Webb races past bullish Chargers
KNOXVILLE — Using a pair of Chattanooga Christian School fumbles to help build an early 21-point lead, Webb School of Knoxville cruised in the opening round of Division II-AA playoffs.
Morgan Ernst, Spartans senior fullback, scored on runs of 44, 33 and 38 yards, while Hunter Green, Webb senior quarterback, fired a pair of touchdown passes in a 42-21 victory in Dave Meske Stadium Friday night, Nov. 3.
Elijah Howard, freshman running back, hauled in a 55-yard pass from Green to open the scoring for Webb [7-3].
Bryson Glenn, senior tight-end/defensive back, caught Green’s 4-yard TD pass in the second quarter.
Glenn also recovered a fumble to set up a Spartans TD, as did David Wade, junior offensive and defensive lineman.
Jahlil Jefferson, junior running back/defensive back, scored on a 38-yard run in the third quarter.
“I think we played great offensively,” said Jake Julian, Webb senior offensive and defensive tackle. “We’ve got great running backs. All you’ve got to do is give them a little crease. It makes the offensive line look pretty good.”
“We played well offensively,” Webb head coach Dave Meske said. “I thought we made some big plays; some big runs, some big throws.”
However, “We made some mistakes. Luckily, we’re better than them,” Jefferson said.
Mondo Ellison, the Chargers’ big running back, was a force who often churned out big yards leading a potent power rushing attack for CCS [5-6].
“Defensively we knew they were going to try and punch it down our throats all game,” Jefferson said. “We didn’t do as good as we wanted to; you see they scored three touchdowns driving it all the way down the field.
“It’s unacceptable. We need to do better,” he added. “I’m not proud of the performance at all.”
“Their offensive line is awesome. They’re huge across the front, and we kind of struggle there sometimes because we’re small across the front,” Julian said.
“That’s why they were able to move the ball most of the game, kind of beating us up front,” he added. “We weren’t disciplined a lot of the times, but it got better as the game went on.”
“They controlled the ball a little bit on us,” Meske said. “We’ve got to make sure that we look at that because we can’t have that happen throughout the playoffs.
“Number 3 [Ellison] is a good football player and they get off the ball up front,” he added. “They were going to keep giving him the ball and try and overload our defense. They had a little success doing that.”
Next up, Webb visits Christ Presbyterian Academy [9-2] in Nashville this Friday, Nov. 10, in second-round playoff action starting at 8 p.m. EST, 7 p.m. CST.
