Powell High School Football
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Mynatt Minute: Austin-East Game Report, Halls Preview
By Bill Mynatt, Radio Voice of Powell Panther Football on AM 620 WRJZ
One of the major reasons why the Powell Panthers have had recent success on the football field is that when a player has gone down because of injury, another has generally stepped in and performed well in the place of the injured player. That pattern certainly held true on Friday night in the Panthers 28-7 win over Austin-East, played on Hayworth Field at Scarbro Stadium in Powell.
When All State quarterback Dustin McPhetridge tweaked an ankle in the third quarter with his team clinging to a 14-7 lead, sophomore Hagen Owenby moved in from his wide receiver position to replace McPhetridge. All Owenby did was direct two fourth quarter Powell scoring drives, locking down the win over the Roadrunners, who came in to the game ranked 4th by the AP in class 3A.
The big crowd that filled the stadium to witness the home opener saw both defenses dominate early on. Neither team could muster much offense, primarily because of ill timed turnovers and penalties, during the first quarter and a half of play. The Panthers finally put together a scoring drive late in the second quarter, finding the end zone on 4th and goal when McPhetridge found Gray Bunch all alone in the end zone for the score on a 3 yard pass. Austin-East had blitzed the safety on the two previous plays stopping the Panthers from finding paydirt. In anticipation of that same safety blitzing on 4th and goal, the Panthers called Gray’s number. McPhetridge did a great job of selling the fake to the tailback, and then he found Bunch uncovered for the score. Freshman Josh Neely added the PAT and Powell led 7-0 with 2:15 to go in the first half.
Austin-East took the kickoff and quickly drove the ball to the Powell end of the field. On 4th and long, it looked like the Panther defense had once again made a stop, but a questionable unnecessary roughing penalty flag was thrown, giving the Roadrunners first and goal with just over 10 seconds to go. A-E made it hurt, as quarterback Jyshon Forbes found Paul Pruitt on a slant route for the touchdown. Forbes added the point after, and the two teams went to the locker room tied at 7.
Just as it had in the first game against Rhea County, Powell took the opening kickoff and struck quickly, and in like fashion to a week ago. On second down, McPhetridge read the option perfectly and kept the ball and headed around the right end of his line. After breaking a tackle, he found himself in open space, heading down the sideline. One defender had a shot at him, but the 6’2” 229 pound QB made the last would be tackler miss him at the 5 and went in to the end zone on a run that covered 63 yards for the score. Neely again added the PAT, and Powell now led 14-7 just 49 seconds in to the third.
McPhetridge had scored on a 72 yard run on the first play of the second half against Rhea County.
The injury to McPhetridge would come later in the quarter on a third and long play. Initial reports on Friday night were that the ankle tweak is minor, and as of the time of posting this story, he is not expected to miss any playing time this week.
Enter Owenby at the quarterback spot. The talented sophomore helped his team put away the victory in the 4th quarter.
The first scoring drive of the period came on a 22 yard run by Dy’shawn Mobley at the 8:48 mark. Neely’s kick made the score 21-7.
The final score of the game came on a Darian Logan 2 yard run, which was set up by a nifty 40 yard run by Owenby. Neely kicked his 4th extra point in as many tries at the fifty-six second mark of the final stanza, and Powell had secured a hard earned victory over a hard-nosed and talented Austin-East team.
Powell improves to 2-0 on the season, while Austin-East falls to 0-2, with both losses coming to highly ranked class 5A teams. Powell came in to Friday’s contest ranked number 2 in the latest AP poll, while Knoxville West, who beat the Roadrunners 21-8 in Week Zero, is ranked #4.
Mobley led a solid Panther ground game with his 101 yards on 14 carries. In the process, the 6’ 215 pound senior passed former Panther great Derek Milligan in to first place on the all time modern day Career Rushing List. Mobley now has 2,999 yards for his career, surpassing Milligan’s 2,923.
Before exiting the game, McPhetridge had rushed for 90 yards on 10 tries, while Owenby had 3 carries for 68 yards.
For the game, Powell averaged just under 9 yards per rush – 311 total rushing yards on 35 attempts.
Curtis King accounted for 139 of A-E’s 216 yards on the ground. King carried the ball 25 times.
Powell totaled 348 yards of offense, to the Roadrunner’s 246.
Austin-East will be at home this week for the first time in 2011 – a Thursday Night Rivalry TV game against its biggest rival in Fulton.
What lies ahead for Powell is a 7 mile trip east for the annual Battle of Emory Road contest at Halls. Halls comes in the game at 1-1, winning its season opening game against Clinton 21-13, then losing this past Friday to Sevier County 42-14.
Powell leads the all time series with Halls 30-20, with 3 games ending in ties before the TSSAA implemented its overtime rule in the early1980s. Powell has won the last 3 games played in the series, and is 8-3 against its biggest traditional rival since 2000. Powell won 62-7 last year at Powell, but history indicates that more time than not Halls-Powell games are close and they go down to the 4th quarter before a winner is decided.
For the first time in many years, the Red Devils will line up in something other than a Winged-T option oriented offense. Led by senior left-handed quarterback Brady Brown, Halls has gone to a spread offense in 2011. Brown will rely heavily on fellow senior Jared Long to help carry the offensive load. Both also play major roles on the defensive side of the ball.
You can hear the Powell at Halls game on AM 620 WRJZ, beginning with the Panther Pre-Game Show at 7 PM.
If you have any questions on either this website or on the broadcasts of Powell Panther Football on AM 620 WRJZ, please email me at PowellFootballRadioVoice@yahoo.com
