Pioneers Rally Past Panthers, 21-14

East Ridge used two huge fourth-quarter plays to rally past Brainerd, 21-14, Friday night at Brainerd High School.

Pioneer quarterback Matthew Yarbrough hit Quassey Vinson on a 53-yard catch and run with just over a minute left in the contest accounting for the difference in the game. Yarbrough connected with Jesse Jones on a 66-yard pass earlier in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 14 apiece.

The win moves East Ridge to 2-0 on the young season. The home opener is scheduled for next week versus Signal Mountain (0-2).

Lorenzo Stewart scored on an 11-yard run with 5:11 left in the second quarter. The first of C.J. Bond’s three PAT’s made it 7-0 East Ridge.

Brainerd (0-2) scored twice in the fourth quarter to take a 14-7 lead. Robert Evans rambled 19 yards at the 11:50 mark, then Mark Beavers rushed for a 16-yard score with 7:28 left.

The Panthers were driving in the fourth quarter when they fumbled on the Pioneer 39-yard line with three minutes left in the game.

East Ridge finished the night with 112 yards on the ground, while the Pioneers passed for 161 yards on a 7-for-13 night by Yarbrough.

About Dick Cook

Dick Cook has lived in East Ridge since the Kennedy Administration when his parents bought a house on Marietta Street. Dick graduated from ERHS in 1976 before going on to the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga where he studied Political Science. Dick worked for the Chattanooga Free-Press and the Chattanooga Times Free Press for 22 years. Free-Press Sports Editor Roy Exum plucked him out of production in 1989 and gave him a job as a sports reporter. Dick covered everything from prep sports to the whitewater events on the Ocoee River for the 1996 Olympics. When Chattanooga's two paper's merged, he became the Crime Reporter covering both the Chattanooga Police and Fire Departments. He was among reporters who were honored by the Associated Press for the TFP's coverage of the 2002 fog-shrouded crash on I-75 in Catoosa County, Dick and his wife, Cathy, live on Marlboro Avenue where they are seen frequently chasing around their three grandsons.