The Road to the BlueCross Bowl Rollin’ Nolen… Cyclones headed to state championship after 34-12 win over Nolensville

Published 12:31 am Saturday, November 30, 2019

By Ivan Sanders

BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com    
The Cinderella season just keeps getting better and better for the Elizabethton Cyclones who for the first time since the TSSAA current state championship format began in 1969 will be heading to Cookeville for a shot in the 2019 BlueCross Bowl Championship.
Coach Shawn Witten’s team took a 14-12 halftime lead to the locker room, made adjustments, and simply came out and whipped Nolensville in the second half to take the 34-12 semifinal win to gain the opportunity at the championship.
Elizabethton was facing their second Mr. Football Finalist of the playoffs in senior wide receiver Tim Coutras but toward the end of the first quarter, Coutras took on sophomore quarterback Bryson Rollins and Rollins flattened Coutras who begin twisting in anguish grabbing his knee.
Coutras was helped off the field and early reports circulating were that the receiver tore his ACL and was seen on crutches after the half.
With Coutras out, the Cyclones turned a 7-0 first-quarter lead off a Parker Hughes seven-yard pass from Bryson Rollins quickly into a 14-0 advantage as Rollins carried the ball over from the two-yard line.
Jaxton Holly booted both point-after attempts through the uprights.
Playing out of heart for their departed star, the Knights showed no signs of just folding the tent as a Ryan Pistulka four-yard run with 3:49 left in the half cut the lead to 14-6 after a missed PAT.
The Knights weren’t done as Parker Price reeled in an 11-yard pass from Ryder Galardi to put the Cyclone faithful on edge as once again Nolensville missed their two-point conversion to leave the Cyclones ahead going into the break 14-12.
Elizabethton coaches once again pulled the right strings on adjustments at the break and it was a completely different game in the second half for the Cyclones.
After holding the Knights on the opening drive of the second half, senior running back Cade Maupin kicked it into gear and finished off a Cyclone drive with a six-yard run with 8:04 left in the third quarter.
Holly missed the point-after which is highly unusual but the Cyclones had an eight-point lead, 20-12.
With the game going into the final period with the same score, Cyclone fans began to sense they were witnessing history when Parker Hughes took a pass from Rollins and ran like a stallion galloping toward open pasture for 26 yards and a Cyclone score that extended the advantage to 27-12 with 8:12 left to play.
The icing was smoothed on the cake when Hughes took his third scoring pass of the night 22 yards for the closing score with 3:44 left on the scoreboard clock.
As the clock ran down, the Cyclones had their state championship berth sealed as family and friends joined the celebration on the field.
The Cyclones now will face Springfield, a 17-14 overtime winner over Haywood County, on Saturday at Tennessee Tech at 3 pm.
“This one was for everybody,” said an emotional-drained Witten after the game. “It’s been a long time coming. We just wanted to come through and make it happen for this community.
“They have been so good to our family. It’s just a great feeling. These guys are a great bunch and for all those that have paved the way for us to be here is just a special feeling.
“They did a good job of coming back and establishing the run a little bit. We made a few adjustments. They are a great football team that was really well-coached and disciplined against us and made it tough on us all night long.
” We just happened to make a lot more plays and got great field position tonight.”
—
Class 4A Semifinal
Elizabethton, 34-12
Nolensville            0     12     0      0 – 12
Elizabethton         7       7     6    14 – 32

SCORING SUMMARY

First Quarter

EHS — Parker Hughes 7 pass from Bryson Rollins (J. Holly kick), 2:26

Subscribe to our free email newsletter

Get the latest news sent to your inbox

Second Quarter

EHS — Bryson Rollins 2 run (J. Holly kick), 8:43

NHS — Ryan Pistulka 4 run (kick failed), 3:49

NHS — Parker Price 11 pass from Ryder Galardi (pass failed), 0:07

Third Quarter

EHS — Cade Maupin 6 run (kick failed), 8:04

Fourth Quarter

EHS — Parker Hughes 26 pass from Bryson Rollins (J. Holly kick), 8:12

EHS — Parker Hughes 22 pass from Bryson Rollins (J. Holly kick), 3:44

—

Game Statistics

                                      N                      E

FIRST DOWNS             9                      10

PASSING (C-A-I)           9-17-2              6-8-0

PASSING YARDS         105                   97

RUSHES-YARDS          29-109             40-103

TOTAL YARDS              214                  200

FUMBLES-LOST           3-0                   1-0

PUNTS-AVG.                 5-31                 4-37

PENALTIES-YARDS      14-62               4-50

—

Individual Statistics

PASSING—EHS: Rollins 6-8-0 97; NHS: Galardi 9-17-2 105.

RUSHING—EHS: Maupin 18-86, Rollins 22-17; NHS: Pistulka 13-46, Galardi 11-28, Johnson 3-14, Price 2-11.

RECEIVING—EHS: Hughes 5-82, Hartley 1-15. GHS: Pistulka 4-46, Price 3-22, Loveridge 1-15, Coultras 1-11, Skipper 1-11.

INTERCEPTIONS—EHS: Russell, Z.A. Hartley.

SACKS—EHS: Stresemann.

More News

Annual Veterans Day Ceremony held at War Memorial Veterans Walk of Honor

Alliance sounds alarm on new uranium enrichment facility in Oak Ridge

Mountain Ways extends application deadline in TN and WNC to Nov. 18

State’s community and technical schools honor veterans

Print Article

SportsPlus

  • Special Section

    More special sections