Ty Boeck has great senior night at Signal after all

Football
Football

As soon as Soddy-Daisy's 42-21 win over Signal Mountain was over and the postgame team meeting ended, Ty Boeck ran into the stands to see his sister.

Emily Boeck was sitting in the stands at the 50-yard line like always, her wheelchair positioned and her smile locked for everyone to see.

"She was on the homecoming court, and I tell Ty all the time she is more popular than he is," said Troy Boeck, the proud father and Soddy-Daisy defensive coordinator.

It was senior night at Signal, and the Eagles' improvement and movement into the playoffs are clear.

But it was an occasion that three years ago Ty Boeck expected to enjoy on the other sideline.

"I am still stay in touch with a lot of those guys, especially the seniors," said Ty, who was a freshman at Signal Mountain three years ago when his dad was an Eagles assistant. "It's kind of weird considering how many friends I have on each sideline."

Friends or not, he was a linchpin as the ever-improving Trojans flexed their muscles Friday. He rushed for 187 yards and two scores, caught two passes for 42 yards and added 12 tackles as the middle linebacker.

"He's always been that guy for us" Soddy-Daisy coach Justin Barnes said. "Now he's kind of been able to focus more on playing linebacker and running the ball, and that makes us better."

The Trojans looked the part of an improved, confident football team. They shrugged off two first-half interceptions and never appeared rattled against a Signal Moutnain bunch that refused to go away.

"That's what we keep talking about. Keep playing, keep fighting, keep doing your job," Signal Mountain coach Josh Roberts said. "We want to keep building and improving as we head into the playoffs."

The Eagles' steps forward were detoured by Boeck and the Trojans early.

A 3-yard run by Hayden Maynor put Soddy-Daisy on the board, and Gavin Chambers' 21-yard scoring strike to Beau Blaylock made it 14-0.

Signal's explosive aerial attack never quite got rolling, but Tom Vatter was able to connect with Drew Lowry for a 17-yard touchdown that cut the Trojans' lead in half.

Soddy-Daisy, though, added a Chambers-to-Maynor scoring pass right before halftime, adding to a lead that really was never in question.

"That's a good football team, brother," Roberts said. "Give them a lot of credit, because they are doing a lot of good things."

Signal senior running back Sam Gault scored the first of his two second-half touchdowns early in the third quarter to trim the Trojans' lead to 21-14, but Boeck and the Trojans continued to answer.

Boeck scored on runs of 1 and 8 yards, and Maynor added a 4-yard score to make a big lead insurmountable.

"You know, I thought at the beginning of the year that we had a a chance to be a better football team, if we could stay healthy," Barnes said after his team improved to 5-4. "I feel like we have done some good things, but we still have some things we want to accomplish."

That's true, and all of the Trojans would agree.

For Ty Boeck, though, having a big game during senior night at Signal Mountain is a very good thing indeed.

Contact Jay Greeson at jgreeson@timesfreepress.com

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