Chattanooga Christian School got its first win of the young football season Friday night against an opponent missing key pieces on the field and on the sideline.
The Chargers got behind a powerful rushing attack for a 30-13 nonregion win at Howard, which was without coach John Starr and five starters.
“We had some players disciplined tonight,” associate head coach James Talley said. “Three starters were out because of discipline and two more out with injury, on top of our coach being out with illness. We know as Hustlin’ Tigers, we already have chips stacked against us, so we have to come ready to fight.”
CCS raced out to a 13-0 lead in the first quarter, recovering the opening kickoff after Howard could not pounce on it before marching downfield. The Chargers’ offensive success mixed with procedural penalties on the Hustlin’ Tigers led to a 6-yard touchdown run for Sam Hall on a quarterback keeper to make it 6-0 – the conversion failed – with 9:56 left in the first quarter.
Penalties continued to stall Howard’s offense. With just less than 30 seconds to play in the quarter, Hall scored again, this time with his arm. He delivered a 25-yard strike to Roderick Young, and the extra point made it 13-0.
Howard pulled back into the game in the second quarter with Marquez Williams’ 7-yard touchdown pass to Tremontay Brooks. Williams served as a dual threat for Howard, totaling 140 yards passing and running, often making plays happen while scrambling out of the pocket.
Just a minute later, CCS powerhouse Mondo Ellison rumbled in from 24 yards out to give the Chargers a cushion. He finished with 127 yards on 15 carries.
“We’re a run-heavy team,” Chargers coach Mark Mariakis said. “We’re going to run as long as we can. They also had some athletes in that secondary which covered us there, but we’re a running team.”
CCS controlled the clock on the ground into halftime and continued to put pressure on Howard’s fast, physical defense in the third quarter. Hall worked to put the game away with another scoring run from 12 yards.
Howard was able to respond again with 5:05 to play in the quarter. Eric Johnson scampered in for an 8-yard touchdown to make it 27-13.
“Regardless of everything, our team didn’t quit,” Talley said. “They fought until the end. This is going to make us stronger. The guys who didn’t play tonight know they let us down, and they’re going to come back energized. We have a week off, so that lets us get healthy, too.”
Howard could not overcome a landslide of penalties to pull any closer, and CCS continued to eat the clock. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Erick Manirakiza banged a 25-yard field goal through the uprights to punctuate the win.
“That was a hard-fought battle,” Mariakis said. “It was a physical game, and I’m proud we hung in there physically. We needed that test. That was the most disciplined I’ve seen our defense, and you have to be disciplined to contain their speed.”
Mariakis also sent well wishes to his longtime friend.
“We want Coach Starr to know we’re thinking about him,” he said.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.