EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - Rhea County's offense rolled and the defense rocked, and the Eagles are moving on following a 35-0 dismantling of visiting Campbell County in the first round of the TSSAA's Class 5A playoffs Thursday.
They benefited from two touchdowns each from fullback Mason Stephenson and quarterback Daniel Dotson and one from receiver Noel Patterson.
Rhea County 35, Campbell County 0
The star: Rhea quarterback Daniel Dotson ran for a pair of TDs and threw for another.Up next: Rhea will either visit Farragut or host Cleveland.
It was a good win for us, a good first-round performance," Rhea coach Mark Pemberton said.
The Eagles were almost methodical in the first half on their way to a 21-0 advantage at intermission on a 3-yard run by Dotson, his 45-yard down-the-middle pass to a streaking Patterson and a 23-yard run by Patterson.
"I was running as hard as I could, and the offensive line was getting it done," Stephenson said. "I hit the holes every time - and they were there - and I just try to make the cuts and get the most of it."
However, his team had just 69 first-half rushing yards.
"I called a bad game in the first half probably," Pemberton said. "We didn't adjust anything. I just called better plays in the second half."
Added Stephenson: "We just stuck to the game plan and ran it hard."
The Eagles finished with 231 rushing yards despite Campbell County keeping eight and sometimes nine men in the box, and reserves played the final five or so minutes with the running clock. Though held out of the end zone, Cody Bice picked up 103 yards with 86 coming in the final two quarters.
In posting its second straight shutout, the Eagles defense was rock solid, turning away the Cougars - including with an interception and later a fumble recovery by Travis Aikman.
That was just a start, though. With sack yardage, they limited pass-intending Campbell County to minus-14 rushing yards and just 118 yards of total offense. The four sacks were credited to Jawan Martin (two), Tyler Brown and Colton Reed. However, the pass defense that faced a four- and five-wide offensive attack all night was especially active with linebacker Tyler Pendleton breaking up three passes and Aikman, Eddie Davis and Brown getting at least one apiece.
"I thought we did a great job defensively. They're not easy to defend now," Coach Pemberton said. "They go a good job of throwing those little dink passes that can cause you problems. Yeah, that was a nice win."
Aikman, though a senior, is a first-year starter.
"He's a kid that's stayed with us four years and this year he got his chance and he has stepped in and done a great job for us," the coach said. "He's a really smart kid, a pleasure to coach - listens to you and does what you ask him to do. He's been a mainstay all season."
He has been a nice complement to Patterson and the rest of the secondary this year.
"Our job first and foremost is to not let anything get behind us - play the pass and just take the pride in knowing that my teammates are going to do the job and I'll do mine, whether it's filling on the run or staying deep and breaking up passes," Aikman said. "The defense has made tremendous strides. If you look at film from the Baylor game (season opener) to now, it's a whole different team. We were young and we've all grown, come together and fed off each other."
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.