EDGE TO THE OWLS
Ooltewah rallies for win over Soddy-Daisy
With 6:40 to go in the game, Kyrell Sanford and Ooltewah were trailing for the third time Friday night.
“It was just time to go, and we did,” said the Owls’ senior quarterback, whose 5-yard touchdown run capped an eight-play, 75-yard drive for the winning score with 2:27 left as Ooltewah beat a determined Soddy-Daisy, 30-27.
The two players who make the Owls’ offense go — Sanford and senior running back Sincere Quinn — combined for 278 of Ooltewah’s 306 rushing yards and three touchdowns as the Owls improved to 5-1 on the year. Quinn had 182 yards on 21 carries.
“We got down, but we always believed,” Quinn said. “No. 7’s (Sanford) my dog, and he got it done at the end. This is our best win.”
Ooltewah won despite three touchdown passes and a 5-yard touchdown run from Soddy-Daisy senior quarterback Gavin Chambers. Chambers’ score with 6:45 left in the fourth quarter gave the Trojans their third lead of the game at 27-22.
“I feel like I was outcoached,” said Ooltewah coach Scott Chandler. “They did some things with their schemes we haven’t seen and some different things with their quarterback.”
Trailing 16-7 at halftime, Soddy-Daisy (3-2) came out throwing, and Chambers hit fellow senior Landen Reece with a 12-yard touchdown pass
and then Kesean Eubanks on a 45-yard pass for a 21-16 edge with 4:16 left in the third quarter. Chambers was 14-for-20 for 200 yards for the night.
“Honestly, they just ran buy us all night,” said Chandler, whose Owls were outgained by the Trojans, 386-355.
Chandler wasn’t the only coach second-guessing himself Friday night.
“I should have taken the points on those two drives in the first half,” said Soddy-Daisy’s Justin Barnes, whose team had two deep drives end on downs. “Those are the best backs we have seen all year.”
Soddy-Daisy took the opening kickoff and drove it 77 yards in 14 plays only to turn the ball over on downs. After a threeand-out and a 10-yard punt, the Trojans scored the game’s first points when Chambers hit Reece on an 8-yard touchdown pass. Cooper Hamilton added the point and Soddy-Daisy led 7-0 with 2:12 left in the first quarter.
Ooltewah’s defense, led by junior Jaequan Greenhill, held the Trojans to 15 plays and 59 yards for the rest of the half, and Quinn took over the game.
The Owls drove 69 yards in nine plays with Quinn scoring from 34 yards out. Braeden Haynes added the point and the game was tied at 7 with 11:09 left in the half. Quinn had 56 of the drive’s 69 yards.
The Trojans completed a pass on a fake punt to drive deep again, but the defense stopped them again. It took Ooltewah 70 seconds to take the lead when Quinn went off the left side for 62 yards. The kick failed but Ooltewah led 13-7 with 1:39 left in the half.
A bad Trojans punt and a 27-yard pass from Sanford to Quinn later, Haynes added a 24-yard field goal as time expired in the half, and Ooltewah led 16-7.
Contact Davis Lundy at sports@timesfreepress.com.