Anderson County Playoff Game Report, Round 2 Preview

By Bill Mynatt, Radio Voice of Powell Panther Football on AM 620 WRJZ

    Scratch another entry off of the “to do” list for the 2011 Powell Panther football team.  With its 54-12 win over heated district rival Anderson County on Friday night, the Panthers officially put to bed the bad memories of 51 weeks earlier, moving one more step closer to the goal of being in Cookeville on December 2 to play for a state championship.
    In the regular season meeting between the Panthers and Mavericks back on September 16, Dy’shawn Mobley and the Panther offense only needed on play to score against AC’s defense.  This time it didn’t happen quite as quickly, but it didn’t take too much longer.  Powell took the opening kickoff and started a 5 play drive, culminating in a 40 yard Mobley touchdown run.  Josh Neely kicked the extra point, and Powell led 7-0 just 2:34 in to the game.
    Anderson County’s offense came right back and answered.  A 12 play drive, covering 61 yards and 4:35 of clock, successfully ended with an 8 yard run by Josh Mayes.  AC went for 2, but failed, so Powell retained the lead 7-6.
    From that point on it was all Panthers.
    Powell added another first quarter touchdown on a beautiful throw and catch covering 56 yards from Dustin McPhetridge to Darian Logan with 3:42 to go in the opening period.  Neely’s kick made the score 14-6.
The Panthers put three more TDs on the board before intermission:  

• McPhetridge to Hagen Owenby on a 7 yard flea flicker
• McPhetridge on a 21 yard run
• Mobley on another TD jaunt – this time from 30 yards away.

    Neely was true on the points after on all three occasions, and Powell led 35-6 at the half. 
    Not satisfied with the offense having all of the fun, the Panther defense got in to the act early in the third quarter.  Senior defensive back Brady Williams’ interception of Maverick QB Micah Hodge, and a 43 yard return for a touchdown stretched the lead.  Neely’s kick made the score 42-6 after the first play of the second half.   From that point on, the clock ran continuously per the TSSAA mercy rule.  
Mobley’s third rushing touchdown of the game with 4:41 to go in the third made the score 48-6 heading in to the final period.
    Enter Panther reserves at that point. 
    Mayes’ Hail Mary pass in to the end zone on 4th and long was answered as Hunter McIntosh game down with the football in the end zone with 4:50 to go in the game.  AC went for two, but failed to convert, so Powell led 48-12.
    Freshman quarterback Peyton Smiley then led the young Black Cats on a drive that would put an exclamation point on the win.  The 3 play, 65 yard drive culminated with an electrifying run by sophomore tailback Tyshawn Gardin covering 46 yards.  Gardin ran off of the right side of the offensive line, got a key block by WR Christian Kidd, and then cut back across the field and showed his outstanding speed as he beat the AC secondary to the end zone.  
    Final score: Powell 55 Anderson County 12. 
    The Panthers advance to the second round of the playoffs and will host Ooltewah this Friday in the first ever matchup between the two schools in football.
    Anderson County ends its season at 5-6.  
    Mobley added yet another school record to his long list of accomplishments.  His 228 rushing yards on just 12 carries now gives him a total of 2,084 yards for 2011, breaking the single season record of 2,007 previously held by former Panther great Derek Milligan in 2002.  Mobley now holds both the single season and career rushing yardage records, along with the single season and career records for rushing TDs scored and total TDs scored.  
    Game time on Friday is 7 PM.  Air radio broadcast on AM 620 WRJZ will begin at 6:30.
    Ooltewah scouting report:  The Owls, who moved down from 6A to 5A prior to this school year due to declining enrollment numbers, come in to the game with an overall record of 8-3.  They defeated Shelbyville 42-20 at home in the first round of the playoffs on Friday to advance.  The Owls finished 3rd in district 5AAA, behind 6A teams McMinn County and Bradley County.  The 3 Owl losses were all to 6A teams – McMinn and Bradley, and a non-district loss to Siegel.  
    Ooltewah features a 3 year starter at quarterback in senior Bradley Stephens (6’3” and 170), and a big running back in sophomore Desmond Pittman (5’10” and 235).  Its best athlete is thought to be wide receiver Mikhail Creech, a tall target at 6’3” and 175. 
    Up front, the Owls are not a big team – just one starter on either line over 230 pounds.  They are a senior dominated team, starting 8 seniors on offense and 7 on the defensive side of the ball. Head coach Shannon Williams is in his second year as a head coach – both at Ooltewah – and has a current career record of 12-9.
More good news for Mobley:  On his third unofficial visit to Lexington on Saturday for the Kentucky-Ole Miss game, Dy’shawn finally got the good news he has been waiting for.  Kentucky officially extended Mobley a football scholarship offer, the first offer he has received from a BCS conference school.  Major Contgrats, Dy’shawn.  You have earned it, and I expect more BCS programs to offer sooner rather than later.  
District 3AAA in the playoffs:  Five 3AAA teams qualified for the playoffs.  With Powell’s win over district foe AC, the only 5A school other than the Panthers to qualify was eliminated. Three 6A schools from 3AAA – Oak Ridge, Karns, and Hardin Valley all qualified.  After the first round, only Oak Ridge is still alive on the strength of its 35-6 win at #2 seed McMinn County.  Karns lost at Science Hill 41-32, and Hardin Valley took District 2AAA champion Sevier County to the wire before losing 24-21 in Sevierville. Seventh seeded Oak Ridge will travel to 3 seed Cookeville this Friday for round 2.  
    Surprises in 5A:  Even though the number 1 seed in Quad 3, Antioch, went down in the first round, it was really not that big of a surprise.  Eight seed Station Camp defeated the 1 seed 21-13 on Friday, but it wasn’t unprecedented. Station Camp had defeated Antioch once already this season back in week 2, and they did it in convincing fashion then 35-6.  Antioch was the only 1 seed in class 5A to be eliminated in the first round, and only 1 of 4 top seeds in any classification to go down on Friday; 2 in class 4A, and 1 in 3A.  
    The biggest surprise in 5A was the second seed in quad 2 – the quad in which Powell is the 1 seed – Columbia Central being ousted by 7 seed Lenoir City.  Columbia is the defending state champion, coming in to Friday’s game with Lenoir City with only a loss to Chattanooga Baylor, the state’s number one team in Division 2, as a blemish on its record.  Lenoir City went to Columbia and won 34-30.  
    Otherwise, things in 5A went pretty much as expected.  The other 3 1 seeds – Morristown West, Powell, and Henry County – all won big.  Area teams Morristown West, Morristown East, Knoxville West, and Lenoir City all advanced.

