Signal Mountain Eagles relentless in defeating Bradley Bears

photo Bradley Central quarterback Cole Copeland passes after breaking away from Signal Mountain's TaDarius Hodge Friday at Signal Mountain High School.

Bill Price has been called, in polite terms, a stubborn man, but Signal Mountain supporters would rather say their football coach is both determined in his mindset and persistent in his team's offensive attack.

Price was determined the Eagles were, in his words, going to do what they do.

The Eagles didn't consistently break the expected long runs Friday night, but they were relentless with their clock-eating ground game, rushing 66 times for 394 yards in a 27-7 victory over visiting Bradley Central.

They were held to their lowest point production of the year but were facing eight- and nine-man fronts most of the night.

"That's the way we play," Price said. "We can throw the ball and we did. We had chances and missed some opportunities for some big plays because of some drops. We had some other chances and we fumbled a couple of times down close to scoring."

Sophomore Skye Wilson bumped his season touchdown total to 14 with all four of the Eagles' scores. Although Bradley held him in check on the long-gainers, he netted 127 yards on 21 carries. Hard-running fullback Kaleb Menzel added 138 on 22 carries.

The Eagles' offensive line was dominating most of the night.

"Every day Coach Price pushes us to finish our blocks. We play physical football and try to get a good push every play," sophomore guard Cole Johnson said. "It helps that we have so many talented backs. They can stay rested."

While he had to be pleased with the rushing performance and a defense that allowed just one score, Price has to be concerned about discipline and pass defense.

The Eagles were flagged 11 times for 115 yards, including an offensive facemask penalty. Despite being in a virtual pass-only offense, Bears sophomore quarterback Cole Copeland completed 28 of 41 throws for 260 yards and a 42-yard score to Daniel Clark.

"I didn't see some of them, but they called them so they must've happened," Price said of the numerous yellow flags.

"Bradley is a good football team. They're giving up less points than any team in their district. They're a tough defense, but I thought we played well defensively, too. They have a tough quarterback, although he's young, and it was good for us to see that before our game next week with Notre Dame."

That game has been moved from Notre Dame, primarily because of the anticipated traffic jam with unbeatens Baylor and McCallie scheduled to play at McCallie, and will be played at Ringgold with a 7:30 kickoff.

The Eagles held a 20-0 lead on three of Wilson's runs: a 17-yarder, a 3-yarder and a 2-yarder. The first capped off a 93-yard drive and the third an 89-yard march.

Bradley closed to within 13 on its first drive of the second half, but Signal countered with its final TD with 27 seconds left in the third period.

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

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