W3 of the Playoffs:Rhea County at Oak Ridge

#1
D

Dave1967

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#1
This is going to be a very tough game but i think Oak Ridge pulls it out and advances. Oak Ridge will win 21-17.
 
#2
#2
Let's go Eagles!!!!!! Lord willing, I'll make the trip up to cheer them on to an upset.

AV
 
#3
#3
If Oak Ridge cant stop Rheas running game then Rhea wins. Nobody has stopped it all year.
 
#4
#4
I'm officially pulling for Oak Ridge then. Rhea County was the last team I ever played against. We got them 27-3 in the regular season and then somehow lost to them in the playoffs. I'm still not sure how that happened.
 
#5
#5
Evol said:
I'm officially pulling for Oak Ridge then. Rhea County was the last team I ever played against. We got them 27-3 in the regular season and then somehow lost to them in the playoffs. I'm still not sure how that happened.
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They were the first varsity team I ever played against.. Can't stand rhea co.
 
#7
#7
tnvols72 said:
If Oak Ridge cant stop Rheas running game then Rhea wins. Nobody has stopped it all year.
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Your right nobody has stopped them yet. How is oak ridge defense don't know much bout them. I'm hoping to make the trip up to the secret city. If the Eagles getting rolling early could be a long night for them.
 
#8
#8
Evol said:
I'm officially pulling for Oak Ridge then. Rhea County was the last team I ever played against. We got them 27-3 in the regular season and then somehow lost to them in the playoffs. I'm still not sure how that happened.
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Count your blessings, Evol. Maryville awaited you in the 2001 quarterfinals. Most points Rhea has allowed in history. :cray:

I know you'd obviously have rather had the chance, but dude, Maryville was good, even for them, that year.

AV
 
#9
#9
Aerie Vol said:
Count your blessings, Evol. Maryville awaited you in the 2001 quarterfinals. Most points Rhea has allowed in history. :cray:

I know you'd obviously have rather had the chance, but dude, Maryville was good, even for them, that year.

AV
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Knox West is the beast they'll have to confront
 
#10
#10
Aerie Vol said:
Count your blessings, Evol. Maryville awaited you in the 2001 quarterfinals. Most points Rhea has allowed in history. :cray:

I know you'd obviously have rather had the chance, but dude, Maryville was good, even for them, that year.

AV
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Yeah I know, but it wouldn't have bothered me as much to lose to the eventual state champions.

I'm impressed that you knew the year I was even speaking of. Were you on that Rhea County team?
 
#11
#11
This will be a tough game at Blankenship. I believe Oak Ridge wins. Yhey have 1 of the best Defenses in the state and especially against the run. They shut down matt fox from anderson county which no one has done. They are huge on the D-Line. It will take a passing team to beat them imho.
 
#12
#12
Evol said:
Yeah I know, but it wouldn't have bothered me as much to lose to the eventual state champions.

I'm impressed that you knew the year I was even speaking of. Were you on that Rhea County team?
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Nah, never played football. Band/tennis here, class of '91.

Rhea born and raised. Went to the Clinic bowl in '80 when I was 7 years old. Sat there in 4" of snow in sub-20 degree weather. Watched Rhea lose 3-0 to Overton as a desperation 40+ yd field goal attempt fell short at the buzzer.

As a 7th grader, watched Andy Kelly lead Rhea to the state his jr. year, losing to Hillcrest 28-2. Yeah, that sucked.

Kelly's senior year, I watched Rhea's only other undefeated team roll into Neyland to play some team named Halls I'd never even heard of and greatly underestimated. Jason Julian singlehandedly beat Rhea and robbed Kelly of another chance at the title. Back then, Rhea could NEVER win on carpet. Julian and Kelly both wore the Big Orange, and Kelly wrote records but Julian was destined to be a bit player only.

So, I've followed Rhea football all my life and I can remember a lot of useless facts. I was at your last game. You guys were a powerhouse. Big, strong, crushed us in regular season. I had written it off as a loss but went to support the team anyway. Breaks rolled our way in that game and I vaguely recall feeling it was more football luck we came out on top rather than a well-earned win - like Ooltewah last Friday.

