Powell High School Football
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Mynatt Minute – Rhea County Game Report
By Bill Mynatt, Radio Voice of Powell Panther Football
The Powell Panthers opened the 2011 football season in style on Friday night, running past the home standing Rhea County Golden Eagles 42-17. It was the first ever regular season meeting between the two schools, and the first win that Powell has recorded in football over the Golden Eagles.
The Panthers came out of pre-season with the reputation of likely being one of the better offensive teams in the state, and in particular, possessing a strong running game. They did nothing to weaken that prediction as they gained 300 yards on the ground on just 21 carries. That’s 14.3 yards per rush. 224 of those 300 yards came in the first half on only 11 tries - 20.4 yards per attempt. In the process of that dominating first half, the Panthers put up 35 points and led 35-3 at the intermission.
Powell initially got on the score board at the 5:53 mark of the first quarter. Senior running back Dy’shawn Mobley capped off a 7 play, 81 yard drive when he took a pitch from quarterback Dustin McPhetridge and went 19 yards in to the end zone for the score. Justin Wood added the extra point, and the Panthers led 7-0.
The Panthers added to that lead just a minute and 38 seconds later when safety Jonathan Strozyk picked off a Luke Everett pass and returned it 62 yards for a touchdown. The point after kick attempt was no good, however, so Powell led 13-0. That score held to the end of the first quarter.
Everett then led his team on its first scoring drive, taking over at its own 35 yard line. The Panther defense stiffened, and the drive stalled at the Powell 8, however. Golden Eagle head coach Doug Greene opted to try to put points on the board via the kick, and Jase Jackson was good on a 26 yard field goal attempt at the 11:02 mark of the second. Powell now led 13-3.
Over the next 9:08, Powell’s offense exploded, virtually putting the Golden Eagles away before the half would end.
Mobley scored his second touchdown of the half, this time on a 62 yard burst up the middle. After the offensive line opened a hole in the middle getting him in to the open, Mobley ran away from the would be defenders, scoring untouched at the 10:09 mark. Mobley added to the point total with a 2 point conversion run, and Powell now led 21-3.
Mobley would score once again, his third TD run of the first half, this time at the 5:45 mark, on an 11 yard run. The PAT kick attempt missed, and the Panthers had upped its lead to 27-3. The key play on that drive was senior Darian Logan’s 49 yard run, setting up Mobley’s jaunt to the end zone.
Powell wasn’t done scoring in the first half.
McPhetridge ran over, around, and past the Rhea County defense, scoring on a 64 yard run. His 2 point conversion pass found a wide opened Drake Owenby, and Powell led 35-3, a lead the Panthers would take to the locker room at the halftime break.
As spectacular as McPhetridge’s run to close the first half was, his best was still yet to come.
After Logan returned the second half kickoff to its own 28, McPhetridge again called his own number and proceeded around the right side, and down the sideline towards the end zone. McPhetridge cut back towards the middle at the 10, avoiding the last line of Golden Eagle defenders, and finished his second touchdown run of the night – this time from 72 yards – crossing the goal line for the score. Wood’s point after upped the score to 42-3.
Rhea County would score twice in the fourth quarter against Panther backups.
The first came on a 2 yard run by junior running back Desmond Sharp. Jackson kicked the point after, and Powell led 42-10 at the 10:22 mark of the 4th.
The Golden Eagles would add a late score, this time on a 14 yard pass from backup quarterback Austin Dotson to wideout Timmy Loden. Jackson added the final point of the game with 25 seconds left on the point after kick.
McPhetridge led the Panther ground game with 144 yards on just 4 carries. He was 4 of 7 through the air, good for 52 passing yards.
Mobley added 114 yards on 7 rushing attempts, and in the process moved in to second place on the all time Powell High School modern day career rushing total, passing former great Jason Littlejohn. Dy’shawn needs just 25 more yards to move in to the all time lead, currently held by Derek Milligan. Mobley’s 3 rushing touchdown also moved him in to third place all time with 33, bettering Andrew Tudor’s 32. Next on the rushing TDs scored list is current Panther head coach Matt Lowe at 36. Littlejohn leads in that category at 41, and Littlejohn also leads in career rushing touchdowns scored with 38.
The win didn’t come without a cost, however. Panther junior defensive end Cody Jett injured an ankle early in the game, and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. Jett’s injury was diagnosed as a broken ankle and ligament damage. Surgery was performed on Saturday, and Jett is out indefinitely.
Next up for the Panthers are the Roadrunners of Austin-East High School. While Austin-East and Powell played regularly in the past as old AA classification region format foes, the two schools haven’t met in football since 1998, a 42-6 Powell victory. Austin-East leads the all time series 9 games to 6. The Roadrunners come in to the game with a record of 0-1, losing a non-district contest at Knoxville West 21-8 in a lightning delayed game on Friday night. Austin-East managed only 145 yards of total offense against the Rebels – all on the ground – and they were hampered by penalties all night long. The Roadrunners were flagged 13 times for -107 yards.
On the other hand, the A-E defense was very stingy in its own right. West managed just 140 yards of total offense, 81 on the ground and 51 through the air.
Game time for the home opener this Friday is 7:30. As always is the case, you can hear the broadcast on AM 620 WRJZ. Air time is 7 PM, and the online streaming of the broadcast is available by link on the home page of this website. I will have the play by play call, and will be joined in the booth by my color commentator Kyle Blackburn. Also part of our broadcast crew this fall is former Panther All Region performer Dalton James, who will be handling the sideline reporting duties.
A special recognition of former Panther football players who have served in the military in either Iraq or Afghanistan will be made during pre-game activities.
Game photos below:
