After four consecutive wins, East Ridge football coach Tim James wasn’t thrilled to see an open date on the schedule last week.
While it gave his Pioneers an opportunity to recover from early-season nicks, James was concerned some momentum would be lost in the process. And for the better part of the first half Friday night, his assessment was dead on the money.
But East Ridge demonstrated a level of resilience and grit he hadn’t seen up to this point in the home game against Signal Mountain. The Pioneers marched 65 yards to remain unbeaten, downing the Eagles 21-17 at Raymond James Stadium on Kentrell Harris’ 2-yard run with 36 seconds remaining.
“I hate off weeks,” James said. “We didn’t respond real well to the week off and felt like we didn’t come ready to play. I thought Signal Mountain had a heck of a game plan against us both sides of the football. We fought our tails off for 48 minutes, and I feel fortunate to get out of here with a win.”
Signal Mountain (1-5) took the lead with 7:34 remaining in the game on Travion Williams’ second touchdown reception from Tom Vatter, this one covering 16 yards to put the Eagles in front 17-14.