Maryville rolls past Ooltewah to remain unbeaten

The Maryville Red Rebels continued their overwhelming dominance over Region 2-6A opponents Friday night in a 38-0 victory at Ooltewah.

A week after holding Bradley Central’s high-powered offense to just seven points, the Rebels’ defense was completely suffocating. Maryville held the Owls to 96 total yards — including only 26 on the ground — with 43 of those coming on one catch midway through the fourth quarter.

“Our standard is to go out and execute and play at a high level,” Maryville coach Derek Hunt said. “Coming into this game, I think it was important for us to be mature. We talked all week that no matter what happens, we expect to go out there and score and get off the field on defense.”

Coaches for Maryville (8-0, 4-0) had so much confidence in their defense, they chose to let their offense go for it on fourthand-6 from midfield on the first series of the game. The Rebels picked up a first down, and a few plays later Parker McGill finished the drive with a short touchdown run to put his team up 7-0.

The Rebels scored on every possession of the first half except one that ended when the Owls’ Mel McFarland picked off a pass, and quarterback Cade Chambers’ 3-yard touchdown run just before halftime made it 31-0.

Even with the loss, Ooltewah (2-5, 1-3) controls its own destiny to get into the state playoffs. A victory over Heritage (0-8, 0-4) next week would set up a showdown at Cleveland (3-5, 1-3) in the regular-season finale in which the winner likely earns the region’s fourth and final playoff spot with the loser left out.

The challenge ahead of Owls coach Scott Chandler is keeping his team focused on the goal of making the playoffs after a disappointing season to this point.

“I’ve told them I believe in them, and I know they want to go out on a winning note and get into the playoffs,” he said. “But sometimes our actions on the surface don’t show it. So I told them that they need to tell me that they’re all in. If you’re all in, then we’re going to work for two weeks, and try to get into the playoffs.

“Only 32 teams go to the playoffs, and to be one of them is special, whether your season has been disappointing or not.”

Contact Kevin Llewallyn at sports@timesfreepress.com.