Rome High School Soap Game 2022 Recap
ROME, GA— Several explosive plays, a couple of solid field goals and a havoc-wreaking defense highlighted the evening as well as an opportunity for Rome players from sixth grade all the way to high school seniors to scrimmage at Barron Stadium on Aug. 11, 2022, during Rome High Schools Soap Game.
The controlled intra-squad scrimmages began early in the afternoon with sixth-grade squad facing the seventh-grade squad. From that point on the seventh graders faced the eighth graders, the eighth graders faced the freshmen, and the freshmen played the sophomores in scrimmages before the high school squad, split into Red and Gold, teams took to the field.
The day started with the sixth-grade squad taking on the seventh-grade squad. The seventh graders proved up to the task doing all the scoring in the scrimmage. Running back Justin Spivey took the opening handoff and sprinted 40 yards for a touchdown. Joey Alexander scored next when he scooped up a fumble and raced 25 yards for a touchdown. Quarterback Brett Boden hit Tylan Simpson with a long pass for a 50-yard touchdown, and Simpson closed out the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown run.
The eighth graders returned the favor to the seventh graders in the next game with the eighth-grade squad scoring both touchdowns. Running back Jaden Clowers opened the contest by racing 65 yards for a touchdown. Clowers also scored on a one yard run later in the scrimmage. Fullback Jermaine Woods also had a couple of long runs for the eighth graders.
When the eighth graders played the freshmen squad, the freshmen got the upper hand scoring both touchdowns. Running back Jeremy Ragland scored both touchdowns for the freshmen team with a five-yard run early in the contest and a 13-yard touchdown later. The scrimmage also featured two interceptions with eighth grader CJ Goode grabbing an interception and freshman Jaylin Montgomery picking off a pass.
When the sophomores played the freshmen, the sophomores came away with the points with running back Javarius McDearmont scoring on a four-yard run after Rhyon Sykes had intercepted a pass to help set it up. Sophomore quarterback Kanyon Thornton added the other touchdown on a 33-yard run.
“I think the good thing is that the sixth graders got out there, and we were able to have all the grades from sixth grade up play today,” Rome coach John Reid said after the scrimmages ended. “It’s a tradition for us to have the sixth, seventh, eighth graders and up all get to play. I think we’re one of the few teams that can pull this off, so it’s kind of cool.”
The younger squads’ scrimmages served as a solid warmup for the varsity scrimmage with plenty of people packing the stands and waiting with baited anticipation to catch a glimpse of the high team, which wasn’t able to play a scrimmage against another opponent this fall. It didn’t take long for the crowd to see a big play, as running back Nic Hester went around end and raced 77 yards for the opening score in the scrimmage, staking the gold team to a 7-0 advantage.
The red team answered with an impressive 16-play drive highlighted by several key passes from junior quarterback Reece Fountain. The drive culminated when Fountain hit Martel Hight in the left flat for a four-yard touchdown, tying the game at seven. But perhaps the key play in the drive came on a third and 20 play where Fountain escaped pressure and found Hight with a screen pass. Hight took off, gaining 25 yards on the play and raced to the end zone. However, he just stepped out of bounds. The play set up a makeable fourth down and eventually led to the touchdown.
The gold team took five plays to answer the score with Fountain, who played quarterback for both squads, hitting DeKaylon Daniel for two big pass plays, including a 20-yard touchdown to up the lead to 14-7. Fountain also showed some speed and quickness when he took off for a 20-plus yard rushing gain in the drive.
The defenses got the upper hand in the remainder of the scrimmage forcing a punt and two field goals. Diego Cordon notched a 45-yard field goal for the gold team, extending its lead to 17-7 before he nailed a 37-yard field goal on the next possession for the Red. The 45-yarder hit the bottom of the cross bar and bounced through providing a slight bit of drama, while the 37-yarder would have been good from possibly five or 10 yards further out.
Rome defensive lineman Stephiylan Green recorded a couple of sacks and some tackles for loss in the scrimmage, as he and other linemen were able to apply pressure to the Rome’s offensive backfield.
After the scrimmage Reid noted several points for his players before taking a moment to discuss his thoughts.
“Our goal is to be playoff ready by the 19th (Aug. 19). We set the bar high. We talked about what winning football looks like the last couple of days. We don’t want unforced errors. Holding calls, jumping offside, missed tackles, flaws in fundamentals. Things like that,” Reid said. “Sometimes a high school kid is going to think winning football is a big touchdown pass. Obviously after tonight we’ve got to clean some stuff up. It’s hard to tell because it’s a split squad scrimmage, but I thought it was pretty good. I think we played each other well and were fair and safe.”
Rome’s focus now turns to next week’s game against Creekside in the night cap of the Corky Kell Classic at Barron Stadium on Friday, Aug. 19.
Now we work on the definite game plan (for Creekside). Up till now it’s been speculative and a lot of what we are going to do is making the actual game plan and installing it,” Reid said. “We have a game at the end of the week, so that is going to get our focus. We have to clean up special teams and make sure everything is ready, because there is no controlled scrimmage next week.”
Tickets for the Corky Kell Classic are currently on sale online for $15 each allowing fans a chance to see all three games. https://gofan.co/app/school/GA5278
The action starts early as Mount Pisgah Christian faces off against Fellowship Christian in game one which kicks off at 2:30 p.m. The second game features Cass playing against Kennesaw Mountain with a scheduled kickoff of 5:30 p.m. The final contest of the evening has Rome taking on Creekside and is set for kickoff at 8:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 if purchased before game day with the cost rising to $20 if purchased on the day of the game. The tickets allow fans to see all three games. Proceeds from tickets purchased before game day go to Rome High School. Everyone entering the stadium must have a ticket.
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