Smith County Knocks Off East Nashville for Region 5-3A Title
By Carter Mansfield
Smith County Head Coach Matt Dyer was pure emotion after the Owls took down last year’s 3A state runner up for the Region 5-3A title, in a game that many people expected East Nashville to dominate in.
“These guys silenced all the doubters tonight, no one gave them a chance in this game.” Dyer said. “We took it to them for four quarters, that’s what we asked our guys to do and they answered the bell.”
This game was a slugfest from the beginning, as the game remained scoreless until the final minute of the first half when Zaccheus Beard punched in a quarterback sneak from the 1-yard line to give East Nashville an early 6-0.
This set up the play of the night for Smith County and what would become one of the themes for the Owls on the night: response to adversity.
Freshman quarterback Kaden Powell made a perfect throw in between two East Nashville defenders from 35 yards out on fourth down to Johnny Lyda, which gave the Owls a 7-6 lead going into halftime, along with all the momentum.
Powell showed poise throughout the game for a freshman quarterback on a huge stage for high school football. He finished with 136 total yards and a touchdown on the night.
Smith County was quickly faced with adversity again, as Tre’Quan Waters busted off a 72-yard touchdown run that gave East Nashville the lead right back to open the second half. Waters was a thorn in the side of the Owls all night, as he finished with 120 yards rushing.
“They are battlers and they don’t quit.” Dyer said. “They don’t play with each other, they play for each other.”
Smith County quickly responded with another fourth down touchdown, as Bryce Currie took it in from 14 yards out for what seemed to be the game-tying touchdown. An East Nashville offside penalty motivated the Owls to go for two and Powell found the endzone on a quarterback sneak to give Smith County a 15-14 lead that would stick throughout the fourth quarter.
Both of these teams will be major contenders in 3A and this is easily a rematch we could see if the quarterfinals in a few weeks.
Smith County improves to 9-1 on the season, and since they are region champions, will host Sycamore (4-6) in the first round of the playoffs. East Nashville will have the second-ranked spot in the region, and will host White House (6-4) in the first round of the playoffs next week.
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