Tyner even passes well in 49-0 rout of Polk County

For most of Wayne Turner's 25-season tenure as the Tyner head football coach, the Rams' offense has been cookie-cutter simple and effective. The Rams year in and year out run the football and play defense. The seasons flow together like a suburban subdivision with one house looking very much like the next.

In the seasons the Rams have been great, however, the quarterback play has been stellar. This year's version looks like it might be great.

The state's third-ranked Class 2A squad opened its Region 3 schedule with a solid 49-0 beating of visiting Polk County Friday night to improve to 2-0 for only the second time in the last seven seasons. And those things flying through the air were precision passes that are sure to keep a few remaining foes up at night.

Tyner senior quarterback Emmanuel Moss passed for 180 yards and three scores when he wasn't handing it off to his bevy of tailbacks, who rushed for 257 yards.

"We've always been known as a running team, but maybe this is the year other teams will think twice about loading up the box on us," said Moss, who completed 5 of 11 tosses, including scores covering 36, 67 and 24 yards.

And as balanced as the Rams offense was, the defense was equally as devastating. Polk County (0-3, 0-1) lost its 14th game in a row dating back to 2013 and was shut out for the fifth time in that span. Tyner held the Wildcats to less than 3 yards on 29 of 33 offensive plays in outgaining the visitors 437-92. Ben Norwood had 79 of those yards on two runs and finished with 94 on 14 carries.

"I was pleased with the effort. If we can get that kind of play out of our quarterback, I like our chances," Turner said. "I'm pleased with the way we have started. Our defensive guys up front were pretty good tonight."

Tyner never looked out of control, scoring on drives of 19, 70, 59 and 67 yards in the first half to take a 28-0 lead at the break. Moss hit Juwan Samuels on a 36-yard strike for a score and Keiontae Halfacre for 67 yards. Brandon Jackson burst in for a 1-yard score and Chaysen Patrick added a 23-yard TD in the opening half.

The Rams' defense gave up a 58-yard run to Norwood to open the second half but held four times inside the 3. A fumble gave the ball right back to Polk County, but Tyner again held inside the 10 on four straight plays. Jackson had a goal-line interception on the first stand, and Jordan Hubbard broke up a fourth-down pass on the latter.

Tyner really put the game away with two quick scores within 12 seconds. First, Raekwon Caslin zipped in on a 25-yard run, and on the ensuing kickoff Hubbard stripped the runner and rambled 27 yards for the score. Moss earlier hit Shannon Spralls on a beautiful 24-yard strike for the score. The Rams used 10 backs with Patrick leading the way with 68 yards on eight carries.

Tyner will travel to Signal Mountain next Friday, while Polk County will try to break the losing streak with a home game against McMinn Central.

Contact James Beach at sports@timesfreepress.com

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