Ooltewah-Rhea game highlights Round 2

photo Ooltewah's Rashun Freeman (11) evades a McMinn County tackler.

Tennessee playoffs(All kickoffs at 7 p.m. local time)Class 5ACleveland (6-5) at Oak Ridge (11-0)Ooltewah (11-0) at Rhea County (11-0)Class 4ASignal Mountain (9-2) at Loudon (11-0)Hixson (9-2) at Livingston Academy (10-1)Class 3AUpperman (6-4) at Notre Dame (10-1)Red Bank (7-4) at McMinn Central (9-2)Class 2AJackson County (7-4) at Marion County (9-1)Class 1ASouth Pittsburg (6-5) at Copper Basin (6-4)Division II-AAMcCallie (9-2) at MBA (8-2)Baylor (7-4) at Christian Brothers (6-4)

Four of the Chattanooga area's football teams still alive in the TSSAA playoffs will be facing undefeated opponents Friday, and one of those games is a long talked-about matchup of former district rivals Rhea County and Ooltewah.

Both will enter their Class 5A meeting at Evensville with 11-0 records. This will be the second postseason home show for the Eagles, after they handily dispatched Tullahoma while Ooltewah was shutting out Stone Memorial.

"They're very interesting to study," Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan said of the Eagles. "They do what they do and they do it well. They run the football. It's certainly a contrast to our (pass-oriented) system."

Signal Mountain, an easy winner over DeKalb County, travels to Loudon to play the unbeaten Redskins (11-0). Cleveland, a narrow winner over Clinton, is on the road to play 11-0 Oak Ridge, which struggled before putting down Soddy-Daisy.

The other game matching up Chattanooga-area teams is a Class 3A affair -- Red Bank traveling to McMinn Central. The other 3A game of local interest has Notre Dame hosting Upperman.

Moving on in 4A along with Signal Mountain is Hixson, a winner over Page. The Wildcats will try to beat Livingston Academy for the second time in 2014, but this time they'll have to do it at Livingston, which advanced to Round 2 with a lopsided win over Central.

Hixson's Wildcats beat Livington 39-34 on Sept. 27 for their fourth win of the season.

"That one was a barn-burner," Wildcats coach Dan Duff said. "We had to score late because it was a back-and-forth game, but winning that one doesn't mean anything. It's who wins this one that matters."

Hixson went to Livingston for a regular-season game last year, and that is a plus, the coach acknowledged.

"It helps that our guys are familiar with it, knowing the surroundings and having won up there last year. Our guys are confident," Duff said.

As repeat performances go, Baylor and McCallie again defeating teams they played earlier in the season to move on in Division II-AA, Baylor beating Father Ryan for the second week in a row and McCallie scoring 64 in a 50-point win over Pope John Paul II. Both Chattanooga teams will be on the road this Friday, however, Baylor at Christian Brothers in Memphis and McCallie at Nashville's Montgomery Bell Academy, which beat the Blue Tornado during the season.

Two area teams get their first 2014 playoff tastes this week after enjoying Round 1 byes. Copper Basin will host South Pittsburg, while Marion County will be at home against Jackson County.

Many eyes, though, will be on the Rhea-Ooltewah showdown. The two are ages-old rivals although they didn't play last year. Ooltewah won the last meeting, 33-12 in 2012. Rhea's last win over the Owls was in 2010, 24-21.

photo Ooltewah's London Elrod (17) holds the ball as Laslo Toser (10) prepares to kick a Owl field goal in this Oct. 30, 2014 photo.

"For us on defense, it's where your eyes are and what your keys are," Bryan said of the Eagles' wing-T offense. "We have to be disciplined and we can't miss tackles. This game is like all others from here on out: It comes down to kids playing hard, executing and making good decisions when their time comes."

Minis at Coahulla

The final playoff participant from northwest Georgia will be decided Monday night when Heritage, Northwest Whitfield and Southeast Whitfield compete in a mini-playoff for the No. 4 playoff berth from Region 7-AAAA.

The tiebreaker, which begins at Coahulla Creek High School at 7:30, will begin with Heritage and Northwest going against each other in two five-minute halves. The winner will face Southeast, which won a coin toss, in the second game, where the victor will advance to face Buford next Friday in the first round of the state playoffs.

Complete pairings for the GHSA playoffs have not been released yet.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765.

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