Lord willing, I'll be at Oak Ridge this Friday. If you wanna see some good football, come on up. I'll buy your ticket and a hot chocolate and see if I can't chip away at some of that Rhea-hatred. I'd even understand if you root for the Oakies.

AV
PS. Admittedly, I had to search the history records to jog my memory about which game you were talking about.
 
#13
#13
Aerie Vol said:
Nah, never played football. Band/tennis here, class of '91.

Rhea born and raised. Went to the Clinic bowl in '80 when I was 7 years old. Sat there in 4" of snow in sub-20 degree weather. Watched Rhea lose 3-0 to Overton as a desperation 40+ yd field goal attempt fell short at the buzzer.

As a 7th grader, watched Andy Kelly lead Rhea to the state his jr. year, losing to Hillcrest 28-2. Yeah, that sucked.

Kelly's senior year, I watched Rhea's only other undefeated team roll into Neyland to play some team named Halls I'd never even heard of and greatly underestimated. Jason Julian singlehandedly beat Rhea and robbed Kelly of another chance at the title. Back then, Rhea could NEVER win on carpet. Julian and Kelly both wore the Big Orange, and Kelly wrote records but Julian was destined to be a bit player only.

So, I've followed Rhea football all my life and I can remember a lot of useless facts. I was at your last game. You guys were a powerhouse. Big, strong, crushed us in regular season. I had written it off as a loss but went to support the team anyway. Breaks rolled our way in that game and I vaguely recall feeling it was more football luck we came out on top rather than a well-earned win - like Ooltewah last Friday.

Lord willing, I'll be at Oak Ridge this Friday. If you wanna see some good football, come on up. I'll buy your ticket and a hot chocolate and see if I can't chip away at some of that Rhea-hatred. I'd even understand if you root for the Oakies.

AV
PS. Admittedly, I had to search the history records to jog my memory about which game you were talking about.
Click to expand...

I don't really hate you guys, in the end we can't blame anyone but ourselves. We blew it. Like you said, the regular season matchup wasn't even close. I remember the paper saying Rhea only ran 9 offensive plays in the second half.

So fast forward a few weeks and we are meeting again in the second round of the playoffs. I would like to say we got caught looking ahead to Maryville, but I believe we were up 14 points with about 10 minutes left to play and it felt like we would easily close it out. Thats when it started going downhill.

I played outside linebacker, we ran a 3-4 (which no high school was doing back then) and no one really knew how to block it that well. Our star defensive end gets ejected on a late hit, and you guys started running a counter play right at his backup. Rhea was getting 6-7 yards a carry and literally just ran that same play over and over. We couldn't stop it, I still don't know why. But it worked well enough that Rhea tied it up and took it to overtime. Rhea scored first, we answered, Rhea blocked the extra point. Game over.

On a side note, one of our assistant coaches my freshman and sophomore year was Andy Kelly's backup in high school. He played ball at a small college somewhere. Coach Schultz I believe his name was. Don't remember his first name.
 
#14
#14
Evol said:
On a side note, one of our assistant coaches my freshman and sophomore year was Andy Kelly's backup in high school. He played ball at a small college somewhere. Coach Schultz I believe his name was. Don't remember his first name.
Click to expand...

Such a small world! Close on his name, but not quite. His name was Stultz. First name also Andy, coincidentally. I went to school with him for 2 years and much later taught with him at my current school before he moved to Baylor to coach football.

I had totally forgotten, but I now recall hearing he was helping with ER and would be across the field when we played you guys. He's a great guy. Married the older sister of one of my classmates and still lives in Chatt with a quiver full of kids. It's been a while, but last I heard he was still with Baylor.

AV
 
#15
#15
Aerie Vol said:
Nah, never played football. Band/tennis here, class of '91.

Rhea born and raised. Went to the Clinic bowl in '80 when I was 7 years old. Sat there in 4" of snow in sub-20 degree weather. Watched Rhea lose 3-0 to Overton as a desperation 40+ yd field goal attempt fell short at the buzzer.

As a 7th grader, watched Andy Kelly lead Rhea to the state his jr. year, losing to Hillcrest 28-2. Yeah, that sucked.

