Catholic Crushed

Rebels dominate Irish in flawless district romp

By Tate Russell
Assistant Editor
Blount Press Row

T.J. Kimble works a spin move in the Catholic defense on Friday. Photos by Jolanda Jansma

The Rebels’ offense struck early and often led by Nick Myers and Shawn Prevo, and the defense thwarted any response the Irish could muster in top-ranked Maryville’s 38-6  victory over Knoxville Catholic on Friday night.

Myers was an efficient 8-of-11 for 147 yards and two scores while not taking a single snap in the second half at Shields Stadium.

“I thought I was pretty sharp tonight,” Myers said. “I came out good with that throw to T.J. (Kimble) to start the game.  I thought as team we played pretty good all around.”

Myers started things early for the Rebels when he hit Kimble burning down the visitors sideline for a 41-yard gain on the first play from scrimmage. The Rebels (7-0, 4-0 District 4AAA) quickly moved into scoring position, where Prevo was stopped in his tracks by Patrick McFall as he received a handoff.

The Rebel back mystifyingly maneuvered his way out of the defensive tackle’s grasp and plowed his way to the 1-yard line.  Prevo scored two plays later from inches out to put the Rebels in front.

The Rebel defense set up the next score. Irish quarterback Tanner Sharp found fullback Logan Lacy out of the backfield, but as the back turned upfield a handful of Rebels struck him forcing a fumble and giving the offense a short field.

Myers first hit Cody Carroll for 19 yards and then on third-and-12 dropped one into Trenton Shuler’s hands on a screen. Behind a punishing block from Brad Fields, Shuler found his way to the end zone for a 20-yard score.

Cody Carroll struggles to free himself from an Irish tackler.

The Rebel defense stymied an unexpected Irish attack for most of the evening, giving up only 143 yards in the contest and only 41 and two first down through the game’s first 23 minutes. Most impressive was that the Irish (3-4, 1-3) lined up in a new offense Friday and the Rebels did not miss a beat.

“We didn’t see them in the I one play on film,” Maryville coach George Quarles said. “They’d been a Wing-T team on film. We worked on Wing-T all week, and wasted our time apparently. But I was proud of our kids; I thought they played physical and tackled well.”

Myers set up the Rebels third score when he found Carroll crossing the defense on a slant that picked up 24 yards. Safety Brian Coulter made an offensive appearance and finished the drive on a pair of jet sweeps. The second went around right end and all the way to the corner of the end zone, where the senior leaped over the pylon to earn the score and gave the Rebels a 21-0 lead.

On their next possession the Rebels carried five consecutive times behind left tackle Greg Jones to move the ball to the 14-yard line, where Prevo took the handoff right and made his way across the goal line untouched.

Will Murrin paced a Maryville defense that limited Catholic to a pair of first downs in the opening half.

Catholic would cross the midfield stripe for the first time on its next series but was forced to punt from the Maryville 49, giving the Rebels a long field with 2:06 in the half. Maryville went 88 yards in five plays, using only 1:04 of time to earn its fifth first half score.

Prevo started the drive with a 47-yard rush sprung open by key downfield blocks by Jones and Kimble. The drive was capped when Myers found Carroll wide open along the home sideline where the receiver went up and pulled down pass for a 35-0 lead a minute before the half.

“We set that up really well with a fake to T.J. on a screen and the corner bit up real hard and Cody was there wide open,” Myers said. “All I had to do was lay it up to him and then, boom, touchdown.”

Prevo led the Rebel rushing attack with 83 yards and two scores. All nine of his carries came in the first half. The Rebel offense outgained the Fighting Irish 294 to 63 in the first half and 378 to 143 in the game.

Tyler Vaught reeled off a series of big gains in the second half.

The Rebels’ defense started the second half by forcing a three and out and an Irish punt on fourth-and-11. Sophomore Tyler Vaught took command of the Maryville offense at its own 42 and drove the Rebels down to the Irish 6-yard line largely with his legs.

Vaught gained 55 yards rushing on his two offensive series in the second half.

The Rebels got a 23-yard Caden Ryding field goal to conclude their scoring.

Catholic’s Nolan Coulter was the focal point of an Irish scoring drive, carrying seven times for 56 yards to get the Irish on the scoreboard. Coulter carried on 24 of Catholics 40 offensive snaps for 141 yards.