Signal Mountain High School (2-3, 0-2) dropped their second Division I Region 3 game to Loudon High School (5-0, 2-0), 38-14, on Friday night.
Loudon only needed two plays to find the end zone on the opening drive of the game. Senior running back Drew Jackson ripped off a 59-yard run to give the Redskins a 7-0 lead. Jackson finished with 158 rushing yards and three touchdowns.
Signal Mountain did them one better on their first drive as senior quarterback Jack Wilson threw a 90-yard touchdown pass to fellow senior receiver Rod Hutcherson to tie the game. Hutcherson notched 115 yards on three catches and a touchdown.
Loudon would respond three minutes later with an eight play 64-yard drive, capped off with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Keaton Harig to Mark Ridenour.
The Eagles capitalized on good field position early in the second quarter and put together a 32-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard run by junior Braden Casner to score on fourth down and tie the game up at 14.
Signal Mountain’s next two offensive drives resulted in a fumble and a high snap on third down that forced the Eagles to punt deep in their own territory. Those costly mistakes netted 10 points for the Redskins to close out the half.
Signal Mountain’s offense never quite got going in the second half as the hosts recorded 67 total yards of offense. Loudon would tack on two more touchdowns to improve to 5-0 on the year as the Eagles drop to 2-3.
“The thing I was most upset about was that no matter what is happening, you got to get back in there and fight,” said Signal Moutain Head Coach Josh Roberts. “We did some uncharacteristic things that we hadn’t done and we just have to play better.”
Signal Mountain will travel to East Ridge next Friday, where there will be a Hall of Fame Induction. Kickoff is at 7:30 p.m.
Loudon will host Polk County High School next Friday at 7:30 p.m. as they look to stay undefeated.
Loudon 14 10 7 7 -- 38
Signal Mountain 7 7 0 0 -- 14
Signal Mountain Loudon
First downs: 9 18
Total rushing yards: 56 245
Passing yards: 167 166
Total: 223 411
(Email Parker Tuerff at: xzn858@mocs.utc.edu)