Cleveland's touted veer offense rarely emerged Friday night. The Blue Raiders didn't need it - with too much straight-up running, especially off tackle and sweeps, an accomplished quarterback and some jumping-jack receivers.
The three culminated in a running clock to start the second half and a 56-14 Region 4-5A win at Soddy-Daisy.
"Everybody knows me as a veer guy, and we've run very little veer," Blue Raiders coach Scott Cummings said. "When you have the receivers that we do, I'd be a fool if we didn't throw it up to them sometimes, and then with the running backs we have you also need to hand it off."
It's called using what you have to the best of their ability, and Cummings is no apologist about doing what it takes to win.
The victory boosted the Blue Raiders to 3-0, 1-0 in the region. Soddy-Daisy, struggling to find itself since the loss of senior quarterback Justin Cooke, fell to 1-2 and 0-1.
"There is night-and-day difference," Soddy-Daisy coach Justin Barnes said of the Blue Raiders. "They're pretty dang good."
Cleveland quarterback Dallas McCrary completed nine of 13 passes for 122 yards and had just one miscue, a late second-quarter interception by the Trojans' Hayden Maynor. The senior opened the scoring with a 6-yard run and threw two touchdown passes to Skyler Davis and another to Zadarius Williams.
"Dallas is a very smart young man. He's a great student and he can handle a lot," Cummings said. "He's a good athlete in his own right. He throws the ball very well, but he can also run our triple-option stuff very well."
Running back Keegan Jones ran for 108 first-quarter yards and finished with 124 for the night on just seven carries. Micaleous Elder also showed out although limited to six carries. He rushed for 156 yards.
Defensively, Romeo Wykle contributed a pair of interceptions.
Soddy-Daisy, meanwhile, is struggling without Cooke, who might get back some time in October. They started with sophomore Gavin Chambers but pretty much finished with junior Ty Boeck, who originally was penciled in as a tight end/wide receiver who might spell folks in the backfield and at linebacker.
Other than a couple of ill-advised throws across the middle, Chambers did OK and finished with seven completions in 12 attempts.
It was Boeck, though, who led the Trojans to both of their scores - a 10-yard run, his first as a quarterback, and a 38-yard pass to Landen Reece.
"I think Ty makes us a little more dimensional back there. He can run and pass. We'll have to take a look at it and see what's best," Barnes said.
The Trojans are starting three freshmen and three sophomores, "so everybody's still learning," Barnes said.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.