Friday night carried many implications for the playoffs for Region 4-5A, and it resulted in Rhea County pulling out the 38-35 win at home, defeating the Trojans of Soddy-Daisy to all but secure the 2nd place spot in the region and a home game to start the 2017 Class 5A playoffs.
The game was tight from start to finish with the holding the fans on both sides of Eagle Stadium in suspense for the entire 48 minutes.
Rhea County and Soddy-Daisy went back and forth with scoring, but Rhea County junior kicker Haden Frashier, who has since been named player of the week, nailed a clutch field goal late in the 4th quarter that ended up being the difference in the key matchup.
Christian Simon had another excellent performance, totaling well over 200 yards rushing and receiving on the night. He also passed the 1,000 yard mark for in rushing for the season.
The Eagles are off this week before traveling to Cane Ridge High School in Middle Tennessee to close out the regular season.
Region notes: The loss to Rhea County now moves Soddy-Daisy into a winner-take-all game against Walker Valley which will decide the fourth spot in the playoffs. Currently, Lenoir City stands a chance, at least from a theoretical standpoint, to win the region with their only loss being to Rhea County and a bout with Catholic left the final week of the season.
With how the games have gone so far, I see the standings below being the seeding going in to the first round of the playoffs with Rhea County more than likely facing the winner of the Knoxville West/Campbell County game in Evensville after the two clash in Region 3-5A play.
Region 4-5A Standings
1. Knoxville Catholic (3-0)
2. Rhea County (3-1)
3. Lenoir City (2-1)
4. Soddy-Daisy (0-3)
5. Walker Valley (0-3)