Tellico Plains put together a solid night in the Bears’ first scrimmage of the new season.
Outscoring host Sale Creek 19-7, the Bears came from behind Friday night to discover a positive performance two weeks before the start of the regular season.
“They did everything we asked them to do. I told them we want them to play physical with great effort, play efficient football and not turn the football over and we accomplished all those things,” Tellico Plains coach Bobby White said.
Senior Ryan Shaffer rushed for three touchdowns across the varsity-played quarters on an 18-minute running clock.
Withholding senior back Chance Shapiro with an injury, the Bears gave the majority of carries to Shaffer and junior Nathaniel Bivens.
“Everything was positive plays. The offensive line did a good job up front moving the line and we were able to run the football very efficiently,” White said.
Shaffer rushed for all three scores, finding paydirt on a long run while capping off an eight-yard score on 2nd and goal and one from four yards out.
“Ryan Shaffer had a real good night running the football. So did Nathaniel Bivens, he ran the ball hard as well,” White added.
The Bears did have some errors on points after.
“We have a good kicker, but we have to get better at snap-and-hold and timing all of that,” White said.
Junior Ike Hollinghead played all the reps at quarterback, going 4 for 6 while converting on crucial downs in critical spots.
“He played within the offense and we ran the ball pretty good,” White said. “We were efficient in that. He did a good job commanding the offense.”
Hollinghead connected with Braden Reed and Jesse Winger twice each, picking up two first downs.
After allowing the Panthers, who won seven games last season and qualified for the Class 1A playoffs, to score, Tellico shut out the hosts throughout the night.
Sale Creek averaged 26.7 points per game last season while being shut out twice — by Bledsoe County and South Pittsburg.
Though Tellico held Sale Creek off from breaking out chunk plays, the Panthers converted three fourth-down conversions on the opening drive.
“I think a little bit of it was just a bit of nerves and getting your feet set. At the same time, anytime you go up against another team it is going to be a lot faster than what you can simulate in practice, White said. “It took a series or two to get adjusted to that. After that, they were pretty dominant.”
Tellico had solid evenings from defensive ends Austin Hall and Adam Holley while Shaffer led the Bears in tackles.
“The secondary played real well. They did not throw it very much but, when they did, we did a pretty good job of keeping things covered,” White added.
Tellico hosts next week’s jamboree, facing McMinn County’s JV in the first quarter and Meigs County in the fourth.
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