Ooltewah safety Andrew Manning (13) defends East Hamilton wide receiver Sam Randolph during Friday night's high school football game at James N. Monroe Stadium. Manning had an interception and caught seven passes for 222 yards and a touchdown in the Owls' 47-0 victory.
photo by M.A Locke
Versatile Andrew Manning had 222 receiving yards on seven catches, Sincere Quinn rushed for four touchdowns and Ooltewah crushed rival East Hamilton 47-0 Friday night at James N. Monroe Stadium.
“Andrew is one of those rare players that can do everything well,” Owls coach Mac Bryan said. “He’s also our back-up quarterback.”
Manning handles long-snapping duties, holds on extra-point kicks, plays safety and is on the kickoff return unit, in addition to being one of the top receiver threats in the Chattanooga area.
“The only thing I did different tonight was long-snapping,” said Manning, who has 20 catches for 522 yards and four touchdowns.
“I give all the credit to my teammates and this was a great team win. We got back on our feet and we’re ready to go.”
Manning started the Owls’ scoring parade with a 69-yard bomb from Kyrell Sanford less than two minutes into the first quarter. That capped an 80-yard, four-play drive.
Late in the second quarter, Manning intercepted an East Hamilton pass and snagged two passes from Sanford for 12 and 51 yards to trigger an ensuing 73-yard drive. The second reception set up Quinn’s third TD, a10-yard scoring burst.
Manning grabbed a pass from Bryce Matthews and rambled to the Hurricanes’ 3 before being tackled as the first half ended.
“That’s just the way our passing game is set up,” Bryan said of Manning’s superlative contribution against the Hurricanes. “All of our receivers are reliable options, depending on what the defense does and quarterback reads.”
The Owls’ offense, which put up the second-most points ever against East Hamilton (Ooltewah won 51-7 in 2015), was clicking on all cylinders except for numerous nagging penalties.
“We wanted to be balanced,” Bryan said. “I think we ran the ball well and that’s because our offensive line did a great job up front. Sincere was explosive on the ground and we wanted to mix the throw in there and try to be 60-40 (run pass) or 50-50, depending on how the game went.”
The game went splendidly.
Quinn torched the Hurricanes with three other TD runs of 4, 37 and 2 yards and finished with 136 rushing yards on 16 carries while helping the Owls bounce back from back-to-back losses to Science Hill and Bradley Central, games in which they allowed a combined 104 points.
Friday’s effort gives Quinn 614 yards rushing on 59 carries and seven touchdowns on the season.
“I played pretty good tonight,” said Quinn, who burst onto the Owls’ football scene last season as a sophomore. “I couldn’t have done it without my line.”
Sanford picked the Hurricanes’ defense apart. He was 11 for 13 with 289 yards and the one touchdown to Manning.
Ooltewah (2-2) piled up 475 yards of total offense and had 371 at halftime. The Hurricanes’ offense was held to 61 yards – they were minus-5 yards in the second half -- as the Owls kept the heat on quarterback Jared Price throughout and harassed running back with solid tackling.
The Hurricanes’ longest offensive play was a 25-yard run by Jhaeden Smith in the second quarter.
Running back Tylan Cargle scored the other two Ooltewah touchdowns on runs of 5 and 1 yard.
Cargle’s first TD pushed the Owls’ lead to 26-0 in the second quarter. His second score was a gimme 1-yard burst, set up when Jaylin Rogers recovered a fumble at the East Hamilton 1-yard line.
The Owls’ seven impressive scoring drives covered 80, 40, 62, 66, 73 and 40 yards
Defensive back Elijah Wigfall intercepted two passes while Rogers, Tyler Henderson and William House were tackling machines in leading the Ooltewah defensive effort.
East Hamilton (1-3), which has been outscored 117-27 while suffering three straight defeats, made its deepest penetration into Ooltewah territory at the 17, but Manning ended that threat with his interception at the 1.
Ooltewah even mixed things up on its kickoffs. Freshman Braeden Haynes used the “Pooch Kick” several times and also kicked deep. He sent one into the end zone and the Hurricanes started once at their own 11.
“We’re trying to get better coverage with hang time,” Bryan said. “We’ve had some trouble with that. I thought we looked good both ways. You get them with that sky kick and then kick it deeps and change the rhythm of the kick. (Haynes) is going to be pretty good kicker.”
NOTES: Ooltewah defensive back Jake Sullivan did not play Friday due to a suspension that Bryan would not discuss. … East Hamilton running back Drako Wise limped off the field in the second quarter, but returned to the action a series later.
SCORING
East Hamilton 0 0 0 0 – 0
Ooltewah 19 14 14 0 – 47
First Quarter
OOL – Andrew Manning 69 pass from Kyrell Sanford (Braeden Haynes kick), 10:24
OOL – Sincere Quinn 4 run (run failed), 6:58
OOL – Quinn 37 run (pass failed), 2:54
Second Quarter
OOL – Tylan Cargle 5 run (Haynes kick), 11:26
OOL – Quinn 10 run (Haynes kick), 1:40
Third Quarter
OOL – Quinn 2 run (Haynes kick), 4:52
OOL – Ty. Cargle 1 run (Haynes kick), 1:45
(Contact Larry Fleming at larryfleming44@gmail.com and on Twitter @larryfleming44)