BAYLOR Red Raiders (1-0)
at
CATHOLIC Irish (0-1)
August 24, 2018
Blaine Stadium/Hollin Field
7:30 p.m.

SETTING THE SCENE – Catholic continues its homestand… Irish play their first four games at home in 2018… Catholic leads the series with Baylor, 3-0… Catholic won last year’s game, 56-24, in Chattanooga…Catholic is ranked second in this week’s Associated Press Class 5A poll…Baylor is ranked fourth in this week’s Associated Press Division II-AAA poll… Irish compete in Class 5A, Region 4… Irish have posted five consecutive 10-win seasons…Irish have won 144 of their last 189 games…Winton had nine receptions for 93 yards in last week’s loss to Maryville…Winton also had Catholic’s only touchdown on a nine-yard run…Jancek passed for 139 yards and added 39 rushing yards…Jones led the Irish in tackles last week with 12…

THE RECORDS – Catholic is 0-1 in 2018. The Irish lost at home to Maryville last week, 31-10. Baylor is 1-0 this year. The Red Raiders defeated Notre Dame, 35-14, last week.

ON THE SIDELINE – Steve Matthews is in his sixth year at the helm of the Irish. He also serves as Catholic’s offensive coordinator. Matthews came to Catholic from Seigel High School in Murfreesboro, where he served as offensive coordinator from 2010-2012. He was head coach at Moore County in 2008 and 2009 and posted a 10-11 record. He also served as QB/WR coach at Tullahoma, his high school alma mater, from 2004-2007. His overall record is 63-27, and his record at Catholic is 53-16. The Irish have reached the TSSAA Playoffs in each of Matthews’ seasons at Catholic. His playoff record is 15-3, and his 2015 (4A) and 2017 (5A) squads won TSSAA state championships. Matthews played collegiately at Tennessee and Memphis. He played professionally with the Kansas City Chiefs, Jacksonville Jaguars, and Tennessee Oilers.

 

SEASON SCHEDULES – Here are 2018 schedules for both teams:

Catholic (0-1)                                                 Baylor (1-0)

8/17     Maryville         L, 31-10                      8/16     Notre Dame    W, 35-14
8/24     Baylor                                                 8/24     @Catholic

8/31     Open Date                                           8/31     Marist School (GA)

9/7       Cleveland                                            9/7       Ensworth

9/14     Soddy-Daisy                                       9/14     @Pope John Paul II

9/21     @Brentwood Academy                      9/21     Chattanooga Christian

9/28     @Rhea County                                   9/28     Brentwood Academy

10/5     @West Greene                                    10/5     Open Date

10/12   Walker Valley                                     10/12   @McCallie

10/19   Open Date                                           10/19   Father Ryan

10/26   @Lenoir City                                      10/26   @MBA

 

SERIES VS. BAYLOR – Catholic leads the series with Baylor, 3-0. Here’s a look:

2007: @Catholic 34, Baylor 16

2008: Catholic 21, @Baylor 20 (OT)

2017: Catholic 56, @Baylor 24

 

LAST YEAR VS. BAYLOR – Catholic evened its record at 1-1 with its 56-24 win at Baylor. Paxton Robertson put the Irish on the board first with his 30-yard field goal on the game’s opening drive. A five-yard run from Joshua Brown late in the opening stanza gave the Irish a 10-0 lead. Two consecutive Baylor touchdowns gave the Red Raiders a 14-10 lead with 9:28 remaining in the second quarter, but the Irish erupted for four touchdowns before halftime. A 26-yard pass from Jack Sompayrac to Dashon Bussell gave the Irish the lead again, 17-14. A 10-yard run from Brown upped the margin to 24-14, and a 43-yard Cameron Blakely interception return moved the score to 31-14. Brown’s third touchdown of the half, a four-yard run, had Catholic ahead at halftime, 38-14. A 20-yard Robertson field goal moved the lead to 41-14 before a Baylor field goal made the score 41-17. A second Sompayrac touchdown pass, an 18-yarder to Adam Jones, provided the Irish with a 49-17 lead after three quarters. Following a Baylor touchdown, Ray Thompson ended the night’s scoring with his 15-yard fourth-quarter run. Brown led the Irish rushing effort with 178 yards on 24 carries. Sompayrac added 60 yards on 11 totes. Jones was the top target, grabbing six balls for 91 yards.  Bussell had five receptions for 86 yards. The Irish piled up 525 yards in total offense on the evening. DJ Mitchell led the Irish defense with eight tackles and two interceptions. Xavier Story also added eight stops. Blakely also had two interceptions, including his 43-yard scoring pick. The Irish collected six turnovers, including fumble recoveries by Thompson and Joe Fluker.

