Rhea County biggest threat to Catholic
Rhea County has run with the big dogs, well enough to win last year’s Region 4-5A football title, but it likely will take more than a steady gallop for the Eagles to repeat.
While Ooltewah, McMinn County and Cleveland have been bounced up to Region 2-6A, Walker Valley and Soddy-Daisy remain with Rhea’s Eagles. And there are newcomers Lenoir City and Knoxville Catholic, the latter of which has been voted the preseason title favorite.
“If Catholic keeps getting those transfers, they’ll be unbelievable,” offered Rhea County coach Mark Pemberton, who directed Catholic to a state championship in 2008.
Those latest transfers are DeSon Bussell, a receiver from Fort Wayne, Ind. who already has offers from several Big Ten schools, and running back/defensive back Raynoch Thompson Jr., son of the former standout linebacker at Tennessee. They strengthen a team that already has a half-dozen college-committed players, including two-way lineman Cade Mayes, a 6-foot-6, 315-pounder who’s pledged to Butch Jones’ Volunteers.
“The amount of talent they put on the field is unmatched in the region,” said Soddy-Daisy coach Justin Barnes.
It could be a four-way tie for second, although Rhea’s roughand-tumble yet workmanlike style still could lead to a championship.
“I think is will be us and (Catholic) for the championship, but we’re going to have to do a lot of work to get to that point,” said Pemberton, whose team was 9-3 last year.
Lenoir City is pretty much an unknown to area teams, although the Panthers suffered a lopsided loss at Rhea County in the first round of the 2016 playoffs. They haven’t had a winning season since 2012, when they beat Walker Valley in a firstround postseason game before losing to Ooltewah.
Though Soddy-Daisy and Walker Valley are conceding nothing, first glance would have them battling for third and fourth along with road shows in the postseason.
Junior quarterback Zach Pemberton, the Rhea coach’s son, and senior running back Christian Simon are among the Eagles’ 11 returning starters on a squad that numbers more than 100.
They’ll provide the bulk of Rhea’s scoring punch.
“Zach will be a bigger part of the offense. He’ll be more of a run-pass guy, where last year he was more of a handoff guy,” his dad said. “And if Simon stays healthy, he’ll have a great year.”
The biggest change in the Eagles’ wing-T offense will be a shift from the two-tight-end sets to one that will more prominently display the wide receivers.
“We’ve got some kids we think can help us there,” Coach Pemberton said.
Soddy-Daisy’s wide-open spread offense returns seven starters, including running back Ty Boeck and receivers Hunter Burke and Beau Blaylock. Too, Jarvis Smith, son of the Trojans’ former bruising running back by the same name, has returned after a year in Alabama and will add his talents to the receiver corps.
Sophomore Gavin Chambers and freshman Isaac Barnes will have to grow up quickly as the quarterbacks.
Quarterback maturity is no issue for Walker Valley, where Kolten Gibson returns for his senior season. He holds all of the Mustangs’ passing and quarterback rushing records.
The holdover from last season’s strong receiving corps is lanky Zeke Westfield, but coach Glen Ryan has lofty expectations for Luke Wallace and Brock Gibson. Too, he has high hopes for Kole Hall, who’s stepping in as the primary rusher/receiver out of the backfield.
Drawbacks are on the other side of the ball. While the front four return, the Mustangs are replacing all of their linebackers and defensive backs, and Ryan hinted that underclassmen might wind up manning some of those spots.
Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6288. Follow him on Twitter @wardgossett.