Kelly's senior year, I watched Rhea's only other undefeated team roll into Neyland to play some team named Halls I'd never even heard of and greatly underestimated. Jason Julian singlehandedly beat Rhea and robbed Kelly of another chance at the title. Back then, Rhea could NEVER win on carpet. Julian and Kelly both wore the Big Orange, and Kelly wrote records but Julian was destined to be a bit player only.

So, I've followed Rhea football all my life and I can remember a lot of useless facts. I was at your last game. You guys were a powerhouse. Big, strong, crushed us in regular season. I had written it off as a loss but went to support the team anyway. Breaks rolled our way in that game and I vaguely recall feeling it was more football luck we came out on top rather than a well-earned win - like Ooltewah last Friday.

Lord willing, I'll be at Oak Ridge this Friday. If you wanna see some good football, come on up. I'll buy your ticket and a hot chocolate and see if I can't chip away at some of that Rhea-hatred. I'd even understand if you root for the Oakies.

AV
PS. Admittedly, I had to search the history records to jog my memory about which game you were talking about.
Click to expand...

It's for sure your from Rhea.... But the best game Rhea had played still to this day was the Jefferson Co game in the cold rain storm.
 
#16
#16
tnvols72 said:
It's for sure your from Rhea.... But the best game Rhea had played still to this day was the Jefferson Co game in the cold rain storm.
Click to expand...

Ah...1985, State Semi-finals. 7-6 Rhea. Yep, I stood there in the rain, barely able to see because (as a 7th grader) I couldn't see over everybody else who was standing. At times, the rain was too hard to see very far down the field anyway. But the cheer from my side of the stadium told me the 4th down pass had fallen to the muddy ground in the endzone, preserving the 1 point victory. In actuality, the pass was knocked down by a DB. I now go to church with him.

Interestingly enough, like EVols' ER team, Jefferson had spanked us in the regular season at our stadium. They rolled in as a top-20 team in the USA Today national rankings. That remains the craziest atmosphere I ever saw in high school. Somewhere between 8-10 thousand in attendance. Folks standing 4 and 5 deep behind the fence around the track because the stands had been filled to capacity hours before. Another crazy note, for like the first 4 or so matchups between Jefferson and Rhea, the visiting team won. We finally beat them at our house a few years later.

Last story and I'll shut up: My family stopped at a little greasy spoon local restaurant in Dandridge (Jefferson Co.) We'd never been there before but it looked like a good place to eat before the game. The waitress was super nice to us, despite our head-to-toe green. I'll never forget the last thing she said to us as we were getting ready to leave. She said, "well, y'all don't beat us too badly." That 7-6 victory is one I'll never forget.

AV
 
#17
#17
Aerie Vol said:
Such a small world! Close on his name, but not quite. His name was Stultz. First name also Andy, coincidentally. I went to school with him for 2 years and much later taught with him at my current school before he moved to Baylor to coach football.

I had totally forgotten, but I now recall hearing he was helping with ER and would be across the field when we played you guys. He's a great guy. Married the older sister of one of my classmates and still lives in Chatt with a quiver full of kids. It's been a while, but last I heard he was still with Baylor.

AV
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Our head coach my freshman through junior year was Tom Watson. When he left to take an assistant job at Baylor (said he wanted free tuition for his 3 kids), I think thats when coach Stultz left also.
 
#18
#18
Evol said:
Our head coach my freshman through junior year was Tom Watson. When he left to take an assistant job at Baylor (said he wanted free tuition for his 3 kids), I think thats when coach Stultz left also.
Click to expand...

Watson seemed like a heck of a coach.

Free tuition is a powerful motivator. My mother worked at Bryan College for 26 years. Put my sister through and then me 4 years later. Quit that job the next year, lol.

AV
 
#19
#19
Evol said:
I'm officially pulling for Oak Ridge then. Rhea County was the last team I ever played against. We got them 27-3 in the regular season and then somehow lost to them in the playoffs. I'm still not sure how that happened.
Click to expand...

That's what happened to my graduating class (I had moved) at Oak Ridge. Smoked Sevier County in regular season and lost to them in state championship.

Roll Wildcats Roll!
 
#20
#20
Does Rhea County have anyone to look out for? Tee Higgins is a sophomore at ORHS and has an offer from Tennessee (and quite a few others).
 
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