Rhea County's Jacob York (5) runs the ball in for a touchdown past Ooltewah defenders.Rhea County 47, Ooltewah 14The star: Rhea County's Zack Daoust ran 12 times for 198 yards, including an 80-yard scoring run, and he caught a TD pass and intercepted a pass in the Eagles' win.Up next: Rhea County (12-0) plays next at Oak Ridge (12-0). Ooltewah ends its season 11-1.
EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - The simple mathematics is this: Cold weather, plus a stout running game, equals Rhea County moving on.
The Eagles showed no ill effects of playing in near-freezing weather in Friday night's TSSAA Class 5A state-playoff football game. The hosts piled up 428 rushing yards while their defense teamed with some cold temperatures to play havoc with Ooltewah's passing game, and Rhea whipped the Owls 47-14.
Not only did the Eagles consistently pick up positive yards in their running game, but they busted scoring runs of 41, 80 and 21 yards in the first half to go with a 35-yard touchdown pass that came on a possession in which the first five plays were runs.
"Big plays by Rhea County was the biggest thing," Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan said. "They had five or six plays in the first half where they got big chunks of yardage. They scored a few times, got us behind and we never could get out of that hole."
Zack Daoust had the longest scoring run and was also the recipient of Daniel Dotson's TD pass. Daoust totaled 198 yards on 12 carries and got plenty of support with Jake York running 15 times for 117 yards and three touchdowns and Cody Bice adding 14 carries for 100 yards and a TD.
"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves," Daoust said. "We knew if we executed our offense and played hard we could win."
Trailing 27-7 at halftime, the Owls kicked off to start the second half and saw the Eagles eat up most of the third-quarter clock. But Rashun Freeman intercepted a pass and returned it 84 yards for a touchdown to make it a two-possession game.
However, Rhea got a 57-yard run from Bice on the first play after that and ended up driving 80 yards to regain control.
"I like the way the kids responded and got back down the length of the field," Rhea coach Mark Pemberton said. "They didn't have an answer for what we were doing, I didn't think."
Pass-reliant Ooltewah seemed to have more trouble with the cold conditions than Rhea did, although Bryan noted, "It was cold on both sides."
Ooltewah quarterback Kelvin Leon was way off the mark and several of his 47 throws, 28 of which were completed for 249 yards, but three of which were intercepted.
"I thought we played great defensively, and against a good offensive football team," Pemberton said. "They got us turnovers and put us in great field position. We got to the quarterback with a three-man rush sometimes. We tweaked some things and thought it might cause them some problems, and it did."
Of Leon's performance Bryan said: "This was not his most consistent game."
Standout receiver Edward Hayes led the Owls with 121 yards on 10 catches.
"I'm proud of our kids," Bryan said. "We had an undefeated regular season and we were district champions. That's something they can be proud of. I wish we had played better tonight. They had something to do with that, so credit Rhea County."
Completing Daoust's effort, he also had one of Rhea's interceptions.
"It feels fantastic," Daoust said of moving on. "I can't wait until next week when we go to Oak Ridge."
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com/KelleySmiddie.