Mavs still perfect in region play
East Ridge falls 47-6 Friday night
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Anderson County’s Zach Shannon takes a Stone Hatmaker pass between two East Ridge defenders Friday night. Anderson County once again relied on MavAir to stay undefeated in Region 2 4A. - Ken Leinart
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Anderson County’s Russell Lindsay wraps up East Ridge quarterback Cameron Sanders for a loss Friday night. - Ken Leinart
Anderson County continued its dominance of Region 2 4A football Friday night in a game that was decided early.
The Mavericks stacked touchdowns upon touchdowns throughout the game, with rushes by Gavin Noe and Eli Davis, a pass by Stone Hatmaker to Braden Miller, and a 50-yard kickoff return by Josh Miller in the fourth quarter to cap off the night and put the final score at 47-6.
The game was one-sided from the start with Walker Martinez sending a 45-yard touchdown pass to Josh Miller only a minute and a half into the first quarter and following it up three minutes later with a 32-yard touchdown pass to Garrison Terry to end the first quarter 13-0.
The biggest question on the night was what happened to Daniel Bethel’s extra point kicks on one end of the field.
Bethel sent three extra point kicks into a wooded area, and those balls were never retrieved.
“On the offensive side of things, we did about whatever we wanted,” Anderson County Head Coach David Gillum said.
“Walker Martinez threw the ball really well early,” he said. “I think his one incompletion was a touchdown he threw that the officials said the receiver stepped outside the line, so even that incompletion wasn’t a negative. Gavin Noe ran hard on rushing. Garrison Terry had a big game receiving, as well as Josh Miller and Bryson Vowell. Really weren’t many negatives at all. The young kids came in and played late, so they got to play a lot of football. It was a good night overall for everybody.”
On rushing yards, East Ridge held its own, going 124 yards to the Mavericks’ 135 yards. Ultimately, it was in passing yardage where the Mavericks really won the game, finishing with 232 yards to East Ridge’s 16 yards, averaging 13 yards per completion.
Martinez passed for 181 of those yards, with Hatmaker coming in behind him for 51 yards. On rushing yards, Gavin Noe once again led the Mavs with 66 yards. Behind Noe, Eli Davis and Stone Hatmaker finished with 46 and 32 yards respectively. On the receiving end of things, Josh Miller and Zach Shannon led with 69 and 43 yards respectively.
On defense, Maxx Oglesby managed the game’s only sack for a loss of a single yard for East Ridge, as well as five solo tackles. Stone Cummins also finished with solo tackles and Bull Shipley finished with four.
Another interesting insight from the game came in the time of possession between the two teams, with Anderson County only possessing the ball for 16:34, while East Ridge possessed the ball for 31:26, nearly double the amount of time, only to finish with a single touchdown.
Gillum said there weren’t many negatives on the Anderson County side of the ball.
“Really everything went well,” the coach said. “Defense played lights out. They broke a long run late in the game against some of our young kids, but up until that point, I’d say they were struggling to be in the positive.
“Defense really dominated and had a lot of big plays,” Gillum said. “The defensive line was unblockable and the linebackers were clean.
“Stone Cummins, Gavin Noe, and Maxx Oglesby were all over the place, too. We only had three [defensive backs] on the field most of the time, but I don’t think [East Ridge] completed a pass all night.”
The Mavs have a week off before hosting Chattanooga Central High Scoll on Oct. 16.