lead the series with East Hamilton, 2-1. Friday’s three-point margin was the largest of the three games, with the other two decided by two and one point.
“We were bad last week and I didn’t sugarcoat it from the kids because we knew we were bad,” Cummings said. “(Tonight) we did some great things in the first half, but just left so many plays and points out there and weren’t able to capitalize on the good offensive effort we were getting.
“For us to come out of this game with a win, we’ll definitely recognize that we were fortunate.”
East Hamilton coach Ted Gatewood saw his squad make a bundle of mistakes that prevented the Hurricanes from pulling out what would have been an impressive come-from-behind win.
“You can’t shoot your toes off like we did in the first half,” he said. “We’re club-footed right now. We have to keep grinding, keep working and stay positive with this because it’s just the second week of the season. We have to improve and fix a bunch of things.”
Cleveland grabbed a 3-0 first-quarter lead on Torian Beck’s 42-yard field goal that capped the game’s opening drive. The big play – Cleveland faced a third-and-11 – was a 16-yard run by sophomore running back Keegan Jones that, coupled with an East Hamilton facemask penalty, moved the Blue Raiders to the Hurricanes’ 21.
In the second quarter, Cleveland’s defense forced East Hamilton to punt from its own 29 and the Blue Raiders set up shop at the Hurricanes’ 47.
On third-and-7, junior quarterback Jashawn Hill broke loose for a 43-yard run to the East Hamilton 1 and Hill scored on the next play. Romeo Wykle ran for a two-point conversion and the Blue Raiders were up 11-0 with 8:37 left in the first half.
The two teams exchanged punts and East Hamilton methodically drove 77 yards to the Cleveland 3, but on fourth down the Hurricanes were forced to try a 19-yard field goal.
The snap was low, holder Andrew Sturdivant bobbled the ball and place-kicker Jake McClure kicked the ball while it was still on the ground and tilted away from him. The low kick banged into the lower leg of East Hamilton offensive lineman with 20 seconds on the clock.
The Hurricanes had first possession in the third quarter and were driving again.
With the line of scrimmage at Cleveland’s 6, junior quarterback Nick Woods fired a pass into the left flat and Davis stepped in front of the intended receiver for the pick and wound up in the end zone, pushing the Blue Raiders’ lead to 18-0 after Beck’s extra point kick.
“That was my first interception and first touchdown,” Davis said. “It gave us a good lead, but (East Hamilton) came back on us. We had a lot of mistakes, stupid mistakes, but all we have to do is correct them, move on and come back next week.”
Cummings was feeling pretty good with a three-score advantage, thanks to Davis’ defensive heroics.
“That was a great feeling,” he said. “We were in a little bit of trouble there and if he doesn’t make the play, with this young football team, we’re going to have a problem with a momentum thing and we might have gone in the tank.”
East Hamilton came to life in the third quarter, thanks to a 37-yard return by Jeffery Coleman on the ensuing kickoff.
On third-and-2 from the Hurricanes’ 45, Woods hit Jordan Gorman on a long 48-yard bomb to the Cleveland 7. The Hurricanes lost back to the 16 and Woods connected with Coleman for a touchdown strike on third down. McClure added the PAT and East Hamilton was within 18-7.
On their next possession, starting on Cleveland’s 37, the Hurricanes faced a third-and-19 from the 46 and Tyler Blum snagged a short pass from Woods over the middle and turned it into a 39-yard gainer to the Blue Raiders’ 7.
Two plays later Woods sneaked in from the 1 for the touchdown. Woods flipped a pass to Graham Ford for the two-point conversion and the Hurricanes were within 18-15 with 11:16 left in the game.
Cleveland later drove to East Hamilton’s 5, but Coleman came up with a clutch interception of a deflected pass at the goal line and returned it to the 39.
“It was a pretty big play,” the 5-foot-10-inch Coleman said. “Our defense talked at the half and knew we had to make some plays. That was just instinct when I made the interception. I knew we had to get the ball back to the offense and give them a chance to score.”
Said Gatewood, “We needed to take advantage of Jeffrey’s play, but once again we had a mental bust. You just can’t make mental mistakes. We have to quit doing it.”
But the ensuing Hurricanes drive went nowhere and the Hurricanes turned the ball over on downs when Woods was sacked on fourth down.
While the Blue Raiders were enjoying the close win, East Hamilton players were slowly leaving the field, clearly disappointed.
“It’s a pretty tough loss, I won’t lie,” Coleman said. “We came out slow, but came back and fought hard. I’m proud of every guy out here.”
Asked how he’ll approach next week’s practice for Sequoyah, Gatewood said, “The biggest thing for us as coaches it to make sure we’re not asking a young person to do something they’re not capable of doing. We have to evaluate ourselves as a coaching staff.
“If the players can’t do some of the things we’re asking of them, then the coaches have to change. It’s not the players’ fault.”
The two teams combined for 18 penalties and 145 yards of backward movement. The Blue Raiders lost two fumbles and the Hurricanes one. Each defense had an interception.
East Hamilton gained just 49 yards on the ground and Cleveland put up just 50 yards passing. Keegan Jones was the game’s leading rusher with 117 yards on 17 carries.
Cleveland 3 8 7 0 – 18
Ooltewah 0 0 7 8 – 15
First Quarter
CL – FG Torian Beck 42, 4:53
Second Quarter
CL – Jashawn Hill 1 run (Romeo Wykle run), 8:37
Third Quarter
CL – Skyler Davis 91 interception return (Beck kick), 6:47
EH – Jeffrey Coleman 16 pass from Nick Woods (Jake McClure kick), 3:41
Fourth Quarter
EH – Woods 1 run (Graham Ford pass from Woods), 11:16
YARDSTICK
CL EH
First Downs 8 11
Rushes-Yards 37-184 27-49
Passing Yards 50 194
Total Yards 44-234 56-243
Comp-Att-Int 4-7-1 15-29-1
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-1
Punts-Avg 3-39 4-32
Penalties-Yds 10-75 8-70
INDIVIDUAL
RUSHING – Cleveland: Keegan Jones 17-116, Jashawn Hill 9-45, Romeo Wykle 7-14, Micaleous Elder 3-11, Carson Check 1-minus 2; East Hamilton: David Whiteside 14-46, Huichan Yun 2-14, Andrew Sturdivant 5-11, Jeffrey Coleman 1-4, Nick Woods 5-minus 26.
PASSING – Cleveland: Hill 4-7-1 50; East Hamilton: Woods 15-29-1 194.
RECEIVING – Cleveland: Davis 1-53, Landon Allison 1-3, Jones 1-minus 1, Treasure Johnson 1-minus 5; East Hamilton: Hunter Gregg 5-57, Jordan Gorman 2-44, Tyler Blum 3-43, Christian Smith 1-25, Coleman 1-15, Whiteside 3-10.
(E-mail Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and follow him on Twitter @larryfleming44)
Cleveland defender Skyler Davis (1) chases down East Hamilton running back David Whiteside in their non-region football game Friday night. Davis had a 91-yard interception return for a touchdown that proved to be the game-winner in the Blue Raiders' 18-15 victory.
photo by M.A. Locke