EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - Rhea County was its old ground-and-pound self Friday night. It's a formula that's worked for Mark Pemberton for 24 years throughout all his coaching stops.
Ooltewah came to Rhea County for a Region 4-5A game with quite a different offensive philosophy, throwing the ball around for 332 yards, compared to the Eagles' zero. But Rhea County made the key plays when necessary and delighted the full stands on the home side with a 28-6 victory.
It marked the 200th in Pemberton's career as a head coach. He spent nine years as an assistant before that.
"I can't believe it's been 33 years," said Pemberton, whose record is now 37-8 at Rhea County. "It seems like we just started the other day. It's really special. Obviously it's a win, and a good one for the kids, the program and the community. A lot of teams and a lot of players were involved, as far as the 200 goes."
Rhea County (4-1, 2-0) held a 14-6 halftime edge, thanks in large part to a 38-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Jawan Martin. It came after a sack by Tyler Brown - one of six Eagles sacks on the night.
Rhea had rushed for 90 yards in the first half. Pemberton said the offensive linemen were challenged at halftime and the Eagles ended the night with 255 rushing.
"We were getting ripped up front," Pemberton said. "Defensively we made some big stops. The second half we were a lot better offensively."
Owls quarterback Collin Thurman threw for all of those yards, completing 20 of 35 throws with one interception and one touchdown - a 34-yarder to Cam Chambers in the second quarter.
But Ooltewah (3-2, 0-1), in large part because of the minus-61 yards in sacks, ended the night with minus-24 rushing yards.
"They're a good football team," Ooltewah coach Mac Bryan said. "We had a hard time running the football.
"It was something we were certainly going to try. We've been able to do it most of the year. They do a nice job at what they do."
Christian Simon led Rhea's rushing attack with 111 yards on 14 carries, including a 64-yard touchdown. Fullback Mason Stephenson had a 40-yard scoring run in the first quarter before going out with an injury late in the first half.
The Owls' top receiver, Andrew Manning, had been playing defense but not wide receiver until Friday because of a broken finger. He ended up with six catches for 184 yards. Chambers added 86 on four receptions.
Contact Kelley Smiddie at ksmiddie@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6653. Follow him at twitter.com@KelleySmiddie.