By Sean McNamara
RACHEL – The Roane County Raiders showed why they are the No. 2-ranked team in Class AA on Friday, going on the road to North Marion and earning a 14-6 win over the Class AAA No. 6 Huskies in Rachel.
Friday’s matchup featured the third time in three years the Huskies (6-3) and Raiders faced off, and it was the third time Roane County came into the contest with an undefeated record.
While the previous two games saw North Marion go on the road to Spencer and come away with a victory, the Raiders flipped the script in Rachel, earning their first win over the Huskies.
The story of the game for the Raiders (9-0) was the team’s defense that yielded just 99 total yards of offense and six points to an NMHS squad that averages just shy of 32 points per game on the season.
“We talk about our offense a lot, and everybody wants to talk about our offense and what Lane (Watson), what Shay (Harper) and what Clay (Walker) does,” Roane County coach Paul Burdette said. “Listen, with the score tonight, we’ve given up 12 touchdowns this year in nine ballgames. The defense has been really strong.”
After his team earned just over 3 yards per play with five total first downs in the loss, NMHS coach Daran Hays tipped his cap to the Raiders’ defensive effort, while also praising his own defense that held the Raiders, who average 45 points per game to their lowest output of the season.
“That’s their community and that’s their coaching staff,” Hays said. “They’ve always had great, tough kids. I think that was a very comparable game to two years ago in the quarterfinals in terms of two defenses just being stingy, physical and bending and not breaking in a lot of cases.”
In Friday’s matchup, it was the Huskies who struck first. A team plagued by slow starts throughout the month of October, the Huskies were able to shake that monkey off their backs at home Friday as they jumped out to an early 6-0 lead.
To set up the score, North Marion recovered its fifth onside kick of the season, and with the help of a Raider penalty on fourth down, found the end zone as Trevor Mullett scored from 12 yards out less than two minutes into the game. After the PAT was blocked, NMHS led, 6-0.
The rest of the first half, defense from both squads led the way as Roane County had three drives end on turnovers on downs and one on a punt.
North Marion was unable to capture the offensive success from the first drive, posting two three and outs, a turnover on downs and a kneel down.
“We get into positions that we don’t want to be,” Hays said. “We don’t want to be sitting four-wide trying to chuck the ball down the field. But when you run a basic, Day 1 install play and lose 7 yards, you’re sitting second and 17. It’s tough on you. We have to do a better job staying in front of the sticks.”
On its last drive of the opening half, the Raiders found an offensive spark, marching the ball 63 yards and capping the drive with a 9-yard TD pass from Jacob Greathouse to Cooper Greathouse on fourth down. After Cobun Cottrell’s PAT, the score was 7-6 Roane County at the break.
To open the second half, following a North Marion punt, the Roane County offense was driving down the field when NMHS junior linebacker Toby Michael stripped Roane County’s Clay Walker, causing the first turnover of the game.
On the first play following the turnover Mullett broke off a 35-yard run – the longest of the night for the Huskies — but the Roane County defense shut the door quickly, forcing a punt and taking over at their own 12.
Several plays later, after the Huskies had bottled him up for much of the night, Watson broke free on a 67-yard TD run, bringing the score to 14-6, where it would stand until the fourth quarter.
Watson was the linchpin on both sides of the ball for the Raiders on Friday, rushing a game-high 24 times for 161 yards while coming up with key stops on the defensive end throughout the game.
To open the final period, the Raiders forced a North Marion punt that punter Karter Parson pinned inside the 2 yard line, setting the table for the Raiders to put the game away.
“When the ball was down at the 1 yard line or whatever it was, I turned to our offensive coordinator and said, ‘we need a 9:26 drive,’” Burdette said. “We did it. We’re used to that style football, and a lot of teams aren’t used to that. That’s our gig and that’s what we like to do.”
Behind an offensive line that Burdette praised after the game, Roane County grinded out the lengthy drive, picked up five first downs and put the game on ice, winning by the 14-6 score.
In addition to Watson’s 161 yards, Walker ran 15 times for 80 yards while Harper ran 10 times for 48 yards in the win. As a team, Roane County ran the ball 52 times for 302 yards.
North Marion was led by Mullett who rushed seven times for 49 yards. Quarterbacks Cole Morris and Toby Michael each completed a pair of passes for 14 and 10 yards, respectively.
Both teams will host their regular season finales in Week 11 when Roane County welcomes Ripley and North Marion hosts Liberty (Harrison).
ROANE COUNTY 14 NORTH MARION 6
RC;NM
First Downs;;19;5
Rushing Yards;;302;75
Passing Yards;;27;24
Total Yards;;329;99
Passing;;2-9-0;4-9-0
Fumbles;;1;0
Fumbles Lost;;1;0
Penalties;;7-52;4-30
Individual Stats
Rushing – RC: Lane Watson 24-161 1 TD, Clay Walker 15-80, Shay Harper 10-48, Jacob Greathouse 2-11, Koltyn Starcher 1-2. Totals 52-302. NM: Trevor Mullett 7-49 1 TD, Cole Morris 5-16, Noah Hess 1-7, Brian Poindexter 2-(-1), Toby Michael 5-5, TEAM 1-(-1). Totals 21-75.
Passing – RC: Jacob Greathouse 2-9-0 27 yards 1 TD. NM: Cole Morris 2-4-0 14 yards. Toby Michael 2-5-0 10 yards.
Receiving – RC: Lane Watson 1-18, Cooper Greathouse 1-9 1 TD. NM: Noah Hess 2-10, Brady Anderson 1-8, Landyn Stemple 1-6.
RC;;0;7;7;0;;14
NM;;6;0;0;0;;6
Scoring Plays
First Quarter
NM – Trevor Mullett 12-yard run (kick blocked)
Second Quarter
RC – Cooper Greathouse 9-yard pass from Jacob Greathouse (Cobun Cottrell kick)
Third Quarter
RC – Lane Watson 67-yard run (Cottrell kick)
