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Raider tight end Aaron Atkinson hauls in a pass against the defense of Calhoun’s Jeremy Conley during the Black Walnut Bowl.
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Sports Editor - A chance to beat a rival, a chance to win a bowl game and a chance to move up in the Class AA rankings.
Opportunity was knocking for Roane County during the 35th Black Walnut Bowl Friday, but the Raiders couldn’t answer.
Class A power Calhoun County (6-1) took advantage of five Raider turnovers to post a 27-14 victory before a disappointed home crowd at County Stadium.
“I thought we made too many mental errors, Raider head coach Tom Hardman said. “And no good team will let you beat them when you have five turnovers.”
And the Red Devils showed early that they were a good team. After a scoreless first quarter, Calhoun marched 79 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Zach Houchin passed 22 yards to Josh Deweese to the Raider one and then covered the final yard on a sneak. Nick Wytsell kicked the first of his three extra points to give the Red Devils a 7-0 lead.
The lob to Deweese was a sign of things to come. The 6-3 wideout pulled in seven Houchin passes during the game for 92 yards.
“We knew coming in we had an issue right there,” Hardman said. “I thought my DBs covered him pretty well, but even with double coverage we didn’t have that height.”
Houchin went to work on defense on the next Roane possession, picking off quarterback Josh Drake at the Raider 43. Jeff Goodrich carried for 20 yards and fullback Caleb Hart completed the two-play march with a 23-yard scoring burst up the middle.
Roane countered by covering 64 yards in the final two minutes of the half. Eric Jarvis put up 30- and 14-yard runs before Aaron Atkinson caught a 15-yard pass from Drake that carried to the one. Two plays later, Drake got the TD on a sneak that was aided by a big push in the back from teammate Chris James. Juan Perez booted the PAT to make the halftime score 14-7.
Calhoun started the second half at the Roane 44 after two Raider penalties on the kickoff. Another lob to Deweese, this one for 15 yards, put the Red Devils on top, 21-7.
Roane cut the lead to 21-14 with 3:58 left in the game when Drake scrambled seven yards for a TD. The drive included passes of 33 yards to Tim Daniels and 19 yards to Jordan Drake and was aided by a personal foul on the Red Devils.
The Raiders had a chance to tie or take the lead with 2:32 left and got a 54-yard run from Josh Drake that carried to the Calhoun 17. The play was wiped out by a hold, though, and Drake was forced to go to the air. Houchin put the game away with a pick in the left flat that he returned 42 yards for the clincher with 1:32 on the clock.
The game was almost a dead heat statistically. Jarvis was the offensive star for the Raiders with 11 carries for 105 yards, but the turnovers made the difference.
“Calhoun played basically error-free football,” Hardman said. “They’re not a bad football team. They did what they needed to do to win the game.”
Despite all the missed chances on Friday, Hardman expects his team to bounce back. After all, opportunity could come knocking again before the season is over.
“We can’t change what happened,” Hardman said. “We need to get ready for next week, and we’re getting ready.”
See complete stats in Oct. 18 print edition.
