Signal Mountain is evidently pretty good. Again. The Eagles beat a good team Friday — by 35 points — but jumping from 2010 Class 2A state champions into the Class 6A arena against a Top Five-ranked Blackman?
That’s where the Eagles will be next week, but why? After all, they just got their first win in District 7-AA. Coach Bill Price earlier in the year said he looked elsewhere and certainly closer to home, but was turned down by several teams including Baylor, Bradley Central, McCallie, Red Bank and Soddy-Daisy.
Blackman has one of the state’s top prospects in running back I’Tavis Mathers, who ran for 215 yards and two touchdowns Friday night. However, the Blaze lost Siegel 37-34.
In their first district game of 2011, the Eagles recorded their first running-clock victory, beating defeating two-time defending district champion Bledsoe County 48-13 at Pikeville.
It was the team’s first road game of the year and the first road start for quarterback Reese Phillips. The junior, who said he he’s receiving facebook messages from Vanderbilt, responded with his best game, 318 yards on a 13-of-16 night with one interception. That INT, his second of the year, came when he got hit from the backside just as he let the ball go. He had a pair of TD passes and a rushing touchdown and then spent part of the weekend at Auburn. He was back in time Sunday afternoon to throw with the Eagles’ receivers.