RUTLEDGE—With the remaining remnants of Hurricane Florence continuing to hammer the Southeast, there should have been a Cyclone warning issued around the campus of Grainger County High School as the state’s No. 3 Class 4A Elizabethton Cyclones hit early and often laying waste to the Grizzlies in taking a 56-6 conference win.
The victory put the Cyclones at 5-0 at the mid-way point of the 2018 regular-season campaign.
First quarter onslaught
The Cyclones came out of the gate with a category 5 intensity finding the end zone four times in the first 12 minutes of play.
Bryson Rollins found pay dirt first as the speedster carried in from 29 yards out with only 1:17 off the first quarter clock.
Senior Austin Outland got in on the action scoring the game’s second touchdown on a 32-yard blast around the right side.
The third score of the quarter came through the air as signal caller Carter Everett found Zach C. Hartley on a toss and Hartley juked a defender out of his shorts on his way to a 26-yard touchdown reception.
Outland cashed out for his second rushing score, this time from 28 yards to give the Cyclones a ton of breathing room leading 28-0 after Jaxton Holly booted all four extra points in the quarter.
Frustrating second period for Coach Witten
If there was a low point in the game for the Cyclones and especially head coach Shawn Witten it was the way the Grizzles utilized the only defense they had in stopping the Cyclones, and that was to keep them off the field offensively.
Putting together a 22-play drive that started at their own 20-yard line, Grainger Co. pecked away at the Cyclone defense with two-and-three-yard pickups that ate up 10 minutes of clock keeping the potent Cyclone offense standing on the sideline.
Quarterback Mark Lemka found Logan Moody on a five-yard scoring pass that gave the Grizzlies their only score of the contest with the 2-point conversion failing.
Tacking on a few more scores
Elizabethton went to their two-minute offense right before the half and covered the Grizzly score when Rollins found the end zone with 46 seconds left in the second quarter. Holly booted the PAT.
The Cyclones received two scores in the third quarter from Corey Russell as he raced in from 20 yards for one score and hauled in a 60-yard scoring reception from Everett for his second of the contest.
Gavin Lowe closed out the scoring when he took advantage of field time with an eight-yard scramble with 4:55 left to play.
Holly remained perfect splitting the uprights on all three of the second half scores.
Where did that come from
Right before the half, everyone was caught off guard as a blitzing rain storm passed through sending fans scrambling under bleachers, to the restroom, or anywhere that a little cover could be found.
The rain left everyone shivering and chilled for the rest of the game even though the moon continued to shine.
That’s not a freshman—that’s Mr. Rollins
As the season has progressed and Coach Witten has continued to put the ball in his hands, Rollins has continued to exude confidence, and his success is showing it.
“In practice every day, I just keep working and working,” said Rollins. “Coach Witten pushes each and every one of us pretty hard—it’s enjoyable.
“Our line is doing real good blocking, and I can’t thank them enough for blocking for me. I am glad Coach Witten trust me because I know I have had some fumbles, but I am glad he trusts me again to hand me the ball.”
Witten’s take on the game
“We came out ready to play, and that’s the biggest thing. We held them to zero points in the first quarter again and got off to a fast start running the ball better up the middle as Austin Outland really showed his speed today.
“We got lackadaisical on a drive where they put a 10-minute drive together, and I have never seen that in a high school football game. We didn’t touch the ball until two minutes left in the second quarter.
“We faced some adversity, but you can’t ask for a better effort from our guys. We got off to a fast start, and now we are 5-0, and you can’t ask for anything more.”
Coming home
The Cyclones will be back home next week as they play host to Class 5A foe Tennessee High. There was some bad blood at the end of last year’s contest in Bristol so fans can expect another epic battle between the two teams. Kickoff is 7:30 pm.