After two consecutive last-second victories, the Class 4A No. 9 Stone Memorial High School Panthers football team hosted Macon County with the pressures of homecoming and a chance to win Region 3-4A outright on their home field weighing down on their shoulders.
The added pressures had no effect on the Panthers as they cruised to a 42-7 victory against the visiting Tigers to secure their third region championship in four years.
“To come back and win the region this year was huge,” said SMHS head coach Derik Samber. “We snapped a bunch of streaks in the process. Livingston had won six straight games in the region, Kingston had beat us eight straight times and we had our first win over Macon County. To wrap up home field for the playoffs is big. Home crowds have got better as the year has gone on.”
Stone Memorial struck first on their second drive after two defensive stops and a rare SMHS turnover. Backed up on their own three-yard line, Panther senior quarterback Thomas Arnold broke loose for a 97-yard touchdown run, the longest play from scrimmage for SMHS this season.
“It was a pretty basic quarterback run,” said Samber of the 97-yard touchdown. “I was just trying to get out of our own end zone and I told Thomas (Arnold) I didn’t know we were going into theirs. We got a couple good blocks on the edge, and Thomas outran everybody.”
The touchdown put the Panthers ahead 7-0 in the opening period before Macon County answered with a touchdown to tie the game.
From there, the Stone Memorial blowout was on as Arnold rushed for his second touchdown of the day, this one from 10 yards out, late in the first period. Ethan Norris rushed for a 15-yard touchdown in the second period along with Arnold’s third rushing touchdown of the first half to make the score 28-7 at halftime in favor of Stone Memorial.
Out of the locker room, SMHS sealed the deal with an 18-yard touchdown pass from Arnold to senior Will Delk to make it 35-7 in the third period.
Stone Memorial’s special teams stepped up on the ensuing kickoff as Parker Conley and Hunter Moore forced a turnover to give SMHS the ball back. The TSSAA mercy rule running clock was put into effect after Arnold connected with Mason Hurd on a 38-yard touchdown pass to make the score 42-7 in the third period, a score that would hold until the end.
Defensively, senior safety Thomas VanVorhes played a tremendous role in the Panther victory as he recorded a first-half interception that set up a touchdown and eight total tackles. Hurd recorded an interception also. Stone Memorial’s defense is giving up only 12 points per game on the season.
“Thomas (VanVorhes) is such a silent leader,” added Samber. “He does his job. He’s an incredibly physical and smart player.”
On the offensive side of the ball, Arnold continued his success as he recorded 138 rushing yards on eight attempts with three touchdowns. In the air, Arnold was 7-12 for 149 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions. Norris had 55 rushing yards along with 45 receiving yards from Shawn Richards.
“We needed that,” Samber said on the large margin of victory. “I’d say we all needed that after being on edge for four quarters the past few weeks.”
Stone Memorial remains undefeated at 7-0 and is ranked ninth in the AP Tennessee Class 4A rankings as of Monday morning. SMHS will travel to Lenoir City for a non-region contest this Friday with kickoff at 6:30 p.m. CST.
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