Ooltewah Remains Undefeated with 37-7 Win
The Ooltewah Owls improved their record to 3-0 overall and 2-0 in region play with a 37-7 win over visiting William Blount.
Owl kicker John Long hit three field goals in the win.
Kevin Adams scored on a fumble recovery in the first half and Long split the uprights on a 28 yard field goal.
In the second half, Long hit field goals of 21 and 25 yards.
Senior Josh Harrison returned a fumble for a touchdown and Tim Williams ran one in for 16 yards.
William Blount falls to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the region.
Ooltewah plays at Maplewood next week.
Benny Monroe continues winning streak
Some things never change.
Benny Monroe earned another football coaching victory over his high school alma mater Friday when Ooltewah defeated McMinn County 31-14 in a Region 2-5A game at Ooltewah.
He also did it with the help of pulling out an old offense that he’s used so effectively in the past.
The Owls stopped the Cherokees three-and-out after John Long had put the opening kickoff into the end zone, and after Stephen Stansell’s 43-yard punt, Ooltewah took over on its 30. Enter the wing-T.
Twelve plays later the Owls were in the end zone, the last play a 1-yard run by fullback Brandon Bruell, and they were on their way to a 31-0 lead. In last week’s season-opening victory over Whites Creek, Ooltewah had gone with an I-formation scheme, which Monroe sprinkled in a little later in Friday’s game.
“We just put that in,” Monroe said of the wing-T. “We had two weeks. I thought that would give us enough time. I thought we executed it pretty good.”
It was 14-0 early in the second quarter when on first down at the Cherokees’ 42 after a change of possession, Matthew Polk took an inside reverse and appeared to have either scored or gotten to the 1, but the run was called back because there weren’t enough Owls on the line scrimmage.
“I had that one in my pocket,” Monroe said of the play. “I guess we lined up wrong on the other side.”
The Owls scored on the possession anyway. Quarterback Brady Reed rolled out to the right and hit Zack Zarzour down the middle with a long pass that resulted in a 43-yard touchdown. Long then made his third extra point and added a 40-yard field goal in the final minute of the second quarter for a 24-0 halftime lead.
There was no let-up in the third quarter, at least not by Ooltewah’s defense. With a little more than four minutes to go in the quarter, the Owls had McMinn County (1-1) backed up in a third-and-60 at its 9. Jacques Smith had sacks on first and second downs, the second causing a fumble Cherokees quarterback Cy Ables got back, and McMinn was penalized for holding Smith in the backfield on third down. An illegal-procedure penalty followed that.
“I was really happy with our defense,” Monroe said. “Jacques Smith, he’s quite a force. He really put the pressure on.”
McMinn’s touchdowns were passes by Ables in the last 41 seconds against mostly reserves. Recovering an onside kick set up the second one.
Ables was 19-of-27 for 238 yards but had minus-29 rushing yards.
“The only thing we were worried about was the option,” Smith said. “They run a really good spread option. That was one thing at practice that we hit hard. We knew they were a good passing team, too. When he had time, he threw it good. We saw that in the fourth quarter, so we had to do what we could to make sure he didn’t have time.”
Polk had two short scoring runs for Ooltewah and totaled 14 carries for 88 yards. The Owls’ Andrew Mayfield had an interception and a fumble recovery.
By: Kelley Smiddie
Chattanooga: Polk paces Owls’ rout
It looks like Ooltewah found another tailback. Matthew Polk had to wait his turn behind Dewayne Caldwell and Brian Marshall, but the senior picked up Friday where those two left off.
Polk ran for 134 yards and three first-half touchdowns in leading Ooltewah to a 38-0 victory over visiting Whites Creek in the season-opening game for both high school football teams.
Polk picked up first downs on the first two of his 19 carries. His third was a 3-yard touchdown and the Owls took a 7-0 lead with 8:19 to go in the first quarter.
Polk added scoring bursts up the middle of 16 and 55 yards in the second quarter and Ooltewah went to the half with a 21-point lead. The first of those touchdowns came after Brandon Burrows created a turnover by taking the ball out of the hands of Whites Creek’s punt returner.
Polk finished the first half with 117 rushing yards on 13 carries. Ooltewah coach Benny Monroe gave credit to assistant coach Ted Gatewood and his work with the offensive linemen.
“This is Matthew’s year at tailback,” Monroe said. “He had a real good night. The offensive line did the job up front.
“They came in and surprised us a little bit with what they were doing defensively. Once we picked it up, we were OK. There were some things we wanted to do that we chose not to do.”
Although junior Brady Reed is a returning starter at quarterback, Ooltewah’s passing game was the one area that looked like it needed work. Reed threw an interception on his first pass, he was sacked three times and he had a touchdown pass dropped in the end zone. He did connect with Gino Norwood for a 22-yard TD with 4:16 remaining in the third quarter.
Coming into the game, lineman Jacques Smith had received a great deal of notoriety on the defensive side, and he did have an emphatic sack Friday that led to a Whites Creek timeout before the next play. However, Que Jackson sparked Ooltewah’s defense overall. He began his night with a sack on the second play of the game.
“We expect that out of him,” Monroe said. “We can’t block him in practice. We don’t don’t expect anybody else to be able to, either.”
Jackson also made a tackle for no gain on a fourth-and-2 at the Owls’ 10 later in the first quarter. He recovered two fumbles in the third quarter, nearly taking the handoff on the second.
“I came real close to getting it,” Jackson said. “I should’ve tried to pick the ball up and run with it anyway.”
Darion Delaney and Sammy Seamster had interceptions for the Owls. Kicker John Long made a 44-yard field goal, was perfect on five extra points and put all seven kickoffs into the end zone, and one of his punts died on the 1, where Burrows downed it.
“We’ve got a good, solid defense,” Jackson said. “Polk is awesome. He’s going to be the featured part of our offense. If we keep practicing hard, and keep doing what we’re doing, we’re going to be getting a ring on our finger in December.”
By Kelley Smiddie
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