Signal Mountain fights past Soddy-Daisy, wins thriller with late heroics

Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain's Logan Farr is congratulated on the sideline after making a hard hit early in Friday's home matchup against Soddy-Daisy.
Staff photo by Patrick MacCoon / Signal Mountain's Logan Farr is congratulated on the sideline after making a hard hit early in Friday's home matchup against Soddy-Daisy.

With the ball at his 25-yard line and just a little more than a minute left in the fourth quarter, Signal Mountain senior running back Logan Farr lined up on the outside, hoping to spark his team's two-minute offense against a big rival Friday night.

What he did next sent the home crowd into a frenzy.

The determined playmaker caught a perfectly thrown pass from senior Duncan Cannon on a post pattern across the middle. After the catch, Farr met two Soddy-Daisy defenders at midfield and used a stiff-arm move on both to break free for a 77-yard gain. On the ensuing play, Cannon dove in on a quarterback sneak for what would be the winning score, following it with a game-ending interception in a thrilling 21-14 victory that showed extreme heart from both teams.

Farr was a force all night, from delivering big hits to returning a 72 yard kick return before halftime to set up a leaping 18-yard touchdown catch by Zach Pitcaithly on a Cannon pass.

"This was a game we had circled on the schedule all offseason," said Farr, who also had an 8-yard touchdown run on which he spun off a defender into the end zone.

(READ MORE: Final scores and photos from Friday night's Chattanooga-area high school football games)

"Last year I dropped two touchdown passes against Soddy, and I took it personal. I worked all year to get back here and make up for that. Our whole team showed out, and I love every single player and coach on this team. This win has everything to do with my great teammates and amazing coaches. We all worked together for this."

Signal Mountain (2-0) did not bow down to persistent Soddy-Daisy (0-2), which had its share of late heroics, too.

Slater Hickman miraculously avoided a sack late in the game to find senior receiver Gavin Lane on a 9-yard touchdown pass with 1:25 left to play. The Trojans went for the lead and captured it a play later when Hickman found senior Eli Coffelt in the back of the end zone for the 2-point conversion to go up 14-13. Coffelt and Hickman had connected for the game's first touchdown late in the first half as well.

However, the Eagles would not be denied of exacting revenge from last October's 31-15 road loss.

Aiden Adkins had double-digit tackles for the Signal Mountain defense, which also received a blindside sack from Daniel Odom and an interception in the red zone by Chance Townson in the second half.

Signal Mountain's new receiver corps of Zach Pitcaithly, Campbell Row and Blake Wolfard made impressive leaping and sideline catches in the victory as well.

"My heart is full," Eagles coach Josh Roberts told his team. "I am proud. When the big moments happened, they were the ones who showed up. They have grit and fight. They just don't give up and keep playing until the end. They showed amazing toughness tonight in a hard-fought game by both sides."

Soddy-Daisy's Kayden Phillips had three tackles for loss and Blake Castelin picked off a pass.

Signal Mountain's Farr, despite his big night, deflected the praise.

"I give it to my teammates," he said. "They are always cheering me on and keep me going. Seeing all the black shirts in the crowd tonight also fired us up. Our crowd helped us out tonight, especially when times got hard."

Contact Patrick MacCoon at pmaccoon@timesfreepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @PMacCoon.

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