2019 BlueCross Bowl Championship Class 4-A The Gold Ball comes home to Elizabethton… Cyclone defense rips stingers from Springfield Yellow Jackets, 30-6

Published 4:12 am Sunday, December 8, 2019

By Ivan Sanders

BY IVAN SANDERS
STAR SPORTS EDITOR
ivan.sanders@elizabethton.com    
COOKEVILLE – It took 81 years for the Elizabethton Cyclones to finally put another football state championship gold ball in the trophy case, but the wait ended on Saturday in Cookeville as the Elizabethton defense completely dominated Springfield while the offense was clicking like a fine-tuned machine in a 30-6 Cyclone victory.
With over 6,000 Cyclone fans on the home side, Elizabethton seized the momentum early in the contest taking the first lead at 3-0 on a Jaxton Holly 32-yard field goal with 3:03 left in the first quarter.
In less than two minutes, the Cyclones tacked on another score, this time coming on a Cade Maupin three-yard burst that extended the lead to 10-0 on Holly’s point-after kick.
Elizabethton pushed that lead to 16-0 just 21 seconds before the half when BlueCross Bowl MVP Bryson Rollins rolled out and found a wide-open Zach C. Hartley on the left side of the field.
Hartley put a move on the Springfield defender and took the reception into the endzone. Holly’s point after was blocked and Elizabethton was in control heading into the locker room.
The Cyclone defensive effort was hard to overlook in the first half as the Yellow Jackets were held to a meager 41 yards of offense and zero first downs in the first 24 minutes of action.
Elizabethton, meanwhile, had 10 first downs and 175 yards of offense to lead to the 16-0 advantage.
The Cyclones won the opening coin flip and elected to defer to the second half and wasted little time in making that decision a good one.
Behind solid running from Rollins and Maupin, the Cyclones pushed their lead to 23-0 taking 5:26 off the clock to open the third quarter as Rollins pounded the pigskin into the end zone from six yards out.
Holly regrouped and booted the point-after to make it a 23-point game.
The Yellow Jackets found the end zone for their only score on the ensuing possession as on third down quarterback Kevontez Hudson lofted one up for Gabriel Kelly who outjumped Parker Hughes for the reception and 66-yard scamper to pay dirt.
Luis Diaz Jijon’s point after was blocked by the Cyclones and the scoreboard read 23-6 Cyclones.
Elizabethton’s Maupin salted the game away at the 7:21 mark of the fourth quarter as the senior juggernaut rumbled into the end zone on a seven-yard run to seal the game on Holly’s point-after attempt making it 30-6.
For the game, Rollins finished with 30 rushes for 136 yards and one touchdown while Maupin toted the ball 18 times for 81 yards and two scores.
The Cyclones had 52 rushes for 268 yards and three scores on the ground.
In the passing department, Rollins broke the TSSAA record for passing percentage in a state championship game with a 91 percent passing effort hitting 11-of-12 passes for 105 yards and one score. The only incomplete pass was caught by Parker Hughes in the back of the end zone but Hughes came down out of bounds on the play.
Maupin did finish with 122 all-purpose yards in the game as the senior had 81 yards on the ground, 17 yards on a kick return, and 24 yards on two pass interceptions.
Defensively, Deuce Morton had four solo tackles and three assisted tackles for 5.5 total to lead in that department. Carson Streseman added three tackles total while Jordan Haynes, Hughes, Ladarian Avery, and Joseph Kechter were credited with 2.5 each.
As the clock ticked to zero, emotions started flowing as several players were seen with tears of joy in their eyes while head coach Shawn Witten and his wife, Katie, shared an emotional embrace on the field with Witten’s eyes moistened with tears.
Rollins was presented the Most Valuable Player award and Witten was given the Coach’s winner’s plaque and then the gold ball was put into the hands of a bunch of Cyclones who had just played their hearts out in a season that saw Elizabethton finish with an unblemished mark of 15-0 – another historical mark to add to their growing season of accomplishments.
“Our community just went above and beyond to believe in our guys,” said Witten after the game. “It’s been a long time and there have been a lot of special people in Elizabethton.
“This is just an example of dreams do come true even in the small town of Elizabethton. Our defense was spectacular today – there’s no doubt about it.
“They delivered an outstanding performance. It was a knockout out there today. The guys stuck to the game plan and kept on believing, our defense was amazing today.
Witten went on to add how important it was to accomplish the championship for his family.
“In 1976, my grandmother and my mother – you know my mom has been my biggest strength and she has been by my side the entire time,” said Witten.
“She made a decision to move us back to Tennessee to play for our grandfather and our Uncle Scott. We are indebted to the community of Elizabethton.
“They really took us (Shawn, Ryan, and Jason) into their arms and under their wings 20 years ago. They took three kids and blessed us and believed in us and all of our dreams have really come true in Elizabethton.
Rollins said that the adjusts that his head coach made at the half was what helped to propel the team to the victory.
“We came in at halftime on the I-Pad and made adjustments to get the ball moving down the field,” stated Rollins. “I just want to thank Coach Witten for making the changes.
“In the Science Hill game we really didn’t know who was going to be the quarterback and who was going to be the running back, but Coach Witten took me in and trusted me and that was all I asked for and I just became a leader on the team and the whole team trusted me,” Rollins continued.
“It means a lot to us to see the big crowd that drove all the way to Cookeville and we can’t thank them enough for their support.”
Speaking of the Cyclone fan support, according to the TSSAA the crowd was the biggest crowd to witness their school play in the championship game.
—
2019 BlueCross Bowl Class 4-A Championship
Elizabethton, 30-6
Springfield       0     0     6     0     –   6
Elizabethton   10     6     7     7     – 30
Scoring Summary
First Quarter
4:01  EHS: Jaxton Holly 32 yd field goal
2:07  EHS: Cade Maupin 3 run (Jaxton Holly kick)
Second Quarter
   :21  EHS: Zach C. Hartley 28 pass from Bryson Rollins (Jaxton Holly kick blocked)
Third Quarter
6:34  EHS: Bryson Rollins 6 run (Jaxton Holly kick)
6:00  SHS: Gabriel Kelly 66 pass from Kevontez Hudson (Luis Diaz Jijon kick blocked)
Fourth Quarter
7:21   EHS: Cade Maupin 7 run (Jaxton Holly kick)
Game Statistics
                                              Springfield             Elizabethton
First Downs                               3                             19
Rushes-Yards (NET)                19-27                      52-234
Passing Yards (NET)                106                          105
Passes Att-Comp-Int               14-5-2                    12-11-0
Total Offense Plays-Yards       33-133                   64-339
Fumble Returns-Yards             0-0                          0-0
Punt Returns-Yards                  1-1                           0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards              3-57                        2-31
Interception Returns-Yards      0-0                         2-24
Punts (Number-Avg)                 5-31.0                     2-36.5
Fumbles-Lost                            3-1                           0-0
Penalties-Yards                         4-50                        6-54
Possession Time                       13:56                      33:59
Third-Down Conversions         2 of 9                      6 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversion         0 of 1                      0 of 1

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