East Hamilton Hurricanes throttle Soddy-Daisy Trojans

Saturday, October 19, 2013

photo East Hamilton quarterback Hunter Moore (12) breaks a tackle by Soddy-Daisy linebacker Cale Morgan (44).

East Hamilton had 439 yards of offense and limited Soddy-Daisy to a sole touchdown in a 38-7 District 5-AAA victory Friday night, yet Hurricanes coach Ted Gatewood left the field somewhat perplexed if not disappointed.

"Coach [Justin] Barnes is doing a good job [with the Trojans]. They play hard, they play with a lot of effort and they don't make mistakes," Gatewood said. "We have to learn to take care of the little things, and we have to clean some stuff up."

The Hurricanes play District 6-AAA leader Rhea County (7-1) next week.

"The run game is getting better, but we have to work harder on finishing our blocks," Gatewood said.

Matt Milita, though held out of the end zone, ran for 95 yards, and backup Kendall Henderson added a 21-yard scoring run in the fourth quarter.

And while he didn't have his best game -- 13-of-25 with an interception -- quarterback Hunter Moore threw for 270 yards with two touchdown tosses to Tony Francois, including a 66-yarder that gave the senior wideout a 143-yard night.

"He wasn't sharp on every throw, but he also had some passes dropped," Gatewood said.

Tre Herndon added 62 yards on four catches, Austin Gatewood caught two for 58 yards and University of Tennessee at Chattanooga commitment Bailey Lenoir added two receptions for 44 yards.

East Hamilton limited the Trojans to 63 rushing yards and intercepted quarterback Hunter Maynor twice.

"We gave up a score but that was a good play by them," Coach Gatewood said. "But we have gotten better every week."

His son, a senior linebacker, agreed.

"We were shooting for the shutout, but we'll get back to work on Sunday," Austin Gatewood said. "We have improved every week since the first game, and we're working to get better every day."

East Hamilton went into halftime up 24-0 and Soddy-Daisy opened the third quarter with its lone score, a 21-yard pass from Maynor to Levi Thornton. The Hurricanes then closed it out with two scores.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.