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS CLASS 5A POLL – Catholic is ranked second in this week’s

Associated Press Class 5A poll. Fulton is ranked first with 130 overall points and nine first-place votes. The remainder of the Top 10 includes: 2. Catholic (3/106); 3. Oak Ridge (103); 4. Northeast (92); 5. Summit (68); 6. Hillsboro (58); 7. South-Doyle (52); 8. Beech (2/50); 9. Henry County (47); 10. Shelbyville (18).

 

ASSOCIATED PRESS DIVISION II-AAA POLL – Baylor is ranked fourth in this week’s Associated Press Division II-AAA poll. Brentwood Academy is ranked first with 117 overall points and nine first place votes. The remainder of the Top 5 includes: t2. McCallie (3/107); t2. MBA (1/107); 4. Baylor (76); 5. Christian Brothers (70).

 

REGION 4-5A STANDINGS – Here’s a look at the 2018 Region 4-5A standings:

REGION        OVERALL

Rhea County               0-0                   0-0

Soddy-Daisy               0-0                   0-0

Catholic                      0-0                   0-1

Lenoir City                  0-0                   0-1

Walker Valley             0-0                   0-1

 

Last week’s results

Maryville 31, @Catholic 10

Chattanooga Central 40, Walker Valley 28 (at Finley Stadium)

@William Blount 13, Lenoir City 7

Cancelled — Soddy-Daisy @ Red Bank; Rhea County @ Cleveland

 

Friday’s Games

Baylor @ Catholic

Loudon @ Lenoir City

Brainerd @ Rhea County

Walker Valley @ Bradley Central

East Hamilton @ Soddy-Daisy

 

WEEK ONE – Catholic opened its 2018 campaign with a 31-10 home loss to Maryville. The Irish scored on their opening possession of the season, marching 80 yards in 10 plays. Tommy Winton went in from nine yards to give the Irish a 7-0 lead just 3:32 into the game. Maryville tied the score with a touchdown of its own on the ensuing drive. Paxton Robertson gave Catholic its last lead of the contest midway through the second quarter with his 25-yard field goal. A Rebel touchdown, followed by a field goal as time expired in the second quarter, left them ahead, 17-10, at halftime. The Rebels scored two second-half touchdowns to account for the final margin. Jack Jancek was 14-of-25 passing for 139 yards on the evening. Jancek also led the Irish in rushing with 39 yards on 12 carries. Winton had nine receptions for 93 yards in addition to his touchdown run. Adam Jones led the Irish defense with 12 tackles, while Cody Duncan added 11 stops. Chris Torres had ten tackles, including one for-loss and a sack.

 

RACK ‘EM UP – Catholic has won 116 of its last 151 regular-season games.

 

FIVE FOR TEN – Catholic has posted five consecutive 10-win seasons. Here’s a look:

2013: 10-4

2014: 10-2

2015: 11-4

2016: 10-2

2017: 12-3

 

REGION FOES – Catholic participates in Region 4-5A. Region foes for the Irish include Lenoir City, Rhea County, Soddy-Daisy, and Walker Valley.

 

TEAM STATS – Catholic averages 246.0 yards per-game in total offense, including 107.0 yards on the ground and 139.0 yards through the air. Defensively, Catholic allows 354.0 yards per-game, including 152.0 yards on the ground and 202.0 yards through the air. Catholic averages 10.0 points per-game. Opponents average 31.0 points per-game.

