Ooltewah’s football players wouldn’t mind seeing a repeat of what happened two weeks ago when the Owls hosted Soddy-Daisy. The Trojans wouldn’t mind seeing a repeat of half of it.

Ooltewah (9-1) won 55-21 when the Region 2-5A rivals played Halloween night. They’ll do battle again tonight on the same field in the second round of the TSSAA playoffs. Kickoff is at 7.

Soddy-Daisy (8-3) led 21-20 at halftime the first time the teams played.

“We would’ve had a bigger lead if not for my two picks,” quarterback Scott Parrott said.

The Owls’ Tracy Hunter had a 25-yard interception return for a touchdown and Brandon Bruell returned one 26 yards for another. Parrott ended up throwing for 222 yards — about his average per game — but did it on 15-of-30 passing with four interceptions.

“By far they’re the best team we’ve played defensively,” Parrott said. “They get pressure in the backfield. They discover their coverages well. They do a great job in the secondary, and their defensive line is amazing.”

The last two quarters turned out to be all Ooltewah. The Owls loaded up Matthew Polk behind their big offensive line and dominated the second half.

Polk ended up carrying 39 times for 295 yards, and he scored four of Ooltewah’s five TDs after halftime.

“I just told the kids to settle down and play our game,” Ooltewah coach Benny Monroe said after the game. “We decided to do what we do best. What happened in the first half was mostly our fault, and we quit trying to be fancy in the second half.”

The Trojans ended up with 7 rushing yards last time. Parrott is hoping for a stronger running effort this time with hope of slowing Ooltewah’s pass rush some.

Soddy-Daisy coach E.K. Slaughter said his team has to play with good technique each game and be fundamentally sound to have a chance at winning. The Trojans’ offensive line, with such players as 190-pound senior center Jacob Brown, isn’t as likely to overwhelm defenses like the Owls and their senior center, 6-foot-2, 280-pound Brian Williams.

“We didn’t help our defense out at all in the second half,” Slaughter said of the first meeting. “After we gave them two touchdowns, we ran five plays in the third quarter. By the time we got the ball in the fourth quarter, it was over. We were down 28 points. We can’t make mistakes and beat a good football team.”

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