CLEVELAND, Tenn. - As he continues to rebuild a once-proud program, Cleveland football coach Marty Wheeler understands the importance of little things in big games.
Friday night against two-time reigning Class 4A state champion Knoxville Central, the Blue Raiders didn't take care of those little things. Their opponents did.
The Bobcats jumped out to a 13-0 advantage and went on to a 26-16 victory over Cleveland at Benny Monroe Stadium in the season opener for both teams.
The Blue Raiders had some moments. Quarterback Gage Kinsey threw for 262 yards and a touchdown, completing 16 of 27 passes. The Bobcats stacked the box to take away junior running back Tetoe Boyd, who finished with 34 yards on 11 carries, which gave Kinsey room to throw.
DeAndrez Bridges finished with 132 yards on four receptions, with 101 of those yards coming on three second-half grabs. Destun Thomas had 72 yards on four catches, and Kley McGowan had 38 on four.
Those little things that could have aided in momentum went against the Blue Raiders, though. On their first possession, McGowan slipped on a route. He was able to gather himself and nearly made a one-handed catch, but the incomplete pass led to a punt. Central scored a possession later.
The Blue Raiders also missed on a pass from Kinsey to Thomas in the end zone, and McGowan dropped a 2-point conversion pass.
Liam Fortner rushed for 107 yards and a pair of touchdowns, with all but 5 yards coming in the second half, when Central used him almost exclusively in a wildcat formation. Abraham Dudley Jr. had 56 yards and his team's other touchdown.
Still, it was a far cry from a year ago, when the Bobcats won 51-20.
"When you look at what happened last year when we went up there, you've got to remember that's a pretty good football program we're playing," Wheeler said. "They're not state champions for nothing.
"At the end of the day, we had our chances to make plays, but we had too many dropped balls, and too many times we had them in situations where we could get off the field and we made some really simple mistakes, but when you play a team of that caliber and you make mistakes, a good team will make you pay for it."
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @genehenley3.