Maryville hands West Ridge a 41-7 first-round loss in 6A playoffs

MARYVILLE — Not many tasks are tougher than traveling to face an 18-time state champion in the first round of the playoffs.For a quarter and change, the West Ridge football team acquitted itself well.Making their third TSSAA 6A state postseason appearance in their fifth season of play, the Wolves simply couldn't keep pace with Tennessee juggernaut Maryville in a 41-7 road loss and an opening-round exit on Friday night.Already down 7-0 after the Red Rebels (10-1), the No. 1 seed out of Region 2-6A ate up nearly six minutes on an 11-play, 61-yard touchdown drive to open the contest, West Ridge (6-5), the No. 4 seed from Region 1-6A, moved the ball well on its first possession but was stopped on fourth-and-5 from the Maryville 18-yard line after using up about seven minutes of clock on its own.The hosts then went on back-to-back touchdown drives for a 21-0 lead before the Wolves finally got on the board when senior running back Ethan Amyx cashed in with a 3-yard touchdown dive to cap a five-play, 80-yard series.But West Ridge would score no more.The Red Rebels heaved a 54-yard touchdown pass to end the half with a 28-7 lead, scored on a 50-yard TD pass in the third period, and wrapped up the scoring early in the fourth frame with a 19-yard scoring toss to end the contest under running-clock conditions.Maryville, which has 14 state titles since 1998, extended its streak to 29 straight seasons with at least one playoff victory since a rare postseason miss in 1996. The Red Rebels have gone at least four rounds deep on 27 of those occasions.The Red Rebels will advance to face either Region 4 No. 2 Lebanon (8-2) or Region 3 No. 3 Riverdale (7-3) in next week's second round. That game was weather-delayed and did not start until after 9 p.m. on Friday night.West Ridge falls to 1-3 all-time in the playoffs, including 0-2 against Maryville after a 49-0 second-round loss in 2021, but the Wolves held their own against elite region rivals Science Hill and Jefferson County this season."The score was not what we wanted, but our guys came out and competed early," said Wolves head coach Justin Hilton. "This whole season has been great because of the group of young men we have. I have been so impressed by their grit and the way they embrace each other as a family."The West Ridge football team was one that the community could take pride in because they have class, toughness and a competitor's spirit every Friday night."Amyx, a senior, finished with 90 yards and the TD on 16 carries for West Ridge. Sophomore quarterback Justice Hilton ran 14 times for 67 yards and completed a 3-yard pass to Brody Fields. Dayton Brown ran seven times for 11 yards.The Wolves' other completion was a 28-yarder on a trick play from Jackson Price to Kaleb Mabb.With Samuel Burress' second-quarter extra point, he became the West Ridge single-season program record for the most successful point-after kicks.Maryville junior QB Will Jones completed 14 of 17 passes for 225 yards and four touchdowns of 18 yards to Grayson Myers (3-38-1) in the first quarter, 54 yards to Tory Beaufort (6-90-2) in the second period, 50 yards to Colton Foust (3-77-1) in the third frame, and 19 yards to Beaufort in the fourth quarter.Cam Porter (8-67), Ty Tomberlin (5-28) and Beaufort (4-28), who had a 4-yard TD run in the second quarter, handled rushing duties for the Red Rebels. Fullback Dax Cole also scored on a 1-yard run in the second period for the hosts.Kash Tucker had a late 29-yard run for Maryville and Hudson Jamerson caught a pair of passes for 20 yards. Backup QB Tyler Sigmund was 2 for 2 in the final moments.