Powell-Anderson County Statistics  
Scoring
P    9:26 1st    Mobley 40 yard TD run
            Neely kick
AC    4:51 1st    Mayes 7 yard TD run
            2 Pt Conv failed
P    3:42 1st    McPhetridge 56 yd TD pass to Logan
            Neely kick
P    11:51    2nd    McPhetridge 7 yd TD pass to H. Owenby
            Neely kick
P     4:12 2nd    McPhetridge 21 yd TD run
            Neely kick
P    0:57 2nd    Mobley 30 yd TD run
            Neely kick
P    11:36 3rd    B. Williams 43 yd Int Return for a TD
            Neely PAT
P    4:41 3rd    Mobley 14 yd TD run
            Kick blocked
AC    4:50 4th    Mayes 20 yd TD pass to McIntosh
            2 Pt Conv failed
P    1:52 4th    Gardin 46 yd TD run
            2 Pt Conv failed
Powell                        AC    
54            Score                12
19            First Downs            15
351            Rush Yards            64
149             Pass Yards            172
500            Total Offensive Yards    236
7/55            Penalties/Yards        4/30
1            Turnovers            2
20:28            TimeOfPossession        28:32
3of5            3rdDownConversions    6of13

Powell Rushing
Mobley        12 for 228, 3TDs
McPhetridge        7 for 79, 1 TD
Gardin        5 for 54, 1 TD

Powell Passing
McPhetridge        7 of 9, 107 yards, 2 TDs
H. Owenby        4 of 4, 42 yards

Powell Receiving
Hughes         3 for 30
Wright        3 for 27
Logan            2 for 71, 1 TD
Leeper        1 for 12
H. Owenby        1 for 7, 1 TD
Mobley        1 for 3

Powell Kicking
Neely            6 for 6 PATs
Robinson        0 for 1 PATs

Powell Defense
B. Williams        1 INT
Skeen        1 INT
Mobley        1 Sack
Scott            1 Sack
Moore            1 Sack        

AC Rushing
T. Sulfridge        11 for 25
Mayes        11 for 54, 1 TD
Hodge         3 for -25
McCoy        2 for 11
K. Sulfridge        1 for -1

AC Passing
Hodge        14 of 29 for 142 yards, 2 INTs
Mayes        1 of 1 for 30 yards, 1 TD

AC Receiving
Strickland        5 for 53
McIntosh        3 for 56, 1 TD
Hicks            2 for 22
Powell        2 for 21
McCoy        2 for 15
Mayes        1 for 5

AC Kicking
Mayes        3 punts for 43.3 average

Photos Courtesy of Eric Kennedy