Chattanooga Times Free Press by Gene Henley
CLEVELAND, Tenn. — The Cleveland High School football team is still unbeaten a month into the TSSAA regular season.
The Blue Raiders’ fourth win, which was also their first in Region 2-6A, was an overwhelming performance.
Cleveland, No. 5 in the latest Tennessee Sports Writers Association Class 6A poll, scored the first 32 points of Friday night’s game against Farragut and cruised to a 32-7 victory over the Admirals at Benny Monroe Stadium.
The Blue Raiders dominated the game statistically. On offense, they averaged nearly 6 yards per rush on 18 attempts, including a 46-yard touchdown run by junior Brayden Carroll to start the scoring. Carroll also hauled in a 26-yard pass from Chase Stephens, who combined with sophomore Kason McGowan to throw for 222 yards. Stephens finished with 141 yards through the air, taking the majority of the snaps.
The Cleveland defense did its part, too, forcing five turnovers (three interceptions, two fumbles) and getting 10 tackles for loss. Two of the picks came from David Yancey, who was also credited with a sack, while Gabe Moore picked up a fumble and sprinted 63 yards for a score.
The Admirals (0-4, 0-1) held the ball for more than six minutes on their first possession, running a fake punt and using a pass interference penalty to move deep into Cleveland territory. But on third-and-2 from the 9, Farragut starting quarterback Noah Haag, who would go out of the game in the second quarter with an injury, lost a fumble that was recovered by Cleveland’s Sam Sartin.
Cleveland couldn’t move the ball on its first possession, and a short punt was returned to its 12-yard line. But a tackle for loss and two sacks later, the Blue Raiders had forced fourth-and-26 and would take back over at their own 26-yard line. Five plays after that, Carroll broke free.
Jay’un Smith and A.J. Westfield added scoring runs, and the Stephens-Carroll hookup followed to build a 25-0 lead at the break.
Farragut avoided the shutout on a 1-yard run by backup quarterback Corbin Hobson with 7:11 to play.
Carroll led Cleveland with 135 yards of total offense (50 rushing, 85 receiving), Isaiah Davis added 48 yards on the ground, Smith had 60 yards on a pair of catches and Reggie Hubbard had 47 on five.
Cleveland was called for 13 penalties for 89 yards.
Contact Gene Henley at ghenley@timesfreepress.com.
A special thanks to Carlos Reveiz of CRFOTO for the action shots from the game. Check out CRFOTO.com weekly for a full photo gallery from Friday’s game. See a photo you like? They are also available for purchase directly from his website. Click here for this week’s photos.
