Cloudland Middle thunders past Junior Rangers
Published 11:59 pm Thursday, October 8, 2020
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Unaka’s Brynin Repass (5) gets outside and runs 15 yards for a first down before being hauled down from behind by Cloudland’s Landon Hughes (28) along the sideline in the second quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Unaka’s Brynin Repass (5) hauls in a quick hit pass over the middle, turns up field and rumbles 26 yards for a first down mid-way through the first quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The Jr Ranger quarterback Sulley Perkins (12) fires a quick out pass over the middle from deep in Highlander territory.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The Jr. Rangers Hunter Stevens (23) goes high into the air for the reception, only to have the pass intended for him slapped away and almost intercepted by Cloudland’s Hayden Arnett (2) late in the first quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders The Jr Ranger’s Sulley Perkins (12) channels his inner David Tyree as he traps a pass on top of his helmet in the first quarter.
StarPhoto/Larry N. Souders Cloudland’s Landon Hughes (28) gets outside and rips off a 16 yard run for a ‘Landers first down early in the second quarter.
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BY ALLEN LAMOUNTAIN
SPORTS CORRESPONDENT
Cloudland’s power-I extends to the middle school ranks and looks every bit as strong an offense as the high school counterpart. The Junior Highlanders got 108 yards on 10 carries from Landon Hughes and the team rushed for 197 yards on the ground in a 42-8 win over Unaka Middle School.
“We run that power-I and Landon ran real hard tonight,” Jr. Highlanders head coach Rick Birchfield said. “I appreciate the effort of the offensive line and Kingston Cole ran the ball well. (Tristan) Lowry and Noah Young played well on defense.”
The ‘Landers (1-1) took the opening kickoff at the 40-yard line and marched 60 yards in seven plays with Cole finishing the drive with a 27-yard scoring run. Quarterback Hayden Arnett passed to Hughes for the two-point conversion and an 8-0 Cloudland lead.
Unaka’s first three plays saw them go to the shotgun offense and three consecutive snaps from center went over the head of quarterback Brynin Repass with Young recovering the last one in the end zone to give CMS a 14-0 lead when the two-point pass failed.
Unaka moved the ball a bit on its next drive but two consecutive pass incompletions turned the ball over on downs to Cloudland. Hughes scored his first touchdown on a 20-yard run and Arnett connected with Bryce Birchfield for the deuce and a 22-0 ‘Landers advantage.
The Rangers next drive ended with a fumble by quarterback Sully Perkins and Lowry recovered at the Unaka 18-yard line. Lowry scored on the next play on a 15-yard pass play from Arnett and the two-point run failed but the ‘Landers had built up a 28-0 lead with 5:11 left in the half.
Repass connected with Ryan Crabtree on a 24-yard pass play but an interception on a pass that Repass was hit as he threw was hauled in by Hughes at the 35-yard line.
Birchfield capped off that drive with a four-yard burst and fullback Devon Hamby added the deuce on a run and Cloudland went into halftime with a 36-0 lead.
Hughes added a 35-yard touchdown gallop as the ‘Landers built a 42-0 lead but late in the fourth period, the Rangers put together a drive as Perkins found Repass on a 34-yard pass play to the Cloudland 35-yard line.
Repass closed out the scoring with a two-yard touchdown run and he also added the two-pointer on a pass play from Perkins.
Repass caught six passes for 101 yards and was five-for-11 passing for 24 yards. Perkins passed for 112 yards on seven-for-12 completions.
Cole ran five times for 59 yards for the ‘Landers and Arnett rushed for 26 yards on two tries.
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Cloudland 42-8
Unaka 0 0 0 8 – 8
Cloudland 14 22 6 0 – 42
Scoring summary
First Quarter
C – Cole 27 run (Arnett pass to Hughes) 5:14
C – Young fumble recovery in end zone (pass failed) 3:45
Second Quarter
C – Hughes 20 run (Arnett pass to Birchfield) 6:37
C – Lowry 15 pass from Arnett (run failed) 5:11
C – Birchfield 4 run (Hamby run) 2:23
Third Quarter
C – Hughes 35 run (kick failed) 2:03
Fourth Quarter
U – Repass 2 run (Perkins pass to Repass) 1:54
