EVENSVILLE, Tenn. - Rhea County started this football season 9-0, with plenty of success due to an offense that during that stretch helped the Golden Eagles score at least 20 points in every on-field victory, produce 40-plus three times and churn out a season-high 66 in late October.
However, that same offense struggled in a loss to close the regular season as well as a postseason victory last week, and on Friday night it came to a grinding halt in a 23-0 loss to Oak Ridge in the second round of the TSSAA Class 5A playoffs - along with Rhea County's season.
The Golden Eagles managed more than 100 yards of offense, but fumbles, penalties and short gains that kept them from moving the chains and stifled their momentum all game. Rhea County's ground game is renowned, but on this night it was the Wildcats' Kendall Jackson, a Division I prospect, who stood out as he ran for all three touchdowns for the visitors, who improved to 9-3 and will face Knoxville West - a 32-3 winner over Walker Valley - in next week's quarterfinals.
Rhea County, which had help from a special teams touchdown in a 14-0 win against Fulton in the first round, finishes 10-2.
(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games)
"We couldn't get any offense going. If we can't run the football, it hurts us," Rhea County coach Mark Pemberton said. "We were forced into things we don't normally do. We had to throw the ball a bunch, and it just got us out of our game plan. If we would've done something offensively, I feel like our defense did enough to win."
Rhea County forced two punts to begin the game, but near the end of the first quarter, Oak Ridge quarterback Mitchell Gibbons found Johnathan Stewart down the right sideline. Stewart stopped to catch the ball, then spun around a defender for a 74-yard gain. One play later, Jackson ran 3 yards to the end zone for the game's first points.
He added an 18-yard score early in the third quarter, and in the fourth, the Wildcats made a 24-yard field goal before Jackson got his final touchdown. The Golden Eagles reached Oak Ridge territory twice in the second half, but self-inflicted mistakes held the offense back each time.
"The last few games, we've had fumbles and penalties that have killed us," Pemberton said. "We've tried to correct it ,but it just didn't happen and that's on me.
"I'm proud of the way the team worked and responded to things during this wild season," Pemberton added. "We had starters go out at points before games for all kinds of reasons. We've had kids step up - especially freshman - so I like the group we have coming back, but we're definitely indebted to our seniors."
Contact John Mitchell at sports@timesfreepress.com.