On to Loudon: Signal routs DeKalb County

Arkansas-SEMO Live Blog

Signal Mountain 49, DeKalb County 10Star: Signal Mountain's Jack Teter was 5-of-7 passing for 181 yards and 2 TDs.Up next: at Loudon (11-0); DeKalb County finishes 5-6.

It could have been the full moon or it might've been coach Bill Price shelving his shorts and short sleeves. Both were uncommon occurrences for Signal Mountain.

"I'm getting old," Price said of breaking down and bundling up for the mid-40s weather Friday night.

Regardless, the host Eagles came out more than ready to play and scored on their first seven possessions to advance with a 49-10 victory over DeKalb County's overmatched and outmanned Tigers.

The Eagles began the second half with a running clock after building a 42-3 halftime lead.

"Our goal is to get better each week, and we did that tonight," Price said. "We played really well last week, too, but our guys are finally learning their jobs and Jack (Teter) has been throwing the ball really well and the guys are making catches."

Teter's passing was almost an interlude to the Eagles' highly efficient running game, but he made the most of seven opportunities, completing five for 181 yards and two touchdowns.

"Everybody knows Coach Price can be stubborn. I try to get him to throw the ball more because we can pass it," said Teter, who has six TD tosses the past two weeks, giving him 19 for the year against just one interception.

The Eagles didn't really need any more from Teter and the receiving corps, because the line was opening good-sized holes for running backs Kaleb Menzel, Hunter VanDyken and Nathan Johnson.

"We'd get to the line of scrimmage and snap it and sometimes (DeKalb County) wasn't ready," Teter said. "The line was getting a really good push, though, most all night and the backs were running pretty well."

Menzel had 9 carries for 127 yards, VanDyken 10 for 110 and Johnson seven for 77 as the Eagles gained 271 yards, a 9.3 per-rush average.

DeKalb County, bitten hard by the injury bug, had seven sophomore offensive starters and a freshman, a junior and five sophomores in the defensive lineup.

"It was almost like playing with a JV team, especially against those guys," DeKalb coach Steve Trapp said, nodding his head toward Signal Mountain's team on the other end of the field. "They're a good football team with some collegiate-looking kids. They have a good scheme. They're able to pound you and they're able to get you in the passing game if you fall asleep there."

This group of DeKalb seniors became the first in school history to make four consecutive playoff trips.

"Their quarterback throws the ball really well and did a good job, and they battled the whole game. I think we just played really well," Price said.

Steven Jennings, one of those sophomores, did his best to get DeKalb back in the game, throwing for 267 yards.

Contact Ward Gossett at wgossett@timesfreepress.com or 423-886-4765. Follow him at Twitter.com/wardgossett.

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