Cleveland High School football coach Scott Cummings and his Blue Raiders not only dreamed the impossible dream but also lived it and came away with a Hollywood-style ending last Friday.
Blistered by Walker Valley and then thumped by Rhea County, the Blue Raiders appeared to have sentenced themselves to no postseason.
Their mirage-like playoff hopes had to go through Region 4-5A kingpin Ooltewah. But they pulled out a 14-7 victory, giving substance to the conversation about an 11th game – or more.
“It was good for the program and the kids really deserved to feel some success, but it doesn’t mean anything unless we win (tonight),” Cummings said. “The way we played against Walker Valley was embarrassing. If there was something that could go wrong, it did.
“It may sound odd, but I’ve been telling them all along we’re not as bad as the product on the field. We practice really well, as well as a team ever has in my career, and we have talent.”
The Blue Raiders reopened the door, but they need help to step over the threshold.
In just one night, Region 4-5A went from muddled at the bottom to jumbled top to bottom, with the final regular-season games tonight set to clear up the playoff picture. Ooltewah and Rhea County will take the top two spots, although which wins the region remains to be determined. Soddy-Daisy is locked into third, and Cleveland, Walker Valley and McMinn County remain alive for the fourth and final playoff spot.
Rhea County has a chance to overcome a loss to Ooltewah and win the region title should the Eagles win tonight and Ooltewah succumbs to its upset bug against Walker Valley. Cleveland, which plays at White County, needs a win and for Ooltewah to get back on track with a win. Walker Valley requires more help, needing an upset of Ooltewah or a Cleveland loss to White County as well as a Rhea County win over McMinn.
There are other region championships on the line tonight, including South Pittsburg and Grace Academy meeting for the top spot in Region 3-1A and Sequatchie County trying to claim Region 4-3A, but the priority is the postseason pecking order. The TSSAA will announce the playoff brackets Saturday morning.
All playoff games begin at 7 p.m. local time.
A closer look:
REGION 4-5A
Who’s in: Ooltewah, Rhea County, Soddy-Daisy and either Cleveland, McMinn County or Walker Valley.
Likely first-round matchups: Ooltewah and Rhea will host – Clinton or Campbell County/Oak Ridge loser; Soddy-Daisy will play at Oak Ridge/Campbell County winner; Cleveland, Walker Valley or McMinn County will travel to Farragut.
REGION 1-6A
Who’s in: All of them, but host spots are going to Maryville, Bearden, Science Hill and Bradley Central.
Likely first-round matchups: Bradley will host Riverdale/Cookeville loser.
REGION 3-4A
Who’s in: Stone Memorial, Livingston Academy, East Hamilton, Cumberland County. The issue here is a possible three-way tie for first. If that happens with an East Hamilton win over unbeaten Stone Memorial and a Livingston win over Sequoyah, Stone would get the tiebreaker with the best overall record. Livingston would get second by virtue of a head-to-head win over East Hamilton.
Likely first-round matchups: Stone Memorial vs. Giles County or Lawrence County/Spring Hill loser; Livingston vs. Giles or Lawrence County/Spring Hill winner; East Hamilton at Marshall County/Page loser; Cumberland County at Marshall County/Page winner.
REGION 4-3A
Who’s in: Upperman, DeKalb County, Sequatchie County, Smith County. So much depends on Sequatchie’s home game vs. Upperman. With a win, the Indians would get the best of a three-way tie for first. With an Upperman win, Sequatchie will be on the road, finishing third.
Likely first-round matchups: Upperman or Sequatchie vs. Red Bank; Upperman or DeKalb County vs. Chattanooga Christian or Notre Dame; Sequatchie or DeKalb at CCS or Notre Dame; Smith County at East Ridge.
REGION 3-3A
Who’s in: East Ridge, Notre Dame, Chattanooga Christian, Red Bank. The 2-3 finishers will be decided tonight. If CCS beats East Ridge and Red Bank beats Notre Dame, CCS will be No. 2. If CCS and Notre Dame win, Notre Dame will be No. 2 and CCS No. 3.
Likely first-round matchups: East Ridge vs. Smith County; CCS or Notre Dame vs. DeKalb County or Sequatchie County; Notre Dame or CCS at Upperman, DeKalb or Sequatchie; Red Bank at Upperman or Sequatchie.
REGION 2-3A
Who’s in: Alcoa, Christian Academy of Knoxville, Kingston and Scott County/McMinn Central winner.
Likely first-round matchups: Alcoa/CAK winner vs. Johnson County/Unicoi County loser; Alcoa/CAK loser vs. Johnson/Unicoi winner; Kingston at Pigeon Forge; McMinn Central/Scott County winner at Elizabethton.
REGION 3-2A
Who’s in: Boyd-Buchanan, Marion County, Tyner and either Bledsoe County, Brainerd or Meigs County. If Tyner beats Brainerd, then Tyner is third. If Tyner beats Brainerd and Meigs beats Bledsoe, Meigs is fourth. If Brainerd beats Tyner and Meigs beats Bledsoe, Brainerd’s third and Tyner’s fourth. If Bledsoe beats Meigs, Bledsoe will win fourth place.
Likely first-round matchups: Boyd-Buchanan vs. Eagleville, Cascade or Community; Marion County vs. Watertown/Westmoreland loser; Tyner or Brainerd at Watertown/Westmoreland winner; Bledsoe, Brainerd, Tyner or Meigs at Forrest.
REGION 3-1A
Who’s in: South Pittsburg, Grace Academy, Whitwell, Copper Basin. The pecking order will be decided tonight. A three-way tie for first is possible – if Grace wins at South Pittsburg and Whitwell beats Copper Basin. In case of a three-way championship tie, South Pittsburg will be No. 1, Whitwell No. 2 and Grace No. 3. If South Pittsburg and Whitwell win, the Pirates are No. 1, the Tigers No. 2. The most definite is that South Pittsburg will be hosting a playoff game next week.
Likely first-round matchups: South Pittsburg or Grace vs. Mount Pleasant, Huntland or Moore County; South Pittsburg or Whitwell vs. Mount Pleasant, Huntland or Moore County; Grace or Whitwell at Fayetteville; Grace, Whitwell or Copper Basin at Columbia Academy.
DIVISION II-AA
McCallie will be at home next week for a first-round game vs. Pope John Paul II, while Baylor receives a first-round bye before traveling to Memphis to play the MUS-Christian Brothers loser.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.
Rhea County’s Mason Stephenson (16) is tackled by Soddy-Daisy’s Ty Boeck (13) after a big Golden Eagle gain. The Soddy-Daisy Trojans visited the Rhea County Golden Eagles in aTSSAA football game on Friday, October 16, 2015.