Roane County: Midway rolls past Sunbright
By BROWNIE ROSE/Roane Newspapers
roanecounty.com
If the Midway Green Waves didn’t put it all together last Friday at Oneida, they certainly did this past Friday at Sunbright. The Green Waves scored three times in the opening quarter and built a 39-7 lead through the third quarter before eventually winning 39-19.
The tough two game road trip was not nearly as tough as head coach Craig Moser thought it was going to be, although he was still concerned about tackling and the kicking game.
“We had some pretty bad tackling at both Oneida and Sunbright,” Moser said. “Plus we just aren’t real consistent kicking off or on extra points, but the offense played very well tonight.”
The Green Wave defense did give up quite a few yards against Oneida and even more against Sunbright, but once again it was the bend but don’t break defense that only allowed the Tigers seven points against the starters.
Midway’s offense was spectacular if not almost perfect. They seemed to catch the Tiger defense flatfooted when they came out throwing the ball and not running.
For the first time in recent memory, Midway’s passing out gained the running attack. Quarterback Seth Lyle completed 9-11 passes for 270 yards. Midway’s top back Ray Robinson led the ground game with 132 yards. The total on the ground was 259 yards.
Total offense for Midway was 529 yards to 306 for Sunbright.
Midway’s offense took the field first at their own 34. Two plays later Lyle found Harley Davidson for a 40-yard gain to the Tiger 20 then Davidson scored on a 15-yard run three plays later to make the score 6-0 with 9:19 left in the first quarter.
The Midway kickoff was not a thing of beauty. Lyle almost completely missed the ball and it spun six yards before the Tigers pounced on it.
With good field position at the Midway 46, Sunbright used nine plays to reach the end zone with QB Jordan Young hitting Michael Spurling with an eight-yard scoring toss.
Jonathan Lay booted through the PAT for a 7-6 Sunbright lead with 4:34 left in the opening quarter.
The lead didn’t last long, however, as Midway started their next drive at the 30 and Lyle threw deep to Eric Stansbury on the first play after the kick. Stansbury made the catch and pulled away in the final 40 yards for the touchdown.
The try for two points also failed to leave Midway 12-7 with 4:08 left in the first quarter.
The Tigers began to wither on the next possession. On the third play of their next possession, Chinn recovered a Tiger fumble to give the Waves excellent field position.
From the 50, Midway needed only one play to score again. Davidson took a handoff left, cut back toward the middle of the field and was gone virtually untouched for the score.
Davidson ran in the two-pointer for a 20-7 Midway lead with 2:56 left in the first quarter.
Midway had Sunbright on the ropes and Moser’s squad delivered the knockout punch in the second quarter.
After a Sunbright punt, Midway’s first drive of the second quarter started on their own 10 yard line. However, with everything going right, 90 yards away seemed to be nothing for the Green Waves, as Robinson took a handoff up the gut and was in the Sunbright secondary very quickly. One swerve around the Tiger safety and Robinson was gone for a 90-yard score.
The PAT was again no good, leaving the score 26-7 with 9:53 left in the first half.
Sunbright again tried to bounce back. After the kickoff, the Tigers drove to the Midway five before Michael Roberts recovered Sunbright’s second fumble of the night.
Midway went 90 yards in one play on the last possession. This time they needed a little more time to cover 94 yards, but they did anyway.
Eleven plays were needed before a 19-yard screen pass from Lyle to T.J. Ogle found the end zone to make the score 32-7 with 30.7 seconds left in the half.
The passing game was big on the drive as Lyle went 3-4 for 65 yards during the drive.
Midway’s two-point try failed.
Sunbright turned the ball over again, an interception by Ogle, early in the third quarter and that would lead to Midway’s final points of the night.
From their own 29, Midway needed eight plays to reach the Tiger 49, but needed only one play to cover the rest of that distance as Lyle connected with Will Poe for a long 49-yard touchdown strike.
Chinn finally booted home a PAT to give Midway a 39-7 lead with 4:39 left in the third period.
Midway almost scored again on their next possession as the Waves got as close as the four before turning the ball over on downs.
Sunbright did get a little closer with a pair of touchdowns in the fourth quarter.
FB Nick Henes capped an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive with a three-yard run to make the score 39-12.
After a Midway turnover, Sunbright drove 28 yards in three plays with William Carroll scoring on a 10-yard pass from Drew Kennedy.
Robinson led the Green Waves in rushing with 10 carries for 132 yards. Davidson had eight runs for 78 yards while Quinton Pressley added four carries for 25 yards. Lyle had only four carries for 12 yards
Stansbury had a big game catching Lyle’s throws. He had four receptions for 134 yards. Davidson caught three for 68 yards. Poe had one catch for 49 yards and Ogle had a catch for 19 yards.
The back-to-back road wins sets up a big showdown with Harriman next Friday night at Midway. The Blue Devils are currently unbeaten in Region 2-A and could be the spoiler team when they play Coalfield in two weeks. In other words, a win for Midway over Harriman and then a Harriman win against Coalfield could very well leave the three teams locked in a three-way tie for first place in the region.