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October 2, 2009

A rush: Tigers rip Raiders

Ringgold gains 625 on ground

By Adam Krohn

RINGGOLD — Southeast just can’t find an answer for Martez Eastland.

The 6-foot-2-inch, 220-pound Eastland, who last year burned the Raiders for more than 200 yards and four touchdowns, is believed to have set a Ringgold record with his 326 rushing yards and four more touchdowns — one on a pass reception — in the Tigers’ 49-27 Sub-region 6A-3A win against Southeast on Friday night at Don Patterson Stadium.

Eastland, a senior, set the tone early in the first quarter after a Tanner McCutchen’s interception gave Ringgold (4-1, 1-0 in 6A-3A) the ball on its own 3. Eastland raced 91 yards down the sideline, reversing the field position and putting the Tigers on the Raiders 6. Two plays later, Eastland caught a 10-yard touchdown pass to give the Tigers an early lead they didn’t relinquish.

Eastland, who has been playing with a sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee the past two games, wasn’t concerned with his rushing total.

“We got the win and that’s all that matters,” said Eastland, who said he feels close to 100 percent despite walking with a noticeable limp.

The Raiders (3-3, 1-1) did their part to hang with Ringgold, trailing 14-13 at the half and 28-20 after three quarters. But the Tigers’ rushing attack eventually wore Southeast down. Reserve running back Mark Fairbanks rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown on just eight second-half carries and Thomas Guinn added 40 yards and a score on just two carries in the fourth quarter.

In all, the Tigers compiled 625 rushing yards on the ground.

“Give them credit, they’re a very physical football team,” Raiders coach David Crane said. “We told our guys we were going to have to play the most physical game we’ve played for four quarters. We did that for three quarters and I was disappointed because I felt like there was some signs of laying down in the fourth quarter when the going got a little bit tough. We’ll fix that for next week.”

Despite Ringgold’s unstoppable running assault, the Raiders stayed close with Carlos Ojeda field goals of 24 and 27 yards in the second quarter. With 4:21 left in the half, Raiders receiver Jeremy Bishop made a spectacular over-the-head catch for a 33-yard touchdown at the end zone pylon, bringing the Raiders to within 14-13 after the extra point.

With a minute left in the third quarter, on the first play after a McCutchen fumble gave Ringgold the ball on the Raiders 16, a Southeast defender knocked the ball out of Tigers running back Shaun Anderson’s hands and Trey Parris grabbed it in mid-air. Parris scampered 86 yards for a touchdown. After Ojeda’s point-after kick, the Tigers led 28-20.

Tigers coach Robert Akins admired how the Raiders fought to stay in the game.

“They never gave up,” Akins said. “They never gave up against anyone I saw them play against. That’s a tribute to coach Crane and this football team. I really think this team is so much more improved from the team they had last year and I think that’s a tribute to those coaches and what they’re doing over there at Southeast.”

David Rayborn led the Raiders with 108 receiving yards on five catches and Bishop added a late fourth-quarter reception, giving him 50 yards on four catches. Coty Burch finished with 99 rushing yards on 21 carries and McCutchen added 88 rushing yards on 18 carries. McCutchen also threw for 192 yards, completing 10 of 20 attempts.



Ringgold 49, Southeast 27



SOU – 0 13 7 7 - 27

RIN – 14 0 14 21 - 49



First Quarter

RIN – Martez Eastland 10 pass from Zach Lance (kick failed), (7:06)

RIN – Lance 37 run (Matthew Crownover from Josh Moore), (1:18)



Second Quarter

SOU – FG Carlos Ojeda 24 (10:31)

SOU – FG Ojeda 27 (6:53

SOU – Jeremy Bishop 33 pass from Tanner McCutchen (Ojeda kick), 4:21



Third Quarter

RIN – Eastland 56 run (Adam Ray kick), 11:46

RIN – Eastland 52 run (Ray kick), 2:14

SOU – Parris 86 fumble return (Ojeda kick), 1:30





Fourth Quarter

RIN – Mark Fairbanks 27 run (Ray kick), 11:54

RIN – Thomas Guinn 8 run (Ray kick), 9:19

RIN – Eastland 29 run (Ray kick), 7:00

SOU – Bishop 16 pass from McCutchen (Ojeda kick), 4:35



SOU RIN

First Downs 16 18

Rushes-Yds 41-229 43-625

Passing Yds 192 7

Com-Att-Int 9-22-1 3-7-1

Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-2

Punts-Avg 2-32 3-23.3

Penalties-Yds 5-25 10-85

Turnovers 3 3



INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING – Southeast: Coty Burch 21-99, Tanner McCutchen 18-88, Trey Parris 1-41, Jeremy Bishop 1-1; Ringgold: Martez Eastland, 16-326, Mark Fairbanks 8-144, Zach Lance 4-73, Thomas Guinn 2-40, Shaun Anderson 9-25, Jerrod Cooper 1-7, Matthew Crownover 2-6, David Morgan 1-4

PASSING – Southeast: McCutchen 9-22-1 192; Ringgold: Josh Moore 2-3-1 7, 1-5-0 10

RECEIVING – Southeast: David Rayborn 5-108, Bishop 4-50, Parris 2-27; Ringgold: Eastland 1-10, Dakota Gilley 1-8, Crownover 1-minus 1

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A rush: Tigers rip Raiders
by By Adam Krohn , , Sat Oct 03, 2009, 01:18 AM EDT
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