A pounding on the road - almost seven hours and 450 miles from home - became a turning point for Rhea County's football team this season.
Changes during the two weeks following the Eagles' 31-point loss to Cathedral High in Indianapolis on Sept. 25 - an open date followed - moved from conception to reality. There is no better evidence than their 40-34 victory over Region 3 champion Farragut last week, a win that moved them into Friday's Class 5A state quarterfinals opposite Ooltewah, which shut Rhea County out 16-0 earlier this season.
Eagles fullback Mason Stephenson ran for 292 yards and three touchdowns, including the winning score in the final minute of last week's second-round victory.
"We had been trying to keep from playing a lot of guys both ways, and we did it all the way through the Cathedral game," Rhea County coach Mark Pemberton said. "With an open date the next week, we decided that would be a perfect time to make changes and get the guys in there that would do the job for us. We got some athletic guys in there, and that has helped."
Defensive end Gavin Downey moved in at left tackle, Tyler Brown moved from left tackle to left guard, Ethan Houston moved back to center from a backup fullback role, Jonathan Shoemake shifted from right tackle to right guard and Nick Mullin, who'd been playing solely at noseguard, slipped in at right tackle. On the line, only tight end Jared Edwards remained at the position in which he started to open the season.
That wasn't the only change. Stephenson had been tentative through the first five weeks, with the fullback perhaps remembering too vividly a concussion suffered last year.
"I had to get my mind right," he recalled. "I had a heart-to-heart with one of the coaches, and he told me I needed to lay it all on the line. That I had to do my part and give 100 percent on each play."
It worked.
"Mason has really come on in the second half of the season, and part of that has to do with the changes up front, but he's a hard worker and he has played exceptionally well," Pemberton said. "It couldn't happen to a better kid."
Since the changes were instituted, Rhea County's team rushing average has rocketed.
"We're somewhere between the high 200s and 300 (yards per game)," Pemberton said.
Quite often a blocker for fellow backs Cody Bice and Dylan Smith, Stephenson heard his number called 27 times last week in Knoxville. He finished with 292 yards.
"The guys were doing a great job up front," Pemberton said. "Mason's hard to bring down sometimes, and he got hot and broke a bunch of tackles, so we just kept giving him the football."
Stephenson benefited from the changes up front.
"I give the offensive line the credit for everything I've done this year," he said. "They've been making huge holes for all of our backs - just an amazing job. Last week was a big game for us. We had a great week of practice. We went to play and it paid off."
Yet Stephenson, despite his performance last week, is only part of the Eagles' rushing attack.
"We try to spread it around," Pemberton said. "The guy with the hot hand is the guy that's going to get the ball."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.