SMYRNA— It had been a long time coming for Smyrna’s football team.
The Bulldogs remained undefeated in region play Friday night as they defeated Cane Ridge for the first time, 27-24, at Bud Raikes Stadium.
Smyrna’s offensive attack came in large from the running game as the Bulldogs had 239 yards on the ground, including 119 from sophomore Running Back Arion Carter. Sophomore quarterback Landon Miller chipped in with 45 yards and two rushing touchdowns.
Smyrna not only played well on the offensive side of the ball but the defense forced three turnovers, including the game-sealing interception by senior free safety Jamir Eaton.
“Eaton is always a big weapon for us,” Smyrna coach Matt Williams said. “He made a lot of big plays on both sides of the ball and he’s fun to coach. We have a lot of guys like that on this team.”
The first half was tightly contested as both offenses scored on their first two possessions. Smyrna took a more methodical approach, going 13 and nine plays to score, while Cane Ridge used explosive scoring on four quick plays.
However, the Ravens special teams and penalties derailed Cane Ridge to take the lead in the game.
“They (Smyrna) looked like a team who played six games,” Cane Ridge coach Eddie Woods said. “We looked like a team who played one and it showed tonight.”
Cane Ridge had numerous penalties and missed four extra points that came back to bite them in a bad way.
“The extra points, we make them all the time in practice and then we come out here and the ball is slipping off the tee. Just a lot of early mistakes.” Woods said.
After having a 13-12 lead at the half, Smyrna continued to pound the rock with the ground game and eventually took a 27-12 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Cane Ridge would not go away.
Xayvion Clemmons had three touchdowns (two passing, one rushing) and had a chance to win it for the Ravens before the late interception.
“Aside from X’s and O’s we’re going to teach our kids to fighting until the end,” Woods said.
Smyrna goes into the bye week at 6-2 and 4-0 in region play, but Coach Williams knows there is still work to be done.
“We’ve got to keep getting better each week and reach our potential,” he said. “I think we took a big step towards it this week, but we’re still not where we could be.”
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