CLEVELAND, Tenn. - The battle Friday night between Ooltewah and Cleveland High was earmarked as everything one would expect from a playoff-implicating matchup of two proud football programs.
And it was - right up until the Blue Raiders' 28-point second quarter all but put the Owls' Class 6A playoff hopes on life support. Cleveland finished the mercy killing in 42-7 fashion, which put the Blue Raiders in prime position for a playoff third seed and leaves the Owls in a must-win situation next week to secure the final playoff slot from Region 2.
"It was one of those things we toed a fine line with this week," Cleveland coach Scott Cummings said. "We didn't want to put too much pressure on them about it being a big game, and we didn't want to be not honest with them. They knew it was a big game."
Cleveland (6-3, 3-2) held the Owls without an offensive touchdown for the first time in the last 33 games and set the tone early. The Blue Raiders held on downs on Ooltewah's first possession, forced a missed field-goal try on the second one and then gave up just one first down in the second quarter.
Meanwhile, Cleveland executed an offensive game plan two weeks in the making, and it was done so to perfection.
"The bye week was big for us from a mental standpoint last week. We needed it. Our defense has been pretty much maligned the last few weeks, but man, did it step up tonight," Cummings said.
Added Cleveland junior quarterback Kellye Cawood: "The bye week let us watch a lot of film, and we saw some things we could take advantage of. Our coaches did a great job of preparing us."
Those things had a lot to do with pass routes as Cawood threw for two touchdowns and ran for another while completing 12 of 13 passes for 309 yards and two other long passes called back by penalty. Four Blue Raiders had 50 yards or more in receptions.
Ooltewah (4-5, 2-3) never found its groove offensively without its big back Sincere Quinn to slow the Cleveland onslaught. Quinn was hurt last week and was in a walking boot on the sideline, along with his nearly 1,000 yards worth of offense.
The Blue Raiders got two TD runs from Keegan Jones in that second-quarter eruption, from 4 and 17 yards out, and Micaleous Elder added a 3-yard TD run within a span of eight minutes. A blocked punt set up Elder's short burst, and Cawood closed the first-half scoring with a 64-yard perfect bomb to Robert Flowers for a 28-0 lead.
"He can really spin it. He might not be the biggest guy out there, but he was pretty much perfect tonight," Cummings said of Cawood.
Jones had 80 rushing yards on 17 carries and earned every one of them. Romeo Wykle caught four balls for 71 yards, including a 39-yard score. Flowers had two catches for 76 yards, and Elder had three for 71.
Ooltewah got on the board late on a blocked punt that Jaylin Rogers scooped up and ran in to avoid the shutout. Ooltewah will travel next Friday to Maryville Heritage with the winner getting the final playoff spot if Cleveland takes care of business against McMinn County.
Contact James Beach at sports@timesfreepress.com