 

MAKE IT QUICK – Catholic’s offense had 24 scoring drives lasting less than one minute last season.  Ten of those scoring drives were of the one-play variety

 

ON THE BOARD – Catholic scored 40 or more points ten times in 2017 and scored 50 or more points four times.

 

TURNOVER MARGIN – Catholic is minus-2 in turnover margin in 2018. The Irish have thrown one interception and lost one fumble. Opponents have thrown no interceptions and lost no fumbles.

 

INDIVIDUAL LEADERS – Here’s a look at Catholic’s statistical leaders in various categories –

Rushing: Jack Jancek (12 att., 39 yds, 0 TD)

Passing: Jack Jancek (14-25-1, 139 yds, 0 TD)

Receiving: Tommy Winton (9 rec., 93 yds, 0 TD)

Interceptions: —

Scoring: Tommy Winton (6 points; 1 TD)

Tackles: Adam Jones (12)

 

PLAYERS OF NOTE

 

3 – Jack Jancek (QB/DB, 6-4, 185, Jr.): 12 att, 39 yds, 14-25-1, 139 yds, 6 tackles vs. Maryville…

 

7 – Stiles Moore (DE, 6-3, 240, Jr.): 6 tackles vs. Maryville…

 

9 – Adam Jones (WR/DB, 6-3, 175, Sr.): 1 rec, 16 yds, 12 tackles vs. Maryville…

 

13 – Ray Thompson (RB/DB, 6-0, 190, Sr.): 7 att, 18 yds, 1 rec, 5 yds, 7 tackles vs. Maryville…

 

24 – Tommy Winton (RB/DB, 5-10, 175, Fr.): 3 att, 17 yds, 1 TD (9), 9 rec, 93 yds, 2 KOR, 57 yds vs. Maryville…

 

30 – Cody Duncan (RB/LB, 6-2, 215, Jr.): 6 att, 23 yds, 11 tackles vs. Maryville…

 

45 – Paxton Robertson (K, 6-1, 200, Jr.): 1/1 XP, 1/1 FG (25) vs. Maryville…

 

53 – Chris Torres (LB, 6-1, 210, Sr.): 10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 sack vs. Maryville…

 

78 – Cooper Mays (C/DL, 6-3, 260, Jr.): 7 tackles, 1 TFL vs. Maryville…

 

DOUBLE-DIGIT TACKLES – Catholic has had three double-digit tackle efforts this season. Here’s a look:

Player                         Opponent                   Tackles

Adam Jones                Maryville                     12

Cody Duncan              Maryville                     11

Chris Torres                 Maryville                     10

 

THE LAST GO ‘ROUND – Catholic’s 2018 roster includes nine seniors. Included are Xavier Story (RB/LB), Adam Jones (WR/DB), Ray Thompson (RB/DB), Adam Margolis (RB/LB), Chris Torres (RB/LB), Alec Bindner (OL/DL), Jordan Natour (OL/DL), Max Suchomski (K), and Adam Price (WR/DB).

 

ON THE STAFF – Serving as assistant coaches for the Irish are: Justin Anderson (Offensive Line), Sam Brown (Running Backs), Rodney Ellison (Tight Ends), Drew Franklin (Wide Receivers), Kevin Lane (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Defensive Backs), Kris White (Co-Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers), Geraud Hall (Defensive Ends), John Brewster (Defensive Tackles), Don Coffey (JV) and Tyler Teague (JV).

 

ON THE RADIO – Tonight’s game is being broadcast on WNML, The Sports Animal (99.1 FM). John Wilkerson handles play-by-play, while former Catholic quarterback and 1999 Mr. Football winner Rob Demastus adds commentary.

 

UP NEXT – Catholic will have an open date next Friday. The Irish return to action September 7 as they play host to Cleveland. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m., at Blaine Stadium/Hollin Field.