The injury report has not been kind to Soddy-Daisy's football team lately, but the Trojans are moving past the first round of the playoffs for the first time in eight years after handling Clinton 42-19 at home Friday night in the Class 5A playoffs.
"It's been a crazy two and a half weeks, and we've been hit with some adversity," Trojans coach Justin Barnes said. "The guys have stayed calm and composed and responded well. They could have hung their heads after losing our two quarterbacks, but it's pulled us together. It's bonded them."
The win was a complete showing by Soddy-Daisy (6-4), which set the tone on both offense and defense from the first whistle. A potent Clinton rushing attack got the first crack to score but was held to a three-and-out. The Trojans then scored on their second play on offense, a 54-yard run for Garrett Richardson.
Richardson added a 46-yard scoring run in the second quarter and went on to rush for 114 yards on just four carries, while his team totaled 266 yards on the ground.
"That was a dominant performance by our offensive line," Barnes said. "I haven't seen us run the ball that well in a long time. The weather doesn't get any better as we go, so if we can run like that, we'll be in good shape."
Clinton's Josh Breeden scored after Richardon's first touchdown, but Kesean Eubanks took the ensuing kickoff 90 yards into the end zone to close the first quarter with a 14-7 Trojans lead. Hayden Maynor scored on a 7-yard run in the second quarter ahead of Richardson's second touchdown.
Clinton (4-7) made it a 28-13 halftime deficit with an 18-yard pass from Luke Harrison to Brantley Nichols. It was the last offensive score for the Dragons.
"Our defense did a phenomenal job other than a couple of drives - really just one drive," Barnes said. "That's a team that has run the ball well on a lot of teams, and our defense did a great job limiting them."
The Trojans added points in the third quarter with a 33-yard run by Hayden Maynor and a 59-yard pass from Spencer Gore to Richardson. Maynor finished with 160 yards on 21 carries.
The game's final score came on an 85-yard kickoff return for Clinton's Cody Parker with five seconds left in the third quarter.
Contact Idris Garcia at sports@timesfreepress.com.